Using Guitar effects with Bass?

[disgrace of bass]

Hi,

I was watching this link on Youtube where the bassist for the Australian Pink Floyd Show, Colin Wilson, describes his bass rig
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2FsNKGSPQU

I was intrigued by his use of a Boss GT-10 guitar multi effects unit - his reasoning being that back in the days of Floyd there were no dedicated Bass effects, so guitar effects had to be used. Having heard them live I can say the bass sound is awesome, so its not detrimental to his tone.

What do you think about the use of digital guitar effects (particularly the Boss GT-10 and its ilk) to enhance your bass tone? Is that a good idea if you are trying for a 'vintage' rock sound? has Colin got a point?

I know Boss relaunched the GT-10 as the GT-10B for bassists - I wonder just how different they are. I assume the main difference with be amp modelling, but the effects?

I like the idea of just one box for everything (hey purists - don't shoot!), and I rather love the Floyd sound, so would a nice guitar multi effects, say like the Boss GT-100 or the newly announced ME-80 work?

[0175westwood29]

most of my board is guitar effects or used to be guitar effects, the only way to know is to try them.

andy

[xgsjx]

Most of he effects that bassists use are not dedicated bass fx. Effects like EQ & dirt can be of benefit if they're bass specific, but it depends on what you want to sound like.
The only thing on my board that's a dedicated bass effect is the Moog Bass Murf.

[Guest FretNoMore]

Some guitar effects don't handle the low end well, so you get a thinner sound. As said above, you have to try and see if a pedal works for you. (Some research online will give you lots of user opinions as a start). A couple of my pedals are bass versions but most are not made specifically for the bass.

[Iheartreverb]

I use a Little Big Muff on my bass board and te guitarist in my band uses a Bass Big Muff on his.

Like someone said, it depends what you want to sound like. Any guitar effect can work on bass some more than others need an EQ with it.

[Guest FretNoMore]

Blending the dry bass signal with the effect signal is quite common too, to retain a strong low end if the effect pedal robs you of some bass. You'd typically use something like the Boss LS-2 pedal for that.

[disgrace of bass]

Nice. Thanks for responses folks, it might sound like a dumb question, but for a newbie like me its (I think) a valid one. And there is no question that 'try before you buy' is the best way to assess if it does it for you (or me). Good point made about blending dry signal with effect to restore any loss of low end in the bass.

[topo morto]

To quote myself from [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/176638-why-do-so-many-bass-effects-sound-sooooo-bad-and-by-bad-i-dont-mean-good/"]this thread[/url]

[quote name='topo morto' timestamp='1337437923' post='1660005']
Drive effects sound can bad with bass because a single, hard clipping gain stage causes a buzzy sound on bass frequencies, and the perception of loss of low end.
Modulation effects can sound bad as the phasing can cause loss of low end.
Reverb and delay can sound bad on low frequencies as the mix can end up sounding muddy.
Synth and other pitch tracking effects can sound bad as low frequencies and percussive playing techniques are harder to track.
Compression effects can sound bad on bass as.... well this guy says it better than me: [url="http://www.ovnilab.com/reviews/guitar.shtml"]http://www.ovnilab.c...ws/guitar.shtml[/url]

Of course there are solutions to these problems... but the bass sounds so cool on its own that there are challenges to making and using effects in a way that enhances rather that trashes!
[/quote]

So 'guitar' effects may be likely to suffer these problems, but there are some effects sold as bass effects that don't offer good solutions to these problems either.