Pedal virgin- clean sound advice please

[Wonky2]

Ok, I’m one of those players that’s never really used pedals.

in recent years, with my tc rh450 I saw the light and understood the benefit of a compressor, and as the amp had one built in I used that.

 

ive now switched amps and I have an orange little bass thing. 
the compressor built into the LBT is quite different to the tc spectracomp and not only does  it seem to give a bit more “squish” it boosts the volume ? Which is strange?

 

any hoo, that’s got me thinking about : 

 

1)the LBT compressor , do I use it or turn it off and buy somthing like a keeley limiter which does a more traditional/transparent job of compression? I don’t mind the squish from the LBT but I’m unsure about it as it just doesn’t seem to tick the box as a transparent conpressor.

 

2) I play with a clean sound, I have no need at all for overdrive, distortion, synth, or “effect” of any kind…..

no I just like clean deep rounded punching bass. BUT…… Im wondering if a small very subtle amount of octave and chorus might help just round off my notes a little nicer , and maybe give a more “engineered” sound than nothing at all?

(if that makes sense) ?

so, my question is……

is subtle use of a compressor, an octaver and a chorus pedal considered to be standard “clean tone” normal kit? 
i hear “real” players clean tone and there’s just something in their sound that makes me thing is not just naked bass /amp signal…. 
 

oh, and of course, now that the tC amp has gone I’ll have to get a tuner pedal too 😂
 

all comments and advice welcome to a pedal newb with gas. 

Edited December 18, 2022 by Wonky2

[Pamparius]

How much you want to spend?

 

used or new ?

 

Should the pedals be readily available or you want to chase unicorns?

 

Are you happy with 1-5 knobs or you like to spend time in front of a computer to fine tune every parameter possible ?

 

You could get a Behringer compressor, octave and chorus for about 100 for all 3 of them, but also spend 300+ on a compressor alone (Cali 76...), and then there are multi-effects like like the hx stomp that offer almost everything in a small package. 
 

 

[Franticsmurf]

It's very difficult to answer as your sound as you describe it will probably be different to the sound I'm imagining by your description, although I understand what you're getting at. I'm a relative newb to pedals/sound too and in the last year or so I've been trying pedals, settings and pick ups to get my sound (admittedly, I am happy using effects as well as having a 'clean' sound). The three bands I play in each have a different requirement. Rather than buy, try and sell, where I've been unsure I've gone for a cheap option to get a feel for the effect before deciding if it's worth investigating further with a more expensive unit. Behringer make some great pedals at even better prices.

 

As suggested above and if your budget allows try their compressor, chorus and octave to see if you can get close to the sound in your head. You then have the option to keep using them or replace them with different (better?) units and keep the Behringers as back-ups. I did this with filter pedals as it was something I didn't know much about. I ended up with an Eden Californiwah and a Sonicake Cry Bot, both relatively cheap. The Sonicake does what I want and is now a permanent fitting on the board.  

 

Is what you're hearing from real players a combination of their clean sound and mixing desk processing (the guy that does the sound in one of my bands adds a subtle compression to my signal for the PA) and/or the venue itself? Does the player have an 'always on' pedal hidden away (my compressor is always on so it doesn't really have to be on the board)? So many variables - and isn't the fun of bass playing partly about experimenting to get the right tone?  😃

[PaulThePlug]

A lot of pedals are now Micro... so no internal battery and need a supply, which is a nightmare if ya just running one pedal... i've got some of those 9v batt snap to center neg to get over the single pedal use.

Although you sound like you are looking to build a mini board of 3 or 4 pedals. Loads of budget micro clones on the bay.

[itu]

Your sound depends on your equipment, but also on the place where you play. I have one volume adjustment in my bass amp - 12 o'clock - but the volume and sound are very different at the rehearsals, or in a concrete or wooden house. We cannot exclude the space where we play.

 

Your amp sure has an eq, please use it. You can turn all pots down, and then start playing with different freq bands to find the sound of yours. And as said, remember to use the eq also in gigs where the surroundings are different.

 

Learn your amp before mixing fx to the equation of your sound.

[Wonky2]

Yeah I’m aware of my eq’ ing and have no issue with my sound in that sense. I think what I’m talking about is that bit extra of manipulation if the signal to round off and soften the edges. 
my use of a compressor helped with that which I liked and is what turned me off to thinking about other effects having never (in 30 years) having used them much. 
 

my gear/ a 76 jazz with Aguilar pups, orange little bass thing head with obc112 cab. 
my sound is nice n warm, but I think the use of compression, chorus (barley present in the mix) and octave (again a small amount of prescience in the mix) I THINK these things would give me that softened sound I’m pointing at ? 
 

sorry it’s hard to describe , but is what I’m suggesting fairly common in approach ? 
 

i don’t ned wsh, synth or overdriven type effects, I want to maintain a fairly b cab lean signal.

 

moneywuse, yeah I may be wise to try cheaper clones at first (just been made redundant  ) but I don’t want to be put off by inferior goods so any suggestions for cheap versions such as Behringer are welcome, thanks 

 

ill likely build a small board, power, comp, chorus, octave, tuner….. 

 

thank though guys all comments are welcomed…

Edited December 18, 2022 by Wonky2

[Franticsmurf]

3 hours ago, Wonky2 said:

moneywuse, yeah I may be wise to try cheaper clones at first (just been made redundant  )

Sorry to hear that. Try Amazon Warehouse - they sell returns and 'B' stock at lower prices. You have to keep looking but sometimes you can get a bargain. My Zoom MS60B was from there - returned unwanted and a third off. Talking of which, the MS60B or the B1-Four are multi effects with loads of different types and editing software for a computer which might be the solution to 'try before you buy'. The effects are modeled on individual pedals by different manufacturers and should give you an idea of what works for you.

[Wonky2]

41 minutes ago, Franticsmurf said:

Sorry to hear that. Try Amazon Warehouse - they sell returns and 'B' stock at lower prices. You have to keep looking but sometimes you can get a bargain. My Zoom MS60B was from there - returned unwanted and a third off. Talking of which, the MS60B or the B1-Four are multi effects with loads of different types and editing software for a computer which might be the solution to 'try before you buy'. The effects are modeled on individual pedals by different manufacturers and should give you an idea of what works for you.

Thanks I’ll take a look at Amazon ….

i don’t fancy a multi and deffo not anything that requires lap top for adjustments,…. 
my son has the zoom gt4x which is great but I deffo want simplicity

[Mudpup]

Do you have any YouTube links to the sort of sound you're looking for? 

[Wonky2]

42 minutes ago, Mudpup said:

Do you have any YouTube links to the sort of sound you're looking for? 

I guess players like Guy Pratt (floyd) might be an example? 
i realise he plays a lot of varied sounds , Including fretless sound but in general there is a subtle rounding off to the sound , which I think would be compression, chorus, and octave, all mild in use rather than overstated , but a quite destiguishable I guess…

 

or if I listen to radioheads wierd fishes, the bass sound is just softened somehow, clean bass sound , no obvious “effect” as such , but no finger or fret sound, deep and plumb , but just like subtle clean bass….but some how softened a little and rounded off ? 
is it just compression ? 
 

t’es i appreciate that a lot of it relates to the fingers, attack etc, but I guess I’m asking are these clean sounds pure unadulterated clean signal, maybe with just mandatory compression, or are they slightly flavoured?

 

it may well be that these guys just use clean sound and it’s just engineered magic…. But I feel there something there

Edited December 18, 2022 by Wonky2

[itu]

Chorus may eat your lowest end out. A good comp (see: www.ovnilab.com ) is your friend. You need to know how it works to get the best out of it. Octave needs very clean playing, and many do not track the notes below C or so. For most of these I would say: use sparingly. If you want to cut the attack out of the ADSR, you could try Harley Benton Noise Gate NG-100. It is cheap as chips and works like Boss's age old (and expensive) Slow Gear SG-1. Even some more.

[Skybone]

If you like the compressor on the TC amp, then why not try out a TC SpectraComp?

[Boodang]

Compressor is a common route to go for enhancing your clean tone. I've got a couple of TC Spectracomps on my board with different toneprints loaded. They're great as you can go from a tri-band setup to classic comp and everything in between. Versatile and it only has one knob.

Octavers are a different deal though. I use the Aguilar octamizer to thicken up the tone sometimes but even on subtle settings the tone does get a little artificial, and I think this pedal is the more organic sounding of the usual suspects. A great pedal though but not 'standard' clean tone fare (my fav setup is the octamizer through the grape phaser but now we're defo not in clean territory!). 

Again, chorus can get you certain tones but like the octaver, even subtle settings will be going away from that clean tone. 

It sounds like a good place to start might be to just try out some of the toneprints on a s/h Spectracomp.

[Wonky2]

7 minutes ago, Skybone said:

If you like the compressor on the TC amp, then why not try out a TC SpectraComp?

Yeah I thought that to be fair…

i don’t dilute the orange compressor, I quite like the amount of notable squish  which kind of does what I’m talking about, that rolling off of the edges….

 

 

[Wonky2]

5 minutes ago, Boodang said:

Compressor is a common route to go for enhancing your clean tone. I've got a couple of TC Spectracomps on my board with different toneprints loaded. They're great as you can go from a tri-band setup to classic comp and everything in between. Versatile and it only has one knob.

Octavers are a different deal though. I use the Aguilar octamizer to thicken up the tone sometimes but even on subtle settings the tone does get a little artificial, and I think this pedal is the more organic sounding of the usual suspects. A great pedal though but not 'standard' clean tone fare (my fav setup is the octamizer through the grape phaser but now we're defo not in clean territory!). 

Again, chorus can get you certain tones but like the octaver, even subtle settings will be going away from that clean tone. 

It sounds like a good place to start might be to just try out some of the toneprints on a s/h Spectracomp.

 Yep, another good shout…

ill try and find a sh spectracomp.

at one point they were quite available , cheap too, but then seemed to shoot up a bit in price ? 
 

I’ve also seen the spectra drive pedal but I don’t need any drive function and I’m happy with the simplicity of the orange LBT ‘s eq’ing….. so apart from the d.i function of it, I guess the plain spectracomp pedal would be best.

[Wonky2]

I appreciate the comments here guys, and I appreciate that it’s quite hard to describe  or translate , but I’m just talking about thickening up

of tone, rounding off of note edges and what I think is quite obvious compression …..

 

maybe I’ll give some cheap

pedals a go, the beringer ones are not a bad shout I guess…..

 

[PaulThePlug]

Maybe look at something like a Zoom B1on... Strip out all the pre set patches and build your own (it is what i did) with the vast selection of comp chorus octave amp sim etc available... plus tuner headphone amp drum tempos etc all in one!

 

Can't go wrong at £25...

 

Edited December 19, 2022 by PaulThePlug

[Wonky2]

No multi effects for me thanks, seperate old school lumps if anything is what I’d like…. 
 

[Boodang]

15 hours ago, Wonky2 said:

 Yep, another good shout…

ill try and find a sh spectracomp.

at one point they were quite available , cheap too, but then seemed to shoot up a bit in price ? 
 

I’ve also seen the spectra drive pedal but I don’t need any drive function and I’m happy with the simplicity of the orange LBT ‘s eq’ing….. so apart from the d.i function of it, I guess the plain spectracomp pedal would be best.

The eq on the Spectradrive is good but if you're happy with the Orange then there's no need. As for the spectracomp, I was surprised by how versatile the various toneprints are and how much they eq the tone. My fav straight toneprint is the 'Captain East' but there's plenty more which are a bit more extreme if you need. It got me looking into other compressors but I still use the spectracomp the most. 

As for DI, I've settled on a Radial SB2 stagebug. Passive, simple, and I think the transformer gives a nice rounded tone. 

[Franticsmurf]

16 hours ago, Wonky2 said:

don’t fancy a multi and deffo not anything that requires lap top for adjustments

I was thinking more as a 'try before you buy' as these units have a range of different versions of, say, compression, chorus and octave. Once you've tweaked to get a sound close to the one you're after, you have an idea of the individual pedals you're looking for.

16 hours ago, Wonky2 said:

I guess players like Guy Pratt (floyd) might be an example?

I know he uses a Boss OC2 for octave and Ashdown amplification. Have a look for his 'Lockdown Licks' Youtube videos which may give you some more insight into his sound.

[MichaelDean]

I don't think an octave and chorus are what you're hearing. I've certainly never heard of it as a standard thing. I might also be wrong!

 

A lot of recorded bass has a touch of overdrive on it (sometimes more than a touch!). That will introduce some harmonics and can round out the sound and can often sound clean in a mix. Guy kept the valve drive in his signature Ashdown head for a reason...

[Wonky2]

Great advice guys , thanks

[Jackopie1]

Hi mate-  I personally wouldn't use chorus for that, but I believe some players do. Another poster mentioned chorus eating away the low frequencies; for 60ish quid, you can get a new EHX Bass Clone, which has a switch to leave the bottom end alone.

 

I was using one for an indy band recently- playing around at home on low settings, I think it definitely rounds and softens the front of the note, without being too effecty (I think thats what you mean?), whilst thickening up the sound. 

 

You could also get the Spectracomp for not much, and it'll be similar to your old amp's compressor. 

 

I love an octaver, but really for for synthy lines- I think it could muddy up your sound real quick if on all the time, even on low settings. Especially playing live. 

 

I'm not an fx expert, I should add! A Tuner, Spectracomp and Bass Clone would be a cool little board, though. 

 

[Wonky2]

51 minutes ago, Jackopie1 said:

Hi mate-  I personally wouldn't use chorus for that, but I believe some players do. Another poster mentioned chorus eating away the low frequencies; for 60ish quid, you can get a new EHX Bass Clone, which has a switch to leave the bottom end alone.

 

I was using one for an indy band recently- playing around at home on low settings, I think it definitely rounds and softens the front of the note, without being too effecty (I think thats what you mean?), whilst thickening up the sound. 

 

You could also get the Spectracomp for not much, and it'll be similar to your old amp's compressor. 

 

I love an octaver, but really for for synthy lines- I think it could muddy up your sound real quick if on all the time, even on low settings. Especially playing live. 

 

I'm not an fx expert, I should add! A Tuner, Spectracomp and Bass Clone would be a cool little board, though. 

 

Sounds like a good shout , I’ll take a look at the ehx unit

thanks

[Downunderwonder]

I wouldn't put octave and subtle in the same sentence. Chorus is pretty not clean also. Maybe you can clean blend your way to something you like. Beware that chorus returns a negatively phased signal from the input so tends to mush up when blended externally.

 

My idea of a little pep up of clean that isn't obviously effected is some very mild overdrive just enough to give a little bite to it.