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 August 29 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 backline. 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. 

Edited Wednesday at 13:17 by dave_bass5

[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)

 

[dave_bass5]

53 minutes ago, Quatschmacher said:

Was it a Spinal Tap cover set perhaps?😂

Ooops. That will teach me not to go on line while the boss is around 😎

[dave_bass5]

59 minutes ago, Beedster said:

 

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)

 

Haha. Been there plenty of times. 
One of my guitarists must have 3-4 drive type pedals on his board. When they are all off it sounds great, but when he engages any of them it all goes to pot. But still he asks which combination we prefer 😁

Edited Wednesday at 13:26 by dave_bass5

[Obrienp]

My main gigging amp: Blackstar U700 has some built in effects as well as pre and power amp modelling (character settings). I occasionally use some of the drive settings and definitely the character options. After that, I sometimes use the compressor and very occasionally chorus. This is often because we are covering certain songs where the bass was processed in that way. The only pedals I use with it are a tuner and an envelope filter for some funk numbers.

 

I am sure I could get by with the amp models and the drive. Everything else is fluff really (except the tuner). Chorus is nice for fretless but not all the time. My accuracy is poor enough to provide a chorus effect most of the time 😏.

[BigRedX]

I've gone the other way. My Helix is so much an essential part of my bass sound that it really doesn't matter which bass I play through it they all come out sounding very similar. 

[MrDinsdale]

It largely depends on the rig you're playing through and the kind of sound you're aiming for.

 

I like ditching the preamps and drives when I'm noodling at home occasionally for a change but it doesn't fit the music I'm playing in the band I'm in. There's other times ive just taken a straight DI and tweaked the EQ slightly and it's fit perfectly.

[Mediocre Polymath]

On 02/09/2025 at 09:47, SumOne said:

you'd have trouble re-crating the Bassline from Thundercat's 'Them Changes'  

Think this statement doesn't really need any qualifications about effects. Just generally true.

[Lozz196]

4 hours ago, dave_bass5 said:

Haha. Been there plenty of times. 
One of my guitarists must have 3-4 drive type pedals on his board. When they are all off it sounds great, but when he engages any of them it all goes to pot. But still he asks which combination we prefer 😁

Been there, it’s infuriating isn’t it?