Official Bass Effects Thread
 

So this is the official bass effects thread. Discuss bass effects here, which ones you use, which ones you want to buy, which ones you reccomend etc...
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I haven't really had a chance to play around with any effects. Though I don't think I would like any. Doesn't seem like the bassists job to use effects when playing with a band. Could be fun to do when you're bored.

I don't own anything for bass effects, but about the only thing I would use is a compressor if I had the choice.

I have an old Boss HF-2 Hi-band Flanger that sounds really cool on bass, a very watery Tony Levin-esque kind of sound. Other than that, delay is cool every now and then.

I like fuzz/overdrive sometimes when used sparingly, but only when it's subtle. Too much sounds like shit in my opinion, same goes with bass chorus... it's a beautiful sounding effect, but only when you have just a little bit dialed in.

I impulse bought a Zoom B2.1u a month or two back, pretty budget pedal compared to a lot of them but it is good fun! In a band situation I only seem to use it for the tuner/mute function though, a bit of compression if the compressor in the amp is shit.

It actually has a fair few effects, but I'm not very good with dialing things in and don't know which ones to use in a band situation... perhaps someone here can help me! By that I mean when I might use chorus, phaser, delay etc... I'm starting to get the feeling they're just a novelty haha!

http://www.zoom.co.jp/english/products/b21u/

I mainly play 80s hair metal and death metal when it comes to bass.

Chorus sounds quite nice when playing old rock. Duff McKagan used it sometimes when he was in Guns n' Roses. I think Chris Squire uses it quite a bit too. Put just a LITTLE bit on though. Too much will totally drown it and your tone will sound sludgy. But just a little bit of chorus dialed in makes a nice shimmering sound. I also heard it in a Rush song once... just can't remember which one right now.

I hardly use effects, but the sound of an DOD envelope filter is pretty nice now and then, when used at the right times!

My favorite is definitely chorus. That combined with a delay sounds pretty awesome. These effects are usually better when you're playing solo or you're the rhythm in a cleaner song, like in Blind Faith by Dream Theater.

Didn't notice this before, thanks for the tips! I will give this a proper go tomorrow, when family members aren't in bed :p

If you really want to have fun making some noise - get a Dunlop Crybaby Bass pedal!

Hell yeah! Those are awesome for funk.

I love my Sans Amp distortion. It's about the only effect I use on bass.

I love when my bass has a grindy sound when I record for my solo band. A little distortion adds an extra edge to the music.

Agreed... even the smallest amount of 'grit' can make a song so much more aggressive.

I love to play around with my flanger pedal.