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Pedal Board Blues


blue
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A board is no different to any other bit of kit. It's tempting to see it as something you filter your sound through, but actually you play it and pedals interact with each other too. Once you understand how it behaves, the tweaking is minor and largely room dependent. I use quite a few, but mostly keep it subtle. Aside from special effects (volume pedal / delay things really), our guitar player has definitely requested a boost in some places and adding overdrive during his solos to fatten things out when the rhythm guitar is lost. I do think that having a board is a relatively new thing for bass players though. My recollection of gigging in the 80s is that if someone had a chorus pedal they were probably regarded as a bit too techy.

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[quote name='radiophonic' timestamp='1505513552' post='3372587']
A board is no different to any other bit of kit. It's tempting to see it as something you filter your sound through, but actually you play it and pedals interact with each other too. Once you understand how it behaves, the tweaking is minor and largely room dependent. I use quite a few, but mostly keep it subtle. Aside from special effects (volume pedal / delay things really), our guitar player has definitely requested a boost in some places and adding overdrive during his solos to fatten things out when the rhythm guitar is lost. I do think that having a board is a relatively new thing for bass players though. My recollection of gigging in the 80s is that if someone had a chorus pedal they were probably regarded as a bit too techy.
[/quote]

Excellent!

Blue

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well you never had a chance with headphones.

headphones sounds different than through your rig at home which sounds different than your rig in a venue which is different than your rig in a half filled venue, which sounds different than your rig in a full venue.......

it's really hard to dial in effects. I have the same problem, my 'tone' is there when I play thru my yammy monitors at home, but even at rehearsal with my rig it sounds worse. Yet to try it live, two weeks to go, YIKES !!!

[quote name='radiophonic' timestamp='1505513552' post='3372587']
My recollection of gigging in the 80s is that if someone had a chorus pedal they were probably regarded as a bit too techy.
[/quote]
yep, I used a Boss Phaser in the 80s, Chorus was too "guitaristy"

Edited by bazztard
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Does your GK amp not have a headphone that you could using that instead of the TC output. That way you should be getting the sound you hear on stage other than the speaker cab difference.

Is the TC delay a proper headphone output ?

EDIT :- just checked my 1001 head and no headphone socket. It was my GK MB200 that has headphone socket. Sorry that idea is out the window.

Dave

Edited by dmccombe7
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It's been said on here over and over (but worth repeating) that at gig volume it's all about the mids. What sounds great at home turns into a boomy mush at gig volume. Cut some bass, add some mids and set the pedals to that sound. It will sound clanky and raw at low volume but will cut through in a live setting. That's my experience anyway.

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Sometimes, you don't want to cut through but just boost your bass presence and fill out the mix with a massive pillow of low end. The new EHX Russian Big Muff delivers here.

At home I'd been practicing with very mid-prominent drives and fuzzes but found darker bass-heavy pedals to work better at loud volumes, even rolling back the tone control on the pedals way back compared to what I would have used though headphones.

Edited by dannybuoy
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[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1505639683' post='3373246']
Sometimes, you don't want to cut through but just boost your bass presence and fill out the mix with a massive pillow of low end. [/quote]

Agreed, and I think I do a good job of that with my MXR Bass Octave pedal. But I fall short when I introduce overdrive or distortion.

Blue

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[quote name='radiophonic' timestamp='1505769495' post='3374237']
Do you routinely record your practice sessions or gigs? What do you sound like with the rest of the band blasting away the frequency spectrum?
[/quote]

We don't rehearse, lately some of out gigs have been recorded but I've never heard any of the recordings.

What I sound like on stage is hit or mis. Some nights I'm really pleased with my on stage sound and tone. Some nights not so much.

To be honest, I have no idea what I sound like through the subs and mains.

Blue

Edited by blue
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I'd see if you can get early into a venue with the sole purpose of playing with the pedalboard. Let your bandmates know what you want to do, after all, it's for the benefit of the songs.
Failing a venue letting you set up a few hours before they open, get a rehearsal space for a few hours.
It's all very well learning how to play songs, but it's also important to get the sounds too.

Another option that I used to do, was to take the out from the pedalboard & into my computer, stick the headphones on, turn off all the pedals & get the volume right from there, then turn on the pedals. I often played along to some of the band's tracks (less the bass). Then when we met up, I'd only need to make some fine adjustments.

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My effects worked great last night.
I did have a chance to do some tweaking before we started the first set.

I did have to keep things in check by adjusting the volume on my bass when I kicked in distortion.

Last night I used a single coil MIJ (2001) 1954 Fender reissue P Bass. Things might have been different had I used one of my Gibsons with humbuckers. Used one of my GK rb1001 heads with one 2 x 10 cab.

Used a little TC reverb, phase, MXR Bass Octave with distortion from MXRs M-80. I would much it up depending on the song.

We do a pretty heavy version of Little Wing and I went full boat with all 4 effects. Phase was pretty subtle.

Blue

Edited by blue
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