Pedal option paralysis

[Quatschmacher]

This is still ongoing and has crept back to over 20.

 

I didn’t keep the VBO for long as ended up scoring a Japanese OC-2 which sounds nicer. Also finally managed to track down another Octabvre MKII (silly money but it’s my biggest pedal-selling regret). I swear, no more octavers for me.

 

I’ve opened the Pandora’s Box of preamp pedals now though. Don’t know how I avoided that for 30 years!

 

Also got a Chase Bliss Billy Strings Wombtone coming which will rectify my one other pedal-selling regret (Wombtone MKII).

 

Still would like to get a Cali76 compressor too.
 

And I just know I’m going to end up buying another analogue lowpass envelope filter at some point. If I could find a not-ridiculously-priced MuTron/Tru-Tron 3X that’d see me right. 

Edited January 8 by Quatschmacher

[jimbobothy]

… well to add to this I’ve downsized my 12 built boards (😳😆) to just one that consists of a TU3 - Alma Comp - Spark Booster - JDi all on a Nano.

 

Wanted to go back to basics for a bit and actually improve my playing, rather than spend time focused on pedals and related gear!! It’s all fun etc but think I was starting to get a bit overwhelmed by it all!

 

Now the funny thing is I’m seriously considering getting another Zoia to simplify (or go down an even bigger black hole 🕳️) it all!!

 

 

Edited January 8 by jimbobothy

[MrDinsdale]

I've really paired back my board to:

Canvas Tuner > Cali76 v2 > EAE Dagger > DCX Bass > EAE Model FeT > DG Element. 

 

Really enjoying it. Super versatile but all the pedals do one sound that I really love and rarely touch unless there's a really minor correction due to the bass I’m using etc.

 

I've shifted my Quad Cortex on to a separate board that I use for Guitar so always have the option there if i want. I don't think I get pedal option paralysis but I do like playing with stuff a little more than I probably should. This makes it much easier to avoid!

[Quatschmacher]

I’ve lost the plot now. Got 8 new pedals coming this week though five are loaners. 

[krispn]

38 minutes ago, Quatschmacher said:

I’ve lost the plot now. Got 8 new pedals coming this week though five are loaners. 

🫣

[LukeFRC]

1 hour ago, Quatschmacher said:

I’ve lost the plot now. Got 8 new pedals coming this week though five are loaners. 

seen the Broughton Fliptop is available again tomorrow? 

 

 

https://www.broughtonaudio.com/product-page/fliptop

 

 

not that I need to tempt you more @Quatschmacher!

Edited January 23 by LukeFRC

[Quatschmacher]

10 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

seen the Broughton Fliptop is available again tomorrow? 

 

 

https://www.broughtonaudio.com/product-page/fliptop

 

 

not that I need to tempt you more @Quatschmacher!

I did thanks to @charlietuna and just know I’ll cave!

[Quatschmacher]

58 minutes ago, krispn said:

🫣

I blame you partly!🙂

[Quatschmacher]

And Morningstar have some interesting stuff showing at NAMM; hoping I can do more beta testing for them. 

[Quatschmacher]

20 hours ago, LukeFRC said:

seen the Broughton Fliptop is available again tomorrow? 

 

 

https://www.broughtonaudio.com/product-page/fliptop

 

 

not that I need to tempt you more @Quatschmacher!

Yep, caved instantly. 

[HoorayForAnonyms]

48 minutes ago, Quatschmacher said:

Yep, caved instantly. 

The Broughton is sitting in my cart. I’m not sure whether to pull the trigger but my dilly-dadling will probably mean it’s sold out by the time I make a decision….so many new pedals to covet…😛

[krispn]

It sounded great in a demo I listened to. 

[Quatschmacher]

1 minute ago, krispn said:

It sounded great in a demo I listened to. 

It is. I had one for a reasonably long time. I sold it not long ago but would like to get one again, partly to see how it fares against the Flex. 

[G-bitch]

This thread title really sums up my feelings. I've just picked up bass again after a 15+ year hiatus and am just bewildered by the pedal market. I was a proper fx geek, rack and pedalboard, but the range of stuff around now and the prices just leave me hugely reluctant to dip my toe in those waters again in case it leads to my falling in and bankrupting myself.

 

From having a nice range of quality pedals before, I'm now Mr cheapo with numerous clones and anything else that comes in under £50 used.

[SumOne]

I love trying out new pedals and mucking about with sounds nearly as much as I love playing Bass, it is sort of a hobby within a hobby.

 

...saying that though, I've come to the conclusion with any bands I've been in there really isn't the need for fussing over small sound details. Going through an Amp/Cab and up against a drummer, 2x guitars, singer etc any subtleties get lost and it comes down to the fundamental things: simplicity, reliability, being in-tune, transportable, perhaps stomping on something for boost/drive, and compression helps but isn't essential. At the moment a Boss GX-100 is doing that for me.

 

Now I almost take it as two separate things: 'Bread and butter' tough, reliable, gigging equipment, and 'mucking about with sounds at home' equipment. For the 'mucking about with sounds' as I'm just doing that at home I'm finding a good Laptop, Interface and Plugins (via 'Gig Performer 5' host) to be a very deep rabbit hole as the possibilities are pretty much limitless (and using a synth/keyboard, but that's a whole other thing),  it does potentially lead to too many options, and isn't very road-worthy, but then again, I'm only really mucking about with it at home for the sake of mucking about rather than Bass gigging so it's all good for that.  

 

 

Edited Thursday at 14:20 by SumOne

[Quatschmacher]

I think I can probably slow down a bit now. I’ve found some nice preamps that do the (old school) things I was after with my rosewood P bass/flats combo. At some point I might revisit things for use with the maple P/rounds combo as that’s a very different vibe.

 

I found I dismissed the Capo quickly as it didn’t do the old school stuff as well as other things but it really added some heft to my Octabvre and was good for sparkly stuff, but probably overkill if all I’d ever use it for were clean sounds. I’m sure there’s other stuff that can do that. I need to explore my SA Bass ZIO for those kinds of sounds before acquiring more stuff.

 

I may even be able to let go of a couple of more things. Then I think the only other thing I’d really like to get again would be a simple analogue lowpass envelope filter and the Behringer MuTron III clone might just fit the bill; nice and cheap too. 

[krispn]

I found I have a pretty stock board with some comp and dirt and minimal eq. It just works. 
 

I’ve been trying out some comp pedals and dirt but it’s hard to see beyond what I’m using. 
 

I have been trying one or two other wee things which I’ve very much enjoyed using but fitting them into the band set  is tricky for the stuff we play. 
 

I have a few pedals I might mount on a spare board I have just for fun at home but it’s likely gonna be the same eq comp and dirt, maybe an octave too. 

[Quatschmacher]

34 minutes ago, krispn said:

I found I have a pretty stock board with some comp and dirt and minimal eq. It just works. 
 

I’ve been trying out some comp pedals and dirt but it’s hard to see beyond what I’m using. 
 

I have been trying one or two other wee things which I’ve very much enjoyed using but fitting them into the band set  is tricky for the stuff we play. 
 

I have a few pedals I might mount on a spare board I have just for fun at home but it’s likely gonna be the same eq comp and dirt, maybe an octave too. 

It’s definitely fun trying this stuff out but I’ll likely always return to these few staples:

 

envelope filter;

phaser;

octaver;

preamp with low-gain drive;

compressor.

 

And the FI4 with a stereo delay and reverb, and maybe stereo chorus.