Who's your bass player pedalboard inspiration?

[zonular]

My guitar pedal board was taking from Dave from the presidents of the USA. Rat/sd1, a fuzz and a phaser. 

 

Looking at an older pedal board from David J of Bauhaus. You can do a lot with a little.

 

Anyway, what bass players inspire your pedal choices?

[admiralchew]

Justin Chancellor and Ian Allison informed my early choices, so likely the other end of the scale.

 

Justin Chancellor’s boards are famously massive but I wanted to know how he was getting some of his tones. I realised what I was really liking was a driven flanger into a delay. Seeing his board also made me think that it was okay for a bass player to have a big board without feeling guilty.

 

The synth tones Ian Allison was getting from a fuzz, octave, envelope and chorus made me look up and take notice of him too.

[zonular]

17 minutes ago, admiralchew said:

Justin Chancellor and Ian Allison informed my early choices, so likely the other end of the scale.

 

Justin Chancellor’s boards are famously massive but I wanted to know how he was getting some of his tones. I realised what I was really liking was a driven flanger into a delay. Seeing his board also made me think that it was okay for a bass player to have a big board without feeling guilty.

 

The synth tones Ian Allison was getting from a fuzz, octave, envelope and chorus made me look up and take notice of him too.

 

Ian Allison will be the reason I'll get a helix

[Baloney Balderdash]

I build up my pedalboard to fit the music I actually play, all originals, and a lot of thought, trial and error, went into it to get it perfect.

 

I honestly don't see the point of copying someone else's setup, unless you play in a tribute band.

 

Edited October 5, 2024 by Baloney Balderdash

[admiralchew]

Just now, Baloney Balderdash said:

I build up my pedalboard to fit the music I actually play, all originals, and a lot of thought, trial and error, went into it to get it perfect.

 

I honestly don't see the point of copying someone else's setup, unless you play in tribute band.

 

I agree with that. My tastes and preferences are very different now but they were helpful starting points for me to help me understand what I do and don’t like. My boards bear no real similarity to theirs now.

[itu]

I think any bassist that has had a good sound has been an inspiration. B. Collins, C. Wolstenholme, J. Hellborg, Prince... and that has led me to buy quite some units. Comp is my all time favourite, and very versatile it is. Add some flanger, envelope, and/or fuzz, and that's it.

[biskitbass]

On 05/10/2024 at 14:42, zonular said:

 

Ian Allison will be the reason I'll get a helix

He swung it for my decision to get one. Amazing unit, and he really knows so well how to dial in some incredible tones. His explanations of how he emulates some of the greats tones makes my head spin

[BigRedX]

Who's your bass player pedalboard inspiration?

 

Me

[0175westwood29]

I always think my clean sound is more based on something from JC 

 

but I guess I draw more from doom stuff now even tho my music is more straight rock 

 

 

[0175westwood29]

[SumOne]

 

The Bass players I most want to sound like are Robbie Shakespeare and Bernard Edwards.... Neither of which used any pedals that I know of. 

 

I pay attention to what pedals Bootsy Collins has used,  I've definitely bought some pedals because of it (although he seems to endorse just about every fuzz, synth, or filter pedal ever!) . 

 

 

Edited October 19, 2024 by SumOne

[dudewheresmybass]

Tbh I’ve just assembled stuff that gets the sounds I hear in my head. 
the tribute I do has meant that I’ve needed to create sounds similar to a wide timescale with many different players involved, but I’ve not copied branding etc, but just what’s required to make the closest sound I can get.

[Higgins.plays.bass]

Mine’s grown into something that simply fits my needs without having to swap out pedals from gig to gig.

[thisisswanbon]

Ian Allison was the reason I bought an HX stomp - 3 times! Hated it and sold it on every time.

[zonular]

16 hours ago, thisisswanbon said:

Ian Allison was the reason I bought an HX stomp - 3 times! Hated it and sold it on every time.

What did you not get on with

[thisisswanbon]

3 hours ago, zonular said:

What did you not get on with

Didn't like alot of the drives or compressors, didn't like alot of the amp models, suffered with option paralysis and second guessing my choices, and found I spent longer playing with the pedal than playing bass.

 

That being said - I LOVED the flexibility of it and how nothing was off limits workflow wise. I'm Certainly not saying they're bad - there are far better players than me that sound brilliant with it. I'm just analogue at heart and found I could "hear" a difference (most likely listening with my eyes to be honest). 

Edited October 27, 2024 by thisisswanbon

[SimonK]

I think I tend to average what I see on other people's boards, in the sense that I see lots of people have a compressor first in the chain so went out and got one as my first pedal, then saw lots of people had a fuzz so went out and got one etc. Twenty (or is it thirty!) years later and its very much looking at the boards that people post on websites like this to get ideas to try. Thus said I have noticed that when playing live I generally only use compression and then the different EQ options based on the vagaries of the venue, trying to cut through etc. I do add something different every now and again - octaver, envelope filter, chorus etc. - but very seldom find myself using them.