Pedal GAS- are these decent or am I just wasting my money?

Dave_Mc

Hi everyone,

 

Not sure I can fight this GAS for bass pedals much longer… ) I’ve tried a bunch of my guitar pedals and they sort of range from “That’s not too bad, I reckon I could get away with that,” to “Ewwww that’s horrible!” )

Cheaper is better, as long as it’s not garbage- it needs to sound good and not break if I look at it funny (though absolutely bomb-proof reliability isn’t needed as it’s only for home use, at least at the moment). I don’t use pedals all that much, and don’t need tons of bells and whistles (I normally just set and forget), which is why I don’t want to totally break the bank with them.

I think I want a fairly saturated fuzz/distortion, an envelope filter for funky stuff, and an octave.

I was thinking about the EHX Bass Big Muff- I already have a Biyang (guitar) fuzz, which as far as I’m aware is more or less a Muff clone, and it sounded pretty good but the bass was a bit wooly on it and I’m hoping the bass version might help with that.

For the other two I was thinking of the Bassballs and the Octave Multiplexer (both EHX).

Are there any other good-sounding, reliable, reasonably-priced options which might sound better for a similar amount of money (£40-£50)? Or anything I’m missing? I’m not too well up on bass kit so there may well be good but reasonably-priced manufacturers I’m not aware of. Palmer does an octave for a bit more than the EHX one but I don’t know anything about it. It also does Bass OD and Fuzz pedals, but again, I’m not familiar with them. I also spotted the EHX Bass Blogger but I didn’t really like its tone from the clips, the OD was a bit subtle and the fuzz not really subtle enough (plus I preferred the tone of the big muff for the really saturated fuzz stuff). I’m aware of Behringer but I think that’s maybe cheaping out too much, even for me…

Dave_Mc

Bonus GAS question: I noticed Thomann was selling some Harley Benton bass pedals (which appear to be rebranded Beta Aivins, word on the net is that they’re Boss clones, or at least sort of based on Boss pedals) for a price (£15-£20 each) which might be worth a punt, unless they’re total garbage. I was looking at the bass overdrive (ODB-3 clone-ish), bass limiter (LMB-3 clone-ish) and bass EQ (GEB-7 clone-ish). Obviously if they’re utterly terrible then there’s no point as it’s just a waste of money, but if they’re half decent at all, they might be worth a try for a laugh. I can only get them from Thomann at that cheap price, so I kind of need to put them in alongside another order to get the free postage to make it worth my while (which is why I’m considering getting so much stuff at once ) )

Dave_Mc

Regarding the EQ, I see they’re also selling an Artec Bass EQ with an in-built tuner as well for about £15 more… word on the net seems to be it’s pretty quiet (whereas I think the Boss ones have the rep of being a bit noisy, and I assume the HB/BA clone won’t be any different), and while I don’t expect the tuner to be amazing, it doesn’t have to be as I have a more accurate tuner already for any setup work. Just if it’s good enough to save me from having to fiddle with an extra tuner to check I’m basically in tune for playing, assuming the EQ part is as good as the Harley Benton/Beta Aivin one, it might be worth a try. The Artec one has a few extra bands, but each seems to have a few frequency bands which the other one doesn’t have so I’m not sure which would be more useful for bass.

Thanks in advance for your help

chrispy108

I don't know any of the pedals you're looking at I'm afraid, but I loves my Digitech Bass Driver, which is £32 on Thomann. Goes from a bit of amp style grind, up to a pretty heavy distortion.

I know @ICBM loves his Zoom B3, but depends how you feel about multi-fx? Would seem a good idea if you just want something to play about with?

Dave_Mc

Thanks

Yeah, not sure about multi-fx... I'm always concerned they won't sound as good as separate pedals. Same with digital pedals (at least for overdrive and the like, for delay etc. it's fine). Just I already have enough guitar pedals that I'm sort of wary that they may already sound better than either a digital (but bass-orientated) or multi-fx overdrive will... Also my amp has a tube preamp (far as i'm aware), so I sort of suspect (maybe wrongly) that analogue pedals might sound better with that, for boosting etc. as well.

I'll keep it in mind, though. I have a couple of those x-series pedals for guitar and they're pretty decent- the delay especially. The chorus is a bit digital-sounding, though (which is why I'm a bit wary about the bass driver).

UnclePsychosis

If I were you I'd seriously consider getting a Zoom B3. 

Dave_Mc

Yeah, I hear you. )

Thing is, I already have a bunch of guitar pedals (for modulation and the like) which I can use with bass. It's only really a couple of bass pedals that I'd really need, and I'd kind of want them to sound good. I don't use effects that much so a couple of good-sounding ones are of more use to me than a ton of mediocre ones. Though I might be being unfair to multi-fx there.

ICBM

I've A/B'd my B3 with my real analogue fuzz and distortion pedals, and the real pedals do sound better... just. If you could quantify it, maybe 5% better - just noticeable in isolation. But they're also noisier, and in a mix the difference disappears.

Interestingly I don't think the G3 sounds as good, and I don't know why yet.

4string

Going to +1 the B3. I don't have a lot of exposure to individual bass effects, so came to the B3 with a 'what can I get out this that is usable...' attitude.  The answer for me is lots. I am using the SVT emulation almost all the time I play through my TC Electronics BH250 (though this a great sounding amp on its own). It cuts through the load drummer and guitarist I rehearse with. The various over drives work well enough and there are some exotic bass synth effects that I am desperately trying to find a use for :-) Worth considering if you have the funds.

fretmeister

MXR bass envelope filter is awesome. Far better than the ehx

Dave_Mc

^ Yeah I came across the MXR pedals and their video demos sounded awesome (though I wasn't as fond of their od and fuzz pedals). Problem is they're far more expensive... ) You're talking ~£130 (I think) instead of more like £40-£50 for the EHX stuff.

ICBM said:

I've A/B'd my B3 with my real analogue fuzz and distortion pedals, and the real pedals do sound better... just. If you could quantify it, maybe 5% better - just noticeable in isolation. But they're also noisier, and in a mix the difference disappears.

Interestingly I don't think the G3 sounds as good, and I don't know why yet.

Thanks. Yeah, that's kind of my concern. I already have a bunch of guitar pedals which can do double duty if I really need them (modulation and delays etc.), and I suspect they'd likely sound slightly better than the multifx, too. It's only really the dirt where I need a bass-orientated pedal. I don't currently have an envelope filter or octave so that's why I'm looking at them too. I'm just not sure that, when I already have a bunch of pedals and only need a couple, a multifx is really the way to go.

4string said:

Going to +1 the B3. I don't have a lot of exposure to individual bass effects, so came to the B3 with a 'what can I get out this that is usable...' attitude.  The answer for me is lots. I am using the SVT emulation almost all the time I play through my TC Electronics BH250 (though this a great sounding amp on its own). It cuts through the load drummer and guitarist I rehearse with. The various over drives work well enough and there are some exotic bass synth effects that I am desperately trying to find a use for :-) Worth considering if you have the funds.

Thanks. I think from what I've read online that my amp already does a pretty decent SVT-type tone- it's a Genz Benz Streamliner 600 (I should've listed my current gear, I had the thread ready to go and then it wouldn't all fit in the one post and I just got sick of it and gave up ) ).

chrispy108

If you're just looking for a pedal or two for funny bass noises, then get the B3.

The bassballs is a very limited thing, and I don't know how the Octave Multiplier is with bass, the EHX website makes no mention of bass on it.

The B3 gets you a few envelope filters, a few octaves, and a load of cool synths.

Even if you don't touch the dirt or the amps, it still pays for itself and earns its place.

Dave_Mc

Thanks

I asked this question on another forum as well and the (er, one) reply I got said the bassballs wasn't that great any more, and that the EHX octave multiplier might not work how I want (there's a vid on the EHX site where it's used with bass too as far as I'm aware). So I'm wondering about them, now. Will likely hold off on those, just in case.

He said the digitech synth bass wah was pretty good, and the price is pretty cheap. Digital, as far as I'm aware, so not sure about that. But it does seem to have a much bigger range of tones than the bassballs. And at ~£30 it's not going to be the end of the world anyway.

The B3 seems to be £110 on Thomann... I can get that "pedal or two" for less than that, lol. And which, according to ICBM, will likely sound (at least a bit) better.

I'm probably a bit anti-multifx because I know I don't use effects all that much (so a few good-sounding ones which I will use are more useful to me than millions of mediocre ones), and while I'm not anti-tons-of-knobs, I do tend to set and forget at the same time, and a multi-fx with tons of menus etc. isn't normally that helpful in that respect.

I realise this is starting to turn into that Fry/Futurama meme "Shut up and take my money!" (or more like "Shut up and let me waste my money!") )

ThePrettyDamned

The Digitech synth wah sounds great on bass - as in the guitar version. I've never tried the bass one, but with a muff and synth wah, I got a great Muse esque sound

monquixote

I used to use the Bassballs and the Bass Big Muff in my old band. 

The Bass Big Muff is a russian muff circuit with two extra modes. One which does a bass boost and the other which does a clean blend. The latter is the most useful thing because it allows you to get the Muse type sound which is clean bass mixed with fuzz. 

The Bass Balls isn't an envelope filter it's a synthy filter with a built in fuzz. 

It's not that great on clean bass and the built in fuzz sounds a bit weak, but combine it with the bass big muff and it sounds fucking epic, for huge fuzzy synth goodness.

chrispy108

I had a digitech bass synth wah, and I liked it a lot. I did this quick demo ages ago: Seriously read the Zoom B3 manual, I know what you mean about multi-fx, but this isn't a load of shit sounds, and it's really easy to use.

Dave_Mc

ThePrettyDamned said:

The Digitech synth wah sounds great on bass - as in the guitar version. I've never tried the bass one, but with a muff and synth wah, I got a great Muse esque sound

Thanks. The bass one's a bit cheaper ) If one worked well with both guitar and bass, that'd be a bonus. But whether the bass one works better with guitar or the guitar one better with bass, I dunno... )

monquixote said:

I used to use the Bassballs and the Bass Big Muff in my old band. 

The Bass Big Muff is a russian muff circuit with two extra modes. One which does a bass boost and the other which does a clean blend. The latter is the most useful thing because it allows you to get the Muse type sound which is clean bass mixed with fuzz. 

The Bass Balls isn't an envelope filter it's a synthy filter with a built in fuzz. 

It's not that great on clean bass and the built in fuzz sounds a bit weak, but combine it with the bass big muff and it sounds fucking epic, for huge fuzzy synth goodness.

Thanks Yeah that's what I've heard about the bass big muff- more or less a green russian muff with those extra modes, as you said.

Thanks for the info about the BB too.

chrispy108 said:

I had a digitech bass synth wah, and I liked it a lot. I did this quick demo ages ago: Seriously read the Zoom B3 manual, I know what you mean about multi-fx, but this isn't a load of shit sounds, and it's really easy to use.

Thanks, I'll check out the demo. And yeah it's not really to do with how easy it is to use, I kind of know what I'm like- even with single pedals I tend to set and forget, let alone twiddling multi-fx... )

EDIT: LOL yeah that sounds nuts. ) Yeah that's the kind of nonsense I want. Admittedly, in the clips I heard of the BassBalls, it was also the kind of silly noise I wanted. I get the feeling the BB is a one-trick pony, whereas the Digitech is much more versatile- but whether the BB does its sound better than the Digitech, I dunno.

Though if I did get the digitech would I be able to stop laughing long enough to actually play anything? Serious concern )

ThePrettyDamned

I doubt it, but making your bass sound like it's backing a porno is the best thing you can do with one, so... Yeah, do it

chrispy108

The digitech does octave down too, so two birds in one pedal for you?  

Don't let the price put you off, it's well built and sounds good. There was one in the Muse guys rig for ages. It's an inexpensive pedal, not a cheap one. 

Just cos the multi has knobs, you can still set and forget them... With the B3 you could just set it up as three pedals, each with its own footswitch, screen showing settings and control knobs, and never touch the patch stuff. It's like having three pedals in a row, except each can be one of a 100.

IanSavage

I've only ever really used dirt and chorus on bass - for the former, I swear by the Boss ODB3 (has the clean blend function like the Muff and will do frankly outrageous levels of gain). You'd get one for thirty or forty quid secondhand easily. 

ThePrettyDamned

chrispy108;237570" said:

The digitech does octave down too, so two birds in one pedal for you?  

Don't let the price put you off, it's well built and sounds good. There was one in the Muse guys rig for ages. It's an inexpensive pedal, not a cheap one. 



Just cos the multi has knobs, you can still set and forget them...

With the B3 you could just set it up as three pedals, each with its own footswitch, screen showing settings and control knobs, and never touch the patch stuff. It's like having three pedals in a row, except each can be one of a 100.

It's an inexpensive pedal, not a cheap one.

Wisdom awarded for those words!