| Author | Message | ||
| blackelan
Member Username: blackelan Post Number: 63 Registered: 7-2007 |
For my guitar stuff the TC electronics G Major works great for most things with a nice preamp. For the bass are pedals the way to go? I have not heard of any great all in one units for the bass like they have for the guitar. When I say effects I mean Delay, Flanger, Reverb, tremolo and distortion to name a few. I have a Digitech bass whammy for the pitch shifting. | ||
| olieoliver
Senior Member Username: olieoliver Post Number: 2162 Registered: 2-2006 |
I don't use a whole lot of effects but My BassPodXT Live works real well for me. I like chorus and reverb and the amp modeling is pretty good too. I've never been a fan of stomp boxes, for guitar or bass. Every guitar I've ever worked with ends up having trouble with the patch cables or power supplies or extreme volumes boost. That's why I like the all in one units. I looked at the ART system way back when for bass but never tried it. I think Flip uses an Art, I may be wrong though. OO | ||
| darkstar01
Intermediate Member Username: darkstar01 Post Number: 146 Registered: 6-2005 |
i just got a amt communist pig bass distortion pedal, and it's the best pedal i've ever used. i've never been a fan of all in one pedals, because it seems like all the effects just end up being okay, not great. | ||
| spose
Advanced Member Username: spose Post Number: 256 Registered: 5-2002 |
I've used many FX pedals with my series bass with success. I like to run most FX on one channel and leave the other, usually the bottom end clean and dry. | ||
| briant
Advanced Member Username: briant Post Number: 273 Registered: 12-2004 |
Reverb? Why are you using reverb on bass? Individual pedals are the way to go. They sound better and offer much easier on the fly adjustments. What I have: overdrive/distortion: ZVex Woolly Mammoth, Hughes & Kettner Tube Factor chorus: TC Electronics chorus/flange synth: Chunk Systems Octavius, Akai Deep Impact octaver: EBS Octabass delay: Digitech digital (good for making whale noises...) envelope: Moog Moogerfooger 101 I only have a small subset of all this on my board. Basically only what I need for my cover band. That Moogerfooger is a bastard to deal with having on a board. I actually have a multiple loop pedal so I can isolate that pedal to its own loop. It doesn't have an output level knob and even when it is bypassed you get the gain boost from the input gain stage of the pedal. Whoever over at Moog who thought that was a good idea needs a punch in the neck. "Every guitar I've ever worked with ends up having trouble with the patch cables or power supplies or extreme volumes boost. That's why I like the all in one units. I looked at the ART system way back when for bass but never tried it." It is very easy to avoid those problems - use good cables and keep the pedals on a board of some sort so you're not constantly plugging/unplugging everything. Use a power supply instead of batteries - Godlyke makes a great one (I have two of them). To avoid the stupid volume boosts/drops? JUST CHECK EVERY PEDAL AFTER YOU PLUG IN!!! I'm going to start carrying a brick around with me so I can smash guitar players in the face with it when they step on a pedal and suddenly are 4x louder. All you need to do is check every pedal really quickly and make sure no knobs got bumped during transit. Easy. Make the adjustments and you don't wind up looking (and sounding) like a complete jackass on stage. Those ART Nightbass things sound awful. | ||
| flaxattack
Senior Member Username: flaxattack Post Number: 2189 Registered: 4-2004 |
i have the pod xt and also bought a chorus pedal maybe i am old fashioned but i just like the old fashioned alembic sound if anyone is interested in my pod- shoot me an email | ||
| olieoliver
Senior Member Username: olieoliver Post Number: 2167 Registered: 2-2006 |
I had a type-o it should have read, ...I like "THE" chorus and reverb on the Basspod..... and I really only use effect very minimal effects and usually not when I'm playing live mostly just kickin' aroud the house. BUT if I'm taking a lead, which I do on occasion I may insert a very light plate reverb and kill a lot of the lows. We've been having lead guitar problems at church, (not showing up), and I actually play more lead fills and such. But 95% of the time I'm a straight clean sound NO distortion big bottom end player! OO | ||
| dnburgess
Senior Member Username: dnburgess Post Number: 594 Registered: 1-2003 |
Bass People is co-ordinating a series of bass effects shootouts for Australian Guitar magazine (which has a bass supplement). Last edition we tested about ten envelope followers. For classic P-Funk vibe the winners were the Q-Tron (the full size model) and the Mutron III+. For a more organic vibe the EBS Bass IQ was worth considering. For versatility the Agent 000 Funk. Next edition is bass distortion / overdrive. We have tested 20 pedals in what I think is the largest shootout of its kind ever attempted. The top 3 overall were: Big Muff Pi, Moollon Bass Driver, Tech 21 XXL Bass Edition Judged on sound alone the top 2 were: Aguilar Agro, E-H Graphic Fuzz. Coming in equal third were: Aguilar Tone Hammer, Xotic BB Bass Pre, MXR Bass DI+, T.Rex Bass Juice, GK Diesel Dawg Regarding Chorus, I have personally tried a few and like the TC Electronic Stereo Chorus Flange. | ||
| briant
Advanced Member Username: briant Post Number: 274 Registered: 12-2004 |
"maybe i am old fashioned but i just like the old fashioned alembic sound" That's how I feel about bass in general - my Alembics or any other bass I own. I only use effects when I'm emulating what the original recording had going on. On any average 3 set (~45 songs) night I'll use effects on less than 10 songs. | ||
| bsee
Senior Member Username: bsee Post Number: 2209 Registered: 3-2004 |
I use a bass pod XT all night long, but with minimal "effect". There are four slightly modified presets that pretty much cover it for me. One of them has a little chorus on it and they all have some amount of compression. The rest is just amp/cab emulation. A couple songs a night I'll turn on a POG for eight string simulation, but that's about it these days. I have a spare Bass Pod XT as well if anyone is looking for one. -bob | ||
| dlbydgtl
Member Username: dlbydgtl Post Number: 56 Registered: 7-2008 |
i agree with Brian. I am kind of a purist when it comes to sound. I will use a chorus pedal once in awhile, depending on the show. But, have gotten the most compliments about my sound using straight Alembic. John | ||
| darkstar01
Intermediate Member Username: darkstar01 Post Number: 148 Registered: 6-2005 |
i think it depends on the situation. playing completely improvised music, i need (read: want) pedals to make crazy sounds and create textures that i can't get without them. that being said, if i were to play a gig that didn't necessarily "require" pedals or crazy noises, i'd agree that i prefer the sound of my alembic or whatever bass i'm playing by itself. that's why i bought them in the first place. | ||
| blackelan
Member Username: blackelan Post Number: 64 Registered: 7-2007 |
I think for a straight clean tone you cant beat a Alembic in a Ampeg SVT II pro and thats it. Since I am into Metal and rock I do want to have a variation in effects and I plan on doing a ton of covers as well. Thanks for the replies. I will be building up my pedal board since it seams the only true way to go with the bass effects. I already have a Made in Japan Boss Flanger pedal and am looking for a Boss DD3 MIJ pedal as well to compliment it. | ||
| davehouck
Moderator Username: davehouck Post Number: 7685 Registered: 5-2002 |
For what it's worth. I use a Lexicon MPX1 rack mount multi-effects controlled by a Yamaha midi controller pedal board. I have five basic patches that I have set up, and each has its own foot switch. The differences between the five are that two are flanges and three are choruses. There is another foot switch that turns the flange/chorus on or off for any of the patches. There is another switch that chooses between two different reverb settings for all five patches. I always have one or the other of the reverbs on all the time. There is another switch that turns delay on or off for all patches. And one that turns vibrato on or off for all patches. The board also has a pedal that I've patched as a volume pedal. Personally, it think all sounds pretty good. The tune I linked to a few weeks ago had reverb, chorus, delay, and vibrato, all of which was a bit too much. If I record that tune again, it probably won't have the vibrato. The system was very difficult for me to set up; and now that it's working I hesitate to make any changes. I may at some point patch in another pedal to control the delay speed, and maybe one to control the amount of delay as well. Etc. Of course, as mentioned above, it depends on what you are playing. And I'm not playing metal, or even rock. All of the stuff I'm working on right now is solo oriented where I'm doing a lot of chordal things and playing way up on the neck. And it's a steep learning curve; I still can't play any of the songs consistently well enough to take them out in public. And there's still not enough material to do a two hour set. I have a lot of work to do. But I think it sounds pretty good, and should work well for a solo coffee house gig ... some day. | ||
| beatlejuice
Junior Username: beatlejuice Post Number: 22 Registered: 3-2003 |
Only thing I use is a chorus pedal and a tuner, which doubles as a standby switch when changing basses. | ||
| hieronymous
Senior Member Username: hieronymous Post Number: 544 Registered: 1-2005 |
One thing to be aware of is that some pedals color the sound, even when switched off. I have heard that Boss pedals do this. The Moogerfoogers as well - even when switched off, the signal still goes through the Moog preamp. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but something to keep in mind. True bypass pedals are one solution, putting some effects into a switchable effects loop is another... | ||
| olieoliver
Senior Member Username: olieoliver Post Number: 2182 Registered: 2-2006 |
Excellent point Harry. I prefer running any effects though my loop on my amp and switch them on and off that way. OO | ||
| crobbins
Advanced Member Username: crobbins Post Number: 250 Registered: 6-2004 |
No FXs here at all. Just my bass and Ampeg SVT(1971).. | ||
| byoung
Senior Member Username: byoung Post Number: 1189 Registered: 12-2004 |
I tried out a motion sound unit (pro3) on top of my bass rig tonight, and I really dug it. Kinda one-trick pony as far as I can tell, though. Not really a pedal, but pretty cool none the less. Bradley | ||
| davehouck
Moderator Username: davehouck Post Number: 7698 Registered: 5-2002 |
Bradley; I have the vague recollection of playing at a pool party in 1972, and that for some reason the cabinet I was playing through was a Leslie. I do recall playing previous gigs through borrowed Plush amps and cabs. Soon after that I purchased a used Ampeg V4B with a 2x15 folded horn cab. I guess the Leslie sound just wasn't what we were going after for bass. | ||
| byoung
Senior Member Username: byoung Post Number: 1190 Registered: 12-2004 |
Oh, but Dave, you should try one on the new six string. I ran it crossed-over out of my F1X: High to the Pro3 Low to the QSC -> Acme B-2 It's like the thought I've had for a while of running a guitar amp on top of my bass rig (with a crossover). It goes wahwahwahwahwahwahwahwahwahwahwahwah! | ||
| davehouck
Moderator Username: davehouck Post Number: 7706 Registered: 5-2002 |
I think the Lexicon has a rotary speaker effect. I do like to switch on my vibrato setting and play Crimson And Clover! One of my favorite bands was Poco; and Rusty Young would run his pedal steel through a Leslie, with some pretty cool results. | ||
| charles_holmes
New Username: charles_holmes Post Number: 5 Registered: 3-2009 |
Hey Dave, I have the MPX1 too but did not have anyway to control it. What is the specific Yahmaha Midi controller that you use? I imagine that it needs to be programed to work with the Lexicon. Any other details? Thanks! | ||
| davehouck
Moderator Username: davehouck Post Number: 7752 Registered: 5-2002 |
MFC10. Yes, there is some basic programming of the controller, but also of the MPX1 to assign the foot switches and pedal. For me, the process of getting the system to work turned out to be quite complex. It was not as straight forward as I originally thought. For instance, for quite a while until I figured out how things needed to be set up, switching on or off a channel or patch would change how other channels were set up. This is a Lexicon issue, not the controller. I consulted the manual extensively, but it didn't seem to me to address this issue adequately. And of course, it could very well be that I still don't understand the situation fully. But what I have set up now works, and it seems to sound good to me. | ||
| beatlejuice
Junior Username: beatlejuice Post Number: 23 Registered: 3-2003 |
Dave, Glad to see another Poco fan around. I saw them live way back when Timothy B. Schmit was with them. Always thought they should've been what the Eagles ended up being. Bill | ||
| davehouck
Moderator Username: davehouck Post Number: 7754 Registered: 5-2002 |
Bill, I lot of people have felt that way. I think that perhaps one reason might be that while Poco's albums always seemed to have one or two great tunes, the rest of the material wouldn't be as strong; whereas the Eagles albums seemed more consistently strong throughout. Here's Rose Of Cimmaron. Beautiful tune. | ||
| 57basstra
Senior Member Username: 57basstra Post Number: 818 Registered: 4-2005 |
 Another Poco fan here. Also a fan of the late Phil Hartman who drew the Poco horse Logo for album "Legend" "It is the deeply bizarre height of sadness and tragedy that we speak now about Phil Hartman in the past tense. He drew this horse - a paragon of economical lines leading directly to action and emotion - for Poco for the cover of their 1978 album "Legend." No truer a title chosen. Philip Edward "Phil" Hartman, September 24, 1948 – May 28, 1998. Comedian, artist, writer, father." Internet Source Pictogram | ||
| edwin
Senior Member Username: edwin Post Number: 417 Registered: 5-2002 |
Lexicon MPX G2 with the R1 footcontroller is hands down the best rack setup I've ever seen. the way the pedal integrates with the rack unit is perfect. When you hit a button, all the other buttons become on/off switches for each individual effect block so it becomes like a virtual pedalboard. The R1 also integrates with the MPX1 in the same way but the G2 adds a whole slew of guitar/bass related effects, including an analog gain/overdrive effect that is very good. It also has a switchable effects loop and can integrate with the channel switching of an amp. It's such a sad thing that they discontinued this rig. I replaced a monster pedalboard and a 12 space rack with mine. The pitch shifting is good. The only thing that is finicky is the envelope filter effects, but they do work once you get them dialed. Edwin | ||
| peoplechipper
Junior Username: peoplechipper Post Number: 28 Registered: 2-2009 |
Maybe it's because I'm a reforming guitar player, but I've never been able to make racks or multieffectors work for me...if I can't find a sound in 10 minutes, it isn't there...I beat the front end of my Acoustic 370 with a Sansamp bass di(with drive) with a Marshall guv'nor II and Prescription electronics Yardbox when I want MORE distortion...I also have a modified Ibanez Ad-9 delay that I put into a wah case with the repeats on the treadle...like controlled live dub...the repeats increase as I rock back so I push forward to stop the runaway and/or switch the delay off...much fun, just keep your old casing and parts if you ever wanna sell the delay later...Tony. | ||
| qualloyd
Junior Username: qualloyd Post Number: 27 Registered: 9-2008 |
Hi Everyone, GREAT thread! I started playing in the late '70's and ran straight until I retired in the mid-eighties. Once I no-longer worked 3-11's and my son got older, I came out of retirement 5 years ago and started experimenting with effects. I have a Roland CE-1 that I bought new way back when that I ran thru two Peavey combo amps. That was a sweet sound with the stereo effect, but this didn't have a true bypass mod and sucked the tone when off. I turned to ebay and picked up different pedals: Digitech Bass Driver, Ibanez Flanger, Delay, and Phazer. Fun to mess around with but rather impractical for my jams. It seemed "my sound" would be lost with the band...I like subtle! I finally settled on the following: OptoStomp Compressor - Tech 21 SansAmp DI Bass Driver - Boss BF3 Flanger & Boss (Vintage) DM3 Analog Delay thru Road Rage True Bypass Looper mounted on CNB Pedal Board powered by 1-Spot adapter. The Road Rage eliminates any tone-sucking while the SansAmp really brings out the highs and gives just an ever so slight grind. I've recently purchased Tech 21's VT Character Series Bass Pedal, which gives the same effect as the DI Bass Driver. If traveling light, that pedal is a MUST! As many people describe, "It's like someone removed a blanket from over the speakers!" It stays on full-time, as does my OptoStomp and DI Bass Driver on my board, when I use that. I hope I haven't put anyone to sleep! Lloyd  | ||
| peoplechipper
Junior Username: peoplechipper Post Number: 44 Registered: 2-2009 |
Not at all LLoyd. The sansamp bass DI is the only pedal (guitar or bass) that has ever been on ALWAYS and is great sounding; gives the right amount of grind and treble (I play in a three piece and the guitar player is a noodly type so I have to cover a lot of ground...) If you ever get another analog delay try the idea I posted earlier(repeats on treadle) the one you have is totally clean so don't mess with it...my old guitar pedalboard was 4'x2' two rows of pedals; I use SO much less now on bass | ||
| qualloyd
Junior Username: qualloyd Post Number: 28 Registered: 9-2008 |
Hi Tony, Thanks for the shout. I've had my DM-3 since I bought it new a looooong time ago. Being the pack-rat I am I hang on to equipment if it doesn't take up much room in storage. I've Googled it and see I've got a somewhat well received piece. I just know that it sounds better than the Ibanez Tone-Lock Delay and the more expensive re-issued purple box, whatever it's number. Lloyd | ||
| peoplechipper
Member Username: peoplechipper Post Number: 55 Registered: 2-2009 |
Lloyd, try the wah delay thing it is much fun...find a rough dm-2 or Ibanez ad-9 and go dub crazy...if you use overdrive before the delay they go crazy!!!...fun! Tony | ||
| qualloyd
Junior Username: qualloyd Post Number: 31 Registered: 9-2008 |
Hi Tony. I just checked my purple box and it is an AD-9. I think my experimenting is over. I've stumbled upon many cool/wild/interesting sounds, especially driving them with my 8-string! Besides being impractical, it "cheapens" the natural beauty of owning an Alembic, IMHO. Like I stated earlier, I lean towards subtly enhancing a bass's sound, not masking it. I usually jam with two guitars and drums...very LOUD! Before Christmas, one guitarist couldn't make it. I had THE MOST FUN as a three piece band! The sound blended quite well. My only effect was the VT Character Series with my 4-string Spoiler. I think I'll save the board for the 8-string Exploiter since I really like a bit of chorus/flanger with it. Man, I've got to learn to keep my posts short! Lloyd | ||
| bassman10096
Senior Member Username: bassman10096 Post Number: 1201 Registered: 7-2003 |
You guys sound like you're having a lot of fun and good results with the effects you mentioned. I've never warmed up to any effect enough to want to take it home with me. For me (and obviously not for all) the natural output of my Alembic or other basses, sliced and diced with passive and active EQ and tonal filtering (eg SF-2, though I just sold mine) is all I ever found interesting. I'm very, very choosy about the basses I play, so I don't need effects to change the fundamental output sound. Interesting that I have so little desire to try a bunch more effects. No knock on those who do - to each his own - and I do like plenty of players' processed sounds. Just not for me. Given that I experiment with just about everything else about my gear (I'm one of the few hardy souls who lugs a BagEnd ELF sub to many gigs), it seems strange to me that I have no interest in effects - could it be a genetic flaw? The result of poor diet? (LOL) (Message edited by bassman10096 on March 27, 2009) | ||
| qualloyd
Junior Username: qualloyd Post Number: 32 Registered: 9-2008 |
I'm hesitant to call the Tech-21 SansAmp DI and it's non-DI little brother the VT Character Series effects pedals. I know, by definition they are, but they work more as a pre-amp, affecting (effecting?) the tone by extending EQ parameters, not so much as shaping, modifying, or death-metal distorting the input signal. This could lead to a new thread! Rack-mount vs. pedal pre-amps! Or how about compressors? BBE makes an excellent pedal based on their rack comp. As long as it's not turned up to the point of squashing the tone, it's hardly noticeable unless switched off. I've always wanted to try a Sonic Maximizer in pedal form. Is running straight into an amp equipped with a built-in comp different than using a pedal? My Genz-Benz NeoPak 3.5 has a tube pre-amp that gives me an overdrive if needed, nicer than the b@ll$-out distortion of my Digi-Tech Bass Driver I tried for a short while. Let's not worry about the signal loss or resistance of additional wires and plugs and jacks and... MY BRAIN HURTS...but just a little. It's a good thing I've got a little brain! Lloyd | ||
| qualloyd
Junior Username: qualloyd Post Number: 33 Registered: 9-2008 |
MY BAD! I just realized the thread's title IS "Best effects for a bass? Rack or pedals?" I must've taken a left at Albuquerque. And some people wonder how I got the name "QuaLloyd." | ||
| peoplechipper
Member Username: peoplechipper Post Number: 58 Registered: 2-2009 |
Lloyd! I think the folks here are perfectly fine with detours and rabbit holes...I haven't been kicked off yet, so they must be accomodating...or they tink we're 'special ed' and giving us longer rope!!!! I play in a 3 piece band and my guitar player is a wild card at best, so I can't go wild on effects...but I highly reccomend modifying that AD-9 into a wah...live dub if you want it, or controllable accents(if they're big spaces...) Tony | ||
| terryc
Senior Member Username: terryc Post Number: 752 Registered: 11-2004 |
Davehouck..I have done some bistro/restaurant gigs on my own, I use loop station and a Zoom B1u which has a drum machine in it. The loop station is great as you can set up a lot of backing loops into it and solo over the top as well as switching between different phrases. I re wrote most of the patches on the Zoom, I think these little units are very underrated as they got the 'cheap' label attached to them but they do say that the processor chip used in these units is very advanced for it's price range. Beatles tunes always go down well! Just get out there and do it, the first one is always the hardest!!! | ||
| davehouck
Moderator Username: davehouck Post Number: 7810 Registered: 5-2002 |
Terry; thanks for the comments! I have actually done one short gig, the performance of which was quite poor. So, I'm not wanting to go back out until there is significant improvement in my playing. Personally, I don't like playing with loops and drum machines, so the stuff I'm working on is fairly chordal so that listeners hopefully still have enough content to make it interesting. I did have one Beatles tune on the list, but I haven't worked on it in quite some time. I should probably revisit it; thanks for the reminder. | ||
| blackelan
Member Username: blackelan Post Number: 71 Registered: 7-2007 |
Keep talking I just bought a Tech 21 DI bass driver for my rig. I am definatley going with pedals for my bass rig, I am just looking for a Boss DD3 Made in Japan model. I also have to find someone to build me a pedal board. | ||
| gtrguy
Intermediate Member Username: gtrguy Post Number: 189 Registered: 9-2004 |
Hey Dave, a Rusty Young fan! Wow, I am getting out my Melobar tonight and plugging it in! Bye, Dave | ||
| peoplechipper
Member Username: peoplechipper Post Number: 71 Registered: 2-2009 |
Dave, you actually HAVE a Melobar?! COOL! I've never seen one in the flesh, so I'm kind of assuming no one in Vancouver has one...do they still make it? Tony | ||
| davehouck
Moderator Username: davehouck Post Number: 7853 Registered: 5-2002 |
Tony; apparently so. The web page for Melobar is here. | ||
| peoplechipper
Member Username: peoplechipper Post Number: 75 Registered: 2-2009 |
Cool! but only the Sidewinder is a REAL Melobar; their clame to fame is the stand-up steel guitar..glad it's there! Tony | ||
| gtrguy
Intermediate Member Username: gtrguy Post Number: 193 Registered: 9-2004 |
I have three of them, all from the 70's. I will be selling one or two soon. Here's is one I am working on.  |
