The bass effects discussion thread.

octatonic

Wondering what other bottom-warblers use on their warble-bottoms.

I've been using the FX8 and set up a few patches with compression, envelope filter, Graphic EQ, Fuzz, whammy, wah and rotary.
The rotary sounds incredible.

Thinking of building myself a gig friendly board with the necessary effects for when the FX8 would attract too much attention from jealous guitarists- at this stage thinking tuner, compressor, EQ, some sort of fuzz, maybe a Bass Whammy.

What do you have on your bass board?

guitarfishbay

For fuzz I've got a Bass Muff Deluxe (which I intend to sell) and a Mastotron. The Mastotron is exactly what I wanted, absolute insanity in a pedal. Also very useful that you can control the amount of low end with the subs switch, so if you use a blender you can keep your clean low end and have fuzzier high frequencies.

For EQ I had the Empress Para EQ and I think that's about as full featured as you'll get in a pedal. It's bell curve only (3 Q widths) so if you want shelving you'd need to look elsewhere.

If you don't need sub low control look at the two Darkglass Ultra preamps. The bass knob is centred at 100hz which is ideal for rock/metal punch but less so if you're wanting deep lows - though I'm pretty sure the Stingray EQ can do that already. I've got the B7K which is geared more towards heavier music, the Vintage would be the one for smoother sounding drive.

I'm a massive fan of analogue octave. I've got an MXR Bass Octave Deluxe and that tracks great and sounds super fat. I'd love a Cog octaver, they're UK made and well thought out - the T70 looks amazing (but T16 would probably suit most).

Winny_Pooh

Heres mine:

http://i.imgur.com/4zHHg4x.jpg

The pale green comp is a revelation, makes everything sound better. 

ICBM

I use a Boss FZ-2 Hyper Fuzz, TU-2 Tuner and CEB-3 Bass Chorus.

The order is intentional, it makes it less easy to hit the tuner by accident when they're in a BCB-3 . (Although still quite possible!)

JezWynd

There are three I consider essential - FT-2 Dynamic Filter, Keeley Comp Pro and HF-2 Hi Band Flanger. The FT-2 is a wonderful pedal for bass, opens up the range of possible sounds enormously, while the HF-2 adds a spacey edge to the sound without going overboard. I've tried a few different comps and while there are a few I'd be very happy with, the Keeley Pro is so flexible that it was a clear winner.

lasermonkey

Mine's all DIY, apart from chorus and tuner.
 First in chain is the Baja Opto-Limiter (I love this!), then an Earthbound Audio Supercollider clone, D*A*M Ezekiel 25:27 clone, Catalinbread SFT clone and then either a Boss CE-20 or EXH Clone Theory chorus.
ill probably replace the Supercollider with a Multi-Rat with a blend control.

Kebabkid

Zoom B1xOn and in the past, the Zoom B3.

To be honest, all I need is a good octaver and compressor and I'm looking and hoping to try out both at the mo. The TC Spectracomp looks good but I need to try a Demeter. The Octaver one is proving more difficult.

 

bbill335

My guitar dirt is fully functional as bass dirt too.

MXR Distortion+ - modded to be clearer, louder, and bassier
DBA Fuzz War - incredibly powerful tone knob, the first third of which sounds amazing with bass
SS/BS Buzzz - built for bass, switchable diodes, gain levels, huge scoop toneblast, upper octave, LPF, starve control

octatonic

I just pulled my Distressor out of the studio rackand plugged it into the amps fx loop.
Sounds godly- I can't really justify having it in my bass rig but for recordings it kills.

Winny_Pooh

^ very slutty

pintspiller

For home practise I DI using a Hartke Bass Attack. Live I generally always have a compressor, EQ and delay/reverb pedals

octatonic

Winny_Pooh said:

^ very slutty

Such a great box.

octatonic

Why do effects companies double the price when they put the word 'bass' on the outside of the box?

fretmeister

Because they'll sell far fewer than the guitar versions.

octatonic

fretmeister said:

Because they'll sell far fewer than the guitar versions.

It's true though, right- all bass branded effects are double the price of the equivalent guitar effect.
I'm not even sure there is an advantage to using the bass version of many effects.
So far the best sounding compressor pedal is an Analogman Comprosser.

Bod

I'm just considering my options having taken up the bass reins in my band.  Last gig I just used the amps compressor, with the Pod HD500 tube drive for a bit of grit.  I think I might ditch the Pod for an ODB-3 when I see one come up on the classifieds.

Winny_Pooh

@Bod ;ODB-3 are very subjective, if you like fizzy crap that is haha. For a budget stomp the Bad Monkey is pretty popular in bass circles.

Bod

Winny_Pooh said:

@Bod ODB-3 are very Marmite, unless you like fizzy crap that is haha. For a budget stomp the Bad Monkey is pretty popular in bass.

I'm just looking for something with the wet/dry knob ideally, which is why I was looking at the ODB-3.

Winny_Pooh

@octatonic you seen this site I presume? Insanely thorough http://www.ovnilab.com/

guitarfishbay

The ODB3 is actually one of my favourite dirt pedals for bass but it does need something to tame the top end - it sounds pants DI'd but through speakers (or an IR) it can sound great if you like a brighter bass tone.  It isn't really an overdrive though and more of a distortion.

It isn't my first choice for grit - if you want grit then I still think Sansamps are a good option.  The BDDI/RBI pedals would be my first pick, plus they also make for a good option for straight to desk DI.

Winny_Pooh

Bod said:

Winny_Pooh said:

@Bod ODB-3 are very Marmite, unless you like fizzy crap that is haha. For a budget stomp the Bad Monkey is pretty popular in bass.

I'm just looking for something with the wet/dry knob ideally, which is why I was looking at the ODB-3.

@Bod I have a nicer version of the same thing sitting on the shelf ATM; a Hao rust ride with a clean blend circuit added. PM me if you want more info.