No FX for me ?

[BassAdder60]

I’ve experimented with many common effects pedals such as drive, compression, chorus etc and I seem to always come back to a simple straight into a good amp approach!!

 

I love the clean tone of a PBass and find it just works without really needing much else and I’ve gone round in circles trying out pedals and finding they don’t improve what really doesn’t need improving !

 

The only pedals I have on my board now are my Shure GLXD16+ receiver / tuner and my Genzler drive channel footswitch for the Magellan 800

 

Im thinking I should downsize my board too as it’s a Metro 20 and the two items look a little lost on a 20” board !

Edited September 28, 2023 by BassAdder60

[uk_lefty]

Do it! I went straight to amp for my last few gigs and I didn't miss much because of it. A good tone always sounds good.

[BassAdder60]

Update I’m also selling my new Metro 20 board !! 
 

Everything is off the board.

 

Shure GLXD16+ has rubber feet fitted so can sit on top of amp or floor. Genzler footswitch also has rubber feet so it can sit on the floor in front of speaker 

 

Liberating !! 

Edited September 28, 2023 by BassAdder60

[chris_b]

I only play music where the bass has to sound like a bass, so I've never found a use for pedals. I've tried a couple at home, but never taken them to a gig.

 

Good basses, amps and cabs does everything I need.

[BassAdder60]

12 minutes ago, chris_b said:

I only play music where the bass has to sound like a bass, so I've never found a use for pedals. I've tried a couple at home, but never taken them to a gig.

 

Good basses, amps and cabs does everything I need.

Exactly my discovery.. 

 

There is something pure about a nice bass tone for any genre 

 

Amp drive / valve amps etc I think have a place for sure too 👍

[Reggaebass]

I’m all valve Ampeg with a jazz or precision and don’t need anything else, in the studio sometimes I’m RM500 with an Ampeg preamp pedal which is easy to carry, but that’s it ,  I did go through a phase of trying various pedals but they were wasted on me, I don’t like drive or distortion ,i like a clean and deep sound which I get now 

[Baloney Balderdash]

If all I needed was filling out the traditional role as a bass player, and I didn't need to sound like anything but a "clean" (or slightly overdriven) bass, I could not only live with, but also be fully satisfied, with my bass going into my EHX Black Finger (tube driven optical compressor, though used predominantly as a tube preamp stage, with its two tubes operating at proper high 300V plate voltage) with a very subtle compression dialed in, and driven to just the edge of the breakup of its tubes, and then into an old SS Trace Elliot amp with a 1x 15" Trace Elliot cab.

 

I could even live without the Black Finger pedal, but I'd rather not, its been my trusty companion for just about any bass or guitar playing/recording I did for the past 20 years or so, and it just makes anything send through it sound better, in this case that would be taking the already really great sounding Trace amp + cab and make it sound absolutely amazing (mind a fairly subtle difference, but non the less a difference that makes all the difference, at very least to me at least).

 

However as it is I prefer the consistency that my "amp-less" setup provides, and need to be able to make several different sounds/tones, so I have a huge, fairly complicated pedal setup.

 

But honestly it doesn't sound neither any better or any worse, just different, and capable of more different sounds and noises. 

 

Edited September 28, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash

[markbunney]

I also ditched my pedal board last year and have been OK with just the amp so far. That said, my amp has a compressor and a distortion channel and I still need the footswitch for that.

 

I keep looking at getting a HX Stomp, but the last few gigs we have had have had loads of near misses with drunk people's drinks and the guitarists pedal boards, and that has been putting me off slightly as I wouldn't want a pint spilled over a £600 unit! 

[Supernaut]

I'm using one pedal now outside of my Polytune - an RC Bass Booster. This is to have more control over my sound FOH. Not really an effect per se. 

[SumOne]

'I don't need pedals, just an expensive Amp with Drive, extensive EQ, Compressor, footswitch for boost/drive, and a few different Basses and Cabs to get the sounds I want'. 😉

 

 

[Japhet]

I only really need pedals in a 3 piece setup. I find that the sound needs a bit of filling out when the guitarist moves from rhythm to soloing. Playing in larger bands I don't need anything between the bass and the amp.

[Bill59]

I’ve been a session and touring bassist for almost 50 years, most recently with the Motown group The Miracles. Pedals are fun to play around with but take a lot of time to learn how to dial them in, especially if you play live. Most top session players don’t use them much if at all. I do have some pedals manufacturers have given me but they are mostly wall decor. I do have an Ampeg SCR DI I use in ampless situations. A compressor pedal is pretty useless to me as I’m always working with pro sound guys who are taking care of that live or in the studio. I have had effects added to tracks I played on after the fact but otherwise I like my bass to sound like a bass and so do most of the people who will hire you. I’ve yet to meet a bassist who was hired because of his or her effects. 

[alexa3020]

I've gone from several pedals  (octaves, chorus, big muffs) to just an Empress bass comp and tuner. 

I love the empress compressor, it adds a little bit of harmonic distortion. Its subtle, but it makes the bass sit better in a mix.

 I do think a tiny bit of drive is essential

 

[Sibob]

On 28/09/2023 at 11:28, BassAdder60 said:

I’ve experimented with many common effects pedals such as drive, compression, chorus etc and I seem to always come back to a simple straight into a good amp approach!!

 

I love the clean tone of a PBass and find it just works without really needing much else and I’ve gone round in circles trying out pedals and finding they don’t improve what really doesn’t need improving !

 

The only pedals I have on my board now are my Shure GLXD16+ receiver / tuner and my Genzler drive channel footswitch for the Magellan 800

 

Im thinking I should downsize my board too as it’s a Metro 20 and the two items look a little lost on a 20” board !

If that’s all you need for your musical output, awesome!

You could just use one of the Pedaltrain pedal risers, the PB2, which seems to fit the Shure and the switch (if the internet is correct in telling me the 1590G Hammond enclosure is a good size for a placeholder image). I’m assuming the switch is passive, and so no space needed for power as you’re likely just plugging the Shure in directly to the wall:

 

Si

Edited 1 hour ago by Sibob