Bass Multi-Effect Pedals

[gsiekman]

Greetings all! I'm new to the world of pedals and such, so I'm looking at all these pedals and stuff and I'm a little lost. I'm looking for a multi-effect pedal setup that will pretty much cover what I want to do. I know I would like an envelope filter sound, fuzz, distortion, and if possible it would be nice to have a clean boost and a phaser to have some fun with! I've been looking at the Zoom B3, Vox StompLab 2B and the DigiTech BP355. Any help would be appreciated and sorry if I don't sound very well informed, I'm not!

[DeepEnd]

I'm strictly a rhythm guitarist who noodles around on bass so take this for what it's worth: I don't see that many bassists using effects beyond maybe compression. I can see someone maybe using EQ but that's about all. Here's something to chew on until a real bass player chimes in and sets us both straight: http://www.activebass.com/a34--Effects-Use-And-Abuse.

[WRGKMC]

I have a Vox Stomplab IB and a couple of others. Vox is by far the best bang for the buck easily beating Digitec and Zoom. I can get some massive tones out of the Vox recording and it is built like a tank. They really did it right voicing the thing. I can dial up some massive earthquake bass tones the other pedals cant come close too.

 

The vox I have doesn't have the expression pedal, its a lower end version, but still quite excellent. I don't need wah, volume or any of that stuff for bass either. It does have excellent amp modeling and even the synth bass/ octave stuff is better then most pedals I've owned. The synth sounds like a moog and its not all glitchy like allot of synth and octave pedals are.

 

My old bass player has a zoom and I'm not very impressed with it, at least through an amp. Its loaded with a bunch of ear candy effects no bass player has a use for playing live and from my ears it sucks allot of amp tone.

 

I also have a lower end Digitec BP50 (I think) and its on the same level as the Zoom. It not only sucks for live stuff its pretty lame for recording as well. I can tweak the hell out of it and get some decent recordings, but for all they work you have to do getting to sub menus, its on my crap list for ease of use. maybe some of their higher end pedals are better. I have an RP150 guitar pedal that's pretty good, but its not easy to navigate either.

 

The effects you use most on bass is Compression and occasionally Chorus. Amp Modeling and EQ fine if you need them. They ley you adapt the bass to different musical genre. Time based effects like echo and reverb usually sound awful in a mix recording or live. Octave fuzz and synth stuff may be fun for doodling around but doesn't get used much recording or live unless you're playing some specific stuff. This is mainly because of the bass players role in a band. Bass is part of the rhythm section and set the foundation for the sound. Without solid lows the mix falls apart. Guitarists or keyboard players are able to ride on the rhythm section and perform special effects. When a bass player tries it, like I said the band usually winds up in a train wreak.

[isaac42]

I used to have a Digitech I rather liked. Got stolen.

[Mr Temporary]

I'd suggest just buying individual pedals when needed for specific situations. Or, consider something like one of the TC Electronics combos or heads where you can beam in an effect off your phone. One less thing to load in and out.

 

Right now, I've got on my pedalboard:

 

a Sansamp 3 channel for quick tone changes and the DI for backup

Optical compressor

Big Muff Pi fuzz

Phase 90

Octave

 

Only effect I feel that I'm missing is a good chorus, but even that would only get used a couple times a night at most. The compressor gets used all the time.

[ThudMaker]

I'm strictly a rhythm guitarist who noodles around on bass so take this for what it's worth: I don't see that many bassists using effects beyond maybe compression. I can see someone maybe using EQ but that's about all. Here's something to chew on until a real bass player chimes in and sets us both straight: http://www.activebass.com/a34--Effects-Use-And-Abuse.

 

I use effects regularly from chorus, envelope filter, EQ changes, compression, auto swell, gate, etc. I use a midi pedal to control a Boss VF1 half-rack unit.

[mildbill]

There's reviews and youtube stuff on all the ones you mentioned.

People suggest a multi-fx, so that you can try stuff out, see what it sounds like and which ones you use,

and then buy separate pedals.

 

I don't play gigs and drums are my primary instrument, but I've taken a liking to bass also.

Didn't think I wanted to use any fx with bass, but I tried a Zoom unit, and I'm hooked.

I got this one:https://www.zoom.co.jp/products/bass/zoom-b1on-bass-effects-pedal#features

and liked it enough that I got the one with the pedal too.

You can scroll down on the page and see if it offers the kind of stuff you're looking for.

As a hobbyist, it offers more than enough for me.

 

There's a fair amount of 'too wild to use' stuff in it, but there's also a ton of stuff that sits well.

Mainly the compressors, amp and preamp sims. There's some nice modulation stuff in there too.

 

I'm not really into the crunch/overdrive stuff, but there's a good assortment to choose from if you are.

Some of the synth/filter fx can give you a real WTF moment.

 

Anyways, they're inexpensive, great fun, and will give you an intro to what's available.

 

The Zooms are the only ones I have. Other brands probably have somewhat similar fx,

with different interfaces, and options.

 

.

[lug]

If you are going for multi to experiment, get a Korg Pandora Mini. If you decide you want separates later, you still have a great little headphone amp with a bagillion features.

[Phil O'Keefe]

 

I use effects regularly from chorus, envelope filter, EQ changes, compression, auto swell, gate, etc. I use a midi pedal to control a Boss VF1 half-rack unit.

 

Yup!

 

Synth type pedals, chorus, compression, EQ, envelope filters (gotta bring tha funk!) and let's not forget overdrive and fuzz - lots of effects lend themselves well to bass IMO. With heavy overdrive or fuzz it's often nice to be able to blend in some of the dry / un-effected signal... splitters and crossovers work well too - that way, you can route the signal for the mids and highs to the dirt pedal and leave the lows (which sometimes get messed up in not such a good way on bass) unharmed.

 

[Klatuu]

I would suggest you not get a multi-effects pedal. I have one, a Line 6 BassPod. It does a couple of things nicely, but mostly it is like any other multi-whatever. It doesn't do everything easily. The biggest issue I have is controlling it. For example, I can only have one effect going at a time. And I can't really change effects during a song because you have to go to the floor to dial in the effect you want the pedal to operate. I know they are not all that clumsy, but of those I've tried, they all have limitations and the individual effects quality is iffy. You would be better served to decide what effects you want to include, then decide which box gives you the version of effect you like best.