Current state of the board, just added some stuff today still figuring out the cords / positioning.

The C9 and soulfood are sideways because i typically hit them together for a driven organ effect, the C9 is never on by itself.

the demonfx is mostly for clean eq and songs with a bit of baseline drive, but still requiring more drive in certain parts. EQ pedal is a new addition and may not stay.

DS-1 just got thrown on today, happy with how much low end it retains, i'm still on the fence on wether to keep the boss on there or swap for a TC honeypot i have, but i dont use fuzz much.

Also thinking about EQD blumes or a TC mojo mojo to try against the DS1.

Also included my current bass rig -TC thrust BQ500 and an Eden D410-T, along with my main axe, a partscaster P-bass

A little walk through of a compressor I built to use on bass. The first compressor, and third pedal I've built overall.

My current set up is laney Digbeth db pre -> empress compressor -> sansamp bass driver di v2

What do you think? Is this bad practice?

Loved the sound both by plug in and the real thing. Is there something similar but in pedal form? Thanks in advance

I see a lot of fuzz pedals on people’s boards. In a cover band situation, how often do you use them? Is anyway using them as an always-on pedal?

What are your thoughts between these two compressors? I’m preparing to build my pedalboard and want to get pedals that I don’t have to replace after a couple of months. I have a looper and an Aguilar ToneHammer already. I want a compressor and tuner to finish it out. Thanks for your help!😊

I've upgraded to bass, from guitar, and am looking for a drive/EQ/DI pedal for live use with a 5 string Cort. I use IEMs with a Mark Bass for onstage leg hair massage.

I'm fond of both low end warmth with a touch of growl. The closest I've got to what I'm chasing drive wise is using the Strymon Fairfax, which sounds better than the drive section of a Fender Rumble 500 and the Mark Bass, the only 2 amps I've tried.

EQD has served me well as a guitarist, but have read great feedback on Darkglass, but is it hype and marketing?

Please, I'd like to hear experiences and advice.

I was wondering if anyone knew of a decent synth pedal that won't break the bank? I just want something that can make my bass guitar sound like a synth for fun mostly. I was looking at the EHX Bass Mono Synth but found a lot of mixed reviews. Is there anything else around that price range? Thanks in advance

Follow on to https://www.reddit.com/r/basspedals/comments/1v2yu6s/comment/oyzze1f/?context=3 (I do wish they'd let the OP add pics to an edit!)

Anyway... it's alive!

Had to switch the Octavarium to go before the Underground Accelerator as the latter's a little too hot for the octaver to handle.

And fixed my Malekko Phase: volume dropped off a lot when activated. Turns out the internal trim pot was pushed all the way to the high frequency side, cutting off the bass frequencies... which isn't good for bass :-)

Note to all, if you buy a used pedal, do a search to see if there are any internal trim pots/controls, and where they're meant to be by default :-)

I picked up a VT Bass DI and noticed the volume is really low. When plugging it into my amp's effects return there is barely anything. When plugging it into the amp input, there is more volume, but still way less than plugging my bass directly into the amp.

I can't test the XLR out until I'm next in the studio, but wondering is this normal for the 1/4" out? I'd like to try it out at home and dial in some sounds before my next rehearsal.

EDIT: Solved it, feel like an idiot now - it was a dodgy patch cable! Changed cable and it works wonderfully now.

Putting together a board for what will be my first fretless acoustic bass.

Aiming to take out the old onboard EQ unit in the bass and replace with a K&K transducer pickup instead, running into the Underground Accelerator to level up the signal.

FKD Octavarium for octave and synthy wah.

Up to the HPF and Comp.

Then into the Digbeth, which has a a headphones out for practice sessions, and a send/return loop for modulation pedals (Alien chorus and Malekko phaser for now until I can buy the FKD Audio "The Fretless").

Now, where did I put all my cables...

After practicing on and off for a few years, then giving up six years ago, I'm back to bass. I can't stay away.

I got the essentials; my bass, an interface, a daw, a headphone amp. I'll add a small amp with a DI. I don't have a band yet. Most interested in groovy funk, then the usual rock, blues, walking bass etc. I don't think I'll play metal, but who knows. I'll go DI whenever possible.

The plan is to first play the damn bass. Doing the BassBuzz to get my fundementals locked in. After that I'm considering getting a multi effect pedal. Both because they are cheap and convenient, and also a good way to test out different effects without breaking the bank. Now zoom B1 and B2 are mentioned again and again. I may get B1, then "graduate" to B2. Or save some money and get B2.

Or something else? I just learned about Impulse Responses and NAM. My mind is blown. Or maybe I should start playing with people first, feel the need for a certain sound, then get pedals / processors? I don't want to do that rookie mistake of getting loads of gear just in case

I bought an Anagram. I had been eyeing them forever and when I saw one virtually new for $900 I had to jump.

I'm not getting rid of my analog pedals yet, but let's see where I am in a year...

I always knew I’d end up with a Blumes again, but I really didn’t like the standard Yellow color way. I found this one in “turquoise and terracotta” for less than $80 shipped and grabbed it.

I also added the MXR Smart Gate to help with hiss. My previous configuration added a lot of noise so the changes I made have really improved the signal to noise ratio.

Signal path-

Pico POG (on pedal riser)
Valeton OC-10 (on pedal riser)
Empress Bass Compressor
Korg Pitchblack XS
Source Audio Zio Preamp
Earthquaker Devices Blumes
Twilight Audio Electronics Fat F*kin Bass
JHS Morning Glory Clean
MXR Smart Gate
Beetronics FX Zzombee filtremulator
Beetronics FX Larva phaser
Beetronics FX Sea Bee Harmochorus
Beetronics FX BeeBeeDee delay
Earthquaker Devices Afterneath
Darkglass Luminal Booster Ultra

In the middle of the board is a Bright Switch that I painted with an LED tube to provide a little lighting

In the bottom left corner are two external tap tempo pedals for the Sea Bee and the Zzombee.

With the gain stages after the compression and in front of the Smart Gate, my problems with hiss and added LFO noise from the Beetronics pedals is gone.

I am much happier with this setup.

Ive been trying to sell un-used equipment recently and listed this one a couple of month now and despite most equipment flying off shelves no interest on this item..
Made me think, was it a popular item... should i try and re-incorporate it back onto my pedal board (which is just a behringer BDi and Joyo buffertuner)

Bassline is ‘Tortured’ by Coki

Messing around with my synth bass board - here I’m running a synth voice from the HX Stomp through a panner (also HX Stomp) and boosting the subs with a DOD Meatbox. I’m also running the synth voice through a Moog filter for that extra quackiness, which in turn is being modulated by a different LFO generated by a Source Audio Reflex expression pedal. Both LFOs are synced to the same 140bpm MIDI clock.

The real challenge with this setup is getting both LFOs to stay perfectly in sync with one another, as even the smallest changes in technique or not moving the exp. pedal quickly enough can cause them to go out of time and change the timbre (you can hear what I mean at the end of this video). It’s also super-dependent on how the envelope follower on the Moog is set up as if it’s not at the exact level it needs to be, it’s enough to throw the timing out as well.

A very silly setup but so much fun 🫶🏻🔊🔊🔊

By now you should know the gist, I've somehow managed to keep this little "almost" daily review thing going, so here's today's one.

It's the Jad Freer SARTO, which officially came out today. Jad Freer sent me one a few weeks ago so I could spend some proper time with it before launch, and I want to start with the following consideration:

I've never really understood the obsession with transparent preamps!

Maybe that's because I've always gravitated towards gear with personality. I love plugging into something like an Origin BassRig and immediately thinking, "Yep... that's doing something." I want tubes, transformers, a bit of grit, maybe a lot of grit. If I'm spending good money on a preamp, I kind of expect it to leave its fingerprint on my tone.

So when I plugged into the SARTO for the first time, I wasn't exactly blown away. My bass sounded... like my bass.

The funny thing is that a week later I'd completely changed my mind, and not because the pedal suddenly revealed some hidden magics but because I completely stopped thinking about it.

It just became the first thing my bass plugged into.

The more I used it, the more I started appreciating what Jad Freer was actually trying to achieve. The goal wasn't to make my bass sound different—it was to make sure nothing got lost before the signal reached everything else.

That's a much harder thing to notice than a pedal adding loads of character, but once it clicked, it really clicked; just like a good clean compressor would.

The other thing that caught me off guard was the HPF. Normally "more low end = better," because... well, I'm a bass player. The SARTO would like to disagree with me. Cutting the stuff your speakers don't actually need doesn't make your bass sound smaller. Most of the time it does the exact opposite—it tightens everything up. It's probably the feature I ended up appreciating the most, which is funny because it's also the least exciting thing to put on a spec sheet.

Would I swap all my colorful preamps for the SARTO?

No.

I still love pedals that completely reshape my sound, and I probably always will.

But I definitely came away with a new appreciation for transparent gear. I finally understand why some players are so passionate about preserving their instrument instead of coloring it.

Anyway, if you want the full deep dive (and far more detail than Reddit probably needs), I published my complete review today!

I'd also love to hear where everyone stands on this. Do you want your preamp to have its own personality, or do you want it to disappear completely?

I'm planning to get an EQ pedal by the end of the year, what would be a good band count? I'm seeing 5 bands online but I remembered having a high mids and treble band on one I tried

the title is pretty self explanatory. when conecting headphones with an aux to 1/4 inch jack to the output i barely get any volume. im only able to hear some really distorted patches and the explosion patch reletively quietely even with the pedal volume to 120. i cant even hear clean patches. its even worse when i connect the headphones straight to the aux on the pedal. why is that

Does anyone have this pedal here? Was wanting to pick this up for bass for more experimental sounds and would love to hear if anyone had thoughts on it.

Yeah, I know there's husky hair on the old Behringer. While this is my workshop, everything within a country mile of my husky girls gets a free winter coat of its own. The pedals are sitting on a Mark Bass 58R 104 Energy cabinet (4x10", 800W) and I do not use the SansAmp with the Bergantino, it's extraneous to that head and only acts as a preamp with my Gretsch Streamliner 30" scale and Mark Bass heads (and then only when I'm playing out) OR direct into the board with an XLR for our FOH and IEMs if we're going stage-silent ... more and more often.

After trying pedals as much as I can afford, I know that I need a "simple" clean boost, which will be placed after a passive bass and a preamp pedal.

Once again, I need a simple one (e.g., Tc Spark mini).

Do you have any suggestions? Is it worth looking for a clean boost or it is better that I will look for a compressor and use it as a clean boost + compressor (I still do not have a compressor).

Hey guys,

I've started playing a 5 strings and more often than not I find myself wanting an up octave to fill a bit to tonic space and add texture.

My understanding is that they are all digital/polyphonic.

Do you have any recommandations ? POG vs Sub n Up? The octamizer dlx is pretty expansive, worth it? Thanks for your hello!

I am looking into possibly getting the BOSS XS-1 Poly Shifter -
Reasons:
1. Quick detuning for songs and if I need to get down to what a 5 string brings this could help.
2. Added 'spice' more than just an octave pedal (3rds, 5ths...).

I know it's more of a guitar pedal, but I can see some cool uses for bass.