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Your best of 22

#62
Nothing too fancy, but, started getting back into individual pedals after my Zoom b3 started malfunctioning.

I've been pretty happy with the TC Electronic SpectraDrive. I don't know a ton about compressors, but one of the presets sounds good to me (I think it's the Nathan East one, or the NY Sound one, I can't remember,) but I like that it's a set it and forget it thing for me. Plus having the different drive settings is great. The fuzz ones are too impressive, but there is a bit of overdrive one that is pretty good that I like to use as a boost pedal with just a touch of dirt that adds a lot with other pedals like a chorus or whatever.

Another thing the Zoom struggles with is overdrive and fuzz. Got the new green big muff, but, eh, not in love with it. But this boy is my fav. pedal I've ever owned. I was in Denver and we went to some random music shop that had the biggest pedal collection I've ever seen (Flipside music). I told em I want a transparent overdrive that will sound good on my bass. The guy working there said this was the pedal, and he loved it so much he actually got a t shirt made of a picture of the pedal LOL. I love the sound I get out of this pedal, def. my favorite addition. I hardly use my bigg muff since I can get a great gritty fuzz or just a touch of overdrive.

Westwood-Translucent-Drive-Manipulator.jpg


I did a factory reset on my zoom, and now i'm just using it for a couple of extra sounds. The B3 is such an old unit, but, the monopitch pedal does a better job as an octave down than the mxr bass octave deluxe, and I love the cool psuedo fretless/chorus sound I can get on it (I call it my yellow ledbetter pedal since it mimics the bass sound on that song). And the auto wah pedal is fun. I don't run a lot of pedals, usually just some dirt on heavier songs, or for certain songs like the chorus or throwing on an octave during a solo, I'm pretty happy with my setup. I think the only things I would want to add or change would be getting a hpf, and getting a better fuzz. But, that can come next year, maybe when I go to Denver again
 
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#69
kleinenenten said:
Tell me more... About the mixer AND the 800RB pedal! I have the Power Amp Sim pedal (AKA Rails Pedal) and love it, but have been very curious about the "big" version to possibly go ampless for a headphone practice rig. Thoughts?
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The 800rb pedal gets REALLY close to classic amp. The treble "edge" and impact of the notes is there. The switches respond exectly like their amp counterparts.
The mixer is last in the signal chain. For a gig i just don't use it (although it could be used for in-ears). For home practice I just connect my phone via BT and plug in headphones. No mess of cables and sounds great. And complete control over my mix.
 
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#71
GMC said:
I rocked one of these for quite a few years, it's concept is spot on. My only gripe is that the distortion circuit is a little generic and not very dynamic. It's a great pedal and it survived on my board for a while. I think if it had a 1 slider compressor and a slider to swap clipping circuit charectors then it would be pretty close to perfect. The Source Audio Ultrawave takes this to another level although that doesn't have a set of graphic EQ sliders.
Click to expand...

The ultrawave is a great pedal, but I have a serious aversion to digital circuits that have USB inputs and software. Guess that makes me a pedal luddite. I agree with you that a switch to go between circuit topologies would be great and I'd rather the input/output were on knobs rather than sliders. But I learned long ago that chasing perfection is a fools errand.
 
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#72
kleinenenten said:
Had a couple for me, most of which are newer rediscoveries of pedals I've owned before, or at least no new releases for me this year:

First, my muffs got shaken up in both bass and guitar world. My #1s continue to be Pharaoh Supremes, but the #2 is definitely the Swollen Pickle. Probably the 3rd time I've owned it, and it's not leaving now! It beat out a Grey Stache and a Supercollider '71 for my bass and guitar needs.

After that, my Rat collection started. Never got along with Rats much before, but kept the Iron Pig as it was by far my favorite. Got a few more this year when that started getting some heavy play. So far, my favorite is the Volt Thrower clone I have, but the Iron Pig is close behind. Then it's my Bass Mountain, with a Cat Tail in #4.

I also got an MBD-2 and ODB clone for my low gain needs - prior to this it was modded Pork Loin all the way. This is my biggest change, really, as the Pork Loin had been my go-to low gain drive for years. Now, it's relegated to #3, but is still excellent. The MBD-2 is new to me, but I had an ODB a few years ago. (Not sure why I didn't get along with the Dunwich stuff in the past!)

The HM-2 front was also busy, with me buying a handful of (usually cheap) clones. But the confirmation that my Throat Locust could do 18v and my Bear Amps Heavier Metal pedal really opened up the HM-2 for me. Both are phenomenal.

Honestly, though, my biggest revelation of 22 was something many of us know - it has to work in the mix! That's where most of these pedals really shone and beat out the previous competitors. The last few months of 22 I was relentlessly jamming to songs with more volume and in the mix. These ones brought the dirt to the forefront, but also managed to keep my tone, all while working in the mix.
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I was considering getting my second Swolleb Pickle but opted for a Keeley Moon. Owned the first pickle before I really knew anything about pedals, but from what I remember it had a ton of bass, so no need for a clean blend.
 
#74
Most used is the EWS Stormy Bass Drive. I suppose it's a metal pedal, but it does an amazing job as an all-purpose dirt pedal. I mostly use it for rock and pop and I struggle to get a bad tone out of it. Really hard to argue with the value either.
 
#76
Somnambulance said:
I was considering getting my second Swolleb Pickle but opted for a Keeley Moon. Owned the first pickle before I really knew anything about pedals, but from what I remember it had a ton of bass, so no need for a clean blend.
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Totally unnecessary. An incredibly tweakable fuzz with the internal controls. Don't be afraid of knob extremes - most of mine are almost entirely at one end or another, and it really helps to understand what each does. This video was incredibly helpful in that regard. Good luck if you grab another!
 
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#77
For years my HX stomp did me proud and let me feed a nice signal into the PA (and my IEM)

Two things changed in 2022

I picked up a JHS Colourbox v2 which is amazing end of chain DI with EQ and a nice transformer thing going on which to my ears helps the bass just fit better…

I sold the stomp and bought and made a ton of other pedals that eventually will be built up onto a pedalboard
 
#79
I reworked my pedalboard with 5 new pedals and I retired a few old ones.

This was my old setup.

1 - input into a bass EQ pedal
2 - split the signal into 4 parallel pathways
3 - bass pod 2.0
4 - mxr bass di +
5 - marshall guvnor and Bass flanger
6 - original VT bass
7 - combine the 4 parallel signals back into one signal and send it to an amp.


upload_2022-12-23_10-50-46.png



upload_2022-12-23_10-57-0.png
 
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