What if I built a pedal board?

[RussFM]

Confession time. In 20 years of playing in bands, I never had a single pedal. I then bought a Zoom B3 a few years ago, just for practising at home. When I joined my current band, I actually started using it, but found it a bit limited for getting the sounds from a couple of their old songs. I upgraded to a Headrush Gigboard and I'm really happy with it. But it got me thinking, I probably use 10% of it's capabilities, I have one rig set up and I switch between three effects. So what if I built a pedalboard?

 

Here's my set up:

Compressor  -  EQ  -  Chorus  -  Octaver  - Ampeg SVT  -  Markbass 212 IR.

In parallel I then split off to a Tube Screamer, a high gain guitar amp (not sure what it's modelled after!) and another IR for my distorted tone. That's blended about 60/40. 

 

If I sold the Headrush I'd probably get around £350. So let's set that as the budget, but I'm happy to buy all used gear. I think I'd need:

 

1) A preamp. Must have DI out, plus headphone out and aux in for home practice. 

2) A compressor. It could be in the preamp. 

3) A distortion. It could also be in the preamp? But must have a blend control, so maybe something separate like the Soul Food?

4) An octaver. The one I use is based on a Boss OC2, but guessing I'd need something cheaper.

5) A chorus - I currently only use this in one song, so can be something really cheap.

6) A tuner!

 

What's missing - a small board and a power supply?

 

Is there anything else to consider? I have used my Headrush to record through it's USB interface. Are there any preamp pedals with that built in?

 

What order would I put them on the board? If I wanted to use the board to practice through at home, the preamp would need to be last to use the headphone out after the effects, perhaps I'd switch that back when I'm playing live?

Edited January 12, 2022 by RussFM

[SumOne]

I reckon it'd be a good move, I've had multi-fx a few times but always prefer individual pedals.

 

I'd probably do something like:

 

1. Preamp/DI/headphone/USB: Nux MLD £90
2. Compressor: Spectracomp £50
3. Distortion: Covered by #1
4. Octaver: Most of the medium price range ones (like MXR Bass Octave Deluxe, Aguilar Octamizer, or Boss OC-5) can be got for about £90
5. Chorus: EHX Bass clone or Boss CEB-3 £40
6. Tuner: Korg pitchblack £30

+ £50 power supply = £350.

 

 

The danger is though once you've done that it'll be 'just one more pedal/upgrade of a pedal'....forever! This is one of the main reasons I like separate pedals though - it's so modular that if you find you really like one effect you can really shop around for marginally different tones/features and if an effect isn't your bag then buying/selling second hand is fairly break-even.

 

And personally, I've never found much need for buying an actual board - I got an old draw and cut it into a tringle shape as you look at it side on, velcro'd the power supply underneath and covered the top in velcro for pedals to stick on and drilled a few holes for cables to run through. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 12, 2022 by SumOne

[fretmeister]

I'd stick with the Headrush.

[Doddy]

I prefer single pedals to multi effects, but you're probably better sticking with the Headrush.  I think to put a good quality pedal board together it will cost you more than £350. You could go cheaper by buying used, but I'd say you were still looking at around £50-100 each for good pedals.  

 

If you go the individual pedal route, I'd chain them tuner>preamp>octave>distortion>chorus and experiment with the compressor at either end of the chain.

Edited January 12, 2022 by Doddy

[itu]

As people seem to love pedal tuners, I could suggest a pro setup and some modern strings. I usually tune my bass before rehearsal or a gig and the instrument stays in tune at least for the next few hours. A simple tuner costs maybe £20. It does not take any space from the board because it would be worthless there.

[RussFM]

Thanks all. I really didn't expect the Effects section to tell me I'd be better off with the Headrush 😁 I guess cost is a big factor here. The Headrush does so much for it's price point, and does it very well.

 

I'll keep the idea in mind though and if a suitable preamp does come along at the right price then maybe that will be my starting point, but I'll hold onto the Headrush for now.

 

As for the tuner, my band plays songs in three different tunings, and not all together in the set list, so there's lots of changing!

[binky_bass]

Sell the Headrush and buy a HX Stomp. It's smaller and I genuinely think the quality of effects on the Helix does beat that of the Headrush - though to be honest not by much! 

 

Either keep the Headrush and enjoy it, maybe explore it more, or get a HX Stomp and go super compact!

[uk_lefty]

My watch-out would be this... Do you sometimes use different basses? Some pre amp pedals sound amazing with a passive P bass but dog dirt with an active jazz, so if you like to rotate between different instruments you need to really get hands on to understand what settings are best. Also, some pedals don't play nicely with others, so it can be a bit of a lottery getting them to work together on a board without unwanted noise and fartiness (IME, I'm no pedal-head). And finally what sounds great on online demos might be awful when you get your hands on it, the way you attack a note, your string choice, the pickups, your EQ, all these things can wildly change the sound you're getting from a pedal, if you can try before you buy, or have the patience for trial and error on the second hand market then you should be ok.

[Happy Jack]

20 hours ago, RussFM said:

As for the tuner, my band plays songs in three different tunings, and not all together in the set list, so there's lots of changing!

 

Guitarist in my covers band (The Junkyard Dogs) plays loads of slide, plus he uses lots of non-standard tunings, so he plays three different guitars at each and every gig. He's not showing off, he actually needs them.

 

After several years of suggesting that there might be mileage in grouping together songs played on each guitar, eventually I had to bite the bullet and just take away from him the Set List preparation.

 

Result? Being very frank about it, much better thought-out Set Lists and far less time spent standing around in front of a bored audience while he changes guitars yet gain or re-tunes yet again.

 

[Hellzero]

The Boss GT-1B ticks all the boxes and is cheap : https://www.thomann.de/gb/boss_gt_1b_bass_multi_fx_pedal.htm

 

That said, if you don't need an expression pedal and that you can forget the headphones out, these 3 other "strips" can be what you're looking for :

 

Valeton Dapper Bass Effect Strip : https://www.thomann.de/gb/valeton_dapper_bass_effect_strip.htm

 

Tech 21 Bass Fly Rig V2 : https://www.thomann.de/gb/tech_21_bass_fly_rig_v2.htm

 

TC Electronic Plethora X5 : https://www.thomann.de/gb/tc_electronic_plethora_x5.htm

 

But as others said, keeping the Headrush and explore it might be the best idea.