What is a good “first pedal” for a bass player?

The 'BOSS' Compression sustainer on my friends bass rig is the oldschool secret sauce, can't gig without it. ( It also helps that he's a really good bass player though of course which is not something that can be boasted about very often) That, and maybe the GBX 2X15 Powered cab/head he has been running since the early 1980's. That's just what he runs and I fully trust that he's got a good enough reason for live gigging the Compression sustainer with his 40+ years of being in hard rock bar bands.

I'm sure there's plenty of other great options of course for pedals, although this is a good enough reason for me to trust that pedal in lieu of anything that's proven superior otherwise.
 
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I have a theory after reading this thread. I would say the answer depends on what level you’re at as a player.

Controlling dynamics is a whole different animal on bass compared to guitar. It takes practice to play at a consistent volume.

If you start using a compressor before you reach this level, does it hinder the development of dynamics control? Of course you can set the comp to just tamp down the big transients, but you can also set it to be the same volume when you play quiet or loud.

🤷‍♂️
 
jcpst said:
I have a theory after reading this thread. I would say the answer depends on what level you’re at as a player.

Controlling dynamics is a whole different animal on bass compared to guitar. It takes practice to play at a consistent volume.

If you start using a compressor before you reach this level, does it hinder the development of dynamics control? Of course you can set the comp to just tamp down the big transients, but you can also set it to be the same volume when you play quiet or loud.

🤷‍♂️
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I get what you're saying. For me, I practice without compression, but compression is on during the gig.
 
Chorus all day ery day. I especially like the MBP Touchstone w/ vibe mod. The General Tso is a great, easy to use comp, but I agree with the idea that you should learn how to manage your dynamics on your own first. If you go envelope filter the Mutron (or a derivative, looking at you Lovetone Meatball) is a must. I love the B3K (PPCB Obsidius) and could dig through my multitude of fuzz pedals, but for Indie rock I would second the Chuck D Bones Bass Klon
 
Diynot said:
I would second the Chuck D Bones Bass Klon
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I’ve been considering this too. That’s the one I was thinking of when I said “Kliche” bass mod. He wants something that sounds punchy, so maybe this would be good for that, although I can see EQ and compression as contributing to punchiness as well. Maybe he just needs more than one. (Haha, and so the journey of collecting pedals begins.)
 
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