A Little Bit More Body...

[Graham56]

Not for me, I’ve got plenty… but for my bass sound.

 

I play in an Americana/blues/gospel band. Bass, drums, guitar, sax, singer with harmonica. There are a couple of songs we’re working up where the guitarist is playing trumpet. (No, not Ring of Fire!)

 

When he does, the body of the band sound tends to drop out. The sax can cover some, but I wonder if I could fill out a little more of the space.

 

I play a P-Bass with LaBella flats through Little Mark and Barefaced, and I don’t want to meddle with the basic sound. I currently use no pedals – I try to avoid any complexity and adding stuff that increases the chance of some kind of systems failure.

 

But is there a pedal than can ‘flesh the sound out a little’? Only a little mind you – I’ve tried a couple of fuzz pedals and hated them. But if there was something that gave a little more grit and body, that might be useful. Any thoughts from the collective? I know very little about pedals so be gentle with me…

 

Cheers, 

 

Graham

[Bolo]

A FX loop with octave and a little overdrive?

[chris_b]

I play in several trios and when the guitarist drops out the sound dips. . . . but that's supposed to happen. It's the dynamics of the performance. IMO filling all the gaps isn't the best way to arrange a song.

[Lozz196]

TC Electronic Spark Booster, or Ampeg Scrambler would both work, adding in just a tad of gain to the sound but not changing the tone.

Edited 17 hours ago by Lozz196

[dudewheresmybass]

there are many lowish gain drives that would fit the bill.

The first stop for me would be to try something like the full sized spark as mentioned by Lozz

[EMG456]

Get some rounds on your P bass. Broader frequencies are then available - a little goes a long way - and you can dial it back if it's too much.

Also, support the soloist by playing a little bit more - some double stops to help outline the chords - the odd harmonics to do the same and add interest or flavour.

Most of my playing recently has been with a guitarist pal of mine and yes when he takes a solo, it's just me left being the band. To be honest, it fits well with my own style - I've never been one to hide away at the bottom end but I have to say that audiences tend to like it and I constantly get comments about how refreshing it is to hear someone playing "up front" and how rare that is these days.

So consider giving it a go - to my mind this is more about mindset than effects pedals.

[BassAdder60]

For my band and previous band where we were a trio of musicians playing rock I made sure my bass sound was 

Full and loud so when guitarist soloed it sounded full as a band 

 

I play with a pick on a PBass and don’t need fx etc and learn to palm mute for quieter parts and let rip for loud parts. 
 

A good amp and decent cabs are all you need in my opinion and play like a bass / rhythm guitarist ! 

[bertbass]

Behringer BDI21 should fit the bill.

[paul_5]

Rounds with a light overdrive works every time for me. Can't hurt to boost a little at around 200Hz either.