This whole Bass effects lark......

[CPBass]

Hi Folks,

Until last year I had been a true believer in clean bass sounds, except for overdriving the pre amp. Having played for 20 odd years I thought I was pretty sorted. That was until I bought a bass fuzz, from then on I became obsessed with these little boxes that made the sounds I produced weird and wonderful. The guitarist in the band has loads of them and I experiemented with them and purchased the ones I figured i could use. There was such an array available, aesthetically lovely things.

I now have a pretty cool and expensive pedal board with most effect avenues covered. Thing is, I find that they are all very limited in usefulness. I find that every time I look for a sound using these boxes, my original power and tone is compromised. I end up going back to my amp and bass set up for my original tone and abandon my search for this elusive unheard sound in my head.

I guess what Im asking is, do I really need these boxes to enhance my deep note delivery or have I suffered a bad case of GAS?

At the moment im considering selling the whole board and getting myself a new bass, am I going mad or has anyone else thought like this?

Col

Edited March 8, 2008 by Voodoosnake

[BOD2]

A lot depends on the type of music you play and what kind of sound suits that style of music.

Personally the only "effect" I would use for bass is some compression but then I happen to like a simple, straight sound and that has suited all the music I play. I have nothing against effects - as a guitarist in a previous life I was happy to use them when needed and I play through a Line 6 Bass POD (but I use it for the amp sounds not the FX).

I have to say I'm quite surprised when I see some of the pedal boards on display here, but then I have no idea what various styles of music these players cover. If you need an FX unit for a specific sound then there's no substitute. I just hate to drag around more gear than I need to.

Think hard about what sound you want, what sounds are needed when you play, then work out what you need to get those sounds.

[Mottlefeeder]

I agree with Bod2's post.

I started with cabs that limited my sound - large speaker in small box boominess - and bought a Zoom Fx unit to provide what I thought I wanted. Since upgrading my gear, I like the sound of the basses, and the Zoom unit sits at home as a flat-EQ preamp and tuner feeding my mixer.

If you are doing covers, you may have to go that route, but if you apply your own style to what you play, pick your own sound.

[markyboy2106]

I think one of the big issues, and one of the more demoralising aspects of using effects is the loss of your own bass's unique sound, and I think the use of a blender that mixes your bass's Dry signal with the Wet signal of any given effect may enable you to improve the usefulness of some of those pedals as some of their rawness may be removed. I am absolutely no expert, but it is something I believe helps. I believe there are a few around, Xotic X-Blender for example.

[BOD2]

[quote name='markyboy2106' post='153769' date='Mar 8 2008, 11:18 PM']I think one of the big issues, and one of the more demoralising aspects of using effects is the loss of your own bass's unique sound, and I think the use of a blender that mixes your bass's Dry signal with the Wet signal of any given effect may enable you to improve the usefulness of some of those pedals as some of their rawness may be removed. I am absolutely no expert, but it is something I believe helps. I believe there are a few around, Xotic X-Blender for example.[/quote]


Aha - but therein lies the problem ! You're suggesting (to a man who has stated he suffers from GAS) that the answer to his problem with FX pedals is to buy another FX pedal. Where will it end

(I'm just kidding, of course, but there is an element of truth in that search for the next piece of kit that will magically fix everything, when sometimes the answer is to pare things down)

[The Funk]

I have a pretty large pedal board now - I don't take it to gigs anymore. It's just annoying when you're only playing a half-hour set. If the sets were longer, I'd take it with me.

I do use it in the studio though. The trouble with live is that the overall sound out front isn't always very good - and I'd rather people could just hear my bass clearly than hear I'm using an effect but not much else.

[CPBass]

[quote name='The Funk' post='153935' date='Mar 9 2008, 03:20 PM']I have a pretty large pedal board now - I don't take it to gigs anymore. It's just annoying when you're only playing a half-hour set. If the sets were longer, I'd take it with me.

I do use it in the studio though. The trouble with live is that the overall sound out front isn't always very good - and I'd rather people could just hear my bass clearly than hear I'm using an effect but not much else.[/quote]

My sentiments exactly.

The more I think about it the more Im realising that all I need is a strong clear sound to create the groove. Im not a soloist at heart, I do a few but nowhere near enough to warrant overt focus.

I guess its the same argument with 5, 6, 7 string basses.

Think im going to remove the complexities of effects and get back to BASSics. Anyone looking for some effects??? see the For Sale postings.

Cheers


Col

Edited March 9, 2008 by Voodoosnake

[The Funk]

I still like to use some on recordings from time to time. On recordings you can actually hear the bass and the effect - and it doesn't all sound like mid-range sludge.

Another problem is that all the settings I have for effects in the studio don't necessarily cut through live. So I might get the balance between keeping the low end and having the effect sound cool in the studio but live I have to choose between cutting through and keeping my low end.

I'd rather have my low end and lost the effect.

[MacDaddy]

But what about the fun aspect? It can be great fun just fathing with sounds and effects

They might not be used in a band context, but that's not the point. Even so I'm all for pushing the envelope.

[CPBass]

[quote name='MacDaddy' post='154002' date='Mar 9 2008, 04:44 PM']But what about the fun aspect? It can be great fun just fathing with sounds and effects

They might not be used in a band context, but that's not the point. Even so I'm all for pushing the envelope.[/quote]


Its the fun aspect that pulled me into the whole genre.

All im asking is that once the novelty wears off are you left with something useful. Ive found the opposite to be true, despite all the fun and WOW factor stuff I can churn out It doesnt enhance my gig work.

Its all subjective really

[cheddatom]

I've been gigging with a large board (20+ pedals) for the past 4 years. I have to say i've never had any of these problems. I use blending and.... well, lot's of stuff to keep my low end, or boost it, or cut it when I like. Basically, it came from wanting a big live sound with only one guitarist, and I think it works really well. At first, I was ok with a couple of distortions and a blender, but then I started mixing our CDs and realise how much I really wanted to do with my bass sound. When i'm mixing, I like to boost the low end for choruses and heavy riffs etc, so I bought an EQ pedal to do this. That's just one example of a practical use for pedals that has nothing to do with novelty.

I guess if I was in a band with two guitarists then I could cut it down to a limiter, a blender, an overdrive, and two EQs, but that's the bare minimum. I suppose some people have these facilities built into their amps?

Oh, also, I am using a guitar amp for everything above about 800Hz. Maybe this helps?

[wotnwhy]

a good few years ago i got really into effects. and ended up with an awful lot of them. it was great fun playing around with all these wonderful new sounds. but after a while i got fed up of carting these bludy things to jams and stopped taking them there. i then stopped taking them to smaller gigs and as time went by i completely stopped using them outside of home. so when my next bout of GAS hit, i had a lot of money tied up in pedals i never really used. so every single one of them got sold.

then, a few years on, i started getting cravings to make stupid silly sounds. plus trying to get a live dnb band on the go. i wanted some effects, but alas. all were gone....


i guess what i'm trying to get across is, if you feel you want to stop using effects and get back to BASSics then go for it. but i wouldn't rush to sell on what you got. as months or years down the line they may prove their worth again.

[silverfoxnik]

I think it depends what effects you want to use and why?

Most great bass sounds we hear on record have been put through some effects, such as compressors, graphic or parametic e.q., chorus etc. That's usually done to get a great sound that works in a recorded context.

Personally, I use effects in a gigging situation for just that same purpose, i.e. to improve the sound of the bass in a live situation.. Whenever I do that, I always put the bass directly into the amp first and then use the send & return on the amp to drive the effects units.. That way I can be sure I'm not compromising the quality of the original tone of the bass..

If however, you want to use your effects to create new and exciting sounds and be a bit more musically creative with the bass, then I think it's down to a choice between your desire to express your 'creativity' or your desire to get the very best tonal quality..

[BigBassBob]

[quote]i guess what i'm trying to get across is, if you feel you want to stop using effects and get back to BASSics then go for it. but i wouldn't rush to sell on what you got. as months or years down the line they may prove their worth again.[/quote]

+100000!

I've gone in and out of effects phases since I began playing bass. I've sold all of my pedals after I decided to go back to basics but then I ended up regretting a few of those sales (namely my compressor and wah). Right now, I'm recovering from another round of effects GAS (include a fair amount of new pedals and a Deep Impact which I ended up selling in the past year).

At the moment, I'm making a micro board with a tuner, compressor and a blender with an overdrive in the loop. Simple, breadandbutter setup