Pedals: friend or foe?

I don't use them, but a lot of folks here do and swear by them.

imo

If it gives you what you're looking for in sound, then it's all good.

I use several pedals in my normal rig. Although they can be cumbersome at times, I enjoy this different textures and sounds that I am able to achieve with them. But I totally understand the whole plug and go thing as well. It also depends on the style of music I'm playing. For instance, if I play blues, all I need is a tuner. If I'm playing rock (in it's many forms) I like variety.

cheers

I have loads of pedals on my board. I pretty much only use them jamming with just a drummer. Actually, I ran a Sansamp all the time.

Did the quest for the right distortion thing, ended up running a Blackstar HT dual pedal, mixed with clean in various ways, plus bass big muff fuzz. I like pedals, but I always wanna hear my bass shine through.

just another tool in the bag.  i personally run a separate wet (FX) and dry signal.  my favorite effect is my Boss DD-6 digital delay.  simply amazing, imho

The only thing that I ever liked was an Electro Harmonix Small Small Stone Phase Shifter. I used to use an Orange Squeezer compressor. I have a Zoom Pedal and a chorus that I never used on a gig. I have a vintage V-4B and using effects with it is sorta like putting ketchup on steak.

When you play with good people every amp sounds decent. 

I've always prefered multi-effects boards to single effect chains. Less pedals = less chance of something going wrong (i.e. battery dying, cable getting yanked, etc). I don't use a whole lot of effects but they're fun to mess around with.

Tried a few dirt pedals, but still prefer just a good clean tone.  I use a tuner and a Boss LMB-3 Limiter pedal.

Multi FX Boards don't do it for me because they don't allow the flexibility of individual units... plus you'll never really get the same great sound from a multi-pedal as you would individuals.

If you've got the time/money they're nice... but...

To me the only thing I think any SHOULD have is a good compressor.

How is a compressor Pedal any different from the compressor knob on my amp head?

Is it a single knob one? There are loads of variables on a compressor, pedal might have more knobs, or multiple bands of compression, so you can control your lows whilst keeeping dynamic highs etc.

Yeah it's a single knob.  Thanks for the advice, I'll check out one of those pedals sometime soon to add to my setup.

I like simplicity, but yeah, a compressor is a good thing to have.

My old Carvin head had one built in and that was a nice feature.

Boss TU12H tuner and Sansamp programmable bass di driver.

Sure, I have other things to 'play' with at home, but those are the only 2 things that I gig with.

The more moving parts, the more likely things are to screw up.

they have their place. Best bass player I know personally told me no bass players should be allowed to play with pedals until they have mastered their clean tone- he also told me that every bass player should have to master a Fender Jazz bass before being allowed to play any other bass.... food for thought

Pedals is for bicycles. 

Nah, just kidding.  I don't use any but my drummer sometimes adds a little chorus to my bass when we record.  Sounds good.  Subtle.

Fender Precision surely? Pretty much agree with the clean tone thing. My mate never learnt to play clean, and he was asking me if I knew of a pedal or mod that would sort the sound of his strings hitting the polepieces on the neck humbucker. I suggested maybe stop hitting the strings into the poles, and he replied 'nah, that's my style'. He also has a pedalboard case bigger than his bass case, cause he needs to control dynamics by switching different distortions, in some cases multiples of the same pedal with different settings.

Do you subtly add an inch to the gap between his hi-hats??

Or subtly reduce the tension on his kick pedal?

Mebbe you subtly lower his drum throne

Or perhaps subtly cut 3/4 the way through the tips of his sticks, or switch the 5B's to 2's

Or even lay a little olive oil on his brushes

Or stuff a dead tuna in his floor tom???

No- J Bass. Just like the Fender Strat is one of the hardest guitars to get a REALLY good tone from ( but when attained is one of the best tones on earth) the Fender J bass is similar- any monkey can dial in a P Bass, but Jazz basses take much more work and sensitivity to REALLY nail a great tone. I've heard a million guys play strats and jazz basses and sound decent, but only a select few can really eak out all the love that resides within them.... I'd agree with him. I let go of my Jazz bass (which I should of NEVER DONE) because I had to work too damn hard to dial it in everynight in a different room, and keep dialing it in all night as the room changed. My MM is built for boneheads (which works out great for me). P basses are even more boneheaded (hence I've been searching for the right neck for 8 years now)

That sounds miserable.  I've always thought that if I ever used pedals i would use one or two, precisely for that reason.  So much hassle. 

I have a few but never seem to use them.  Much like my brain, largely wasted.

rock.

DDD

Nah, it ain't like that.  He's got a good ear and I trust him. 

Usually I say, That sounds cool.  What did you do?

If I don't like it, we just remove it.  No big deal.

I love this guy's pedal setup... plays bass for one of my favorite groups, Nerve...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdIqkxRUWqQ

Umm... sorry man, I just can't get into it - and believe me, I tried. Having watched some of your stuff, I have to say I'd rather watch you play than listen to JoJo and friends covering up mediocre musicianship with technology.

I actually mean that as a compliment - you have great chops.

JoJo Mayer????

Medicore???

Are you on crack!?!?!?

BTW, thanks for the compliment