An effect you want to love but can't?

[peccary]

I used to be one of those bass players who was anti-effects. Tone was supposed come from the bass, strings, your fingers your amp, and your cab. MAYBE some slight drive.

I used to be pretty ignorant and closed minded.

Now I just don't care. If it sounds cool or interesting or fun I'm in to it. I may never use it live, but I'll have fun with just about anything.

I think that getting a synth opened my mind, and now I try to think more in terms of sound design for a particular mood rather than chasing down that perfect tone. And it's good to have different tools in the tool box.

That being said I have to say that I have never found a distortion pedal that I have liked on bass, ever. I can't say I've tried a ton, but the few I have tried sounded terrible to me and have turned me off entirely. I love me some OD and I can take a smidge of fuzz, but, to me, distortion has always sounded so boring on bass.

 

[Travis]

I really want to love the kot but I can't. I try It every two days

 

[Dali]

Oh shit, I forgot the one clear exception to my feelings about chorus. Facisnation Street for the win!

You know that this song is "available" as MOGG file. Yes, the RockBand game format, playable in Reaper DAW as a multitrack file!

 

[HamishR]

Have to agree with the observation about Tubescreamer/Klon/Bluesbreaker - I keep trying to see what the fuss is about and kinda get it but they are so boring... And I like the Fuzz factory! I'll admit that I haven't actually played through one in 15 years but it makes me laugh. There's no way I could use it at a gig - too unpredictable. But still fun.

I like low-gain overdrives but they need to have a strong personality, no mud and a clear, powerful sound. No fizz or low-end mush.

Did I mention how I can't stand shimmer delay/reverb? I can't quite put my finger on why but it sets my corn/schmaltz/cheesy filters off big time.

 

[daeg]

I can't get into modulation effects either. My brain just locks into the LFO which doesn't line up with the song tempo, then I grow tired of the swirl quickly. Ton's of the stuff I listen to has Tremolo on it, but I can't seem to do it.

 

[giovanni]

Been playing a Fender Hot Rod mainly, but just picked up a 2nd hand AC30 that I am loving so will try the pedals again on it I guess

What kind of guitars? TS or Klon probably won’t sound good with the AC30 because the amp is already pretty mid pushed.

 

[giovanni]

Also to get back on topic, I’m actually not a fan of fuzz. Don’t get me wrong: I listen to all kinds of musicians who use fuzz (from Hendrix to Smashing Pumpkins) but I can’t really find a good use for it in my sound.

I’m also not a fan of reverb which is probably even weirder!

 

[Many__Of__Horror]

What kind of guitars? TS or Klon probably won’t sound good with the AC30 because the amp is already pretty mid pushed.

Tele with a pretty hot bridge single coil mainly. Found a use for the TS putting it before a light overdrive, always had it the other way after and never liked it. Works quite well now. Always experiment I guess.

 

[Dali]

And lipstick.

Like my Halloween disguise of 2011?

 

[fig]

I can't like a brick reverb. It just sounds like a poorly done cartoon sound-effect (not the legendary ones).

 

[chongmagic]

Like my Halloween disguise of 2011?
View attachment 10054

Spot on!

 

[BeeSharp]

Retrovibe. I've had it twice and sold them both. I can't see to get along with it with a LP.

 

[daeg]

I can't like a brick reverb. It just sounds like a poorly done cartoon sound-effect (not the legendary ones).

Have you tried the EQD Ghost Echo? I built one almost 2 years ago not expecting much, but it hasn't left my board.

 

[fig]

Have you tried the EQD Ghost Echo? I built one almost 2 years ago not expecting much, but it hasn't left my board.

I gave it a listen. Could be...love the glow in the dark release! Thanks!

 

[Untro]

2nd on the ghost echo, I'm choosy about my reverbs as well (holy grail, more like holy FAIL) and it's f*kn phenomenal. My one complaint is that it's a little difficult to dial in a really short verb, but the mix knob makes my ears happier. As for pedals I wish I could like, I keep coming back to the Bitcommander and blue box, really wanting to like the effect, but not finding a use for it. The phaser, unison, reverb and bitcommander I just built are cool and I'm glad I have them, but I think I realized that my favorite thing about pedals right now is finding different flavors of dirt and how subtle changes to the schematic yield massive results sometimes.

As for distortion on bass @peccary, you tried a classic rat with a bass mod? I used to be a bass purist as well and would rag on my guitar player friends for having to spend 10 minutes plugging their pedals at every gig (they'd shoot back by saying I should get a tuning pedal... AS IF!), but now I have phasers, delays and my rat living on my chain, not that I'm gigging. I actually hated pedals so much that I spent almost a year looking for the perfect bass head for a pedal-less mean distortion sound, and ended up landing on the AWESOME Traynor TS 140. Not a great pedal platform, but perfect for crushingly heavy jesus lizard bass sounds and downtuned doom guitars, and the EQ section really improves the usability for other genre. The EQD Dirt Transmitter also passes bass signal well, but it's a little grindcore for my tastes. The search continues!