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Your best 5 pedals.

1 Analog Alien Bass Station. Love this pedal great Comp, OD and Fuzz in one box, not sure why it does not get more love in TB.
2. 3Leaf Audio Octabvre Mini, just a great octave pedal
3. Providence Anadime Bass Chorus
4. Free the Tone Bass Blaster, not current on my board, been kicked off by the Bass Station.
5. Emma Discombobulater, my favourite filter. (old version)
 
My current bass board.

Boss TU-2 Chromatic Tuner
Boss AD-2 Acoustic Preamp
Boss BC-1X Bass Comp
tc electronic Spark booster (temporary placeholder)
Boss BB-1X Bass Driver
Boss RV-6 Reverb

There was a Boss FZ-3 Fuzz where the Spark is, until last month, when I sold it. Probably a Boss FB-2 Feedbacker/Booster will go there, but the other five are my five best pedals for bass, right now.

Previously, I used all tc electronic mini pedals: Polytune 2 mini, BodyRez, SpectraComp, and HOF mini. They are also excellent, but the Boss pedals work a little better for me on bass, so I've moved the tc electronic pedals to guitar duty.

My current Boss pedalboard (two Boss BCB-3 boxes) sounds *huge*, and I can't imagine ever needing to add anything to it, other than the aforementioned FB-2.

E6AA2811-164D-41EC-AA60-FB5C757CAD92.jpeg
 
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Tech21 Oxford. - it has a midrange grunt and clank unmatched by any pedal I've used yet, and that includes Darkglass B3K, VMT, Rusty Box, Tech21 PSA, VT Bass, Leeds, Tone Hammer, Agro, and many more.

Darkglass B3K - awesome gritty pieces of shrapnel top end grind.

Darkglass VMT - like it less than the B3K but it complements the B3K nicely.

Rusty Box - nice grind as well, 2nd to Tech21 Oxford.

All my synth effect pedals I've owned can get lumped up here? Starting with the Boss Re20 Space Echo, which I've used for bass and rocked.

+1 on the vmt. I have one myself and it is my most treasured bass overdrive pedal.
 
Generically:

1. A tuner. This is always the most important pedal. My TU-2 has been with me long enough to order drinks from the bar. I trust Boss, tc electronic, and Peterson tuners with my livelihood.

2. A compressor. The tc electronic SpectraComp and Boss BC-1X are IMO the two best compressor pedals by far, due to the fact that they are digital multiband compressors. I also like the Xotic SP and the One Control Lemon Yellow.

3. An active DI. Countryman Type 85 or Radial J48.

As far as I am concerned, everything else is gravy.

Fave Gravies:

4. An analogue cab sim. DSM Noisemaker's OmniCabSim Deluxe is hands down the best.

5. A reverb. Just a little reverb when the instrumentation is sparse. The absolute best is the Boss RV-500, but it's a big large. The tc electronic HOF mini is perfect for bass because it's mono and programmable.

6. Your choice of preamp pedal. There are so many great ones, it's hard to know where to start. The Boss BB-1X works for me, but it's not the only one that would. I just have a thing about matching, so I guess I'm lucky that I'm satisfied with Boss.

Honorable mention: A looper, one of the best practice tools money can buy. tc electronic Ditto.

Honorable mention too: A recording device, in my case, a tc electronic Wiretap riff recorder. Another great practice tool, for instantly capturing ideas.
 
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Here are my top 5 pedals that I've enjoyed using.

t.c electronics vortex flanger - this pedal I like for it's swirling flanging sounds. I tend to use flanging effects at certain parts of songs.

t.c electronics corona chorus - I've always been a huge fan of chorus effects on guitar and bass and this is surprisingly one of the best chorus pedals I've ever used. this pedal can sound transparent or it can sound lushful. it can also thicken my sound. clean or distorted.

Darkglass vintage microtubes - this is one of the best bass overdrives I've ever owned. I like this pedal for it's warm but heavy overdriven sounds. it is my most treasured bass overdrive pedal. and even if I buy another darkglass pedal, this pedal will still stay on my pedalboard.

Source audio aftershock - this pedal is like the shang tsung of bass distortion pedals. I can create any drive I desire using the neuro app. it's fully programmable, easy to use, and very useful for recordings and live performances. a real gas killer for those who desires more than one drive.

Amptweaker bass tight metal jr. - this pedal was the perfect bass distortion for me. this pedal is a metal distortion pedal specifically made for bass. it can sound heavy without obliterating low-end. it's excellent for bass solos and for playing metal obviously. \m/ I use to own this pedal and I am thinking of buying it once again.
 
Death By Audio Fuzz War - Try one, it's crazy and it likes to be played LOUD, but it sounds amazing. Hooked me after a month or two of being hesitant

Broughton SV Pre - It's an SVT in a pedal. I tried it against a real one, believe me

Broughton Sunder Fuzz - This may be the perfect superfuzz variant? I love the EQ section on this thing, I keep it extremely bright, the variable midrange is great in a full mix

Modded Black Russian Muff - The person I bought it from sent it to modest mike for the rams head conversion. I actually really love the sound of this one, the midrange knob really helps in all scenarios when it comes to muffs

EQD Depths - I'm a big "uni-vibe style" vibrato guy, and this does it in spades. Sometimes I wish it could get just a hair more speed out of the rate, but I love the tone of it nonetheless. You should try one, big "Heart of the Sunrise" vibes going on
 
Later, and what remains is:

VT Bass
Empress Compressor
Phase 100
...the only ones that have consistently stayed on every board. I wish I liked more pedals as much as these guys, but nothing's grabbed me thus far and it's been a while.
 
At this point I've only got six pedals on my board. The Xerograph remains the most important single one to me but at this point the formula for what I use is pretty straight forward. A tuner, an octaver, a couple drive pedals (several if I'm using a big board), a filter (it has been the Xero for years now) possibly a compressor and then a modulation pedal or two, usually phaser and/or delay.

IMG_20190207_100208.jpg
 
My best, and only, pedals for my bass.

1. Boss TU-3s Chromatic Tuner. Just like a TU-3 but with the stomp pedal part missing.
2. Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor. I set it to mute when it's on, and I can silently tune. Had to make some custom patch cables for it.
3. Boss BC-1X Bass Comp. Got it tuned in just right.
4. Boss BB-1X Bass Driver. Use it as an EQ with just a little bit of drive.
5. Behringer DR600 Digital Reverb. It was an experiment, but it gives my tone just the right amount of depth. It's a keeper!

Al my pedals are always on (except for the NS-2), so my board sits on top of my amp within easy reach if I should need to tweak something.

Pedalboard.jpg


That piece of memory foam is my mute for my P-Bass. I stuff it in the bridge cover. Works great!
 
Death By Audio Fuzz War - Try one, it's crazy and it likes to be played LOUD, but it sounds amazing. Hooked me after a month or two of being hesitant

Broughton SV Pre - It's an SVT in a pedal. I tried it against a real one, believe me

Broughton Sunder Fuzz - This may be the perfect superfuzz variant? I love the EQ section on this thing, I keep it extremely bright, the variable midrange is great in a full mix

Modded Black Russian Muff - The person I bought it from sent it to modest mike for the rams head conversion. I actually really love the sound of this one, the midrange knob really helps in all scenarios when it comes to muffs

EQD Depths - I'm a big "uni-vibe style" vibrato guy, and this does it in spades. Sometimes I wish it could get just a hair more speed out of the rate, but I love the tone of it nonetheless. You should try one, big "Heart of the Sunrise" vibes going on
This has definitely changed for me.
1. Moog MF Trem
2. Fuzzrocious Custom fuzz
3. Broughton SV-Pre (all day babyy)
4. Boss PS-3
5. Broughton Messenger

I wouldn't take the broughtons on tour or anything, but local shows are a maybe.
I have a second custom fuzz which cops a similar feel to the fuzzrocious, it's in a smaller enclosure but doesn't have the exact same noisy chaotic sound that the custom achieves.
The Boss is a total sleeper, it was originally my dads pedal but he didn't like the sounds he was dialing in, I started messing with it right when I got into experimental music. I use settings 5,7, and 11 most.
Moog MF Trem is indescribably good, you need to hear it for yourself. One of the more slept on Moog pedals

Lately I've been doing practice with just my sonic research tuner & either the Messenger or SV-Pre. They both have built in HPF but I'm still wanting to buy a standalone HPF and LPF for my board. Two separate HPF and LPFs though, I want them in different spots for my signal chain
 
In no particular order:
Line 6 HX Stomp
Dry Bell Unit 67
Digitech Bass Whammy
Wilson Freaker Wah V2
Fulltone '69

I need to exclude as utility/support pedals looper, eq, expression, drums, midi controller, tuner, noise suppressor, and ABY/buffer. Otherwise, I'd have a hell of a time picking five.
 
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In the order to which they came to me...

1. Broughton PLL
2. Any Looper - these days I am into the ditto series (digging the x2 jam)
3. Future Impact
4. Ampeg sub blaster
5. Tie between MF 101 and Frederick effects bug crusher


2 years later perspectives have changed...


In no specific order:
1. Red Panda → Tensor
2. Drolo → Stamme[n]
3. Sanford & Sonny → Bluebeard
4. Red Panda → Particle
5. Chase Bliss → Mood