Small pedal board - help!

[scrumpymike]

OK, so I've finally succumbed to 'pedal envy' and decided it's time to drag my ass into the 21st century (or even 20th??). Nothing extravagant mind - I've just bought the Bass Soul Food overdrive from Electro Harmonix, to which I plan to add a chromatic tuner and volume pedal. Questions: The Boss TU-3 seems to be a good bet but it looks expensive at only tenner below the Soul Food price - if all I want is a basic tuner, am I paying for stuff I don't need? Then, can anybody recommend a good volume pedal? And finally I'll need a small board/case to suit - maybe with enough room for future expansion. (From zero to a 4 pedals? Surely not!).

Cheers guys.

[randymussel]

If you've only got a small board, why not use a clip-on headstock tuner? You can get two for the price of a TU3, and you've got more space on your board. The volume control on your bass acts as a tuner mute if that's part of the attraction for you.

[dannybuoy]

I would look at a Hotone Bass Press which is a triple function volume/wah/expression pedal. You might not have considered a bass wah but if it's not much different in price to a standalone volume pedal then it'd be silly to pass it up! Clip on tuners are great, but I still prefer my Polytune Mini.

[DanEly]

Get a Pedaltrain peal board - http://www.pedaltrain.com/pedalboards/

Personally I really like my TU3. Easy to read and tuners are probably the most useful thing on your board.

[lefrash]

2nd hand zoom ms60b. Same price range as a brand new dedicated pedal... the tuning works perfect and it has the added bonus of a million other pedal combinations in a boss sized pedal. Great space saving invention of all time!

[Mudpup]

[quote name='lefrash' timestamp='1468869568' post='3093951']
2nd hand zoom ms60b. Same price range as a brand new dedicated pedal... the tuning works perfect and it has the added bonus of a million other pedal combinations in a boss sized pedal. Great space saving invention of all time!
[/quote]

THIS :-)

[scrumpymike]

Thanks guys - looks like a TU-3 and Pedaltrain Nano with rechargeable power supply! The Zoom looks brilliant but way too complicated for me.

[lefrash]

[quote name='scrumpymike' timestamp='1468917679' post='3094228']
Thanks guys - looks like a TU-3 and Pedaltrain Nano with rechargeable power supply! The Zoom looks brilliant but way too complicated for me.
[/quote]

Trust me... it's a slippery slope these pedal things! 😂😂

[nash]

TC Polytune mini if you have a tiny board.

[scrumpymike]

OK, so we're two-thirds of the way there - darn useful these things!

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Just reading stuff on volume pedals and I see some of them have a dedicated socket for a tuner - what's the difference between using that and just having everything daisy-chained in series?

[dannybuoy]

It lets you have one less link in your signal chain, and if the tuner output is buffered and always on, will allow you to keep the tuner on permanently whilst you play. Which might be useful for long sustained notes on fretless!

[TrevorR]

With the Boss TU or TC Polytune tuners you are paying for a mixture of stability and bomb-proofness. Either is an investment and well worth a few extra pounds. Been using the same TU-2 for 25 years and got a Polytune when they first came out for a second gig bag. Probably prefer the TC marginally but they're both no regrets purchases.

[JapanAxe]

Good call on the Pitch Black - best tuner I have had, tiny current draw when not in use, and true bypass (to which it also defaults when the power goes down).

[scrumpymike]

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1469866344' post='3101541']
It lets you have one less link in your signal chain, and if the tuner output is buffered and always on, will allow you to keep the tuner on permanently whilst you play. Which might be useful for long sustained notes on fretless!
[/quote]
Thanks for that Danny.

[scrumpymike]

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1470130977' post='3103395']
Good call on the Pitch Black - best tuner I have had, tiny current draw when not in use, and true bypass (to which it also defaults when the power goes down).
[/quote]

Wasn't sure following multiple recommendations on this forum for Boss and TC, so pleased to get your feedback. Must say that I was impressed with it anyway after unpacking it (looks/feels bomb-proof) and first gig.