Putting together a bass guitar pedalboard is fun and - these days - bass players are required to make all kinds of weird and wonderful noises from effects pedals. The problem is that going through pedals degrades your tone; especially the low end. One of the bass player's roles is to provide the bottom for the band so it's important to guard this closely.
Using a looper is a fantastic way to take your pedals out of the signal chain when they're not in use.
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This makes live and studio playing a simpler experience because you don't have to worry about tone.
For more bass gear reviews and ideas head over here.
My looper is from Brightonion, a great UK company.
Hi Dan, that’s a very cool board and the looper is something I would be so in to when I was heavy gigging.But I do have tons of pedals.I dare say more than 99% of bassists in the world, I love them.And today many are designed as I’m sure you know to split the signal to keep the bass.I have a Source Audio c4 synth pedal that’s rad and lets you design sounds on the app available with it,it is truly mind boggling.Lucky for tech boobs like me you can load presets from the users library,and there’s a million.I’m still looking for the one that will let me copy the Moog solo from Lucky Man but I don’t think it’s going to happen lol.And thank God for the isolated power supply of which I have two.Back in the 80s and early 90s before they were common the noise made many pedals almost unusable.Man I wish I had this cool stuff back in my salad days.Keep up the great work!
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Thanks! Yeah, I always try to go for the pedals where you can split the signal or blend. I’ve yet to check out the Source Audio gear but have heard great things… Thanks for reading.
While looking at this video once more I saw you’d asked about synth pedals with an 80s vibe and I recently got hold of a DigiTech Hungry Robot,very 80s indeed as it even has suggested settings for Gary Newmans’ Cars and Bon Jovis’ Living on a prayer.Can’t get more 80s than that.I also have Subdecay M3 based on the Korg MS-20 and it replicates it’s gorgeous washes.Also I have the Meris Enzo which seems to do everything though I’ve only discovered a fraction of it’s potential as yet.Hope this might help.
Hi Dan ! Interesting topic for me because I`ve just bought a Flashback X4 looper from TC Electronic and I was wondering if you could give me a couple of tips as far as useing this fancy bit of kit, I would love to hear from you. Cheers , Ian
PS. I do like your lessons because you explain things very well.
Thanks very much, Ian. I don’t know that particular model, but I do have a lesson planned some time to show you some creative ways to practise using one. Stay tuned!