Pedals that ended your pedal search?!

[AxelF]

22 hours ago, Dad3353 said:

I realise that we're atypical; we use an OBBM signal cable straight into the amp, nothing more. It helps that the amp is a Hiwatt 200w valve head; it does all we want (clean headroom to the sky...). No 'dirt' here, thank you very much. 

 

I've clearly imagined it but I'm sure there used to be a sticky about not being that **** who posts about being that guy 'who doesn't need effects' in the effects forum... 🙄

[Dad3353]

5 minutes ago, AxelF said:

 

I've clearly imagined it but I'm sure there used to be a sticky about not being that **** who posts about being that guy 'who doesn't need effects' in the effects forum... 🙄

 

If there isn't, maybe there ought to be..! 

[Paul S]

Simple for me.  TC Electronic Poytune for tuning - small, accurate, bright display.

TC Electronic Spectradrive for EQ, compression and smidgeon of overdrive - the 'clean boost' patch gives me exactly the sound I am looking for.

 

TC Electronic should bring out a pedal that does all these things.  A Polyspectradrivetune.

 

+ I am not a TC Electronic employee or endorsee.

 

**More's the pity.

[cheddatom]

I have a boss DD-20, and even though I'm often tempted to get other delay pedals (and do have a few), I generally remind myself that the DD-20 can do everything

 

Dirt pedals on the other hand... they all sound so different, how could you ever settle on one?! In my studio I have a wall of shelves that's over-flowing with pedals. It's so much fun to just pick some at random and plug them in

 

[krispn]

I’ve been using a Basswitch IQ DI on my board for about 10 yrs. It has a great preamp with two bands of semi para mids. More then than it has a heap of other features from dual fx loops, mute switch, boost, dual instrument inputs and A/B switching. It’s so

much more than a simple EQ. Also I’ve been using a Cali76 from about the same time although it’s changed from the big box to a compact back to the big box it’s always been running in the parallel fx loop on the Basswitch. A match made in heaven!

Edited August 11, 2021 by krispn

[MacDaddy]

Flattley Bass Poison Ivy.

 

Fuzz pedal that does it all. From just breaking valve type drive to nasty death metal / industrial distortion, via a lovely synth type fuzz.

 

No loss of bottom end due to the awesome blend pot.

 

Looks pretty good too - mine is blue without the halo:

[GisserD]

this thread is not good for me.

[Kev]

mmmm. 

 

Darkglass as a company certainly ended my search for bass overdrive/distortion, however I can't help but buy every new circuit they release...

 

Otherwise, I rarely get stopped in my tracks, GAS forever haunting.

[SumOne]

1 hour ago, GisserD said:

this thread is not good for me.

 

Yeah, a few reasonably priced or multi-functional pedals have been mentioned but plenty of people's favourites are quite specific effects and >£250 which I would have never considered buying a few years ago as there are £20 Behringer type options that get the job done perfectly well......I'm starting to convince myself that >£250 is reasonable though if it's a pedal that is better (for me) than all others for that particular thing and I'd want to keep it forever and would be hearing it's noise for 100s of hours (and they don't lose their value too much if something more shiny came along and caught my eye!).

 

Edited August 11, 2021 by SumOne

[ped]

I’m still really taken with my Stormy Bass Drive. It’s tiny, takes a battery and doubles the voltage internally yet uses very little power, has a super useful set of controls and it sounds exactly like I wanted it to. Huge range from a light bit of grit through to glitchy fuzz sounds. It’s just super cool. Although it’s ‘ended’ my search for a bass distortion, I kind of admit that it’s opened my mind to how much fun a good one is and I’ve bought others since but none have been as ‘right’ as my stormy!

[krispn]

28 minutes ago, SumOne said:

 

Yeah, a few reasonably priced or multi-functional pedals have been mentioned but plenty of people's favourites are quite specific effects and >£250 which I would have never considered buying a few years ago as there are £20 Behringer type options that get the job done perfectly well......I'm starting to convince myself that >£250 is reasonable though if it's a pedal that is better (for me) than all others for that particular thing and I'd want to keep it forever and would be hearing it's noise for 100s of hours (and they don't lose their value too much if something more shiny came along and caught my eye!).

 

My Basswitch has been the ‘brain’ of my pedal board for a decade and it’s so versatile. My fiddle played has used it when waiting to get her own preamp/DI it’s helped fix a few unruly hollow stages and been flawless in that time. Well worth the asking price considering the years of service but at the time I was after something with that functionality and I was building my pedal board around those features. I was basically making a pedal board which would work if my amp died or for a straight to desk pedal board. 

[MacDaddy]

33 minutes ago, SumOne said:

 

Yeah, a few reasonably priced or multi-functional pedals have been mentioned but plenty of people's favourites are quite specific effects and >£250 which I would have never considered buying a few years ago as there are £20 Behringer type options that get the job done perfectly well......I'm starting to convince myself that >£250 is reasonable though if it's a pedal that is better (for me) than all others for that particular thing and I'd want to keep it forever and would be hearing it's noise for 100s of hours (and they don't lose their value too much if something more shiny came along and caught my eye!).

 

 

The Bass Poison Ivy costs over £250 - although I got a deal on mine at one of the LBGS's - it's a boutique pedal with price to match and IMO it's worth it.

But I'm probably not going to buy another bass DI as I still like and use my £20 Behringer BDI21  

[DiMarco]

Maybe it's just me but most pedals are WAY overpriced these days it seems.

Don't add up the prices on your pedalboard it will scare the hell out of you.

 

Polytune, Alpha-Omicron, Cali76cb, on my board to name a few.

 

Maybe I should just switch to Helix and stop using pedals altogether.

 

[SumOne]

3 hours ago, DiMarco said:

Maybe it's just me but most pedals are WAY overpriced these days it seems.

Don't add up the prices on your pedalboard it will scare the hell out of you.

 

Polytune, Alpha-Omicron, Cali76cb, on my board to name a few.

 

Maybe I should just switch to Helix and stop using pedals altogether.

 

I'd pick your time if buying new - a couple of months ago the Stomp was £399, now they seem to be £529 in most places - add extra footswitches/expression pedal and the cost and size creeps up. 

 

I've owned a Helix Effects and Stomp and was impressed but in the end they weren't quite for me. I think most mid-range individual pedals do their specific jobs better, and I prefer their separate controls. Depends how much you also want the less-used effects and routing options all in one box to make up for that though (I concluded that I was better off spending on a few decent 'core' individual pedals). 

[lee650]

20 hours ago, AxelF said:

 

I've clearly imagined it but I'm sure there used to be a sticky about not being that **** who posts about being that guy 'who doesn't need effects' in the effects forum... 🙄

Who speaks of themselves in the Third person 🤔😂

[lee650]

4 hours ago, DiMarco said:

Maybe it's just me but most pedals are WAY overpriced these days it seems.

Don't add up the prices on your pedalboard it will scare the hell out of you.

 

Polytune, Alpha-Omicron, Cali76cb, on my board to name a few.

 

Maybe I should just switch to Helix and stop using pedals altogether.

 

Im thinking exactly the same thing! I'm currently moving on a few things and replacing them with slightly cheaper (but good) alternatives. To unlock some cash toward a new bass.

[lee650]

10 hours ago, cheddatom said:

I have a boss DD-20, and even though I'm often tempted to get other delay pedals (and do have a few), I generally remind myself that the DD-20 can do everything

 

Dirt pedals on the other hand... they all sound so different, how could you ever settle on one?! In my studio I have a wall of shelves that's over-flowing with pedals. It's so much fun to just pick some at random and plug them in

 

Very jealous of that wall of fun!! 

[Jus Lukin]

-

Edited March 15, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[Doddy]

9 hours ago, SumOne said:

 

Yeah, a few reasonably priced or multi-functional pedals have been mentioned but plenty of people's favourites are quite specific effects and >£250 which I would have never considered buying a few years ago as there are £20 Behringer type options that get the job done perfectly well......I'm starting to convince myself that >£250 is reasonable though if it's a pedal that is better (for me) than all others for that particular thing and I'd want to keep it forever and would be hearing it's noise for 100s of hours (and they don't lose their value too much if something more shiny came along and caught my eye!).

 

I think that £250 is a lot of money for a pedal, but sometimes you've just got to spend it to get the sound you want. I've found that a lot of my favourite pedals are in the £150-200 range, new, but I've got a few pedals that cost under £100 that I use all the time (the EQD Plumes for example). 

[Doddy]

10 hours ago, Kev said:

 

Darkglass as a company certainly ended my search for bass overdrive/distortion, however I can't help but buy every new circuit they release...

 

I don't think I've ever seen a bass player who has just one Darkglass pedal.  It always seems to be either none at all or loads of them. It's the same with guitar players and Strymon.

[Doddy]

On 10/08/2021 at 00:32, Dad3353 said:

I realise that we're atypical; we use an OBBM signal cable straight into the amp, nothing more. It helps that the amp is a Hiwatt 200w valve head; it does all we want (clean headroom to the sky...). No 'dirt' here, thank you very much. 

Which is cool, but a bit limited if you need some chorus, or octave, or wah or whatever. 

[Dad3353]

33 minutes ago, Doddy said:

Which is cool, but a bit limited if you need some chorus, or octave, or wah or whatever. 

 

That's the thing, you see. Different with e-drums, nowadays, but how many Drummers will swap out their snare to get 'that' sound that's on the original being covered..? Any of 'em have timpani on hand, or the gong that sounds in the intro..? Are the drums even tuned appropriately for the various songs to be played..? In my experience, drummers tend to play on one kit for the whole evening, whatever the tune 'needs'. For bass it's very similar; one size fits all, if one decides to just get on with it and play, instead of tap-dancing like a guitarist. Yes, we all different, and some are more 'precious' than others, but it makes very little, if any, difference to the evening, in many bands that I've played drums, or bass, in. 'Old school'..? Indeed. 

[Newfoundfreedom]

I'm really starting to think the Zoom MS-60B is all the pedal I'll ever need having recently bought one from this very parish. 

 

I don't use a lot of effects. So anything like the Helix would be massive overkill, not to mention prohibitively expensive. 

 

Cheap. Extremely compact, and covers just about any sound I wish to make. 

 

So much so, that I'm now thinking of selling my Line 6 M13 that I've been using for years. 

[javi_bassist]

15 hours ago, DiMarco said:

Maybe it's just me but most pedals are WAY overpriced these days it seems.

Don't add up the prices on your pedalboard it will scare the hell out of you.

 

 

 

I think it that now there are also many more "boutique" brands that make their pedals for more than 200 bucks. So "normal" brands also want to make these "boutique" pedals and they rise the price. 

 

11 hours ago, SumOne said:

I'd pick your time if buying new - a couple of months ago the Stomp was £399, now they seem to be £529 in most places - add extra footswitches/expression pedal and the cost and size creeps up. 

 

I've owned a Helix Effects and Stomp and was impressed but in the end they weren't quite for me. I think most mid-range individual pedals do their specific jobs better, and I prefer their separate controls. Depends how much you also want the less-used effects and routing options all in one box to make up for that though (I concluded that I was better off spending on a few decent 'core' individual pedals). 

 

It's true that the Helix it's not for everyone, but even adding "extra" pedals, you decrease the cost of your pedalboard. And it also gives you the freedom to use effects that you don't have in pedals without the need of buying the effect to try it. But as I said, it's not for everyone of course. There are sounds that you need the specific pedal that it's not in the Helix. 

[SumOne]

6 hours ago, Dad3353 said:

 

That's the thing, you see. Different with e-drums, nowadays, but how many Drummers will swap out their snare to get 'that' sound that's on the original being covered..? Any of 'em have timpani on hand, or the gong that sounds in the intro..? Are the drums even tuned appropriately for the various songs to be played..? In my experience, drummers tend to play on one kit for the whole evening, whatever the tune 'needs'. For bass it's very similar; one size fits all, if one decides to just get on with it and play, instead of tap-dancing like a guitarist. Yes, we all different, and some are more 'precious' than others, but it makes very little, if any, difference to the evening, in many bands that I've played drums, or bass, in. 'Old school'..? Indeed. 

As with most things in life, I think the Simpsons put best (albeit being about something slightly different!)

 

 

We're the sauce on your steak

We're the cheese in your cake

We put the spring in Springfield

 

We're the lace on your nightgown

The point after touchdown

Yes we put the spring in Springfield

 

We're that little extra spice that makes exsistence extra nice

A giddy little thrill at a reasonable price

 

The gin in your martini

The clams on your linguinie

Yes we keep the BOING in Springfield