Worship Bass Pedalboards

[MikoFX]

What is that "Bethel" mod in normal pedal terms? Is it changing the caps for more bass?

It's has several changes. Off the top of my head it is modified with a NOS 308 Op-Amp, multiple Cap & Resistor swaps to prevent low-end loss, additional clipping options (LED, Mosfet, Silicon Diode + sym/asym switches), and the addition of a clean blend.

 

[wolffire99]

Glad to hear that level of endorsement. I thought the DCX would be "too much"

The DCX is eq only to mild and medium drive. I don't think it's too much.

 

[Not Insane]

I was just wondering what other bassist were playing for there worship band! I have a pedal board but recently took it apart and i'm going to start over and build a new pedal board! Show you pictures!!

My only pedal board is a Boss GT 6B

I've not used it in over 10 years. I don't really need effects for any of my bands, except for compression. But that's just me. However, I REALLY don't need it for worship music.

 

[Blille]

The DCX is eq only to mild and medium drive. I don't think it's too much.

You're absolutely right, I meant too much in terms of functionality and price, not drive

 

[Blille]

It's has several changes. Off the top of my head it is modified with a NOS 308 Op-Amp, multiple Cap & Resistor swaps to prevent low-end loss, additional clipping options (LED, Mosfet, Silicon Diode + sym/asym switches), and the addition of a clean blend.

Thanks. That's enough in my book to consider getting a variant instead of modding it

 

[MikoFX]

Thanks. That's enough in my book to consider getting a variant instead of modding it

As far as Bass tuned Rat variants go these are my Top Picks:

•Blue Colander Tremond Mini (Top Jacks)
•Comodoro Rat Bass (Top Jacks)
•JAM Rattler (Side Jacks)

Honorable Mention:

•Broughton Locust Star (Top Jacks, No Clean Blend)

 

[Blille]

As far as Bass tuned Rat variants go these are my Top Picks:

•Blue Colander Tremond Mini (Top Jacks)
•Comodoro Rat Bass (Top Jacks)
•JAM Rattler (Side Jacks)

Honorable Mention:

•Broughton Locust Star (Top Jacks, No Clean Blend)

Thanks, I'll keep an eye out on the classifieds.

 

[Dave Hill]

It's has several changes. Off the top of my head it is modified with a NOS 308 Op-Amp, multiple Cap & Resistor swaps to prevent low-end loss, additional clipping options (LED, Mosfet, Silicon Diode + sym/asym switches), and the addition of a clean blend.

Sounds kinda like a Volt Thrower.

 

[MikoFX]

Sounds kinda like a Volt Thrower.

It is pretty similar, except it's an OEM Rat with mods added.

Where the Tremond really differentiates itself from the rest of the companies out there doing Bass Rats is by adding a variable LPF that can be applied to the clean blend.

 

[Blille]

As far as Bass tuned Rat variants go these are my Top Picks:

•Blue Colander Tremond Mini (Top Jacks)
•Comodoro Rat Bass (Top Jacks)
•JAM Rattler (Side Jacks)

Honorable Mention:

•Broughton Locust Star (Top Jacks, No Clean Blend)

The idiotbox deluxe looks very popular and affordable, have you tried it?

 

[MikoFX]

The idiotbox deluxe looks very popular and affordable, have you tried it?

I have, and it is very good for high-gain distortion tones and gets close to nailing the Justin Chancellor sound. However I didn't find it to be to my taste or to really work for use within a Worship context.

It doesn't have clipping options, and as a result of the chosen clipping diodes (symmetrical silicon, I assume) the sound is very compressed. I prefer a far less compressed and more open sound which is why I have a preference for variants that allow for the use of LED's or the lifting of the clipping diodes from the circuit completely.

IMO, distortion should add texture without entirely taking over and transforming the tone of the bass. I feel this is particularly important within a worship context where we are switching distortion in and out of our signal chain at various points within a song to assist with dynamics. In other contexts/genres where it may be used as an always-on core tone or intended to fully transform the sound when switched on this is far less of a concern.

 

[Blille]

I have, and it is very good for high-gain distortion tones and gets close to nailing the Justin Chancellor sound. However I didn't find it to be to my taste or to really work for use within a Worship context.

It doesn't have clipping options, and as a result of the chosen clipping diodes (symmetrical silicon, I assume) the sound is very compressed. I prefer a far less compressed and more open sound which is why I have a preference for variants that allow for the use of LED's or the lifting of the clipping diodes from the circuit completely.

IMO, distortion should add texture without entirely taking over and transforming the tone of the bass. I feel this is particularly important within a worship context where we are switching distortion in and out of our signal chain at various points within a song to assist with dynamics. In other contexts/genres where it may be used as an always-on core tone or intended to fully transform the sound when switched on this is far less of a concern.

Thanks for the detailed response

 

[SKennedy32]

I have a Tone Hammer DI on the way. I've owned one before, but I used it clean with no AGS back then. I'm planning on using it with AGS for some breakup this time (for the core Bethel tone). It'll go on my church board.
I'm trying to decide two things:
1. Do I want to keep a compressor on my board? I'll have to experiment and see. The AGS circuit on the TH will compress the signal a bit already.
2. What do I want to use as a secondary drive pedal, going into the TH? I'm leaning towards the Schaffer Replica Bass-X. I already own an MBD-2, so I'll try it first before purchasing anything new.

The Bass-X sounds awesome stacked with the TH.

 

[SKennedy32]

As far as the 'core Bethel tone' goes a Bass tuned Rat is very much a part of the Bethel sound. Cali76 > OC-2 > EHX BMS > Modded ProCo Rat >TH AGS > RNDI

Having personally tried the 'Bethel Modded' Rat, as well as 12 or so other variants, I've found that I like the Blue Colander Tremond Mini the best.

Tanner @ Bethel added a Schaffer Bass-X to his board about a year ago, although I'm not sure if he's still using it. I picked one up on Black Friday last year and gave it a solid try for several months— I found it to be less of a drive and more of a tone sweetener with an emphasis on the upper mids. I ultimately decided to move it along due to the fact that it has side jacks & it being pretty darn subtle in the grand scheme of everything else I was running on my board.

I run the Bass-X with the gain cranked and it sounds awesome for those big moments in songs for when I want to go bigger but don't want to use the microsynth. It's very much a drive/distortion (with all the bottom end) when the gain is cranked.

 

[MikoFX]

I run the Bass-X with the gain cranked and it sounds awesome for those big moments in songs for when I want to go bigger but don't want to use the microsynth. It's very much a drive/distortion (with all the bottom end) when the gain is cranked.

I'd love to see your settings— I ran it with the gain around 4 O'clock, boost at 1 o'clock, and limiter somewhere between 9 and 11. It definitely made things sound sweeter in the mids.... I particularly liked it after the Free the Tone Black Vehicle... But I never got any appreciable drive/distortion out of it.

I wonder if maybe the way you're running it has it above unity gain on its output so its driving the Tone Hammer harder resulting in the perception of it having more drive?

Or, maybe I had a defective unit & need to give it another go? (Unlikely though, because: side jacks... sigh).

 

[SKennedy32]

I'd love to see your settings— I ran it with the gain around 4 O'clock, boost at 1 o'clock, and limiter somewhere between 9 and 11. It definitely made things sound sweeter in the mids.... I particularly liked it after the Free the Tone Black Vehicle... But I never got any appreciable drive/distortion out of it.

I wonder if maybe the way you're running it has it above unity gain on its output so its driving the Tone Hammer harder resulting in the perception of it having more drive?

Or, maybe I had a defective unit & need to give it another go? (Unlikely though, because: side jacks... sigh).

I run it with the Gain at 100%, Limiter around 9 o'clock, and Boost at unity or maybe a little higher. Its pretty nasty sounding (in a good way).

 

[Killens84]

On Tanner's Instagram, one of the pinned videos at the top of his page is of him demoing his three main tones: TH alone, TH plus Schaffer Bass-X, and TH plus Bass MicroSynth. It looks like he has gain & boost cranked on the Bass-X, and it stays close to unity gain when he switches it on. I love the tone as well! His whole rig sounds great

 

[Blille]

If I put a second Tonehammer on my board, would you guys shun me? Lol

If what I seem to be after is something close to the AGS cranked, it may be the easiest.

 

[SKennedy32]

On Tanner's Instagram, one of the pinned videos at the top of his page is of him demoing his three main tones: TH alone, TH plus Schaffer Bass-X, and TH plus Bass MicroSynth. It looks like he has gain & boost cranked on the Bass-X, and it stays close to unity gain when he switches it on. I love the tone as well! His whole rig sounds great View attachment 7016065

 

[projectapollo]

If I put a second Tonehammer on my board, would you guys shun me? Lol

If what I seem to be after is something close to the AGS cranked, it may be the easiest.

I tried an Aguilar AGRO pedal and it was close to the AGS. You may want to get one from Aguilar with their return policy and try that.