The Last Bass Outpost
Gear Discussion Forums => Bass Amps & Effects => Topic started by: drbassman on August 22, 2014, 09:55:18 AM
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I've never had, or thought about, using pedals with my rig. However, in my quest for deep throbbing bass (excuse the shades of gray innuendo), is there a pedal I could employ that would help me deepen/improve the low end on my rig? I'm not looking for overdriven stuff, just a fatter, rounder bass response. I'm finding just turning up the bass control and backing down on the mids and trebles often makes things muffled and indistinct. My biggest problem is we are a 3 piece band and I need a lot of low end to fill the gaps and I'm not quite there yet.
Just wondering.............
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The long discontinued Trace Elliot SMX Dual Compressor pedal can do that. The EQ balance knob is a single slope active EQ and can dial in thundering lows and any highs that are needed can be dialed back in with the "highs" part of split-band compressor. As a bonus, dialing in just a hair of low end compression can help tame excessive boominess in bass-heavy rooms I use one a preamp for my tube power amps. Unfortunately, they're very rare and quite often broken. The Ashdown version is supposedly the same or a similar circuit, but I've never encountered one.
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Maybe it's just my specific pedal, but I find that a phaser really ups the low end without affecting defenition (especially when I have a bit of OD in front of it - aka mild compression). I have an Ibanez PH99 Classic Phase (and Boss Dual OD).
I'd also suggest trying a compression pedal (with or without a phaser after it) or the Aphex bass exciter thingy (though I have only used the rack version Aural Exciter with Big Bottom - works well but very easy to overdo it, find a spot you like and then back it off a bit).
http://www.aphex.com/products/legacy/xciter/ or http://www.aphex.com/products/legacy/1401-xciter/
disco'd but easy to get on ebay.
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Maybe it's just my specific pedal, but I find that a phaser really ups the low end without affecting defenition (especially when I have a bit of OD in front of it - aka mild compression). I have an Ibanez PH99 Classic Phase (and Boss Dual OD).
I'd also suggest trying a compression pedal (with or without a phaser after it) or the Aphex bass exciter thingy (though I have only used the rack version Aural Exciter with Big Bottom - works well but very easy to overdo it, find a spot you like and then back it off a bit).
http://www.aphex.com/products/legacy/xciter/ or http://www.aphex.com/products/legacy/1401-xciter/
disco'd but easy to get on ebay.
Hey, the Exciter is a nice looking pedal. I like the features and simplicity. Might give one a go.
Anyone else? I do remember when a Sans Amp pedal was all the rage.
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if you want to go the trace elliot way i have a dual compressor pedal that i dont use anymore.
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I was thinking "compressor" as well, when I read your post.
Here's a high level description of what those do:
http://www.studybass.com/gear/bass-effects/bass-compressors/
I've found that subtle application of one for live use helps add a fullness to the bass sound without muddying it up.
There are a ton of pedal options, like the Aphex Punch Factory or the Trace mentioned above. I've been using a DBX166a (old, used $75 rack comp) to good effect.
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The EBS dual-band compressor is nice too. Mine got lost :(
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The biggest tonal imprint of the Trace Elliot comes from the EQ balance. Its compression truly is more of "compression as a sound effect" because the volume increases with higher settings and there are no provisions for setting limiting levels. It works for me as a preamp, but it doesn't have of the controls of most "true" compressors.
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if you want to go the trace elliot way i have a dual compressor pedal that i dont use anymore.
Check your messages.
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My biggest problem is we are a 3 piece band and I need a lot of low end to fill the gaps and I'm not quite there yet.
I thought that was why we had mudbuckers :)
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Akai Unibass
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Mud... Mud.... Glorious Mud... nothing quite like it for improving the THUD...
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For a bigger sound and more fill, I find that a reverb pedal on bass isn't bad at all. It doesn't fit everywhere, but a moderate amount doesn't call attention to itself.
Of course, I keep a reverb pedal on my board, so when you have a hammer, the whole world looks like a nail.
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I've never had, or thought about, using pedals with my rig. However, in my quest for deep throbbing bass (excuse the shades of gray innuendo), is there a pedal I could employ that would help me deepen/improve the low end on my rig? I'm not looking for overdriven stuff, just a fatter, rounder bass response. I'm finding just turning up the bass control and backing down on the mids and trebles often makes things muffled and indistinct. My biggest problem is we are a 3 piece band and I need a lot of low end to fill the gaps and I'm not quite there yet.
Just wondering.............
Maybe an octaver would be the most logical choice if you need to fill the sonic space when your guitarist sets off to shred land.
I sometimes go higher up the neck and use the octaver function on the POG2 so I take care of the guitar frequencies (bass higher up the neck) and bass frequencies (first and second lower octave added).
Or I play chords with some overdrive added.
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Maybe an octaver would be the most logical choice if you need to fill the sonic space when your guitarist sets off to shred land.
Hence my mention of the Akai Unibass - it adds an octave above, a 4th below, or a 5th above, plus has a distortion control as well. Very big sound for a 3 piece when the guitarist is soloing.
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I have had the Boss OC2 on my board a few years now, very useful. Rarely use it in combination with the mudbucker, though..
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Hence my mention of the Akai Unibass - it adds an octave above, a 4th below, or a 5th above, plus has a distortion control as well. Very big sound for a 3 piece when the guitarist is soloing.
Not available new, is it?
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For a bigger sound and more fill, I find that a reverb pedal on bass isn't bad at all. It doesn't fit everywhere, but a moderate amount doesn't call attention to itself.
Of course, I keep a reverb pedal on my board, so when you have a hammer, the whole world looks like a nail.
Ha, good one Al. Yeah, I'm beginning to think the solution isn't a new amp, but more fine tuning. Compression might just be the answer.
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Maybe an octaver would be the most logical choice if you need to fill the sonic space when your guitarist sets off to shred land.
I sometimes go higher up the neck and use the octaver function on the POG2 so I take care of the guitar frequencies (bass higher up the neck) and bass frequencies (first and second lower octave added).
Or I play chords with some overdrive added.
Yeah, I tried one when I was using the all tube amp and it didn't agree with it at all. Maybe with the hybrid I'm using it would be better.
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Not available new, is it?
They are discontinued, but they pop up at TB every now and then
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I'm not looking for overdriven stuff, just a fatter, rounder bass response.
The Aphex Bass Xciter should do that for you. I have the older 1401 Xciter and it does add a big bottom, but playing three piece you really need a bass whammy.
http://digitech.com/en-US/products/bass-whammy
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Thanks for all of the input guys. Gonna try a compression pedal. One of our members is selling me one. I'll let you know how it goes!
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Got the Trace Elliot SMX Dual compressor pedal yesterday from Tony, aka Clankenstein, all the way from Kiwiland! It sounds great thus far using just the batteries for power. I can really hear the difference the low end compression makes. I found a manual online and I printed it out, so that really helps me understand it better.
Just looking for a power adaptor now. It's 18v DC, neg center pin, average 6.5 mA. It will be a tough one to find, I suspect.
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It is hard on batteries. I got about a gig's worth out of mine on a single set. I almost got arrested in the Walmart near my house when I was buying batteries on the way to gig and wearing my Nashville Pussy t-shirt. The classy folks at Walmart didn't mind if people stole from them, but don't ever go wearing a shirt with the word "pussy" on it at 10pm on a Saturday night.
I bought my first Trace pedal when they were still being produced and have the box and manual (somewhere). The manual is backwards to my understanding of how it works. The EQ balance will REALLY completely change your tone. I only used mine set at about 10 o'clock and it added a TON of low end. My fingerstyle rock sound with a Jazz was input gain to yellow LED active, EQ balance at 10. High compression, when I needed more snarl, was at 1 o'clock but it was a matter of the room and about 50/50 for being used at all and the low end compression was just barely engaged- BUT when the low end compressor engaged, it activated the output buffer amp of the pedal and boosted my instrument level signal with enough current to drive my tube power amp to full output without them being a distorted mess. I used the output gain on the SMX as my master volume.
My Trace setup saw hundreds of shows. I used the SMX pedal into the VR400 power amp. It saw as much action, probably more, than my SVT. I switched to the SVT after we fired the rhythm guitar player who had VERY thin scooped tone (100 watt JCM800 and a Les Paul copy w EMG's) and the singer/guitarist switched from Tele's to a Gibson Challenger (bolt-on LP Junior) that I put a SD Pearly Gates in through a JTM45 reissue or a Fender Prosonic through a Marshall Valvestate 4x12 (they're smaller and sound better than the JCM 4x12's IMO). With the Trace, he was using a Peavey Classic 60 combo and a Peavey 100 watt combo but neither was cranked. In the early days, I used a Gibson GB440 4x10 with either a PA 18" sub cabinet or another GB 4x10 until I got my SVT coffin cab. The GB's sound exactly like early SWR Goliaths (both were Steve Rabe designs)- punchy, but not a lot of bottom.
Either setup, I never played a single show with any other band where the bass player didn't offer to buy my rig.
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Thanks for all of the advice guys! I'll try it out at practice on Wednesday and give a report afterward.
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Tried the pedal at practice and couldn't get it to work properly. Had the local amp tech check it out and he said the batteries were half dead. Duh. :P So, I ordered the proper power converter for it. Should have it before practice next week. More on it then!
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Awesome. It's great thing when a tone quest is fullfilled.
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Awesome. It's great thing when a tone quest is fullfilled.
Well, it sounded great through my B-15 at home before the batteries started going south. We'll see how it does with the Orange Terror next week. I'm excited to hear it then.
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Got my power converter for the Trace pedal from British Audio. Pricey but I've never been comfortable with batteries in instruments. Just my luck they'd die in the middle of a gig and I'm too cheap to replace them for each gig. I think you get a better more consistent power out of a converter anyway. So, we're all set for practice on Wednesday.
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Hooked up the pedal tonight with the Orange Terror and it sounded great. This is the tone Ive been searching for over the last year. Big and round, very full. The compression is a really nice addition. The amp and pedal go reLly well together. I'm happy with it!
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awesome! im glad its worked out for you.did you opt for high frequency compression?i usually had that off.the guitarist in my band pointed out that as i always had it on my pedalboard i never actually ran it on batteries.Doh!
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awesome! im glad its worked out for you.did you opt for high frequency compression?i usually had that off.the guitarist in my band pointed out that as i always had it on my pedalboard i never actually ran it on batteries.Doh!
I tried the high compression and it did help define the output so I lift it on, but just a little. The bass compression is very nice. Just what I was looking for out of the Orange amp by itself. A definite improvement. Thanks!
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There's a reason those SMX compressor pedals sell like hotcakes on eBay.