Bass effects? Suggestions?

[phil_104]

So tomorrow, me and my bass player are going out to do some shopping. We are in a fully active gigging band, who has recently changed it's lineup, and the roles have somewhat changed. I sing and play guitar, so he has a lot more room for intricate bass parts, since I don't do as much leads outside of solos. Think about it as a Flea-Frusciante kind of relationship.

Anyways, this trip was planned out of my suggestion that he get a boost pedal, for a bass "solo" in one of the tunes. He already has a boss tuner and a single button pedal he uses for amp distortion. I suggested that maybe he should look into a few effects, and a small pedalboard, to hold his pedals together, and a few more effects while he's at it.

So he has the tuner and the boss 1 button switch already. He will add a EHX LPB-1 for boost (I have one, it's 40$, and it works wonders). I suggested that for distortion and dirt, he should probably also get a EHX Bass Muff, just because it sounds awesome.

I know he's not much for modulation effects. I'm not gonna impose what I think he should get on him, I'd just like to have someone else's opinion. Any gigging bass players out there have pedals that you absolutely wouldn't gig without?

PS. It's most likely going to be mounted on a PedalTrain Mini, with some sort of high quality daisy chain.

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: Bass effects? Suggestions?

Make him get some kind of envelope filter. Bass is just more awesome with an envelope filter.

 

[ImmortalSix]

Re: Bass effects? Suggestions?

Polyphonic Octave Generator.

Without a doubt the baddest ass bass effect out there.

I would love to find a clip of this band called "The Motet" and their bass player using it - he absolutely shook the house one night. It reduced the club to a pile of ashes.

 

[phil_104]

Re: Bass effects? Suggestions?

Polyphonic Octave Generator.

Without a doubt the baddest ass bass effect out there.

I would love to find a clip of this band called "The Motet" and their bass player using it - he absolutely shook the house one night. It reduced the club to a pile of ashes.

Holy ****. Didn't think about that. This is why I ask such questions.

 

[ImmortalSix]

Re: Bass effects? Suggestions?



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Af1Xh7oESho#t=2m40s

I can't find anything that does the sound justice - but with with a slight up-one-octave blend, and a MAJOR down-one-octave blend, it sounds like KA-BOOMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMW

 

[Powdered Toast Man]

Re: Bass effects? Suggestions?

It completely depends on the style of music being played. In general, bass isn't something that should be effects laden.

That said, the POG is amazing. The one thing I absolutely love is the reissue Ampeg Scrambler. Hands down the BEST bass fuzz there is (blows the Boss ODB-3 out of the water).

 

[ksmith63]

Re: Bass effects? Suggestions?

Look up what Justin Chancellor uses. He's got all kinds of crazy effects.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Bass effects? Suggestions?

+1 for Env Filter and Octaver. The Boss AW-3 Dynamic Wah takes things a step further in its "Humanizer" vowel forming mode.

With solid state amplification, some way of adding dirt would be useful. The SansAmp Bass Driver, for instance. Filter + Dirt = Claypool. :approve:

Subtle application of Chorus is always useful.

There is a Filter setting that I have devised in Logic Pro that makes an active electric bass sound like a fingerstyle double bass. The Boss ME-50b has a setting that does something very similar.

Finally, never underestimate the power of stereo wiring through a dual amp set up. The Billy Sheehan Attitude idea relies entirely on a combination of clean/dirty sounds and high sound pressure levels through plenty of loudspeakers. Truly stunning.

 

[phil_104]

Re: Bass effects? Suggestions?

I should specify. Our music is fairly broad in terms of genre, but it touches mostly on hard rock, punk, classic rock, grunge, celtic, and celtic-punk. Don't know how much chorus or filter would help there, but I'll look into it!

Keep the suggestions coming!

 

[JOLLY]

Re: Bass effects? Suggestions?

I never owned one, but I used to hang out in a music store where a friend of mine worked when I was younger, and used to sit in there messing around with a Bassballs pedal all the time. It was a blast.

 

[crguti]

Re: Bass effects? Suggestions?

I only use the TCE Polytune, EBS Multi Comp and SansAmp Bass Driver. I play clean 100% of the time so I dont need bass effects, but it would be cool to have the MXR envelope filter to spice it up sometimes.

 

[Kosh Naranek]

Re: Bass effects? Suggestions?

A Sansamp Bass Driver. It doesn't do phasey/flangey stuff. It just adds tone - beefs up the low end, takes out any tubby sounding midrange, lets you add presence to the high end. It turns a decent bass rig into a high end bass rig.
It will let you get overdrive too, and it provides a direct feed if you want to send a signal to the mixing board.

 

[Binnerscot]

Re: Bass effects? Suggestions?

I would say a Sansamp or a really good bass compressor. Either of those are extremely useful live and in the studio. FX, while fun and cool sounding on their own, tend to destroy the bass in the mix.

 

[astrozombie]

Re: Bass effects? Suggestions?

some light chorus will help the bass stand out in the mix. not enough so you actually hear the effect being used (notes shimmering) but just enough for the sound to thicken a bit.

the bassist in my band has this little boss bass overdrive: i love that pedal.