The Song Fight Bulletin Board

Does anyone have experience with bass effects? I'm looking to effects for two purposes: #1. I'm in a 3-piece garage band and I'd really like to fatten+gritty up my bass tone & fill up as much space as I can. For that, my first thought is a bass friendly tube overdrive tone.... Between the guitar & drums there's plenty of mids/trebles going on, so I'm guessing the mids of a crunchy distortion tone on bass, it would only wash out and get lost anyways? This is the project: http://www.myspace.com/hennessymorning.

...but at the same time, I'd also like to recreate the bass tone I got on my Nur Ein entry Sleep Tight which was done with digital Cubase effects (distortion + rotary). Maybe with the right set up I could recreate my Nur Ein project live, at an open mic or something, as a solo performer. http://www.newzeromusic.com/neiv/nouveaupavre_st.mp3

I just picked up a bassier, SVT-esque drive pedal to fit with the band, but now I'm not sure that was the best decision... maybe I should have gone with the crunchier middier box which sounds better for solo playing? Maybe since it's just a trio, I want more mids? Or should I just order a super versatile digital all-in-one like a Line6 Pod, which already includes the Rotory effect, instead of trying to find this perfect combination of analog stomp boxes?

Thanks for any help! I don't have the best ear for live sound.

The problem with distorted bass is that most guitar distortion pedals cut out the lows which make a bass sound full. What you really want is a way to blend in a distortion with your clear low end.

I have the Pigtronix Disnortion pedal which rules as a fuzz pedal, but one of the nice parts about it is that it also has a drive channel that you can run cleaner (in parallel) so that the low end of the bass comes through.

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/prod ... sku=156511

Just a thought.

Ken

Like I said, I think line 6 has the best bass shaping/tone/EQs I've heard. Even if you don't go with a POD XT model, their smaller Bass POD is a really great unit and my bass player used it for years before he bought the XT Live. It really helps to find a bass sound that you like from a recording artist, then look up their setup.
IE: Tim Butler from the Psychedelic Furs has a great and simple sound and he uses the Bass POD.

ken wrote:The problem with distorted bass is that most guitar distortion pedals cut out the lows which make a bass sound full. What you really want is a way to blend in a distortion with your clear low end.

Thanks! I hadn't thought of that! Maybe running a clean channel alongside the distortion is just what I need to do. I'd been thinking I'd be faced with a 'good mids vs. good lows' kind of choice. The EBS MultiDrive actually has the opposite problem from most... it preserves the low end great, but tends to dampens the highs (and doesn't have a tone control!). I also tried out a Fulltone BassDrive which sounded great and also has a pretty good reputation for keeping lows according to reviews, although it's still pretty midrangy... the distortion tone I got wasn't warm and thumpy like the EBS. But then the EBS wasn't clear and distinct like the Fulltone.

And BLT: Yeah, I definitely need to try one out! I hadn't considered one at first since there's more toys on it than I'll ever need, but the ability to dial up the kinds of effects I get in Cubase & save them as presets sounds awesome.

You could also throw it over the top with a Zvex Wooly Mammoth. Fuzz, not OD, but does a decent job of keeping the lows intact. Not a subtle pedal, though. I use one in songs here and there, usually in synch with heavier, wall of guitar sections.

ken wrote:The problem with distorted bass is that most guitar distortion pedals cut out the lows which make a bass sound full. What you really want is a way to blend in a distortion with your clear low end.

This is probably not your solution, but back when I was playing a lot, I would run my stereo Rickenbacker 4001 this exact way, sending the bass pickup to an Ampeg bass amp and the treble pickup through a Roland JC-77 with some distortion. Worked great for songs like Sabotage by the Beastie Boys. It was also very loud.

This is not a cheap plug for my band or anything, but when I was still *playing bass* for The Funeral Dazies, I played with a slight over drive. (Our influences include at least two bands with distorted bass, The Misfits & Type O Negative respectively)

I got the following sound from using the 'blues overdrive' on my Line 6 POD. It keeps the low end's integrity while giving it a little punch. I didn't use the stereo effect LIVE but it was still pretty haunting.

http://www.thefuneraldazies.com/music.htm (hit the play button)

The intro is a pretty good illustration as it features bass only for two bars. The rest of the recordings (and I won't quiz you on it later) are a good illustration on how the bass sounds while blended with other instruments.

Line 6 makes a bass effects version too, but I'm running that through the original 'gutiar effects' Line 6 unit. You can usually find these devices on Ebay at fair prices.

In my other band, our bass player plays through a regular old metal distortion pedal with the threshold set to high so as not to make it feedback and not SO distorted. It works well for that band as my guitar playing is minimal and his sound bursts forth while our lead guitarist is blaring out a solo.

Just my little bit.

I've never actually tried playing my bass through my Metal Zone, but considering what a booming bottom-heavy guitar sound it is capable of producing I can't imagine that you'd have to worry about it cutting the lows on your bass.