Bass fx?

[ghostsauce]

Our band's bassist is really looking to change his sound up, but doesn't want to get into distorted tones, and he already has a really nice amp with a para EQ and lots of other fun stuff... so I'm thinking maybe building him a compressor.  He can't quite describe what he doesn't like about his tone, he just finds it to be lifeless.  I was looking at the john hollis one or the ross, but I dunno.. Are there any that you guys would recommend for a bassist?  Looking for something tweakable with a perf layout.

Over and beyond that, and just so I can have some other things to suggest to him,  what gear do you / your bassists use?

[ghostsauce]

sorry, i should clarify.  I'm just looking for some direction, I don't mind hunting down the layout & stuff

[boog]

i built my bass player a hog's foot bass boost which was really useful until he switched to a different amp. also the envelope filter kit from GGG and a modified crybaby. i've built a couple different distortion/OD pedals for him, but he prefers my old boss hyperfuzz.

[lowend]

An octaver is fun to play about with but I haven't any use for it live. My Tech21 Sansamp RBI preamp makes some nice growl. I'm looking forward to trying my valvecaster out as the growl source.

I use the compression on my amp. It's an old trace elliot with high and low compressors. The only way to go on bass as far as TE was concerned.

"Lifeless" tone brings to mind gungy old strings. Bring back some brightness with some new ones? Try a lighter gauge?

[MikeH]

Ross comp is great on bass after a few tweaks.  I also like the CE-2 bass mods.

[bipedal]

Ghostsauce -- what sorts of music does your band play?  Or does your bassist have any tone reference points he's aiming for (players/artists he likes the sound of)?

I used to use a little compression to even out my bass tone, and occasionally my DIY Hot Cake to add a little "growl" when desired, but lately I've gone away from effects.  I feel like I'm getting a little more lively bass tone plugging straight into my amp these days.  (Maybe my technique is improving, so I can get more tonal nuance without extra stuff in the signal chain?  Don't know.)

An octave-up seems like it'd be fun to have on a bass, but I haven't yet tinkered with one myself.

[ghostsauce]

Well, he's not looking for a facemelting or distorted tone. I think he's looking for more punch, which is why I'm thinking compression, and/or maybe even a boost. He's looking for something that would sound good with the church band (Which isn't really saying anything I guess, I play in drop c with a lot of distortion) but we provide backing music for a lot of southern gospel, contemporary and rockier stuff. Maybe something with a little bite to it and lots of punch, and something else that puts a little growl into it.  I think ultimately he's gonna have to try some things and see what sounds best with his rig, but at least this way I'll get a general idea. I've no idea what bassists use for fx

He did recently change the strings, I think, but I'll suggest trying a different gauge - I didn't think of that. Octave up doesn't really sound like something he'd want but I'll mention it. I'll check out the hot cake, hog's foot, and ross comp and see which ones he is interested in. Thanks for the input

[lowend]

My octaver adds a octave below so you play high and get the bass as well. Suits funky stuff which I don't really play out. The mild drive boost I get from the sansamp sounds like what your man is after. It's not an effect unit, just a solid state preamp attempt at the natural sound of valve amp. It's part of "my sound" rather than something I switch in and out.

It's often said there's two kinds of bassists. Those that use FX and those that don't. You can see which kind I am, although I'm not averse to the idea of FX it just seems unnecessary for the rock and blues I play.

Anyone cloned the Tech21 VT pedal? They reckon that thing can do a passable impression of a cranked SVT, ( that's a big bad bass valve amp if you didn't know ).

Have a looksee at talkbass.com, more opinions than you can read in a month.