Pedals for Bass Guitar

bhcarpenter

Well-known member
I recently picked up a P Bass and an Ampeg BA-210. Any recommendations for pedals? DIY preferred, and PedalPCB if possible!

I tried some of the pedals that I built for guitar, and the only one I really liked was the Simulcast. I’m thinking some kind of compressor, a fuzz, and an autowah would be in order? 🙂
 
My immediate answer is the Parentheses or Parentheses Mini (clones of the Earthquaker Devices Life Pedal) as I absolutely love them, but I'm not sure how much fuzz you really want. If it's lots, they can definitely deliver. They can probably do more subtle fuzz, but I've honestly never tried. They can be finnicky builds, but for downtuned doom/stoner/sludge/drone they sound amazing.
 
Tonebender mk3 is a favorite of mine for bass fuzz. Pretty sure there’s a few different EQD boards here that are based on the MK3, but don’t quote me on that.
 
... I’m thinking some kind of compressor, a fuzz, and an autowah ...

Congrats on the low-end scores.

COMP:
Out of all PPCB's offerings, the only one I'd skip for bass is the Byrdhouse (Janglebox aka DynaRoss). That leaves you with six to choose from, all have good reviews for use with bass.
Constrictor — Compulator
Creamery — Milk Box
Delegate — The Warden may cut bass — but then still gets good reviews for bass. I went for the Boneyard Edition
Delegate Boneyard — Warden tweaked by Chuck D Bones
General Tso — Fat General
Thumbsucker — Engineer’s Thumb

You'll find info, and links to two bass-compressor review sites, in this thread:


FUZZ (alphabetical order):
Arkaim — Mountainking's Megalith
Box 66 — D*A*M 1966
Calamity Fuzz — Fairfield Circuitry Unpleasant Surprise
Carcass Fuzz — DOD Carcosa
Death Cap — Fuzzhugger Doom Bloom
Dung Beetle — Basic Audio Scarab Deluxe
Gnat — Burns Buzzaround
Muffin — EHX Big Muff Pi (Build to RUSSIAN spec, same for below)
Muffin Factory — Multi-Muff + FACEPLATE
SuperHeterodyne Receiver — EQD Data Corrupter (or Mini version)
Teddy Rupture — KMA Fuzzly Bear
Two Sticks of Derm — 3Leaf Auido Doom2(?)
Quarantine — Muff-ish but no clipping diodes, exclusive to PPCB

There are other PPCB fuzzes I could add, but that's a good start. Notable mention, the Arkaim, Calamity and Death Cap. Some, such as the Burns, you may want to tinker with to get yet more bass.




AUTOWAH:
CDXL Classic — DOD 440 (hard-to-find & expensive vactrol needed for best performance/original sound)
CDXL Reissue — DOD 440 reissue (read it's like an FX25, but with up/down-sweep toggle)
Duck Box — Guyatone WahRocker
Waddle Box — DOD FX25 great for Bill Laswell dub tones


My picks if only 1 from each category:
CREAMERY *
ARKAIM
DUCK BOX

* (or Thumbsucker for all-rounder)
 
Congrats on the low-end scores.

COMP:
Out of all PPCB's offerings, the only one I'd skip for bass is the Byrdhouse (Janglebox aka DynaRoss). That leaves you with six to choose from, all have good reviews for use with bass.
Constrictor — Compulator
Creamery — Milk Box
Delegate — The Warden may cut bass — but then still gets good reviews for bass. I went for the Boneyard Edition
Delegate Boneyard — Warden tweaked by Chuck D Bones
General Tso — Fat General
Thumbsucker — Engineer’s Thumb

You'll find info, and links to two bass-compressor review sites, in this thread:


FUZZ (alphabetical order):
Arkaim — Mountainking's Megalith
Box 66 — D*A*M 1966
Calamity Fuzz — Fairfield Circuitry Unpleasant Surprise
Carcass Fuzz — DOD Carcosa
Death Cap — Fuzzhugger Doom Bloom
Dung Beetle — Basic Audio Scarab Deluxe
Gnat — Burns Buzzaround
Muffin — EHX Big Muff Pi (Build to RUSSIAN spec, same for below)
Muffin Factory — Multi-Muff + FACEPLATE
SuperHeterodyne Receiver — EQD Data Corrupter (or Mini version)
Teddy Rupture — KMA Fuzzly Bear
Two Sticks of Derm — 3Leaf Auido Doom2(?)
Quarantine — Muff-ish but no clipping diodes, exclusive to PPCB

There are other PPCB fuzzes I could add, but that's a good start. Notable mention, the Arkaim, Calamity and Death Cap. Some, such as the Burns, you may want to tinker with to get yet more bass.




AUTOWAH:
CDXL Classic — DOD 440 (hard-to-find & expensive vactrol needed for best performance/original sound)
CDXL Reissue — DOD 440 reissue (read it's like an FX25, but with up/down-sweep toggle)
Duck Box — Guyatone WahRocker
Waddle Box — DOD FX25 great for Bill Laswell dub tones


My picks if only 1 from each category:
CREAMERY *
ARKAIM
DUCK BOX

* (or Thumbsucker for all-rounder)
Whoa that’s quite a list! Thank you!!
 
You can't go wrong with any of the autowahs, which makes it tough to choose one; same thing for most of the comps. I should've included a Superfuzz, such as the (Propolis) Bumble, but the Fuzz list was already getting too long.
 
My pedalboard currently has clones of the doom bloom, wooly mammoth(madbean), erupter(fuzzdog), swollen pickle, and unpleasant surprise. I recommend all of these for different reasons. I stack these with a barbershop, prunes n custard, and before all of these in the chain, a hogsfoot bass booster. The wooly pairs well with my meatbox while the pickle sounds good with my ocelot octaver. The eruptor plays nice with most of my other pedals so it's kind of a utility fuzz for me. Unpleasant surprise might be my favorite stand alone fuzz right now but I wouldn't suggest it as a first project.

Others I swap in and out frequently:
Green Russian muff
Muffin factory
Terminal (some low end loss)
Sodameiser
Quarantine
Dirt transmitter
Hoof
Maestro mfz1

Things that underwhelmed me:
Fy2 unless you're in a radiohead cover band
Brassmaster
Spaceman titan
Jhs 3 series fuzz

I just finished the pettyjohn rail (polar cap) last night and I'm really really digging it so far. Next on the bench is a frantone lofran. Might also do a bassweet if I like that one.
 
My pedalboard currently has clones of the doom bloom, wooly mammoth(madbean), erupter(fuzzdog), swollen pickle, and unpleasant surprise. I recommend all of these for different reasons. I stack these with a barbershop, prunes n custard, and before all of these in the chain, a hogsfoot bass booster. The wooly pairs well with my meatbox while the pickle sounds good with my ocelot octaver. The eruptor plays nice with most of my other pedals so it's kind of a utility fuzz for me. Unpleasant surprise might be my favorite stand alone fuzz right now but I wouldn't suggest it as a first project.

Others I swap in and out frequently:
Green Russian muff
Muffin factory
Terminal (some low end loss)
Sodameiser
Quarantine
Dirt transmitter
Hoof
Maestro mfz1

Things that underwhelmed me:
Fy2 unless you're in a radiohead cover band
Brassmaster
Spaceman titan
Jhs 3 series fuzz

I just finished the pettyjohn rail (polar cap) last night and I'm really really digging it so far. Next on the bench is a frantone lofran. Might also do a bassweet if I like that one.
Nice! This is going to keep me busy for a while 🙂
 
+1 to the Thumbsucker, Green Russian, Dirt Transmitter, Parentheses, Bit Crusher and 2 sticks of derm.
Cant forget a Rat with either a bass toggle switch or just lower the input cap i think. Honorable mention to the Unison Double Tracker for modulation.
Gonna try a fuzzwar and fender blender build for bass soon, ill see if it works! I feel like the blender will work a bit better with bass cuz the mix knob.
 
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