What's the Deal with Pedals?

[Deep Note]

I am a mediocre bassist at best and use a compressor / limiter to: 1. help with my occasional bad string plucks (and general lack of talent) and 2. to limit (limiter) my gain so I don't blow away the acoustic guitar when I start really hammering on the strings after a few drinks. Other than that, some Fuzz for Hendrix and Phaser for Pink Floyd.

 

[MartinB]

Not all pedals are effects
Not all effects are pedals

 

[HubbardsFate]

I read the thread title in Jerry Seinfeld's voice.

Carry on.

 

[Fonkamex]

Pedals are expensive. If you are a beginner, why don’t you buy a bass multi-effect. You can try out almost every single classic pedal sound from that. Then you will understand if you really need to buy a costly pedal.
Before you think about it, if you record with a pedal, you will probably need to carry out that pedal to every concert. So, think twice before you use it in a recording situation.
Last but not least, pedals are currently being replaced by a new generation of sound processors and modelers.
Personally, I use a tuner, some preamps and an octaver. That’s all I need.

 

[sxaxsx]

Searching Youtube for pedal demos is a good way to hear what different pedals sound like. Some basics would be distortion/overdrive/fuzz, wah, phaser, chorus, flange, those you will instantly hear and understand. Things like compressors and eqs may be hard to hear at first, they are more subtle.
I personally don't use any pedals other than a tuner anymore. As I got older I learned to work with the drummer more than the guitarists. And my philosophy was that the drums don't use pedals to alter how it sounds, it always sounds like drums. And I like having my bass tone a constant with the drums. Obviously nothing wrong with pedals and plenty of others use them. They aren't necessary though and since you just started playing you should probably focus on just bass playing right now.

 

[micguy]

27359101[/URL], member: 59847"]There are two pedals I think everyone should own.

1. Tuner - gotta play in tune
2. Compressor - every recorded sound you've ever heard has been compressed.

#2 is not even close to true. Yes, a lot of pop music is compressed. That isn’t necessarily a good thing.

 

[Cave Puppy]

Pedals can add a bit of spice, once the basic ingredients are taken care of. Get the bass under your fingers first. Some bassists get pedals if they’re bored, or if they want/need a certain sound that can’t be had without a pedal, or if they need something to spur inspiration. Plus pedals are a good way to change up your sound for little cash outlay (read “bored” and cheaper than a new bass).

 

[socialleper]

Aside from tuners, pedals are just ways to manipulate your tone. Some add drive/distortion, others add modulation (flanger, chorus, reverb, etc), some are EQs, and some are signal processors like compression or limiting.
FX are extremely common for guitar players, and slightly less so for bads players. Some guys have one or none, some have massive boards. You can buy cheap Chinese pedals or insanely expensive hand built boutique pedals.
It is a bottomless pit of information and ways to spend money. Tread slowly and carefully.

 

[socialleper]

#2 is not even close to true. Yes, a lot of pop music is compressed. That isn’t necessarily a good thing.

Either you compress your tone or the guy at the mixing board does. But at some level bass almost always has some level of limiting or compression when recorded or put through a PA. If it is done well, you don't notice it.

 

[ashtray]

I wouldn’t worry about pedals. If that’s something you want to look in to later to sculpt your sound, you can go down that rabbit hole. You’ll want a decent bass, amp, and cab first before really looking at effects. That said, effects can be a fun toy, and some multi-effects units can be had cheaply used, and let you play with all the ways you csn change your sound.

I have a pedalboard for guitar - use it 99% of the time. Been playing bass 35 years, and rarely use pedals for bass.

 

[JC BASS 91]

Nothing wrong with using pedals and even getting deeply involved with them. But, I suggest you learn to play your bass and become completely familiar with what your bass and amp can do tone-wise before you go down that road.

THIS!

When I first started playing, I was chasing the tone of a particular bassist. I mistakenly asked a music store employee if he could help me get that sound. Of course he could! Ended up selling me a compressor pedal and a chorus pedal.

A long time later, I discovered pushing the gain on the amp, and a proper EQ setting and bam...there was the tone I had looked for all along. Didn't need pedals at all to get what I was looking for.

 

[Al Rivera]

Hello everyone! I started learning bass last week so I'm pretty new to the whole thing, would anyone mind giving me a decently comprehensive rundown on pedals? I know that using a lot of pedals with bass has the potential to muddy the sound, which can be good or bad depending on what you're going for. My 2 guitarist buddies always go nuts for pedals (they're shoegazers) and throw around a bunch of terminology when talking to each other that I never understand.

any info is apperciated, thxxxxx

I've played bass since the 80s,currently I'm in several bands playing classic rock,motown ,country, blues etc. I've found no need for pedals! So the answer is you don't need pedals to be successful, but if you would like them be careful,it can affect your tone in a negative way. Congratulations on becoming a bass player! The bass has taken me more places and helped me to meet so many people,life without it would have been so boring,truly an adventure.

 

[kmon]

You can spend amazing amounts of time shopping for them, watching youtube shootouts, switching your board around. Absolutely great way to avoid practicing.

They're fun though. A tuner pedal is all I need. In the context of rock covers I've found various dirt pedals, compressors and preamps to be useful, never essential though.

 

[micguy]

Either you compress your tone or the guy at the mixing board does. But at some level bass almost always has some level of limiting or compression when recorded or put through a PA. If it is done well, you don't notice it.

I’ve been the bassist or FOH for a couple thousand shows. I’m good friends with the FOH people that mix me. I don’t have an exact percentage for how often the bass is compressed, but I know it’s less than 50 percent of the time.

 

[Matt R.]

I disagree with the notion that you should ignore pedals as you begin to learn bass. Tone shaping is in my view, one of the most important things to explore as a beginner.
It is possible to walk and chew gum at the same time as the cliche goes. As others have stated though, compression/drive would be a great place to start.

 

[matty1039]

Post #20 is a great high level overview of the major categories of effects for both guitar and bass. You could spend a lot time just diving in to each of those. Especially when you start looking at stacking (using multiple effects to get a specific sound.) So it can be a lot overall. But, at the same time in each of those categories there are a few iconic pedals and everything else is a take on one of those, so there is less than there appears to be.

Learning about their set up can better inform your EQ choices. For example a Tube Screamer, and variations of that, boosts the mid range frequencies, so you may want to give the bass a slight boost since there is space in that sonic area. On the other hand, if they are using something like a Metal Zone, that boosts the bass and treble while cutting the mids, so you may want to boost your mids since that space is open. Knowing what they are doing gives you a framework for where to boost or cut so nothing is too muddy or piercing.

If you are interested in diving in to pedals I'd say start with a tuner, compressor, and some type of gain. Broadly speaking if the guitar players are effects heavy then you would want to have a solid foundation for them to sit on. That starts with your playing and the amp, but a compressor will keep you level and a gain would allow you to get dirty. A tuner, like a compressor, is useful but not very fun.

 

[3toes]

Totally read this thread title in Jerry Seinfeld's voice...

I tend to describe pedals in two main categories: Utility pedals and Situational pedals.

My utility pedals are:

• Preamp; I use a preamp pedal and go directly into the power section of my amp rather than relying on its onboard pre. This stays on all the time.
• Compressor; this can be situational as well, but I love the sound of it, and often requested by our sound tech and church for the take-up volume. So this one is pretty much on all the time as well.
• Tuner
• Noise Gate; not much of a utility for most of my work, but again when I'm playing church service and we're in really low moments it helps.

My situational pedals are:

• Synth; Sometimes you just need to get down and funky with some synth bass lines. Also useful if you're covering some sweet 80s tunes.
• Octave; I do a lot of my work in a trio, so if I feel like going up high on the neck for some melodic runs but want to keep the low end nice and fat, I've got it covered.
• Envelope filter; I'm just a sucker for a good envelope filter...
• Overdrive; Sometimes you just need some dirt at key moments, or for an entire tune. This gets its most use at church oddly enough... You'd be surprised at how much overdrive/distortion is used on bass for contemporary Christian music.

For me the best way to describe it is with food as well. I'll hear players say things like, "I'm a meat and potatoes guy, I don't use pedals." Well, I'm a meat and potatoes guy too, I just like to season my meat, sometimes a lot!

 

[mambo4]

A tuner is the only 100% necessary pedal IMHO (but you ought to be able to tune by ear nonetheless)
A compressor is 100% necessary for those who feel they are. But plenty of us get by without one.

Learning about their set up can better inform your EQ choices. For example a Tube Screamer, and variations of that, boosts the mid range frequencies, so you may want to give the bass a slight boost since there is space in that sonic area. On the other hand, if they are using something like a Metal Zone, that boosts the bass and treble while cutting the mids, so you may want to boost your mids since that space is open. Knowing what they are doing gives you a framework for where to boost or cut so nothing is too muddy or piercing.

Do the manuals for Tube Screamers and or Metal Zone pedals actually point this out?

@pabs As a beginner there is likely a big language gap when it comes to common terminology around audio signal processing. I just googled "Glossary of effects pedal terms" and got a truck load of cloned, ad-filled articles
This one form stack exchange is an actual discussion between humans
this one seems ok

 

[Fuzzbass]

I disagree with the notion that you should ignore pedals as you begin to learn bass. Tone shaping is in my view, one of the most important things to explore as a beginner.
It is possible to walk and chew gum at the same time as the cliche goes. As others have stated though, compression/drive would be a great place to start.

Agreed. FFS, people should just answer the OP's question instead of offering unhelpful advice such as "learn to play bass first".

I started out for years with no FX, and even today I often play without FX. But I love 'em, and I also wish I'd learned about them from the get-go instead of waiting for decades. I accumulated a lot of false info about them that I had to unlearn, such as "it's ridiculous to run more than one distortion pedal at a time". It's also good to know about tangentials such as the best way to power them.

 

[scott sinner]

....would anyone mind giving me a decently comprehensive rundown on pedals? I know that using a lot of pedals with bass has the potential to muddy the sound, which can be good or bad depending on what you're going for. My 2 guitarist buddies always go nuts for pedals (they're shoegazers) and throw around a bunch of terminology when talking to each other that I never understand.
any info is apperciated, thxxxxx

To start, the continuum from near essential to very context dependent:
For bass the only ones I would say are near essential, i.e. people will shake their heads at you for being a noob are:
1) A tuner...being able to tune accurately and silently on stage is a near must. I love and you'll see many people over here loving the Strobe Tuners by Sonic Research FYI

2) A DI with an amp sim. Many venues will want you to go direct. Without endorsing that practice, I'm just noting you'll invariably run in to it. So having a DI that gives you a basic amp/cab sculpted tone will be a must. Lots of people love the Sansamp ones for this. More metal guys often love the Darkglass. I am more of an oddball and like a DSM Humboldt Simplifier because it actually models a Hartke which is my cab of choice.

Everything else is a 'Maybe you need it maybe you don't.' Much of this depends on style. I played Americana for years and never needed anything but a tuner, DI, and compressor. But if you're playing shoegaze, maybe probably yes, you'll want some additional pedals.

Exactly what is hard to say and I'll give you one big tip up front to save you a ton of money in the long run. Don't buy a bunch of pedals until you know what your specific needs are. Instead get a multi effect pedal (and some, notably, also have DIs, amp sims, and tuners built in). Try the virtual pedals there until you know what you need. Then you'll be ready to know what you might want in a more bespoke setup.

Many people, when you get to a pedal heavy genre will eventually settle on something that revolves around
1) some core pedals they use a lot. e.g. their favorite overdrive, their favorite compressor AND
2) a Multi-effect pedal for the other stuff they use less often.

Another thing to study up on is understanding power supplies and options therein. Hey, this is important not to break anything!!! Most pedals use a standard 9 volt, center negative power. The mA (i.e. the current) will vary. Often for digital pedals it will be higher.

Rules:

• Voltage - You can't usually exceed voltage. A 9 volt pedal and a 12 volt power supply usually means - smoke. The rare pedals you can, will say so.
• Current - You can exceed current, but don't under power. A pedal needing 100mA and a power supply with 1000mA = no problem. A pedal needing 300mA and a 200mA power supply, might not work, but isn't likely to harm anything. This also becomes important to keep track of if you are daisy chaining anything. e.g. for a simple board of analog pedals, a OneSpot will work fine. Often, daisy chaining digital and analog will cause some noise*.
• Polarity - don't cross the streams. And if anyone asks you if you are a God, say yes. Seriously though, don't mix up polarity. Center negative is standard. Learn the symbols. Read the manual.

*Which is part of why many people will multiple pedals will use a pedalboard with a multi-out power under it. Like those made by Voodoo Labs or Cioks. PedalTrain is a very popular pedalboard maker. But you can also DIY a pedalboard if you're handy until you know your needs better.

Another thing to think about in general is control schemes. You can go a LOT of ways with this. But at the simplest, you might want to start with a Multieffects unit and an expression pedal. HX Stomp is popular for good reason.

But, for a more elaborate future thinking example, with my pedalboard monstrosity, it is all MIDI controlled. So to switch songs, all I actually have to do is scroll to the song patch on the left two button switch and the Boss MS3 changes presets and turns pedals on and off. All I have to do in songs is usually push one or two buttons on the MS3. Because it is all MIDI controlled. And my expression pedal can control anything on the MS3, Empress Zoia, Sy200, or the Moog drive. In short, I have a studio's worth of effects BUT, once programmed, I don't have to futz with anything while playing.