Your Magic Tone Sauce Pedal(s)?

[Baloney Balderdash]

So question is, do you have an always on magic tone sauce enhancer pedal in your setup, and if so what is it and what does it do?

 

 

Mine is my EHX Black Finger, tube driven optical compressor, that is the first thing in my signal chain right after the bass (or that is I got a pedal acting exclusively as buffer just before it, since the input impedance of the Black Finger is something like 150kOhm ridiculously low, and some of my high end is cut off my signal if I don't), though with just a very subtle compression dialed in, and predominantly used as a tube preamp stage, with the tubes (2 x EHX 12AX7EH), which are operating at proper high 300V plate voltage, driven to just on the verge of their breakup point.

 

What it does is relatively subtle, but it changes my tone from great to amazing, adding an unique warmth and harmonically rich depth to my signal, and just a touch of subtle tube grit when digging in.

 

Here it is, to the far left, together with the rest of my temporary setup, as I am in the process of completely rearranging my "amp-less" pedal setup, so here is just the core of my always on "clean" tone setup, and the core of my high gain distortion setup:

 

(and yes, it is dirty as hell, but I've owned it for nearly 20 years, it has been all kind of places and have been stomped on with shoes on, and beyond vacuum cleaning it has never been cleaned, also the photo enhancement edit does make it look much worse than it really is, just pretend it is 100% pure magic mojo tone sauce)

 

Edited October 19, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash

[dudewheresmybass]

Dod bifet preamp

 

[BigRedX]

Line6 Helix. I can't imagine ever needing any other signal processing ever again.

[Lozz196]

Sansamp Bass Driver DI, it just “works” 

[BassAdder60]

Genzler 4 on the floor works for me as always on. 
Added bonus of HPF and LPF makes it a powerful device 

Edited September 8, 2023 by BassAdder60

[MrDinsdale]

Jad Freer Capo + Electronic Audio Experiments Model FeT always make everything that little bit better.

 

My Model FeT is actually out of order currently, the last practice one of band we're asking if after it so it's definitely not in my head and is actually making a difference 😂

[Bassmidget209]

I've chased it for a looong time. I have always stick with a sansamp (v1) until a brief period over the past few years. I had an issue with the missing mids and vowed to work with a different preamp. Got a digbeth (Laney) found a whole new world of tonal options and loved footwitchable drive, especially at the end of the chain. In the end missed the sansamp sound. Got a paradriver off of here but still felt it wasn't right. Eventually decided to run the sansamp into the digbeth and it does the job for me for now. I would love a single pedal that does everything they both do. It for now these are doing what I want, if anything enhancing one another 

[LukeFRC]

colourbox v2. Even off it has a transformer in the signal chain and just sounds gooood

[Bolo]

Verellen meatsmoke tube preamp and a cali76 compact deluxe, it gives a nice saturated texture to my tone

[fretmeister]

Boss BC-1X.

 

It’s been a revelation. It just works perfectly. I no longer own a Cali76, Empress, DG SS, Keeley Pro because of it.

[MrDinsdale]

1 hour ago, fretmeister said:

Boss BC-1X.

 

It’s been a revelation. It just works perfectly. I no longer own a Cali76, Empress, DG SS, Keeley Pro because of it.

The GT1000core had a model of it which always sounded great. I never had it at the same time as my DG Hyper Luminal but I think it's one of the reasons I was a little underwhelmed when I got the DG.

[Bagman]

Diamond SGFX Bass/EQ

 

Free The Tone Bass Blaster OD 

[Supernaut]

[thisisswanbon]

JPTR FX Jive really sweetens up my tone in the mix... also found the way huge pork & pickle to work some magic when looking for a hairy rock clean tone. Would love to try one of those JHS colourbox pre's... but so much coin! 

[thisisswanbon]

On 10/09/2023 at 09:41, fretmeister said:

Boss BC-1X.

 

It’s been a revelation. It just works perfectly. I no longer own a Cali76, Empress, DG SS, Keeley Pro because of it.

Those are some pretty big names the boss unit has picked off! If you don't mind me asking,  Do you feel like it does something that the Cali and Empress don't?  I was always put off the boss unit with it being digital.

 

[Noisyjon]

I splashed the cash and bought a Darkglass Microtubes Infinity.

What a box of tricks it is in a compact size - it has knocked my analogue board into a cocked hat! 

[NAS Bass]

EBS Multicomp in dual band mode for just a touch of compression at all times

[fretmeister]

22 minutes ago, thisisswanbon said:

Those are some pretty big names the boss unit has picked off! If you don't mind me asking,  Do you feel like it does something that the Cali and Empress don't?  I was always put off the boss unit with it being digital.

 

 

It's multiband so applies compression differently to different frequencies to give an even result instead of more compression on low notes like a traditional compressor does, it reacts to specifically to the incoming signal in a way that no analogue pedal can, and there is absolutely no dip and swell that affects even the best analogue ones, particularly with high output pickups. It has an incredibly low noise floor. Changing a control does loads of stuff behind the scenes so there isn't a bad setting in the box.

 

It's not really a digital pedal, it's digital control over the compression of the analogue bass signal.

 

It's the most natural sounding compressor I've ever used.

 

It ups the voltage to 18v internally so there's loads of headroom too. The only slight downside is that it will eat a 9V battery in 2-3 hours, but I always use a power supply.

 

It just works, with every bass and at every setting. I haven't found a single compromise.

[Baloney Balderdash]

25 minutes ago, thisisswanbon said:

Those are some pretty big names the boss unit has picked off! If you don't mind me asking,  Do you feel like it does something that the Cali and Empress don't?  I was always put off the boss unit with it being digital.

 

Without being able to answer on his behalf, or really having any personal experience with the pedal I can say as much as because it is digital it can analyze, process and compress several different frequency areas individually and independently, something that, while maybe theoretically possible, is not really viable to do with analog technology. 

 

Like on a standard 1 band analog compressor if you get signal spike at one specific frequency the compressor will still basically compress the entire signal (depending a bit on the specific compressors EQ response though), something that is partially true to analog dual band compressors too, though obvious only half of signal is then compressed.

 

In other words you get a much more complex and balanced signal from the digital Boss compressor. 

 

 

[LukeFRC]

20 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

 

It's not really a digital pedal, it's digital control over the compression of the analogue bass signal.

 

Odd sentence - 

- analogue keeps everything analogue

- digital goes through analogue to digital conversion and back again.

- analogue with digital control uses digital control over an analogue circuit, I think chase bliss do this on a lot of their pedals, or the tech21 deluxe vt bass

 

boss bc-1x is digital. (And there’s nothing at all wrong with that.) 

[fretmeister]

1 hour ago, LukeFRC said:

Odd sentence - 

- analogue keeps everything analogue

- digital goes through analogue to digital conversion and back again.

- analogue with digital control uses digital control over an analogue circuit, I think chase bliss do this on a lot of their pedals, or the tech21 deluxe vt bass

 

boss bc-1x is digital. (And there’s nothing at all wrong with that.) 

 

 

I stand corrected.

 

I don't have a problem with digital. I went 100% Helix for my guitar rig many years ago.

[pn_day]

Tuner. It just makes life easier, and tone doesn't matter when you are out of tune!

[Baloney Balderdash]

6 minutes ago, pn_day said:

Tuner. It just makes life easier, and tone doesn't matter when you are out of tune!

So you use your tuner pedal to make sure your bass is out of tune for your tone not to matter?

 

I suppose in some odd bizarre backward way that would actually be on topic.

 

Edited September 29, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash

[SumOne]

FEA Opti-FET Compressor, Q-Strip, Creation Audio Grizzly Bass, One Control Crimson Red, can all be very subtle pedals but I found them all to add something that I can't quite replicate with multi-fx. 

[baldwinbass]

I'll occasionally use Fairfield Circuitry's The Accountant compressor, as it also adds a little phatness and dirt.