Live effects - but not via effects pedals (e.g. using Akai MPC, Roland SP 404, Korg KAOSS, Laptop, Mixing desks).

[SumOne]

I had some success using an Akai MPC as a Live Bass effects unit, it has a Tuner, Amp sims, lots of live effects with more parameter controls than most effect pedals have, all relatively easily edited via touchscreen and assigning knobs.  There wasn't noticeable latency.

 

The main downside was it being relatively large and not being 'stompable' e.g. couldn't put it in the floor and stomp on/off effects mid-song. It could potentially sit on my amp for always on type effects but seemed a bit big/expensive/complex for that vs just using a cheap Bass multi-fx like a Zoom MS 60B so I never actually used it live for Bass effects but it seemed perfectly possible.

 

 

I don't own the MPC anymore but I still like the idea of using hardware for sampling and drums stuff so am eyeing up the Roland SP 404 MK2.  What is helping to convince me about it is that it seems quite a capable unit for adding live effects and basically using it as live multi-fx unit (all be it not stompable, and not bass specific). It has a big effects list including Guitar Amp sims:

....unfortunately no specific Bass Amp sim though. I'm hoping it could be a useful Bass multi-fx unit, keyboard effects, sampler/trigger, drum machine, and sequencer....5 in 1 bargain! 

 

I've also found that some quite limited effects on my mixing desk (Mackie FX 12v3) can be good when assigned just to the Bass. It wouldn't be ideal for all live stuff as again it isn't stompable but does have potential to add stuff like Delay, Reverb, Chorus as long as you don't want them turned on/off mid-song.  

 

I also tried Laptop and interface hardware teamed up 'Gig Performer' software. It gives a huge potential for all the different effects you can use, latency was low, it turned into a faff to try and have Laptop and interface etc for gigs though. One big issue was how to stomp on mute and view a tuner without using the laptop screen - I'd need a tuner pedal, by then might as well just have a small multi fx.

 

Any other non-standard ways you've added live effects? It seems there is a whole world of things like DJ effects units out there that can potentially do the job - and many are cheaper, work with different instruments, and more feature full than Bass specific things. 

 

Edited 9 hours ago by SumOne

[BigRedX]

I looked dispensing with my Helix Floor and using Helix Native going through the laptop which provides our drum and extra synth backing.

 

Unfortunately even on an M4 MacBook, having the Helix Native plugin active added another 5-10 seconds to loading time of each song which was IMO too slow for live use, so for the moment I've stuck with using the hardware.

[SumOne]

New Korg KAOSS Pad V announced:

 

"KORG probably took a look around the music-making environment and realized that there are a lot of guitarists buying pedals these days. With them in mind, the new KAOSS PAD has a Hi-Z jack for accepting guitar and bass DI. “A dedicated high-impedance input makes it easy to connect electric guitar or bass directly with no additional hardware required,” says KORG. “Explore textures like ambient swells, rhythmic modulation, time-based glitch effects, or reverb soundscapes, all shaped by simple fingertip control.”

 

https://www.gearnews.com/korg-kaoss-pad-v-studio/

 

The last bit  'all shaped by fingertip control' is going to be the issue, my fingertips are usually somewhat busy when playing bass! But I guess some things like chorus can just be turned on/off as a preset and dynamic stuff like playing a long note and then use the KAOSS to add tape echo and changing rate and feedback with fingers for a dub sort of effect could work.

 

 

There's a change in the air with big companies like Korg, Akai, Roland all recently releasing units that properly include Guitar/Bass as a use. Being mass produced units selling to a much wider audience you get a lot of bang for your buck - and they can also be used for vocals, keyboards, production etc. They all lack footswitch control though, perhaps that can be added available via their midi controls.

Edited 9 hours ago by SumOne

[BigRedX]

Unfortunately all these new products I have seen seem to be aimed at studio users, and if they are expected to be used as part of a live rig they have been designed by people who have obviously never been to multi-band gig at a small venue in their life. Too many mini-jacks, consumer-grade computer connectors, and external PSUs with weedy cables and non-locking plugs the low voltage side. Whenever a band we are sharing the stage with has technical problems at a gig, it can be tracked down to one of these "features". Also IMO anything not designed to be used on the floor needs to have mounting points for a microphone or cymbal stand adaptor on its base.

[SumOne]

25 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

Unfortunately all these new products I have seen seem to be aimed at studio users, and if they are expected to be used as part of a live rig they have been designed by people who have obviously never been to multi-band gig at a small venue in their life. Too many mini-jacks, consumer-grade computer connectors, and external PSUs with weedy cables and non-locking plugs the low voltage side. Whenever a band we are sharing the stage with has technical problems at a gig, it can be tracked down to one of these "features". Also IMO anything not designed to be used on the floor needs to have mounting points for a microphone or cymbal stand adaptor on its base.

 

Yeah, I feel they aren't quite there for live stuff yet, they clearly now have an eye on the guitar/bass market but more from a home studio perspective.

 

I think a few tweaks like the things you mention could really help, mounting points is a good call - surely wouldn't add much cost but these things rarely have them. The KAOSS pad having RCA I/O isn't ideal, having stuff like XLR would be great but you usually need to go pretty high-end guitar/bass multi fx to have it included and unfortunately even quite expensive multi-fx specifically designed for live guitar/bass often have those external PSUs and weak cables, you need to go quite high-end before getting the more professional sturdy stuff so I guess the cost/size and multi-region thing is a bit prohibitive. I'd like to see them really think through how someone would use these things live for guitar/bass perhaps with then mounted on a stand and using a a midi footswitch pedal to change presets and turn effects on/off etc, they all have midi in/out and USB interfaces so I assume it is technically possible but would probably be a world of tech faff.

 

 

[BigRedX]

I was thinking in the way that every TV or computer monitor now comes with mounting points for a VESA adaptor as standard, all desktop high tech music devices should have similar points to allow the attachment of a standard microphone or cymbal stand adaptor.

 

I've got around the flimsy cable and connector problem by fitting all our high-tech devices permanently in a rack case with a removable top and then using XLR and PowerCon connectors to join them to the outside world. It has the added advantage that our computerised backing playback can be set up and wired into the PA in couple of minutes. Most of the other bands we share the stage with who have similar based systems are still looking for suitable tables at the venue to put all their gear on and the right cables in their bag of leads. The disadvantage is that the rack case at least doubles the weight and size of the devices.

[LukeFRC]

On 13/01/2026 at 11:22, BigRedX said:

I looked dispensing with my Helix Floor and using Helix Native going through the laptop which provides our drum and extra synth backing.

Will the new stuff in Helix Stadium support the drums and synth and sequencing changes to things via midi through the song? 

[BigRedX]

1 hour ago, LukeFRC said:

Will the new stuff in Helix Stadium support the drums and synth and sequencing changes to things via midi through the song? 

 

IIRC this part of the Helix Stadium is still to be implemented, and the initial units have been released without this functionality.

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

I have experience of the Boss SP404sx , SP404 mk2  and an older kaossilator . 
 

These are really for home use into a computer imho , or clubbing DJ’s 

 

FWIW, I started off on the Boss SP202 which I still have . Love it for its direct simplicity . 
I then purchased SP404sx which is still easy to use and has lots of great effects , plus loads of sample time . Still looking for original 1 gb boss sound card . 
I then purchased the SP 404 mk 2 ..and haven’t used it ! Only to update it last April ! It’s too much for me , but is fantastic if you have patience and enjoy menu diving ! Boss give free software updates on the 4/4 annually.

I should really give it ago as it has usbc , works with iPad and pairs with the iPad koala app ! 
 

As for the older kaossilator , I won it in a bid on eBay ! No power , and seller soon had it returned ! It looked cheaper , and felt cheap and nasty and left me disappointed . Well it would have done , but luckily I dodged a bullet and got refunded in full . Cheap plastic rubbish 

[SumOne]

22 minutes ago, RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE said:

I have experience of the Boss SP404sx , SP404 mk2  and an older kaossilator . 
 

These are really for home use into a computer imho , or clubbing DJ’s 

 

FWIW, I started off on the Boss SP202 which I still have . Love it for its direct simplicity . 
I then purchased SP404sx which is still easy to use and has lots of great effects , plus loads of sample time . Still looking for original 1 gb boss sound card . 
I then purchased the SP 404 mk 2 ..and haven’t used it ! Only to update it last April ! It’s too much for me , but is fantastic if you have patience and enjoy menu diving ! Boss give free software updates on the 4/4 annually.

I should really give it ago as it has usbc , works with iPad and pairs with the iPad koala app ! 
 

As for the older kaossilator , I won it in a bid on eBay ! No power , and seller soon had it returned ! It looked cheaper , and felt cheap and nasty and left me disappointed . Well it would have done , but luckily I dodged a bullet and got refunded in full . Cheap plastic rubbish 

 

Nice one, it's a shame these don't seem to be quite there for live guitar/bass stuff. (and if you decide to sell the 404 Mk2 give me a shoult as I'm interested in it from a sampling and drum machine perspective).

 

As the MPC and the SP 404 Mk2 both have guitar inputs and live effects - including guitar sims they seem in theory to be almost there, and the new KAOSS pad has guitar input so they have at least given some thought for how it can be used to live process the guitar/bass.  I wouldn't expect any of them to be as good as bass specific multi fx for that specific thing, but with them being able to also work for effects with keyboards, vocals etc and for the MPC and SP to also work as samplers and drum machines and sequencers has me interested. 

 

I expect though that with  this current hardware it is still probably cheaper and more efficient to get a bass/guitar specific multi-fx with footswitches, and if I want a hardware sampler or drum machine then to get them separately just for that specific use.

 

It doesn't feel too far off that there will be something that does cover all of the things well enough for live bass effects, they seem to basically have the processing power to do it - it's just how it is accessed, a simple way of adding midi footswitch integration to change through presets would be important.  

[Woodinblack]

6 hours ago, BigRedX said:

Unfortunately all these new products I have seen seem to be aimed at studio users, and if they are expected to be used as part of a live rig they have been designed by people who have obviously never been to multi-band gig at a small venue in their life. 

 

I certainly don't see that with the Akai (I have a Live 2) - all the jack sockets (it has quite a few) are full size and it is pretty solid (ie, you could injure yourself on it), and although it does have a 2 pin power connector, it does have an internal battery with > 4 hour life so its good for a gig. It has full size USBs and normal protected SD slots, and 5 pin midi sockets.

I would have no problem using it live (and thats what I have it for), and I would note that Akai MPCs are used very routinely by touring groups. 

 

Ultimately I am not sure what you would do for it from a bass point of view, I can't see what that brings, even if I can plug my bass into it (which obviously I can), mine is there for triggering samples, sequences, even whole sections of music, which i would do either by midi for a sequence of by hand on the pads.

[SumOne]

5 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

I certainly don't see that with the Akai (I have a Live 2) - all the jack sockets (it has quite a few) are full size and it is pretty solid (ie, you could injure yourself on it), and although it does have a 2 pin power connector, it does have an internal battery with > 4 hour life so its good for a gig. It has full size USBs and normal protected SD slots, and 5 pin midi sockets.

I would have no problem using it live (and thats what I have it for), and I would note that Akai MPCs are used very routinely by touring groups. 

 

Ultimately I am not sure what you would do for it from a bass point of view, I can't see what that brings, even if I can plug my bass into it (which obviously I can), mine is there for triggering samples, sequences, even whole sections of music, which i would do either by midi for a sequence of by hand on the pads.

I thought that it was a good feature that if you wanted it can be used as a guitar/bass tuner, and use it live for the amp sims and effects (including xy screen), so could feasibly be a decent enough guitar/bass multi fx for one gig and with a different band use it for samples etc. Feels like they are nearly at the point of being able to do it all.

[Woodinblack]

1 hour ago, SumOne said:

I thought that it was a good feature that if you wanted it can be used as a guitar/bass tuner, and use it live for the amp sims and effects (including xy screen), so could feasibly be a decent enough guitar/bass multi fx for one gig and with a different band use it for samples etc. Feels like they are nearly at the point of being able to do it all.

 

I guess it is, although maybe I didn't consider it as I have much better effects in very small pedals on a pedalboard, but I can see they could be of use to some. I have a 12 step on my pedalboard that connects for synth effects.

I can't see how an XY controller would work well on a screen on a remote device when playing the bass, but interesting to watch someone do it!