Mandatory bass pedal

[subversion]

Hi everyone 8)

what would be a must-have pedal for bassists? do share the merits of your choice or should one employ a straight through set up?

 

[Colarndo]

I prefer dynamic control type pedals, EQ, Compressors.

 

[ahkiatt]

eq can be done onboard or on amp, compressing can be done with fingers... HAHA I'M AN ASS. So let's get 4 band eqs, good finger techniques, and straight through set up. So either get special effects, or straight through!

 

[litford]

i voted for EQ. although ahkiat is right, can run it through the amp, but i like the 3-band on my m-80 as well..

 

[platypus]

dont believe that pedals are mandatory,

even if you count in compressors because firstly you have your sound and dynamics mainly from your fingers and secondly, theres a reason why your volume knob is a potentiometer instead of a on/off switch!

unless you want to be flashy and all, then maybe distortion/synth/wah/octave/whammy/chorus/delay/flange/phase/lasergun effects maybe something you need to use.

im definitely not 100% against pedals, i'm still going to buy a compressor and whatever pedal i feel like getting because they definitely do more than good than bad... i just think that its better to spend time on practicing your bass than GASing on forums and tweaking pedals on your 10mx10m pedalboard.

nothing wrong with trying to find your favorite tone, but i think playing IS more important.

 

[Resetti]

definitely the compressor.

firstly because your fingers can't be on the volume control knob all the time constantly turning the volume louder or softer to balance out your level as you are playing, the compressor does that for you.

secondly, if you need more dynamics, just do it with your fingers and turn the compressor off, and when you need less dynamics, turn it on and it will eliminate the spikes of your slaps, strums, whacks, etc....

 

[rylche]

I like my Hartke Bass Attack. A pre-amp would be really important. Then again, I rarely use any effects live or during rehearsals. My trusty P sounds great "vanilla" - EQ set flat.

 

[subversion]

because my slapped/ popped notes cannot be as loud as my fingered notes, compression is priority 8)

 

[basswong]

naturally we all want the sound thats pleasing to our ears.

and we all do know that most of the time just an EQ pedal, drive pedal or bass attacker wouldnt do the trick.

and up till today i still cant get the "glassy" tone that they have in for example the seinfeld theme song :\.

thats why i would just go straight to thinking that i need the bass attacker like the aphex one? or something else like that.

 

[shinobi]

i am very sure i am gonna disappoint alot of people, including bro basswong

the seinfeld theme song is played on a keyboard :twisted:

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-10024.html

 

[rylche]

Haha it sure had me fooled there.

 

[shinobi]

well it hasn't stopped people from covering it very well on the bass just check out youtube

anyway for my vote i chose distortion/drive

let me explain

if you are looking for a MUST HAVE pedal, eq/preamp and compressor would probably come to mind, because they are probably the most common and most utilised by a bassist.

BUT... you don't NEED to have them, some amps already have eq's (essential) be it graphic/parametric, and built-in compressors (to protect the speaker). consider the difference between a 'must have' PEDAL and a 'must have' EFFECT.

so... IMHO, the must-have pedal has to be a dist. especially when you're jamming rather than recording, and need something to shove up your guitarist's arse

 

[iverson763]

shove wat up whose guitarist's what? 8O

haha, i can't help but read that literally

 

[Resetti]

I can shove it up my guitarist's arse? I WANT ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[AvonRellets]

hmmm how about a pedal tuner that mutes while you tune?

 

[someone]

I voted for EQ but I actually meant preamp...
second choice would be compressor and third would be a mute/tuner pedal.

 

[e4t3n]

hmm why would we need a tuner pedal since we dont have a whammy bar which will cause us to go out of tune often?

just tune before you start and it shud be alright..

 

[ahkiatt]

No whammy bar, but we got slap pop... And if you are a aggressive player, it does go out of tune, especially on poorer quality tuners. AND!!! There are such things as whammy bars on basses. So one way or another, the first way and most important step in making yourself sound good, is making sure you're in tune.

 

[iverson763]

if you're playing thrash metal or something along the lines of that, then maybe it wun bother you as much. but even good bass guitars run now and then, and it will get distracting if you or your bandmates are pitch sensitive.

And if you slap/pop your bass a lot, that'll detune your instrument too. just check out stu when he did his clinic at timbre. he tunes his bass almost after every song, and even stopped during a song to retune his bass (which he apologised for and recovered so amazingly, you would have thought it was part of the song)

 

[ahkiatt]

whoa i wasn't paying attention... was trying to lean as hard as i can to watch him play....