Bypassing Pedals or not using them at All

[Chienmortbb]

I had a problem the other day with my sound. I hit the bypass foot switch and was almost surprised when it sounded great. Has anyone realisd that one of the sounds they need is that one in their hands?

[PaulWarning]

I use a pedal and think it sounds better with than without, but it's subtle, once saw a band where the bass player had a board with about 6 pedals on it, his bass sounded muddy and wasn't cutting through, halfway through the second set one of his leads packed in, so fair play he quickly plugged staright into his amp, after his sound really cut through and sound clear.

I told him at the end, he looked at me like I was something he trodden in on the local park 

[Lozz196]

Although I use a preamp pedal - Sansamp or Behringer BDI21 - in one of my bands, I prefer the sound of my bass just into an amp which is what I do with the others. It just seems more, for want of a better word, natural.

Edited Friday at 21:08 by Lozz196

[MichaelDean]

I think it's really important to make sure that everything in the signal chain works with the band you're playing with. If it doesn't and you sound like mush, then it should be removed. We're all constantly thinking about how we sound in the band context and it shows from the comments we get after gigs. 

[SumOne]

Yeah, it can sound better without anything, but I think it all depends on what music you play. It's like 'my ice cream actually tastes better without tabasco sauce on it'. 

 

Stuff like classic Blues, Motown, Rock n Roll, Reggae etc. often sound better without any 'hot sauce'! But some songs really need effects, threads like this 'Chorus, what songs need it?'  https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/514762-chorus-what-songs-need-it/  Or, you'd have trouble re-crating the Bassline from Thundercat's 'Them Changes'  without an envelope filter, or Electric Wizard's 'Funeralopolis' without some heavy distortion/fuzz.

 

I wouldn't give up on the hot sauce, it just needs to be used where appropriate.

 

[BigRedX]

Pretty much every amplified instrument benefits from some degree of signal processing. Your choice of amp and cab(s) is the same as any other effect. Otherwise there would be no point in having some many different brands of amplification. Stick your bass through a rig that did absolutely nothing but increase the amplitude of the input signal and everyone would complain that it made their bass sound bland and lifeless.

[dave_bass5]

On 29/08/2025 at 18:44, Chienmortbb said:

I had a problem the other day with my sound. I hit the bypass foot switch and was almost surprised when it sounded great. Has anyone realisd that one of the sounds they need is that one in their hands?

I had 2 gigs in July where I was using supplied backbone. I couldnt be bothered to set any pedals up. I loved it. Sounded great and so much less to think about. 

The bass player in my band doesn't use any, and he sounds great as well. 

I blame BC for a lot of this. 

[Quatschmacher]

3 hours ago, dave_bass5 said:

I had 2 gigs in July where I was using supplied backbone.

Was it a Spinal Tap cover set perhaps?😂

[Beedster]

On 29/08/2025 at 18:44, Chienmortbb said:

I had a problem the other day with my sound. I hit the bypass foot switch and was almost surprised when it sounded great. Has anyone realisd that one of the sounds they need is that one in their hands?

 

1. I've rarely used pedals, and when I have I've usually lost interest very quickly

2. I know a lot of other players who should try the same experiment (always funny when a guitarist playing around with their 24-unit board finally finds a combination that s/he as well as the rest of the band prefer only to realise they just hit bypass)