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Forums > Music: Bass

Bass Effects

Ilmarinen	Date: April 17, 2006 @ 11:06 PM What does everyone think about bass effects? Are you a purist or a synthesis master? Do you use bass or just guitar effects? What are the best sounding effects for your music? Give us your opinions and stories!
hate9wicket	Date: April 18, 2006 @ 12:24 AM I don't like using the same thing every time. I usually turn my pod on, put it on manual, then twist the knobs while playing to find something that works. When I find something, I do the same with software effects, pick something that works with the pod sound, then blend some more, I can always change it in mixdown if I don't like it upon further listening. One interesting experiment ended up w/ bass synth settings, married to an overdriven phaser, with a lot of low end in the eq, so it came out real slinky and boomy, almost like I did two bass line tracks and then bounced them down to one track.
GeneHilbert	Date: April 18, 2006 @ 1:38 AM I usually don't effect the bass, I like it clean and natural. With tone variations that cross's between old Motown to Getty Lee, Stanley Clark, Jaco, Marcus Miller, and Abe Laborel, Ron Carter for double bass. I like it groovy and funky.
zedsalt	Date: April 18, 2006 @ 10:43 AM I played around with a Tweak Fuzz in the store a while back. That made some nifty sounds with a bass, but not necessarily in the "bass approved" settings. That's been my experience with the "designed for bass", "optimized for bass", etc. effects: as often as not the effects "set up" for bass sound better on the guitar and vice versa. And I've lost track of the times I've read some famous producer/engineer say that they love guitar amp modeling...on everything BUT guitars. Rule number one: there are no rules.
hate9wicket	Date: April 18, 2006 @ 11:20 AM Zed, I do that more w/ guitar, end up using effects intended for keyboards or vocals, but for bass, I find most of the time, the tone is dictated more by hand placement, pickup position, and amp and cab emulation, rather than effect units. I use flat strings, I find they make the sound more 'bass' whereas round strings sound more 'guitar' if you know what I mean.
leedsquietman	Date: April 18, 2006 @ 6:37 PM chorus / flanger sounds nice on a bass, many people use chorus on a bass for live work to beef up the sound (bass gets lost easily in the mix at gigs etc). Wah-wah can also be a funky bass effect is done properly. I also like a nice distortion occasionally, really adds beef to a song.
100thmonk	Date: April 19, 2006 @ 3:34 AM i generally agree with gene, but i do like to use all kinds of different effects very subtly. i also like to run a small keyboard that i can play synth sounds depending on the situation. if i could i would definitely use synth bass
EvilPicnic	Date: April 19, 2006 @ 9:35 AM It depends on the situation - I generally like the sound of a clean, funky fretless bass. But playing Motorhead without the distortion would sound pretty poor. And RATM wouldn't have sounded nearly so visceral without the occasional weird effects on the bass(incl. delay), which matxched perfectly what Tom Morrello was doing with the guitar. My friend has a enveloper which makes the bass sound just like the bass on Chameleon. Which is cool.
MinisterofSc...	Date: April 19, 2006 @ 1:18 PM Hmm...you know, I never thought too much about it. I've used some effects on the bass in some songs, but haven't thought about it recently. may be just what I need to spruce up my sound...something to reinspire. New ideas. Thanks for the idea!
MinisterofSc...	Date: April 19, 2006 @ 1:19 PM I hate using a word twice in a row like that. Thanks for the (synonym of idea)
EvilPicnic	Date: April 19, 2006 @ 3:14 PM ...notion?... hmm? twicetwice
GeneHilbert	Date: April 19, 2006 @ 3:35 PM Man - when I was young player, I put every effect I could find on my bass - just to do it. Fuzz, phaser, flanger, wah, overdrive, distortion, reverb. I'd crank my amp as loud as it would go - until it sounded like a wookie screaming. However, nothing I ever did sounded as good to me then as Charles Sherrell, Billy Cox, or Duck Dunn. Then later when I discovered, Ron Carter and Stanley………Oh My God...... That's how it's done.......
leedsquietman	Date: April 19, 2006 @ 7:40 PM Agree that less is more - Lemmy of Motorhead mostly doesn't use effects on bass, he just turns all the knobs on his f**k off stack of marshalls to ELEVEN. Still cool, bass solo in 'Stay Clean' on the 'overkill' album especially. And the intro to 'Ace Of Spades' on the 'No Sleep 'til Hammersmith' live album, I swear that blew my hifi swpeakers, eardrums and killed my dog the first time I played it...