Building a Bass Pedal (Chorus / Compressor) in one enclosure. Need Advice!

[sevenisthenumber]

A friend of mine uses an old Digitech BP8. He only uses one setting that is compression and chorus. Im gonna build him a single box with both in it. Any suggestions for what circuits to use?

Im not a bass player but I know some of you are and can offer some good advice!

[Taylor]

Well, this is kind of like if you let your drummer choose what fuzz pedal you use. Does he not have any opinions about it? This guy has reviews of many compressors from a bassist's perspective:

http://www.ovnilab.com/index.shtml

One thing that is really useful for bass is compressing different frequencies separately. Low frequencies have much more energy than high frequencies at the same apparent volume. As a result, low notes trigger the compression more than high ones, so you can often get really squashed bass but clicky high transients that don't get compressed enough. A 2-band compressor would be great for bass.

The BP8 had a tube preamp; never played one so I don't know if it was just for show (likely) or if it imparted actual tubiness.

I'll say this, though: Digitech multis (and multis in general) are usually pretty generic-sounding. If he likes those effects, he's probably not too discerning, so any old thing might do. Maybe try adding a low-passed clean blend since chorus often loses low end.

[sevenisthenumber]

he doesnt know alot about effects. kinda just new to it all.

[Ssmit]

This guy has reviews of many compressors from a bassist's perspective:

http://www.ovnilab.com/index.shtml

This fellow is well known in the Effects forum at Talkbass.com. He goes by the handle Bongomania.

[lowstar]

if seveinsthenumber wants to build this box for his friend, helpful suggestions would take into account which comps are available as DIY builds, ditto for the chorus part.
so i´ll try to be helpful.
let´s start with the comp part, which is more complicated. simple builds, like dynacomp/ross and knockoffs, are not good enough for bass IMO.
the big question is optical or VCA-based.
it is a matter of taste. it can be generally said, though, that opto-comps are more like one-trick-ponies, while the VCA-comps are more versatile.
for opto-diy, i´d try the compulator, for vca-based, the carl martin comp is very, very nice; although only suited for more experienced builders, since it incorporates a mains transformer. it is based on the THAT 4301P, an integrated compressor circuit that has all the different parts (VCA, RMS-detector) in one IC. that chip is also used in the comp part of the mesa boogie m-pulse.

for chorus pedals that are (or can be made) bass friendly, it is easier. the boss ce-2 (tonepad under chorral chorus) with incorporated bass mods (which turns it into a ce-2b) is a very nice bass chorus. another option would be building a small clone (also at tonepad), but that one you have to tailor a bit: i included a fx-level-control in my build, and that totally changed it to being very suited for bass. i also incorporated a switch to change the crossover freq where the chorussing starts to effect the signal, but that one is not so important, i usually leave it in the original setting.

for that small clone mod, go here: http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=68670.0

cheers,
lowstar

[sevenisthenumber]

if seveinsthenumber wants to build this box for his friend, helpful suggestions would take into account which comps are available as DIY builds, ditto for the chorus part.
so i´ll try to be helpful.
let´s start with the comp part, which is more complicated. simple builds, like dynacomp/ross and knockoffs, are not good enough for bass IMO.
the big question is optical or VCA-based.
it is a matter of taste. it can be generally said, though, that opto-comps are more like one-trick-ponies, while the VCA-comps are more versatile.
for opto-diy, i´d try the compulator, for vca-based, the carl martin comp is very, very nice; although only suited for more experienced builders, since it incorporates a mains transformer. it is based on the THAT 4301P, an integrated compressor circuit that has all the different parts (VCA, RMS-detector) in one IC. that chip is also used in the comp part of the mesa boogie m-pulse.

for chorus pedals that are (or can be made) bass friendly, it is easier. the boss ce-2 (tonepad under chorral chorus) with incorporated bass mods (which turns it into a ce-2b) is a very nice bass chorus. another option would be building a small clone (also at tonepad), but that one you have to tailor a bit: i included a fx-level-control in my build, and that totally changed it to being very suited for bass. i also incorporated a switch to change the crossover freq where the chorussing starts to effect the signal, but that one is not so important, i usually leave it in the original setting.

for that small clone mod, go here: http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=68670.0

cheers,
lowstar

Thank you! You understood my question. Im an experienced builder but dont know what bass circuits I should lean toward!!!  This helps. I would love other opinions. Whats a good Dual band that is build able?

[Mike Burgundy]

FWIW - I've had Jack Orman's QD2 on my pedalboard for quite some time now - really like it, although it's not comparable to rack units. For its simplicity it's brilliant though.

I wasn't aware that the Carl Martin was out there, that's interesting. Can't find it though?

For chorus, I have a fairly heavily modded BOSS that I'm really pleased with. I later realised it's now basically the same as a lower-tuned CE1. Should be buildable, perfect for my needs.

[mills]

I just built a CE-2 for bass and like it.  I think I hard wired in the bass mods.  I really like it, and I'm not big on chorus usually.