Hmm.... just stumbled on this thread and read it for the first time.
I believe in a good bass, because that already has its own tone and rules out a lot of problems on tone and sound. Having that good bass and knowing how it works through a few different amp combinations saves your life and sound during live shows as well regardless of the rig.
But like the rest of you guys, I have a small rig of effects as well that I had used like 1 % of the time:
1) MXR Blow Torch ( A nice OD pedal like this gives nicer harmonics, plus the fact that this thing can drive at the choice of three frequencies means that I can just add that extra touch to the particular band to shape my sound)I just add a touch, never fuzzy...besides a natural overdriven tone from the bass always gives me a better kick.
2) Bass Chorus ( great for those moments where you need to fill the spaces )
3) bass wah ....erm... its a white elephant, no much use for the kind of hard stuff i play
4) Compression, again, I dun use it that much... fingers do a much better job, but it could be invaluable when i get to a stage that has a nightmare rig
5) Wireless system.... cos I move a round too much and I hate tripping on my bloody cables
6) Bass synth.... used it like for one song like eons ago..... worte the part for it just to utilise the damn pedal
For my last show, and I had a total nightmare rig( well, at least it was for me) took me a lil while to get my usual sound during soundcheck, didn'thelp that the sound man for that venue cldn't quite speak English.... on hindsight, if i had say the EBS or Sansamp DI coupled with an EQ, i could have saved myself a lot of trouble.
Having said that, i agree with most of the folks here that 99% of the time, its clean and our fingers do all the dirty work.
