Pedals You Want To Try

These aren't "pedals I want to try" anymore. They're pedals I just did try. :cool: But since I didn't think this deserved its own thread, I figured I'd post it here.

A couple days ago our keyboardist (who also plays guitar and bass) asked me if I had a bass OD he could borrow. I don't actually own any bass-specific ODs (except for the Boss that's allegedly arriving today) but I brought him four ODs that IMHO are bass friendly: the Way Huge Green Rhino, the Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive, the Big Game Bedlam v2, and the EXH Glove. He then asked me if I'd like to borrow any in return. I took the following four pedals home with me, and tested them all with guitar (Epiphone SG) and two of them with bass (Carvin LB76W, in passive mode). My thoughts:

DOD FX-25 Envelope Filter. This one is a favorite of Flea's. I think, for bass, it would be vastly improved by a clean blend and a bit more tweakability. For me it colors the tone of the bass too much. On guitar it's another story. I think this is one of the best sounding envelope filters I've ever tried on guitar. Sounds great with an OD in front of it too. Speaking of which....

EHX Soul Food. This one loses low end on bass (not surprising since there's also a bass-specific version) but sounds quite nice on guitar. Of the two ODs I borrowed, this one is more transparent. I would bet the bass version is great for those who just want a hint of hair without losing their basic tone. It's a Klon clone, and the circuit is quite beloved by our egg-slicing brethren, but to be honest the OD that's going to eventually separate me from my money is the...

Boss BD-2 Blues Driver. I didn't even bother trying this one on bass, but on guitar it's exactly the lead tone I've been seeking. I may even re-amp some of my guitar parts from the new Uneven Steven record through it.

Dunlop CBM95 Crybaby Mini Wah. I didn't try this one on bass either. Basically it's a Crybaby, but in a tiny housing (about the size of a Boss pedal). I suppose this is to better fit on a pedalboard, but frankly I'm not impressed with the idea. In order to use it comfortably I had to center my foot on it (with my toes hanging way off the front and my heel way off the back) and it seems to be that on a pedalboard this would risk engaging or tweaking any pedals in the row above or below it. I do want a wah for guitar eventually, but I think I'll just get a full-size one.
 
@DiMarco, you see this yet?

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www.sweetwater.com

Two Notes ReVolt All-analog Bass Amp Simulator Pedal

3-channel Bass Preamp Pedal with 12AX7 Tube, FX Loop, MIDI I/O, and Analog Cab Sim
www.sweetwater.com www.sweetwater.com
 
I've been wanting to try an Envelop filter for a while now, does anyone have any good recommendations?
Both the Boss and Ibanez Auto-wah i've tried weren't all that 'filtery'
 
Gnermo said:
I've been wanting to try an Envelop filter for a while now, does anyone have any good recommendations?
Both the Boss and Ibanez Auto-wah i've tried weren't all that 'filtery'
Click to expand...
I really like the EHX Enigma Q-Balls and the MXR Bass Envelope Filter.
 
Gnermo said:
I've been wanting to try an Envelop filter for a while now, does anyone have any good recommendations?
Both the Boss and Ibanez Auto-wah i've tried weren't all that 'filtery'
Click to expand...
I think EHX has some envelopes you should try, Q-tron the simplest, BassBalls the craziest, and Enigma has all of of that in a “control mission“ package.
 
Gnermo said:
I've been wanting to try an Envelop filter for a while now, does anyone have any good recommendations?
Both the Boss and Ibanez Auto-wah i've tried weren't all that 'filtery'
Click to expand...
I just saw this video and remembered your question…

 
Nachobassman said:
I just saw this video and remembered your question…

Click to expand...


I have direct experience with two of those pedals, and "adjacent" experience with the third. My thoughts:

The Boss is probably the only envelope filter I've ever owned that I didn't get on with at all. It sounds very sterile to me. One reason I chose it to begin with was the "humanizer" function, but that sounds incredibly cheesy in a real-world environment. What you're left with is an overpriced, bland filter.

The Nano Q-Tron is the one I have "adjacent" experience with, by which I mean I owned the Micro Q-Tron and currently use the Enigma Q-Balls. One major problem I had with the Micro Q-Tron (which actually led me to the Q-Balls) was a major volume spike when the pedal was engaged. Although smaller, the Nano version adds a fourth knob for volume control, which I'm sure helps a lot. I still feel this pedal would be better with a blend. The guy in the video says that bass players will prefer low pass mode, but I disagree. I think a bandpass with a clean blend is the way to go, especially for slap. The Q-Balls has a blend knob (but lacks a volume knob).

I already said it a few posts ago, but I'll say it again: the MXR is great. It also happens to be a bandpass with a clean blend (actually even better: it has separate volume controls for clean and FX)
 
Bassist4Eris said:
I already said it a few posts ago, but I'll say it again: the MXR is great. It also happens to be a bandpass with a clean blend (actually even better: it has separate volume controls for clean and FX)
Click to expand...
I don't know about the two others pedals, but the MXR is a good envlope filter. There is a wide choice of settings and the sound is well defined and clear. The dry en fx pots is a good way to adjust precisely the amount of effect you want to inject in your sound.
I manage to find this typical sound of the 70s, bouncy and punchy.
 
I'm starting to get that Darkglass itch. I've never even tried one of their pedals. In this video, the Alpha Omicron wins it for me, with B3K in second place.

 
Hola amigos,
For whatever reason I’ve never been that much interested in MXR pedals but yesterday I was watching this video from Josh Scott (JHS pedals):




… and at some point Josh mentions the MXR Bass Distortion and what caught my attention was he said it is based on my beloved RAT circuit, let’s say it is basically a RAT “re-thinked“ for bass.

Another one for the list! :)

Heres a demo of the pedal:
 
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