Bass Effects

[comfortstarr]

What are some cool foot pedals to apply to bass? Stuff that does distortion, stuff that does wierd things? Stuff that does...?

[NewYorkDave]

The bass player in my first band achieved an awe-inspiring sound with his Musicmaster short-scale bass (with flatwounds!) plugged into an E-H "Muff Fuzz", then into an Electric Mistress with the "filter matrix" engaged. It was N-A-S-T-Y in the best possible way.

[Meriphew]

ZVex Wooly Mammoth.

[bedbug]

I played in a band once with this bassist who my drummer and I referred to as a "frustrated guitar player."

Because bass wah is always a good idea

[JES]

I sympathize with the overuse of a wah pedla (also afflicts guitarists) but don't buy the "frustrated guitar player" rap. Keyboardists run bass sounds through all sorts of effects, so why not electric bassists?

Some of my favorites:

For a less over the top distortion than the big muff, try a fulltone bassdrive.

phaser is my absolute favorite effect on bass, especially slow, old creamy phasers. Some have no low end, so you've got to be care. The old Ross phaser is a winner in this category. I really want to try one of those moogefooger pedals.

delay -- you can set up cool grooves

rotary simulation -- way more fun than chorus

flange -- ditto

octaver -- sounds great on fretless, even though it's an octave down. also good for thunderous song choruses

the ultimate dub reggae tone: get a cheap-ass DOD FX25 pedal, and set it so the filter never opens. Then shake the building with your low end.

Best,
--JES, tapeop oldtimer forced to start over as a newbie

[markpar]

ZVex Wooly Mammoth.

Second that one. Best bass fuzz I've ever heard.

Also check into an SWR Interstellar Overdrive. Those things rock, too. Real tube distortion goodness.

Those are the only two bass distortion/fuzz boxes I've ever liked. Everything else sounded like cheeze to me.

-mark

[helstab]

The only thing I'm using right now is a DOD Overdrive. This through my 2 OLD ASS 15's lets me play some kick ass rhythm parts. Try everything.

[durasoundrecordingco]

My bandmate has (or is it now had?) a theory. If it's hot pink and has something like "thrash", "Lixx" or "master" in the model name, hook it up and crank!

I've heard good disto out of a ProCo Rat pedal. Ditto for Danelectro Fab Tone.

Like Helstab said, try everything.

[apropos of nothing]

I use a ProCo Rat (distortion pedal) for a preamp. Knobs one and two (gain and filter) on 9:00, knob three (output volume) on 3:00. Acts as a compressor after a certain fashion -- give it more gain and it distorts a tad, rather than getting louder. Evens out the tonal range, and is totally quiet otherwise. I run that straight into a JBL Eon G2, and get totally fabulous tone out of what most bassists would fall down giggling at.

[New Orleans Steve]

Steve in NewOrleans here.
The original RATT Rockes on bass. Anyone ever try an Eletrix Filter Factory? gentle or ruff - many sounds.
A final note, I use to have a Gibson Bass, I think it was an G3. i found that the pick up selector made almost NO difference in the sound. This thing had 3 pick ups. I thought it would have a difference based on the fact that the rear u.p. was near the bridge. but NO. I got the thing used, so I wanted to make sure the selector was working. Now a days, the selector switch can do many things. The manufactures have come up with newer ways to wire thimgs up. But this bass is from the mid 70s so I figured it was straight forward. The insturmrnt passed the 'tap on a pick up to identify it as you go through the selector' test. But still - it sounded the same at each possition. I was begining to think all 3 p.u.s were dead. The fact that the bass sounded like all other ones of that Gibson family did not slow me down!
THEN I ran it through a flanger. A Boss purple one. And WOW the selector made ALL the diference in the world! Radically diferent.
So, of course i'm thinking. Then I plug in a Fender P Bass with 2 p.u.s, In knowen good condition. Switching the pick ups proformed predictably - dry. Kick in the flanger and only a subital diference.
One more time. G3 dry, the switch made almost no diference. With the effect rad. diference. The P Bass dry, the usual diference. With the effect only a small difference.
Has anyone else expearenced this type of effect or can offer an explanation?
Steve

. Check us out on line www.FrenchmenStreetRecords.com

.

[NewAndImprov]

In my old thrash jazz power trio, I had a pedalboard consisting of:
Korg Synth Bass
DOD Gonkulator fuzz/ring mod (aptly named, nasty thin ugly fuzz with a fixed pitch ring mod)
Electro Harmonix Q-Tron (best envelope filter I've found)
ZVex Wooly Mammoth (Absolute best sounding bass fuzz)
Ernie Ball Volume Pedal
Line 6 DL-4 (originally a vintage Memory Man, but I decided the DL-4 sounded good enough and was more easily replaced for gigging)
Boomerang

Looking back, it was a sick amount of crap, but got some pretty severe sounds. It also sucked the tone out of my bass, even with everything bypassed. I'm pretty much effects free in my new band, but am considering building a new pedalboard. Everything will have a true bypass, though.

[Meriphew]

Steve in NewOrleans here.
The original RATT Rockes on bass. Anyone ever try an Eletrix Filter Factory? gentle or ruff - many sounds.

I have an Electrix Filter Factory, though I haven't used it on my bass.... yet, but i will try it someday. My FF usually sees the most action on drums and keyboard parts. Very kool unit.

[Drumbeast]

Metal Zone all the way!

[Gebo]

Danelectro Daddy O over drive is amazing on bass... for real. Its sick, goes from total Ace of spades bass tone to why are my ears bleeding, to crunchy to creamy, and has a 3 band eq... goes for around 30 bones used, cant beat it...

[SLiM BiLT]

My favorite lately is the Electro Harmonix Bass Balls. The effect is 'velocity sensitive', or something, meaning it kicks in depending on how hard you hit the strings. This is great when you are are jamming along holding the bottom, but when you throw out a lick you hit it hard and the sound just leaps out. Well, maybe not 'leaps', but more like 'squiggles'. The sound has a filtered, voice-like quality that works great in funk and such. Very Bootsy.