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What's your application for pedals?

tch90

tch90

Jul 5, 2009
142
0
Virginia
#1
What do you use your pedals for? what kind of music? Is it solely for personal use, something to just mess around with? Or is it for gig and live usage?

I've been recently getting in to constructing my pedal board, but I typically use a clean sound whenever playing with others. The pedals are just for me something to mess around with.
 
#4
weirdo effects can be good for intros and bridges. A little bit of chorus can widen your sound, and a good compressor will fatten your tone too. Overdrive/distortion must be used judiciously, there's so little space between "mosquitoes attacking a wasps nest with a buzzsaw" and "mountain of sonic mud".
 
#5
This may sound completely LOONEY and go against the general outlook in the Effects forum...

but...

effects "can" be used in moderation and in a subtle fashion to where they do not overpower the basses tone, or the music being played.

Personally my current pedalboard is EBS Microbass II, EBS MultiComp, Pitchblack Tuner. I've had a lot of different effects, multieffect units, rack units, etc, but I usually end up going back to a "Tone Option" type setup.

.
 
#6
I think, more than likely, the more you play around with the pedals and the tones you can make at home, you will come up with some sounds that you will want to bring into a group setting.

You need to move away from the notion that pedals just make sounds. You obviously like the noise they make or you wouldn't waste money on them. With some creativity, pedals can help you craft some really interesting music.

YMMV
 
#7
When I first became addicted to the pedal thing, it was mainly for my "at home" amusement. As the disease got deeper into me, it morphed into something else. My board has 2 stages, the first being "processing", tuner, compressor, eq. Then, there's the good stuff, octavers, overdrives, distortions, phasers, filters, delay, chorus. It all works together, and now, the board goes with me everywhere I play. Oh, and what do I play you asked, sort of a prog-rock classic rock slightly jazz infused edgy stuff, with alot of ambient synthesizer and shredding guitar solo's. Couldn't even imagine playing without my board.
 
#9
My pedalboard goes with me on almost every live gig and studio session I do. It's taken me years to find tones that are interesting to me and palatable to others, but I think I've finally integrated pedals to the point where they aren't detracting from my role as bassist.

I occasionally get resistance from engineers/colleagues, but my tone & body of work speak for themselves at this point. At a recent LA session, the engineer made a joke about my "deli tray" which I found humorous!

I primarily use pedals like my Xotic RC Booster and EBS Valve Drive for global tone-shaping. Basically adding some "character" to a clean, di track. I also use octave down a lot and it's become part of my 'signature' sound (when I'm so bold as to defer to my sound!). I also keep my setup flexible to allow for last minute inspiration (maybe some delay or filter for a signature passage).

Like every other 'trick', 'gimmick', whatever - the key is finding ways to use effects tastefully in context. It's taken me ten years to get to a place where I'm confident using my effects in virtually any environment- but I like the results & it's still putting bread on the table!
 
#14
Inspiration and coloration. If you considered the bass to be the paintbrush and the amp to be the canvas,...effects are the paint (as would be technique, strings, and several other analogies that escape me at the moment).

Some effects are completely different instruments. Envelope Filters and the Moogerfooger Bass MuRF come to mind.
 
#15
warwick.hoy said:
Inspiration and coloration. If you considered the bass to be the paintbrush and the amp to be the canvas,...effects are the paint (as would be technique, strings, and several other analogies that escape me at the moment).

Some effects are completely different instruments. Envelope Filters and the Moogerfooger Bass MuRF come to mind.
Click to expand...

Interesting...

I've always thought of the song as the canvass; the bass, effects and amp as a selection of brushes; and what comes out of my amp as the paint.

I like the analogy!
 
#18
I have my 'board', and my 'bag.' My board just has a few pedals. It may or may not go on the gig. I don't NEED to have them on the gigs that I play, but sometimes the mood strikes. It's just a wah, a filter and a few other pedals du jour.

In my bag is everything that anyone could request. If I get hired for a gig and they want a phaser, I've got a few to choose from. It's all in there. It might not get used alot, but I'm always prepared for whatever someone can come up with. Mostly it is stuff that didn't make the cut on my main board, but is still cool none-the-less. I really do need to find a bigger bag to fit all of it.
 
#19
Im not into using pedals for "give me attention" purposes like unnecessary Wahs and Synths. Instead I like to use them to fill in the voids in my band. When my guitarists go harmony crazy, a little bit of overdrive fills in the frequncies they sacrifice.

I guess my theory is: If you use your pedals right, no one will notice a lack of low end, mids or high end during the show.
 

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