The only way you can break your pedals, is if you feed your pedals more Volts than it requires. To learn how to not break your pedalss, check out my Pedal Power video... It's extremely simple I promise : ruclips.net/video/K_x4N0esm9w/видео.html
Brilliant video.. that is all... Actually, to add more, this is just the video I needed. As many others have said, I've hunted high and low for a tutorial like this, and the examples you show alongside the explanations are excellent. 10/10.
Wow, thank you so much man! I honestly thought there was something wrong with my octave pedal and was going to look for a new one but ended up putting it after dirt and envelope. Everything sounds better now - octave, envelope, and dirt. Rad 🤘
Preamp at the start of the chain is equivalent to running all your effects into an effects loop if you're going straight into PA. MY Tone Hammer preamp is at the end except for my delay and chorus that I send into the effects loop of the MKS Patch Pad II.
@@TheBassteban. That’s a great point! I tried to use the effects loops of my amps for a while but I now prefer using a loooong chain of effects going to the front of my amps.
I use my NU-X Melvin Lee Davis pre-amp/DI pedal at the end of my pedal chain..i want 'my' tone going to the DI input at the mixing desk..i have tried it as the first pedal,after tuner, but that is not my tone...great if a good engineer with good ears but i've had bad tone because of engineers wanting just a clean signal...or worse no amp at all...i'm old school & record with a mic (AKG D112 Mkll) so i keep 'my' tone...well closer to 'my' tone as a PA will colour the tone a bit...if a good sound engineer then DI after tuner & mixed with my mic'd amp/cab gives the best tone for me.....i might try swapping things about to see/hear the differences...good vid bud..🎸🎛
Very informative video on this subject. I just started a pedalboard after years of not really using one but some separate pedals here and there. What do you think of this signal chain? I also run FOH and don’t use amps when playing live. I only have 5 pedals on my board and the way I have them at the moment is PolyTune 3 (in buffered mode), Tech21 GL MP40, Big Muff Pi, Behringer HD300 and MXR M81 Bass Preamp which also has a DI out on it as well as some eq if I wanted it.
how about having a D.I. preamp pedal? (Darkglass B7k Ultra) to be specific, and having a bass eq pedal after your tuner as a first pedal on your pedalchain?would that affect your tone?
DI preamps with a XLR out have to go last if you want to use that XLR and get your whole chain through the PA. I don't use the XLR out on my Vintage Ultra, so I put mine right after my tuner and before my compressor. I used to put an eq pedal first, and have my SansAmp VT Bass Preamp last in chain when I played live and that was a lot of fun. If having an eq pedal and the B7k Ultra is too much tone finagling than I did use to put just a MXR mini boost pedal with only Volume & Treble controls first, and my preamp last. I hear Aguilar makes good mini bass preamp pedals like that if that sounds like something you want to try out. Sorry... to answer your question.. yes it will affect your tone of corse but it's up to you to experiment and see if you like it or not. I did the same sort of thing too so I fully support you. Let me know how it goes!
@@AmbientBassCreations Thank you so much for noticing me . Yes i am currently using that kind of signal chain and planning to remove my ampeg optacomp i dont know but maybe i'll be replacing it with DG harmonic booster after my EQ pedal what do think of that kind of idea? im sorry to bother you i just really need some help thank you man.
@@Schizmzzz Do you mean your thinking of doing a chain that starts: Bass - tuner - eq - Harmonic Booster - then the rest of your pedals - amp? Or: Bass - tuner - eq - the rest of your pedals - Harmonic Booster last - Amp? ** (Just to be clear, in the video I was only using the mini EQ pedal as an example for a “tone shaping pedal”. I wasn’t saying that I put an actual EQ pedal in that position. So really, I put that mini EQ pedal to represent a preamp because my Vintage Ultra preamp took up too much space on the board for my liking for the video. I tried to communicate that in the video but maybe I could have done a better job on that) Still hear me out though.. It makes sense to me to do: Bass - tuner - Harmonic Booster - Compressor - then the rest of your pedals - and then put your EQ pedal after any effect pedal that is causing you problems - then amp. (If your not going to use the comp anymore then same chain goes, just without the comp) An example of a pedal giving you problems is a chorus pedal. Chorus pedals sometimes suck the life out of basses low end. So it would be a good idea to put an eq pedal after the chorus pedal so you can boost your low end frequencies to compensate for the loss of low end from the chorus pedal. My thought process on this order is to try and make your bass sound as good as possible to your liking first in the chain… so that once you start putting gain, modulation, or all these effects onto your bass signal, it will still sound good. (If that makes sense). Stacking effects is awesome but it does change your clean tone, so if you sculpt your clean tone as good as you possibly can in the very beginning of your chain, it’ll sound as good as possible once it travels to the end of your chain, to be amplified out of your amp. EQ pedals are good tools that can go anywhere and they really thrive when you put them after other pedals that degrade your clean tone. If you don’t know what pedal is causing you to either loose, or bring out too much lows/mids/highs, then just play them one by one to troubleshoot which one is diluting your clean signal. Or just put the EQ pedal last and then it’ll be after all your pedals and you can make up and lows/highs/mids for all your pedals if needed. If you meant tuner - eq - Harmonic Booster - rest of the chain… then I personally haven’t needed to put an eq and preamp next to each other. If my video led you to think that that’s what I do then that’s on me man, i’ll do better next time. But… What some people do is, they have the EQ and preamp right next to each other on the board but for 2 different tone selections. So if you want a bright twangy tone on your Harmonic Booster, and then a low dub step tone on your EQ pedal, then yeah, put them next to each other so you can change to 2 completely different tones from just the tap of your foot. The order of these 2 doesn’t matter if you’re not playing them at the same time. If you meant Bass - tuner - eq - the rest of your pedals - then Harmonic booster last - Amp, then that makes more sense to me only I would flip it… Bass - tuner - Harmonic Booster - compressor (if you want) - then the rest of your pedals - then EQ last so if there is any low/high/mids that you want to boost or cut from using any of your pedals, then you can do so because the EQ is after all the pedals, just like I mentioned before. I do it this way when I make ambient music that requires a lot of effect pedals on at once. Hope those are some good ideas that you can use. Keep me posted!
@@AmbientBassCreations Got it, Thank you so much!🤗 much love and respect for that. Anyway, i dont have any modulation effects on my chain. My plan is tuner - EQ, microtubes X as my Dirt pedal for heavy music, harmonic booster and my B7k ultra ( without engaging dirt) for my XLR out is that the right order for my pedals ? or lets say MICROTUBES X first before my Harmonic booster? yes your ideas are helping me so much for my future builds but for now just want a small rig. By the way, am I gonna make an ( ALWAYS ON ) to these pedals ? EQ - HB and B7k Ultra? as a clean tone yes , ill just listen to what tone that my ears loves but i just wanna know that my personal ideas are right. Thank you always.
@@Schizmzzz Oh ok I thought you were building a full set up. So your only using: Tuner - EQ pedal - Micro X for Distortion - Harmonic Booster clear preamp - B7k clean for the XLR out. These are all pedals of the same general category of ”Tone Shaping” and then Distortion. Theres a clean preamp, a clean EQ, a distortion pedal, the B7k which is both a preamp & Distortion, and a tuner. Theres no “right” order for just these pedals. I would just do the Tuner - B7k - Amp (always on). Or if you like the Micro X Distortion better than the one in the B7k then: Tuner - Micro X - B7k - Amp. (Always on except the Micro X) The B7k has an awesome preamp already so I wouldn’t even use the Harmonic Booster, and unless your using the EQ pedal for a specific reason that I cant think of, then the B7k can also take the place of the EQ. As far as if these pedals should be always on, it’s up to you to decide, I cant answer that. It sounds like the Micro X won’t be an always on pedal since you only want it on to get heavy. If you’re adamant on using all the pedals I would do: Tuner - Harmonic Booster - Micro X - EQ - B7k. Or honestly just get rid of the EQ and do: Tuner - Harmonic Booster - Micro X - B7k… This way you have a tone shaping pedal before and after your dirt and then you won’t need the EQ. Amongst all the pedals you listed, you have 2 preamps and 1 eq pedal which I’m never going to say that you can not have multiple preamps and tone shaping pedals on your board but theres really no “right” order when we’re talking about the same type of pedal. Hope this helped!
I don’t but if you go to my RUclips channel home page and click on Playlists, there’s one that’s titled “My Songs” and “Meditation Music” which contains all the music I have written. (The playlists start with the older videos first.. so scrolling all the way down will have my newest stuff)
This was super helpful, thanks! Especially demonstrating the sound of each pedal both before and after other pedals in the chain - most of the other pedal ordering vids I've seen just declare their one way as the "right" way, without demonstrating the effect the order has, which can make it hard to evaluate whether their approach is right for me. But your vid really clearly demonstrated what happens, while leaving room for folks to experiment. This has given me ideas for some modifications to my existing signal, exciting!
I know this is redundant as there are plenty of comments stating that this is an incredible master class on bass pedal order. I just want to help you with the algorithm. I've searched and viewed far too many videos in search of exactly what you present before finding this when this video should be the first, and really only, video that comes up on bass pedal order. You've not only covered everything I've already learned in numerous other extremely repetitive videos, but expanded on every point in glorious detail with examples demonstrating the most important factor of each decision, the why. Very well done and much appreciated, for sure!
The completely wet signal of the octave pedal is a tracking synth waveform, so any pedal before it will never really effect it at all unless you add dry signal
Thanks mate. Got to like the 20th minute watching on my TV and then switched to my phone with headphones and started from the beginning 😅 I'm kinda researching because I'm about to order my first pedalboard. Until now all I had was a MarkBass Compressore and a Hartke BassAtack 2 held together with sticky tape. This is the most informative video I've watched till now and I'm pretty sure I know what I want now. Thank you.
It’s awesome to hear you picking up your first board. Please feel free to reach out to me direct through Instagram or email if you need anything! Enjoy!
awesome demonstration of the experiments. i do the same thing! but about ordering, you may need to go beyond specific type of pedal and into the actual model...for example, i had a guitar rig with a lot of pedals. before the amp I had volume pedal, compressor, phase 90, octavia-style fuzz, overdrive, and hartman flanger...and in the effects loop i had mxr flanger, chorus, boss tremolo, digital delay, analog delay w/modulations, and reverb... notice i had two flangers! the hartman sounded better as last thing before the amp, and the mxr sounded better first thing in the effects loop!!!! so that's where they were in my chain. so in this case it was more than just the type, but the actual model that mattered!!! (then again, i am hyper picky about flangers and i know what i like, and more importantly, what i don't like such as the Boss Flanger which sounds sterile to me!!!)... by the way, 12:46 is SICK!
Yes, there are definitely a lot of factors that can disrupt what people say is the “typical” order. That’s why there are no laws when it comes to pedal order. Different combinations and orders are going to sound good to different people that’s why the smartest thing to do is just TRY different things as mush as possible! I love flangers and reverb together 🤙
@@AmbientBassCreations So I just made a little synth bass pedalboard... The order that seemed to work best with the stuff I was using and my ears was octaver + envelope filter + compressor + fuzz + overdrive before the amp, then chorus + reverb in the effects loop... I had some pedal debris on the side, like I chose the MXR Vintage Bass Octaver over the Boss OC-5 (in vintage mode), and the EHX Bass Clone rather than the Boss Chorus. The only Boss pedal I wound up using was the Bass Compressor, but there are some Boss pedals I really love, like the TR-2 Tremolo and the DD-7 Digital Delay (that I use on guitar pedalboards)!!! For whatever reason, out of the common brands I tend to have a lot of MXR gunk on there, and less EHX and Boss stuff.
Great vid! Well done, I esp. appreciate keeping the playing to a min. and the actual info and reasoning behind your choices being featured. One question, does your dirt pedal have a blend knob? or is it full spectrum? I keep my dirt post octave and use it's blend of dry signal kinda the same way you use the dry signal from your oc-5.
Great vid. Playing with a bass envelope filter. I’m finding that I can trigger the effect with my playing. Hitting the string just a bit harder at the right moment gives me the effect while the for rest of my playing the effect is not as noticeable. It’s quite effective and impressive and way more precise than a wahwah pedal. However, if one puts the compressor before the envelope filter you can lose that. As such it seems to me that the compressor should be after all tracking effects, not before…. ?
There's defiantly nothing wrong with the compressor after tracking pedals. If I understood you correctly the way you like to use your envelope filter is to have the Attack and the Threshold adjusted in a way so that you get the wah effect on the desired note when you pluck hard, and then you can just continue the bass line without the effect quacking over and over again on every single note. This is a handy way to use an envelope filter sometimes but this can be achieved through the controls on the envelope filter whether it is before or after a compressor. In terms of whether the compressor “should” or “shouldn’t” be before or after the compressor is not a healthy question because there isn’t a right answer. I have been using my compressor before my tracking pedals and it’s great! If you prefer your compressor after your tracking pedals and are happy with it, then that’s great too. We both are happy. Thanks for throwing that idea out there though because maybe someone else would also prefer their compressor after their tracking pedals. It’s definitely worth experimenting with because theres no “right” answer in this specific situation.
I used an affinity precision bass that I moded out with custom shop 64 pickups in this video. I’ve never used any real or digital keyboards in any of my 100+ videos. I only play bass.
I can't thank you enough. I'm planning to buy a bass and trying to prepare myself before purchasing one. The calmness of your voice and the way of explaining things are great and made so many things clear. I can't thank you enough.
Honestly, I never had issues with a compressor messing up my low end. If anything, it helped me tame the boomyness while accenting the high end I love so much
This IS the best explanation on pedal ordering design for bass!!! I personally use the same order but I have an overdrive before my wah pedal which, in turn, feeds my Big Muff Delux. This pedal has a clean out… so I then feed my modulation pedals that all have dual inputs and outputs… those then go into a looper that is also stereo and finally all those feed two amps: a 1 x 15" and a 2 x 12". Both amps have effects loops. I have experimented with the loops but I actually prefer the sounds I get while not using them. It also makes way easier to connect all these spaghettis!!!
This was by far the best walkthrough, and explanation of a bass signal. One other reason to place your preamp before dirt is to tone shape your "dry" signal to get the best use of any blend knobs in your dirt pedals. I use a final "preamp" at the end as well as my amp+DI cab sim to FOH.
Thanks for this very well thought out way to go about our pedal madness. So based on your suggestions, I just rearranged my bass board, putting my EQ first > Comp > OD after it; BEFORE going on to OC5 > EnvelopeFilter > Chorus > Delay > BBE SonicStomp always on the end (for those who don't know this one, just get it). Previous Chain: SpectraComp > OC5 > Envelope BEFORE the OD (to have them as close to the bass as possible) > followed by the EQ... because, well, that's what I'd read how to set things up everywhere else and never experimented. This new chain order sounds fantastic, and each pedal does it's thing with much more clarity and ill-effects of what else its stacked on with👍 It all goes through the Effects Loop of my Radial BassBoneOD, which has 2 separate instrument channels with 3 band EQ each, dedicated out for a Tuner, Mute switch and it's own OD circuit built in. It's XLR to FOH and it's 1/4" output to the stage amp. My own sound anywhere with this one-piece Mission Control, no matter how crappy or not the backline is. Or no stage amp at all.
This is a really well-explained video on bass signal path and order, but I was curious why you didn't include a preamp on your board? I'm assuming you're an amp guy, and that's why, but I would love to know your thoughts. I'm moving toward an ampless rig, but it's by no means a perfect situation.
I did include the preamp but I just used the EQ mini pedal to represent the "tone shaping" pedal.. whether that be a preamp pedal or an EQ pedal used as a preamp pedal. I did this because the mini EQ pedal didn't take up a lot of space like my Vintage Ultra Preamp, & I just wanted to use simple pedals that are more recognizable to the target audience which would be mostly beginners. I could have probably just showed my Vintage Ultra Preamp on camera when I was talking about preamps for reference, and just used the EQ mini pedal for simplicity, so sorry if that part was not well explained. Comments like this make me better so thank you for reaching out
In the video i’m using TC Electronic tuner and compressor. The bass eq i’m using is from a brand called Tomsline Engineering and it’s a budget eq pedal I got on AMAZON. I fully support and recommend Donner. I use the Donner Harmonic Square pedal all the time. I also recommend the budget pedals from Sonicake. I have not tried Rowin but i’ll check them out now that you mentioned them thanks
I like this as it's different than many others who put EQ and dirt later. I agree with EQ before compression but something I am curious about is how does putting compression after dirt affect the drive? I plan to use the Ashdown pedal of doom and that would put the drive before compression. Also when using a preamp pedal should the effect chain go into the main input of the amp or the return of the effect loop to bypass the amp's preamp stage?
Yikes, I apologies for the super late response. Compressor after dirt is a great way to keep the dirty gain effect but at an evenly controlled volume. The gain effect will get more potent as you pluck the strings harder. Compression before dirt will give you the same amount of gain effect no matter how hard or soft you pluck the string giving you the same amount of volume and gain effect consistently. Compressor before dirt is good if you want the same amount of gain and volume the whole time. Compressor after dirt is good if you want the gain to actually interact with your pick attack. I just plug the chain into the main input of the amp. Plugging a preamp into the amp’s preamp seems redundant and may be, but doing this gives you more tone control (depending on the frequency ranges from both) and you can push the amp to get some gain that way. Plugging your preamp into the return to bypass the amp’s preamp is a good idea if you only want the sound of your preamp pedal.
Brah! You have not gotten enough credit for this video. I wasted so much time looking for help elsewhere. Great video. You made my evil genius board make more sense. I send all my bass player friends here. You made it easy for us beginners.
Getting a blank pedalboard out, and strategically planning out a pedal chain like a game of chess is literally one of my favorite things to do. Just one mans opinion.
This all made sense and it really helped when you demonstrated the boxes in different orders. I’m about to put a pedal board together and I can already see the advantages of having the nano sized ones. This was a great video, thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Excellent vid. I’m was the touring bassist for the Motown group The Miracles. I’ve never been a pedal guy but now I’m playing gigs that require some effects so I’m getting up to speed. Though I’ve used effects a little throughout the years, I’ve finally put my first true board together. I’m happy with the sound of the pedals I’ve chosen as they all meet specific needs for what and where I play. I’d like your opinion though on the signal chain: Radial Active DI (for running parallel) Digitech Drop Empress Buffer + Polytune 3 tuner out of the buffer dedicated tuner output Boss Bass EQ Empress Bass Compressor Swollen Pickle Fuzz MXR Vintage Octave (based on your recommendation) C4 Synth (envelopes and phasers used here in multiple combinations and alone) Bass Soul Food OD (just to add some grit to my basic sound) NSG Noise Gate Eddy Chorus Oceans 11 Reverb Ampeg SCR DI Thoughts? Thanks for all the great information!
That chain is pretty spot on to how I would do it as well. The only thing I would do different is try C4 right after the compressor so that it produces a petter quality effect since it’s a tracking pedal and the closer to the instrument it is, the better the effect is going to be… and… so that I had modulation before dirt (C4), and then modulation after dirt as well (chorus), but this all depends on how you use your C4 and chorus pedals with dirt. Do you use your C4 and/or chorus pedal with your dirt? If you do, then you may like the sound of the phaser before your dirt better than where it is which is after your dirt. If you like the sound of the phaser before dirt then C4 should go right after the compressor. That way you have the phaser before dirt AND, the C4 has the best possible signal feeding into it. If you like the filter sweepy effect of modulation after your dirt, and you’re happy with the quality of the C4 effect, then no need to change anything.
Great advice. I have noticed some tracking issues with the C4 when going through my amp. I sometimes use the phaser and envelope aspects with chorus, fuzz and my octave. But I don’t use it with the Soul Food. Thanks for the response. I’m going to move the C4 up next to the compressor and see how that works. 🙏🏻
@@AmbientBassCreations Thanks! So, if I take your suggestions into a practical case, with my pedal board, it would go as follow (?) : Tuner -> Noise Suppressor (input) -> Noise suppressor (Send) -> Preamp (Geggy Lee YYZ) -> 10 band EQ -> Compressor -> Aguilar Agro -> Tech 21 Fuzz -> Aguilar Octave -> Source Audio Manta -> MXR bass envelope filter -> AMP Input -> AMP effect send -> Noise suppressor (Return) -> Noise suppressor (Output) -> Tech 21 Chorus -> Boss Reverb -> MXR Delay -> AMP effect return -> Cabs I don't see a case where I would use the Agro and the Fuzz stacked, so it would be one or the other into the Octamizer. Same with the 2 types of envelopes (manta and MXR), they have different purposes. Does that make sense to you? It's not at all how it is now, but your video made me rethink my whole setup.
Damn this is a sick chain. I drew it out just to get a visual. I only have 2 tiny suggestions and then 1 concern about the position of the octave, but honestly it looks pretty damn good. I have never used a Noise Suppressor, and I am unfamiliar with how the Send & Return works with it, just so you are aware of that. I know you said you're not going to be stacking the fuzz and Agro but I would just put the fuzz first anyways. It's just my opinion but stacking fuzz into overdrive sounds better, just in case you decide you want to stack them in the future. But like I said, just a tiny suggestion. Also, put the MXR Envelope Filter before the Manta. You still want your regular envelope filter as close to your bass as possible. Manta is digital so it's going to sound good basically anywhere. In the set up you listed above, there will be 7 pedals in-between your bass.. and your octave. In the video I only had 4 pedals in-between my bass and my octave. There is a limit to how far away your octave can be from your instrument before it doesn't track well. I don't know what that number is but 7 pedals seems far to me. Keep the Octave pedal where it is and see how it sounds. If it's glitchy and doesn't sound good, then you'll have to put it sooner in the chain. Id try it right after the compressor if it needs to be placed closer. This same issue might apply to the MXR envelope filter too but maybe not. If so, then move it closer along with the Octave. Side Note: Replacing your tuner pedal with a clip on tuner is a good way to improve the quality of your bass signal because it's one less box and 2 less patch cables your signal has to travel through. But if you hate the clip ons, or like having the tuner pedal then I get it. Just an idea. This is a killer chain so I hope you get it set up and you're happy with it! Hit me back here, or privately through insta or email with any other questions or to just keep my posted on how the chain is going!
@@AmbientBassCreations That’s good advice, thank you :) I will work on the board over the weekend and let you know about the results. For the tuner, I really appreciate the ‘mute all’ effect it has when I tune that I can’t get with a clip on. It used to be at the end of my chain, but wasn’t ideal when tuning when other effects were active. It did mute everything though. For the tracking at the octave level, if it is indeed too far but would like it to stay in this order, would adding a gate before be an acceptable solution?
@@Chewbacca0678 A noise gate before the octave would unfortunately not be a solution to the issue. A noise gate just blocks out all noise, until you play loud enough to trigger the blocking (or gate) to stop, and then all the noise is let through. You can try a buffer if you have one, but honestly in this situation it won’t make any difference so don’t go out and spend money on one for this
I’m currently in the process of building my first pedal board, so this couldn’t have come at a better time. A PSU and fuzz pedal should be arriving today. My setup is very budget friendly in comparison to yours, but you’ve given me a solid foundation to work from and lots to consider for future additions. Many thanks mate
What do you think about input buffers? Do bass pedal boards need them as much as guitar pedal boards? I know the TC Polytune 3 tuners have built-in buffers in them but I don't have one. I'm actually using a Zoom MS60B as a tuner but it's in the later part of my chain (I mainly use it for distortion and modulation) so I'm thinking of maybe getting an input buffer. Would it be worth it though or would it just be clogging up my board?
It doesn’t matter if it’s guitar or bass.. It all depends on how long your instrument cable is, going from your instrument to your board. If you’re just using a six foot cable, then no. If you have like a 25 foot or 50+ foot cable, then I would get an input buffer.
@@AmbientBassCreations Thanks a lot! I rarely use cables longer than 12ft so this gives me confidence that I don't need to stuff another pedal in my board. I think I've been sounding fine without an input buffer on my board until now but recently both our guitarists have been talking about them needing those so I was wondering if I was getting left out even if I couldn't hear a difference in sound when I use my pedalboard or when I plug directly to my amp. Now I have a good guideline to know when I need one.
Awesome video, totally need alot of sense I just picked up that Hall of Fame and the flashback before I even seen this video once again tremendous help, what a difference
I personally like having a preamp pedal that I can get really specific with, with my tone. Set it, and have that my main tone shaping tool… and then having my onboard preamp as secondary tone shaper that I can fine tune and make little adjustments when needed without deviating too far away from my main sound that I created with my preamp pedal.… Does this mean I “need” a preamp pedal? It’s how I create music the best way that I know… so I’d say yes. If you have like 3 or 4 pedals on your board and your plugging into an amp with preamp/ eq controls, then I would say no you don’t need one. If your pedal obsessed and have like 10+ pedals on your pboard, then you might want to consider a preamp pedal because sending your instruments signal through your instrument cable + 10+ pedals + patch cables + 2nd instrument cable or wireless system that goes into your amp or audio interface… Your going to loose tone and volume. Having that preamp pedal helps make up any losses. Hope this helped and please let me know if theres any follow up questions!
Another great video. Thanks! I wonder about looping in the chain. From this video I think it would go last but in your ambient board video you have effects before and after the loops, right? Interested in some clarity on that. Also, tremolo goes with modulation? Finally, I have a Ravish Sitar pedal that I like with my bass. I guess that's in the envelope/wah group? Have you ever had that one on a chain? Today I have it last. I appreciate your efforts!
Thanks! good to hear from you agin Greg! Yes, tremolo does go with modulation. And yes, Ravish Sitar is a tracking pedal just like envelope filter (not like a wah wah pedal you use with your foot though) but it's more like a synth pedal like the SY-1 by boss. I did have Ravish Sitar and I put it after my compressor (as early in the chain as possible). I would try putting it early in a chain to get a better quality sitar sound, but if you like it better last, then go with what your ears like best.
Loopers... So think of loopers like a recording device. They record what you play, and then play it over and over until you stop the recording. An important thing to know about loopers is that the looper will only record what effects are before it in the chain. Therefore putting the looper last, means you are able to record any of your effects because if your looper is last.. then all your other effects are before it. So if you only have one looper then putting it last is probably going to be the most useful position for it. The ambient music I create is all about recording something into loopers,… and then turning on effects after the loopers. The recordings in the loopers will go into whatever effects I turn on after the loopers, and then set off those effects I just turned on, without me having to play my bass. Thats why I like having the loopers in the middle, because I can record the effects I have before the loopers, into the loopers.. and then the loopers send whatever I just recorded, into the effects I have after the loopers… This method is very useful for ambient music because once you have created loops that you like and that go well with each other… you can just put your instrument down and just listen to the loops play, and just sit back and enjoy the music you just created… and also you can use some loopers like Blooper, Mood and Habit as their own instruments by twisting knobs and what not… I have a looper last as well because sometimes I want to record specific effects that are after the middle loopers or, sometimes I think of something I want to add to the ambient piece I just created, but I don’t want to mess up the middle loopers that are already going with something I recorded. So I only do it this way with ambient music so I can let the Loopers just go and go wile I enjoy!
@@AmbientBassCreations well, you know balanced wiring, it cancels noise nearly completely, cable length can be well over a hunnerd foots and still sound fine, some apparently get clean signal at over two hunnerd n fiddy foots. many mixers support balanced signal with no modification if you plug directly in for some weird reason. basic idea is, one side of the pickup goes to the tip of a stereo jack, other side to the ring, all the grounds to the sleeve. if you plug in a normal mono cable it'll connect ground as if it's unmodified. you'd need a box at the amp end to undo the balancing for using it with all the standard effects. i'd contemplated putting a d frame xlr mic connector on my 'strat', there's space with a new flat jackplate for both jack types, i'd have to only 1/4" stereo jack mod my bass though, unless i feel like drilling it, some day. naiantDOTcomSLASH2014SLASH02SLASH14SLASHguitar-wiring has schematics for it, you do need to get new ganged volume pots, but they'll work fine with the ground connected. sorry for the munged link, youtube can be dickish. one magical thing is, you can shove power over both signal wires and tap it in the guitar for onboard effects/active pickups/preamps/fancy rgb lights... power returns over the ground, you can use the exact same box that feeds 48v phantom power to xlr microphones.
Wave Crush by Sonicake is such a good bit crusher for only 50 bucks! I use that thing all the time for lofi sounds. I put mine after my octave, and after my chorus or modulation...Stacking Wave Crush after chorus makes a sick lofi pedal combo, and Wave Crush stacked after Octave makes a sick funky Bit Crushed sound that's addicting. Thats just where I've been putting it lately. Hope this helped.
@@AmbientBassCreations Here I ran 3 loops Loop A - bitcrush > octave > terra echo. Loop B - chorus > terra echo. Loop C clean. All 3 into reverb > compressor/eq/pre-amp unit ruclips.net/video/OPqkKUkhdKI/видео.htmlsi=fHmLkcfTkcN9yFx1
Lol you mean 2 Wave Crush Bit Crushers? You can't go wrong with that lol. It is a very cheep pedal so Wave Crush would be a pedal to get 2 of.. 👍 @@ErickT1970
If the di pedal with a preamp has a XLR out and you use the xlr out, then it needs to go last. If you don’t use the xlr then it can go in the beginning before or after your compressor, which ever you prefer. And by Di pedal, do you mean just regular di like a radial di box? You want that last. Let me know if I missed something
Yes , I have a DI box with XLR out and pre amp , but I also prefer to set my tone at the beginning of chain before the compressor ! Should I get another pre amp pedal for that ? And just leave the other one at the end for the XLR? Or , like you said , maybe should I just get a DI box type Radial for XLR only ? My question is , it’s not logical to have 2 pre amp pedals , is it ? Pre amp should always come at the beginning of the chain , correct ? Thanks for your help on clarifying that ! Really appreciate! 🙏🏻
I think having your di with a preamp and xlr should go in the beginning since that’s what you prefer, and get a Radial DI Box for the very end so you have that xlr balanced output at the end of chain. If you get a second preamp di pedal just for the xlr at the end.. that is not logical. But if you want two preamp pedals on your board, because maybe you want one to be your low and warm tone, and the second to be a dirty bright tone, or another reason that makes you sound better and create better music… then that sounds logical to me. So preamp pedals typically go in the beginning unless you use the xlr then it should go last.
Hello, very deep explanation and gently explained. After watching that I guess about my pedal chain order... I have this setup: active bass>>tc electronic bonafide buffer>>donner tuner>>Dunlop Bass Q Crybaby wah>>tc electronic forefield compressor>>donner octaverdonner mod square(multieffects)>>donner echo square (multidelay)>>donner verb square (multireverb)>>mxr m80 di>>amp. My question is, should i move my wah after compressor and after big muff? I read it would be better to have wah before compressor. I will try to put my effects as you have to experiment sounds: effects>>reverb>>delays. Thank you so much.
The bad news is, I don’t have a definitive answer for this. The good news is, there’s no wrong answer because it comes down to what sounds good to you personally. If I were you I would plan the wah and compressor around the big muff. See if you like wah before or after big muff. Then see if you like compression before or after big muff. Once you find out, then that should lead you in a direction of the best order for you. Let me know how it goes, or if it just leads you to another question
@@AmbientBassCreations thank you for your response. Yesterday I tried several combinations. Wah after compressor and muff sounds awfull, no dynamics, no tone...Also I tried compressor behind muff and the bass lost all its punch bottom bass, just muff sound. I left these like I had before and just with a few buttons set up I finally get a good sound. I modified the effect pedals as you sugessted and I like the results. So mi final setup is: active bass>>tc electronic bonafide buffer>>donner tuner>>Dunlop Bass Q Crybaby wah>>tc electronic forefield compressor>>donner octaverdonner echo square (multidelay)>>donner mod square(multieffects)>>donner verb square (multireverb)>>mxr m80 di>>amp. Thank you for your video and made me think again how to improve my sound. I really apreciate your work and made us musicians to keeping research.
The only way you can break your pedals, is if you feed your pedals more Volts than it requires. To learn how to not break your pedalss, check out my Pedal Power video... It's extremely simple I promise : ruclips.net/video/K_x4N0esm9w/видео.html
Brilliant video.. that is all...
Actually, to add more, this is just the video I needed. As many others have said, I've hunted high and low for a tutorial like this, and the examples you show alongside the explanations are excellent. 10/10.
Wow, thank you so much man! I honestly thought there was something wrong with my octave pedal and was going to look for a new one but ended up putting it after dirt and envelope. Everything sounds better now - octave, envelope, and dirt. Rad 🤘
Hell yeah, glad you found an order that produces better results!
Amazing video thank you. If using EQ on amp, what makes sense then? Effects loop?
I like the sound samples you included. Thank you for this video… it helped me a lot
Boss website states to connect compressor after EQ. So the order should be: EQ < Compressor < Tuner < Bass guitar.
This doesn't make sense. I agree with having a compressor AFTER eq, but then your chain says it "should" be: Bass into tuner into compressor INTO EQ??
This is by far the best video about Bass Pedal Order I have ever seen. Thank you!
Thanks so much! You rule!
Preamp at the start of the chain is equivalent to running all your effects into an effects loop if you're going straight into PA. MY Tone Hammer preamp is at the end except for my delay and chorus that I send into the effects loop of the MKS Patch Pad II.
@@TheBassteban. That’s a great point!
I tried to use the effects loops of my amps for a while but I now prefer using a loooong chain of effects going to the front of my amps.
Or rather the opposite of the best
I use my NU-X Melvin Lee Davis pre-amp/DI pedal at the end of my pedal chain..i want 'my' tone going to the DI input at the mixing desk..i have tried it as the first pedal,after tuner, but that is not my tone...great if a good engineer with good ears but i've had bad tone because of engineers wanting just a clean signal...or worse no amp at all...i'm old school & record with a mic (AKG D112 Mkll) so i keep 'my' tone...well closer to 'my' tone as a PA will colour the tone a bit...if a good sound engineer then DI after tuner & mixed with my mic'd amp/cab gives the best tone for me.....i might try swapping things about to see/hear the differences...good vid bud..🎸🎛
Very informative video on this subject. I just started a pedalboard after years of not really using one but some separate pedals here and there. What do you think of this signal chain? I also run FOH and don’t use amps when playing live. I only have 5 pedals on my board and the way I have them at the moment is PolyTune 3 (in buffered mode), Tech21 GL MP40, Big Muff Pi, Behringer HD300 and MXR M81 Bass Preamp which also has a DI out on it as well as some eq if I wanted it.
That chain seems solid to me. Have fun with it!
Thanks a lot for this awesome video! BUT, that drone ambient music really gets on the nerves, I think it's unnecessary.
im using a b1xfour unit and a passive bass can i ask you humbly what effects should i use and suquence of chain
playing in a christian church
Sorry for the late response. I unfortunately am not familiar with that pedal or style of music.
how about having a D.I. preamp pedal? (Darkglass B7k Ultra) to be specific, and having a bass eq pedal after your tuner as a first pedal on your pedalchain?would that affect your tone?
DI preamps with a XLR out have to go last if you want to use that XLR and get your whole chain through the PA. I don't use the XLR out on my Vintage Ultra, so I put mine right after my tuner and before my compressor. I used to put an eq pedal first, and have my SansAmp VT Bass Preamp last in chain when I played live and that was a lot of fun. If having an eq pedal and the B7k Ultra is too much tone finagling than I did use to put just a MXR mini boost pedal with only Volume & Treble controls first, and my preamp last. I hear Aguilar makes good mini bass preamp pedals like that if that sounds like something you want to try out.
Sorry... to answer your question.. yes it will affect your tone of corse but it's up to you to experiment and see if you like it or not. I did the same sort of thing too so I fully support you. Let me know how it goes!
@@AmbientBassCreations Thank you so much for noticing me . Yes i am currently using that kind of signal chain and planning to remove my ampeg optacomp i dont know but maybe i'll be replacing it with DG harmonic booster after my EQ pedal what do think of that kind of idea? im sorry to bother you i just really need some help thank you man.
@@Schizmzzz Do you mean your thinking of doing a chain that starts: Bass - tuner - eq - Harmonic Booster - then the rest of your pedals - amp?
Or: Bass - tuner - eq - the rest of your pedals - Harmonic Booster last - Amp?
** (Just to be clear, in the video I was only using the mini EQ pedal as an example for a “tone shaping pedal”. I wasn’t saying that I put an actual EQ pedal in that position. So really, I put that mini EQ pedal to represent a preamp because my Vintage Ultra preamp took up too much space on the board for my liking for the video. I tried to communicate that in the video but maybe I could have done a better job on that)
Still hear me out though.. It makes sense to me to do: Bass - tuner - Harmonic Booster - Compressor - then the rest of your pedals - and then put your EQ pedal after any effect pedal that is causing you problems - then amp. (If your not going to use the comp anymore then same chain goes, just without the comp) An example of a pedal giving you problems is a chorus pedal. Chorus pedals sometimes suck the life out of basses low end. So it would be a good idea to put an eq pedal after the chorus pedal so you can boost your low end frequencies to compensate for the loss of low end from the chorus pedal.
My thought process on this order is to try and make your bass sound as good as possible to your liking first in the chain… so that once you start putting gain, modulation, or all these effects onto your bass signal, it will still sound good. (If that makes sense). Stacking effects is awesome but it does change your clean tone, so if you sculpt your clean tone as good as you possibly can in the very beginning of your chain, it’ll sound as good as possible once it travels to the end of your chain, to be amplified out of your amp.
EQ pedals are good tools that can go anywhere and they really thrive when you put them after other pedals that degrade your clean tone. If you don’t know what pedal is causing you to either loose, or bring out too much lows/mids/highs, then just play them one by one to troubleshoot which one is diluting your clean signal. Or just put the EQ pedal last and then it’ll be after all your pedals and you can make up and lows/highs/mids for all your pedals if needed.
If you meant tuner - eq - Harmonic Booster - rest of the chain… then I personally haven’t needed to put an eq and preamp next to each other. If my video led you to think that that’s what I do then that’s on me man, i’ll do better next time.
But… What some people do is, they have the EQ and preamp right next to each other on the board but for 2 different tone selections. So if you want a bright twangy tone on your Harmonic Booster, and then a low dub step tone on your EQ pedal, then yeah, put them next to each other so you can change to 2 completely different tones from just the tap of your foot. The order of these 2 doesn’t matter if you’re not playing them at the same time.
If you meant Bass - tuner - eq - the rest of your pedals - then Harmonic booster last - Amp, then that makes more sense to me only I would flip it… Bass - tuner - Harmonic Booster - compressor (if you want) - then the rest of your pedals - then EQ last so if there is any low/high/mids that you want to boost or cut from using any of your pedals, then you can do so because the EQ is after all the pedals, just like I mentioned before. I do it this way when I make ambient music that requires a lot of effect pedals on at once.
Hope those are some good ideas that you can use. Keep me posted!
@@AmbientBassCreations Got it, Thank you so much!🤗 much love and respect for that. Anyway, i dont have any modulation effects on my chain. My plan is tuner - EQ, microtubes X as my Dirt pedal for heavy music, harmonic booster and my B7k ultra ( without engaging dirt) for my XLR
out is that the right order for my pedals ? or lets say MICROTUBES X first before my Harmonic booster? yes your ideas are helping me so much for my future builds but for now just want a small rig. By the way, am I gonna make an ( ALWAYS ON ) to these pedals ? EQ - HB and B7k Ultra? as a clean tone
yes , ill just listen to what tone that my ears loves but i just wanna know that my personal ideas are right. Thank you always.
@@Schizmzzz Oh ok I thought you were building a full set up. So your only using: Tuner - EQ pedal - Micro X for Distortion - Harmonic Booster clear preamp - B7k clean for the XLR out.
These are all pedals of the same general category of ”Tone Shaping” and then Distortion. Theres a clean preamp, a clean EQ, a distortion pedal, the B7k which is both a preamp & Distortion, and a tuner. Theres no “right” order for just these pedals.
I would just do the Tuner - B7k - Amp (always on). Or if you like the Micro X Distortion better than the one in the B7k then: Tuner - Micro X - B7k - Amp. (Always on except the Micro X)
The B7k has an awesome preamp already so I wouldn’t even use the Harmonic Booster, and unless your using the EQ pedal for a specific reason that I cant think of, then the B7k can also take the place of the EQ. As far as if these pedals should be always on, it’s up to you to decide, I cant answer that. It sounds like the Micro X won’t be an always on pedal since you only want it on to get heavy.
If you’re adamant on using all the pedals I would do: Tuner - Harmonic Booster - Micro X - EQ - B7k. Or honestly just get rid of the EQ and do: Tuner - Harmonic Booster - Micro X - B7k… This way you have a tone shaping pedal before and after your dirt and then you won’t need the EQ.
Amongst all the pedals you listed, you have 2 preamps and 1 eq pedal which I’m never going to say that you can not have multiple preamps and tone shaping pedals on your board but theres really no “right” order when we’re talking about the same type of pedal.
Hope this helped!
do you have a sound cloud, band camp or spotify? i whil love to hear you music in good high quality
I don’t but if you go to my RUclips channel home page and click on Playlists, there’s one that’s titled “My Songs” and “Meditation Music” which contains all the music I have written. (The playlists start with the older videos first.. so scrolling all the way down will have my newest stuff)
@@AmbientBassCreations thanks for letting me know
Depends what you’re playing but dude, put your octave before the dirt and go sub
"Reverd"
Back off your mic or someting. Why are people fine with uploading videos with all the mouth noises?
This was super helpful, thanks! Especially demonstrating the sound of each pedal both before and after other pedals in the chain - most of the other pedal ordering vids I've seen just declare their one way as the "right" way, without demonstrating the effect the order has, which can make it hard to evaluate whether their approach is right for me. But your vid really clearly demonstrated what happens, while leaving room for folks to experiment. This has given me ideas for some modifications to my existing signal, exciting!
Thanks so much! And i’m really glad it inspired some experimenting!!
I know this is redundant as there are plenty of comments stating that this is an incredible master class on bass pedal order. I just want to help you with the algorithm. I've searched and viewed far too many videos in search of exactly what you present before finding this when this video should be the first, and really only, video that comes up on bass pedal order. You've not only covered everything I've already learned in numerous other extremely repetitive videos, but expanded on every point in glorious detail with examples demonstrating the most important factor of each decision, the why. Very well done and much appreciated, for sure!
Damn, thanks dude. And thanks for the help with the algorithm! Double thanks!!
The completely wet signal of the octave pedal is a tracking synth waveform, so any pedal before it will never really effect it at all unless you add dry signal
Thanks mate. Got to like the 20th minute watching on my TV and then switched to my phone with headphones and started from the beginning 😅
I'm kinda researching because I'm about to order my first pedalboard. Until now all I had was a MarkBass Compressore and a Hartke BassAtack 2 held together with sticky tape.
This is the most informative video I've watched till now and I'm pretty sure I know what I want now. Thank you.
It’s awesome to hear you picking up your first board. Please feel free to reach out to me direct through Instagram or email if you need anything! Enjoy!
I know Boss makes great pedals, but they’re butt ugly.
awesome demonstration of the experiments. i do the same thing! but about ordering, you may need to go beyond specific type of pedal and into the actual model...for example, i had a guitar rig with a lot of pedals. before the amp I had volume pedal, compressor, phase 90, octavia-style fuzz, overdrive, and hartman flanger...and in the effects loop i had mxr flanger, chorus, boss tremolo, digital delay, analog delay w/modulations, and reverb... notice i had two flangers! the hartman sounded better as last thing before the amp, and the mxr sounded better first thing in the effects loop!!!! so that's where they were in my chain. so in this case it was more than just the type, but the actual model that mattered!!! (then again, i am hyper picky about flangers and i know what i like, and more importantly, what i don't like such as the Boss Flanger which sounds sterile to me!!!)... by the way, 12:46 is SICK!
Yes, there are definitely a lot of factors that can disrupt what people say is the “typical” order. That’s why there are no laws when it comes to pedal order. Different combinations and orders are going to sound good to different people that’s why the smartest thing to do is just TRY different things as mush as possible! I love flangers and reverb together 🤙
@@AmbientBassCreations So I just made a little synth bass pedalboard... The order that seemed to work best with the stuff I was using and my ears was octaver + envelope filter + compressor + fuzz + overdrive before the amp, then chorus + reverb in the effects loop... I had some pedal debris on the side, like I chose the MXR Vintage Bass Octaver over the Boss OC-5 (in vintage mode), and the EHX Bass Clone rather than the Boss Chorus. The only Boss pedal I wound up using was the Bass Compressor, but there are some Boss pedals I really love, like the TR-2 Tremolo and the DD-7 Digital Delay (that I use on guitar pedalboards)!!! For whatever reason, out of the common brands I tend to have a lot of MXR gunk on there, and less EHX and Boss stuff.
Great vid! Well done, I esp. appreciate keeping the playing to a min. and the actual info and reasoning behind your choices being featured. One question, does your dirt pedal have a blend knob? or is it full spectrum? I keep my dirt post octave and use it's blend of dry signal kinda the same way you use the dry signal from your oc-5.
No, it has a master volume control, and then a separate gain knob
Great vid. Playing with a bass envelope filter. I’m finding that I can trigger the effect with my playing. Hitting the string just a bit harder at the right moment gives me the effect while the for rest of my playing the effect is not as noticeable. It’s quite effective and impressive and way more precise than a wahwah pedal. However, if one puts the compressor before the envelope filter you can lose that. As such it seems to me that the compressor should be after all tracking effects, not before…. ?
There's defiantly nothing wrong with the compressor after tracking pedals. If I understood you correctly the way you like to use your envelope filter is to have the Attack and the Threshold adjusted in a way so that you get the wah effect on the desired note when you pluck hard, and then you can just continue the bass line without the effect quacking over and over again on every single note. This is a handy way to use an envelope filter sometimes but this can be achieved through the controls on the envelope filter whether it is before or after a compressor.
In terms of whether the compressor “should” or “shouldn’t” be before or after the compressor is not a healthy question because there isn’t a right answer. I have been using my compressor before my tracking pedals and it’s great! If you prefer your compressor after your tracking pedals and are happy with it, then that’s great too. We both are happy.
Thanks for throwing that idea out there though because maybe someone else would also prefer their compressor after their tracking pedals. It’s definitely worth experimenting with because theres no “right” answer in this specific situation.
Great video. Ive been playing bass for a few yrs and i got away with using my guitar pedalboard only using the envelope filter and fuzz.
Nice! Those are the most fun!!
Do you find having the compressor first impacts the envelope filter and your ability to trigger it with dynamics?
I have never had that issue but just pondering that in my head I can see that being possible with heavy compression settings. Interesting.
output volume of the video presentation is too low
Good vid, but I almost fell asleep
Would you consider a Digitech Drop a tracking/pitch pedal?
Yes
Great video man. Thanks. (also, typo @ 24:40 "REVERD") Keep up the good work, bro! Bass Players Unite! Low End for LIFE!
Thanks man!
Neat sounds, but what I hear is the left hand of the keyboard player. As a bass player, I like my bass to sound like, well, a bass.
I used an affinity precision bass that I moded out with custom shop 64 pickups in this video. I’ve never used any real or digital keyboards in any of my 100+ videos. I only play bass.
That seems rather limiting. Then again I like Chris Wolstenholme. I guess it comes down to what genre you play.
Really calm, informational and easy to understand. Thank you for sharing. 🙏🏽
I can't thank you enough. I'm planning to buy a bass and trying to prepare myself before purchasing one. The calmness of your voice and the way of explaining things are great and made so many things clear. I can't thank you enough.
You’re so welcome dude! Enjoy your bass when you get it!
Great video my friend ! Very clear and easy to follow , specially for some us beginners ! Keep up the good works ! Subscribed! 👍🎸
Thanks so much!!! Glad it helped!
I was prepared to not like this video (backwards baseball cap shite), but it was truly excellent and highly relevant to me at this time. Thank you.
Ok, when you say first in the chain, where does the chain begin at the bass end or the amp end.
Bass end
Thank you. This video is so helpful@@AmbientBassCreations
So much great info
🧠🔑
Experimenting is fun...
Best comment right here
Where to drop a DI?
Last. All your effects go into the DI and then out to amp with an instrument cable. If plugging into a mixer or DAW then use XLR
Totally helped a bunch' You màde it fun and imterestimg.Thanx for makìng thjis cideo. A must war h video
I put my MXR Octave after my distortion and overdrive pedals and I love it
Thanks for this wonderful video. Just what i needed
Honestly, I never had issues with a compressor messing up my low end. If anything, it helped me tame the boomyness while accenting the high end I love so much
This IS the best explanation on pedal ordering design for bass!!!
I personally use the same order but I have an overdrive before my wah pedal which, in turn, feeds my Big Muff Delux. This pedal has a clean out… so I then feed my modulation pedals that all have dual inputs and outputs… those then go into a looper that is also stereo and finally all those feed two amps: a 1 x 15" and a 2 x 12".
Both amps have effects loops. I have experimented with the loops but I actually prefer the sounds I get while not using them. It also makes way easier to connect all these spaghettis!!!
That’s freakin awesome
This was by far the best walkthrough, and explanation of a bass signal.
One other reason to place your preamp before dirt is to tone shape your "dry" signal to get the best use of any blend knobs in your dirt pedals.
I use a final "preamp" at the end as well as my amp+DI cab sim to FOH.
Yeah absolutely! Thanks for sharing!
Excellent video. Definitely convinced me to get an envelope filter and change up some of my pedal order🙂
Thanks for this very well thought out way to go about our pedal madness.
So based on your suggestions, I just rearranged my bass board, putting my EQ first > Comp > OD after it; BEFORE going on to OC5 > EnvelopeFilter > Chorus > Delay > BBE SonicStomp always on the end (for those who don't know this one, just get it). Previous Chain: SpectraComp > OC5 > Envelope BEFORE the OD (to have them as close to the bass as possible) > followed by the EQ... because, well, that's what I'd read how to set things up everywhere else and never experimented. This new chain order sounds fantastic, and each pedal does it's thing with much more clarity and ill-effects of what else its stacked on with👍
It all goes through the Effects Loop of my Radial BassBoneOD, which has 2 separate instrument channels with 3 band EQ each, dedicated out for a Tuner, Mute switch and it's own OD circuit built in. It's XLR to FOH and it's 1/4" output to the stage amp. My own sound anywhere with this one-piece Mission Control, no matter how crappy or not the backline is. Or no stage amp at all.
Glad it’s working out for ya! Yeah I used to rock a bass bone.. a great utility pedal
This is a really well-explained video on bass signal path and order, but I was curious why you didn't include a preamp on your board? I'm assuming you're an amp guy, and that's why, but I would love to know your thoughts. I'm moving toward an ampless rig, but it's by no means a perfect situation.
I did include the preamp but I just used the EQ mini pedal to represent the "tone shaping" pedal.. whether that be a preamp pedal or an EQ pedal used as a preamp pedal. I did this because the mini EQ pedal didn't take up a lot of space like my Vintage Ultra Preamp, & I just wanted to use simple pedals that are more recognizable to the target audience which would be mostly beginners. I could have probably just showed my Vintage Ultra Preamp on camera when I was talking about preamps for reference, and just used the EQ mini pedal for simplicity, so sorry if that part was not well explained. Comments like this make me better so thank you for reaching out
Very intersting, thanks. I was using mainly multieffects and switching to individual pedals.
Are you using Donner, or Rowin Tuner, EQ, and compressor? Have you had good performance from those brands?
In the video i’m using TC Electronic tuner and compressor. The bass eq i’m using is from a brand called Tomsline Engineering and it’s a budget eq pedal I got on AMAZON. I fully support and recommend Donner. I use the Donner Harmonic Square pedal all the time. I also recommend the budget pedals from Sonicake. I have not tried Rowin but i’ll check them out now that you mentioned them thanks
I like this as it's different than many others who put EQ and dirt later. I agree with EQ before compression but something I am curious about is how does putting compression after dirt affect the drive? I plan to use the Ashdown pedal of doom and that would put the drive before compression. Also when using a preamp pedal should the effect chain go into the main input of the amp or the return of the effect loop to bypass the amp's preamp stage?
Yikes, I apologies for the super late response. Compressor after dirt is a great way to keep the dirty gain effect but at an evenly controlled volume. The gain effect will get more potent as you pluck the strings harder. Compression before dirt will give you the same amount of gain effect no matter how hard or soft you pluck the string giving you the same amount of volume and gain effect consistently. Compressor before dirt is good if you want the same amount of gain and volume the whole time. Compressor after dirt is good if you want the gain to actually interact with your pick attack.
I just plug the chain into the main input of the amp. Plugging a preamp into the amp’s preamp seems redundant and may be, but doing this gives you more tone control (depending on the frequency ranges from both) and you can push the amp to get some gain that way. Plugging your preamp into the return to bypass the amp’s preamp is a good idea if you only want the sound of your preamp pedal.
This was some excellent content! Thanks!
🙏
This is a well thought out and explained presentation. Organising my own pedal board now.
Excellent! Feel free to reach out directly if you have any questions. Have fun!
This was very helpful. Thank-you very much.
Your background music put me to sleep information is great. Execution is good but that background music.....
I’m an ambient guy 🤘
Brah! You have not gotten enough credit for this video. I wasted so much time looking for help elsewhere. Great video. You made my evil genius board make more sense. I send all my bass player friends here. You made it easy for us beginners.
🙏🤘 You rule!
This was an awesome thorough and educational video 💯💯
What a great video! You knocked it out of the park!
Thank you!
Get a pedal router or a loop switcher with buffer like a G3 GigRig and you can reorganize your pedals anytime you want.
Getting a blank pedalboard out, and strategically planning out a pedal chain like a game of chess is literally one of my favorite things to do. Just one mans opinion.
This all made sense and it really helped when you demonstrated the boxes in different orders. I’m about to put a pedal board together and I can already see the advantages of having the nano sized ones. This was a great video, thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Glad it helped. Have fun setting up your board!
Excellent vid. I’m was the touring bassist for the Motown group The Miracles. I’ve never been a pedal guy but now I’m playing gigs that require some effects so I’m getting up to speed. Though I’ve used effects a little throughout the years, I’ve finally put my first true board together. I’m happy with the sound of the pedals I’ve chosen as they all meet specific needs for what and where I play. I’d like your opinion though on the signal chain:
Radial Active DI (for running parallel)
Digitech Drop
Empress Buffer + Polytune 3 tuner out of the buffer dedicated tuner output
Boss Bass EQ
Empress Bass Compressor
Swollen Pickle Fuzz
MXR Vintage Octave (based on your recommendation)
C4 Synth (envelopes and phasers used here in multiple combinations and alone)
Bass Soul Food OD (just to add some grit to my basic sound)
NSG Noise Gate
Eddy Chorus
Oceans 11 Reverb
Ampeg SCR DI
Thoughts? Thanks for all the great information!
That chain is pretty spot on to how I would do it as well. The only thing I would do different is try C4 right after the compressor so that it produces a petter quality effect since it’s a tracking pedal and the closer to the instrument it is, the better the effect is going to be… and… so that I had modulation before dirt (C4), and then modulation after dirt as well (chorus), but this all depends on how you use your C4 and chorus pedals with dirt. Do you use your C4 and/or chorus pedal with your dirt?
If you do, then you may like the sound of the phaser before your dirt better than where it is which is after your dirt. If you like the sound of the phaser before dirt then C4 should go right after the compressor. That way you have the phaser before dirt AND, the C4 has the best possible signal feeding into it. If you like the filter sweepy effect of modulation after your dirt, and you’re happy with the quality of the C4 effect, then no need to change anything.
Great advice. I have noticed some tracking issues with the C4 when going through my amp. I sometimes use the phaser and envelope aspects with chorus, fuzz and my octave. But I don’t use it with the Soul Food. Thanks for the response. I’m going to move the C4 up next to the compressor and see how that works. 🙏🏻
Where would you cut this chain if you wanted to benefit from your amp’s effects loop?
From the envelope filter. So modulation, reverb and delay in the effects loop
@@AmbientBassCreations Thanks!
So, if I take your suggestions into a practical case, with my pedal board, it would go as follow (?) :
Tuner -> Noise Suppressor (input) -> Noise suppressor (Send) -> Preamp (Geggy Lee YYZ) -> 10 band EQ -> Compressor -> Aguilar Agro -> Tech 21 Fuzz -> Aguilar Octave -> Source Audio Manta -> MXR bass envelope filter -> AMP Input -> AMP effect send -> Noise suppressor (Return) -> Noise suppressor (Output) -> Tech 21 Chorus -> Boss Reverb -> MXR Delay -> AMP effect return -> Cabs
I don't see a case where I would use the Agro and the Fuzz stacked, so it would be one or the other into the Octamizer. Same with the 2 types of envelopes (manta and MXR), they have different purposes. Does that make sense to you? It's not at all how it is now, but your video made me rethink my whole setup.
Damn this is a sick chain. I drew it out just to get a visual. I only have 2 tiny suggestions and then 1 concern about the position of the octave, but honestly it looks pretty damn good. I have never used a Noise Suppressor, and I am unfamiliar with how the Send & Return works with it, just so you are aware of that.
I know you said you're not going to be stacking the fuzz and Agro but I would just put the fuzz first anyways. It's just my opinion but stacking fuzz into overdrive sounds better, just in case you decide you want to stack them in the future. But like I said, just a tiny suggestion.
Also, put the MXR Envelope Filter before the Manta. You still want your regular envelope filter as close to your bass as possible. Manta is digital so it's going to sound good basically anywhere.
In the set up you listed above, there will be 7 pedals in-between your bass.. and your octave. In the video I only had 4 pedals in-between my bass and my octave. There is a limit to how far away your octave can be from your instrument before it doesn't track well. I don't know what that number is but 7 pedals seems far to me. Keep the Octave pedal where it is and see how it sounds. If it's glitchy and doesn't sound good, then you'll have to put it sooner in the chain. Id try it right after the compressor if it needs to be placed closer. This same issue might apply to the MXR envelope filter too but maybe not. If so, then move it closer along with the Octave.
Side Note: Replacing your tuner pedal with a clip on tuner is a good way to improve the quality of your bass signal because it's one less box and 2 less patch cables your signal has to travel through. But if you hate the clip ons, or like having the tuner pedal then I get it. Just an idea.
This is a killer chain so I hope you get it set up and you're happy with it! Hit me back here, or privately through insta or email with any other questions or to just keep my posted on how the chain is going!
@@AmbientBassCreations That’s good advice, thank you :) I will work on the board over the weekend and let you know about the results. For the tuner, I really appreciate the ‘mute all’ effect it has when I tune that I can’t get with a clip on. It used to be at the end of my chain, but wasn’t ideal when tuning when other effects were active. It did mute everything though.
For the tracking at the octave level, if it is indeed too far but would like it to stay in this order, would adding a gate before be an acceptable solution?
@@Chewbacca0678 A noise gate before the octave would unfortunately not be a solution to the issue. A noise gate just blocks out all noise, until you play loud enough to trigger the blocking (or gate) to stop, and then all the noise is let through. You can try a buffer if you have one, but honestly in this situation it won’t make any difference so don’t go out and spend money on one for this
I’m currently in the process of building my first pedal board, so this couldn’t have come at a better time. A PSU and fuzz pedal should be arriving today.
My setup is very budget friendly in comparison to yours, but you’ve given me a solid foundation to work from and lots to consider for future additions. Many thanks mate
Perfect! I’m so glad it helped and congrats on your first set up!
What do you think about input buffers? Do bass pedal boards need them as much as guitar pedal boards? I know the TC Polytune 3 tuners have built-in buffers in them but I don't have one. I'm actually using a Zoom MS60B as a tuner but it's in the later part of my chain (I mainly use it for distortion and modulation) so I'm thinking of maybe getting an input buffer. Would it be worth it though or would it just be clogging up my board?
It doesn’t matter if it’s guitar or bass.. It all depends on how long your instrument cable is, going from your instrument to your board. If you’re just using a six foot cable, then no. If you have like a 25 foot or 50+ foot cable, then I would get an input buffer.
@@AmbientBassCreations Thanks a lot! I rarely use cables longer than 12ft so this gives me confidence that I don't need to stuff another pedal in my board.
I think I've been sounding fine without an input buffer on my board until now but recently both our guitarists have been talking about them needing those so I was wondering if I was getting left out even if I couldn't hear a difference in sound when I use my pedalboard or when I plug directly to my amp. Now I have a good guideline to know when I need one.
I just stumbled upon this . And this has to be the best video I’ve seen regarding placement of effect pedals. Thank you thank you thank you.
Glad you got something out of it!
Awesome video, totally need alot of sense I just picked up that Hall of Fame and the flashback before I even seen this video once again tremendous help, what a difference
Hell yeah! Glad it helped!
This video dang voice texting
do you still need a pre-amp/ eq pedal if ur bass already has an active eq?
I personally like having a preamp pedal that I can get really specific with, with my tone. Set it, and have that my main tone shaping tool… and then having my onboard preamp as secondary tone shaper that I can fine tune and make little adjustments when needed without deviating too far away from my main sound that I created with my preamp pedal.… Does this mean I “need” a preamp pedal? It’s how I create music the best way that I know… so I’d say yes.
If you have like 3 or 4 pedals on your board and your plugging into an amp with preamp/ eq controls, then I would say no you don’t need one.
If your pedal obsessed and have like 10+ pedals on your pboard, then you might want to consider a preamp pedal because sending your instruments signal through your instrument cable + 10+ pedals + patch cables + 2nd instrument cable or wireless system that goes into your amp or audio interface… Your going to loose tone and volume. Having that preamp pedal helps make up any losses.
Hope this helped and please let me know if theres any follow up questions!
very coherent and articulate! thanks!
Thanks a ton for your time. This gave me a clear picture of how to use pedals and how it matters where to keep specific pedal in a chain. ❤❤❤
No problem, i’m really glad it was useful!
Deserves recognition +1 good info
Brilliant explanations thankyou
This was great!
Excellent video. Thanks so much for the advice!
👍👍👍🤘
Great video!
Another great video. Thanks! I wonder about looping in the chain. From this video I think it would go last but in your ambient board video you have effects before and after the loops, right? Interested in some clarity on that. Also, tremolo goes with modulation? Finally, I have a Ravish Sitar pedal that I like with my bass. I guess that's in the envelope/wah group? Have you ever had that one on a chain? Today I have it last. I appreciate your efforts!
Thanks! good to hear from you agin Greg! Yes, tremolo does go with modulation. And yes, Ravish Sitar is a tracking pedal just like envelope filter (not like a wah wah pedal you use with your foot though) but it's more like a synth pedal like the SY-1 by boss. I did have Ravish Sitar and I put it after my compressor (as early in the chain as possible). I would try putting it early in a chain to get a better quality sitar sound, but if you like it better last, then go with what your ears like best.
Loopers... So think of loopers like a recording device. They record what you play, and then play it over and over until you stop the recording. An important thing to know about loopers is that the looper will only record what effects are before it in the chain. Therefore putting the looper last, means you are able to record any of your effects because if your looper is last.. then all your other effects are before it. So if you only have one looper then putting it last is probably going to be the most useful position for it.
The ambient music I create is all about recording something into loopers,… and then turning on effects after the loopers. The recordings in the loopers will go into whatever effects I turn on after the loopers, and then set off those effects I just turned on, without me having to play my bass. Thats why I like having the loopers in the middle, because I can record the effects I have before the loopers, into the loopers.. and then the loopers send whatever I just recorded, into the effects I have after the loopers… This method is very useful for ambient music because once you have created loops that you like and that go well with each other… you can just put your instrument down and just listen to the loops play, and just sit back and enjoy the music you just created… and also you can use some loopers like Blooper, Mood and Habit as their own instruments by twisting knobs and what not… I have a looper last as well because sometimes I want to record specific effects that are after the middle loopers or, sometimes I think of something I want to add to the ambient piece I just created, but I don’t want to mess up the middle loopers that are already going with something I recorded. So I only do it this way with ambient music so I can let the Loopers just go and go wile I enjoy!
@@AmbientBassCreations Thank you! I like the Ravish just for the sympathetic voices.
This video could have been 6 mins. You don’t have to tell us what you’re going to show us if you’re literally about to show us. Get an editor.
Best pedal order video I've seen to date (and I've seen a lot!)
Thank you! I appreciate it!
The best pedal order is the one where i order them all within one online store visit. 🙈
Thrilling 🥱
@@AmbientBassCreations I'm not a native in english so I thought that was the ultimate word joke, but I can see how it's not 🤣
This was super helpful!!!! Thank you!
You are welcome!
for cleaner signal, maybe balance the wiring, ground it at the effect end?
Haven’t heard that one. Tell me about that..
@@AmbientBassCreations well, you know balanced wiring, it cancels noise nearly completely, cable length can be well over a hunnerd foots and still sound fine, some apparently get clean signal at over two hunnerd n fiddy foots. many mixers support balanced signal with no modification if you plug directly in for some weird reason.
basic idea is, one side of the pickup goes to the tip of a stereo jack, other side to the ring, all the grounds to the sleeve. if you plug in a normal mono cable it'll connect ground as if it's unmodified. you'd need a box at the amp end to undo the balancing for using it with all the standard effects.
i'd contemplated putting a d frame xlr mic connector on my 'strat', there's space with a new flat jackplate for both jack types, i'd have to only 1/4" stereo jack mod my bass though, unless i feel like drilling it, some day.
naiantDOTcomSLASH2014SLASH02SLASH14SLASHguitar-wiring
has schematics for it, you do need to get new ganged volume pots, but they'll work fine with the ground connected. sorry for the munged link, youtube can be dickish.
one magical thing is, you can shove power over both signal wires and tap it in the guitar for onboard effects/active pickups/preamps/fancy rgb lights... power returns over the ground, you can use the exact same box that feeds 48v phantom power to xlr microphones.
and now you know that... the horror of soldering?
Great video. Where are you placing your bit crusher? Lately been running the Sonicake on phono setting before Octave instead of later in the chain.
Wave Crush by Sonicake is such a good bit crusher for only 50 bucks! I use that thing all the time for lofi sounds. I put mine after my octave, and after my chorus or modulation...Stacking Wave Crush after chorus makes a sick lofi pedal combo, and Wave Crush stacked after Octave makes a sick funky Bit Crushed sound that's addicting. Thats just where I've been putting it lately. Hope this helped.
Good ideas@@AmbientBassCreations Maybe have one before octave and one after chorus? Hmm...
@@AmbientBassCreations Here I ran 3 loops Loop A - bitcrush > octave > terra echo. Loop B - chorus > terra echo. Loop C clean. All 3 into reverb > compressor/eq/pre-amp unit ruclips.net/video/OPqkKUkhdKI/видео.htmlsi=fHmLkcfTkcN9yFx1
Lol you mean 2 Wave Crush Bit Crushers? You can't go wrong with that lol. It is a very cheep pedal so Wave Crush would be a pedal to get 2 of.. 👍 @@ErickT1970
I have question , where would you put a DI pedal in this chain ? What about a DI pedal that also has a pre -amp ? Thanks !🙏🏻
If the di pedal with a preamp has a XLR out and you use the xlr out, then it needs to go last. If you don’t use the xlr then it can go in the beginning before or after your compressor, which ever you prefer. And by Di pedal, do you mean just regular di like a radial di box? You want that last. Let me know if I missed something
Yes , I have a DI box with XLR out and pre amp , but I also prefer to set my tone at the beginning of chain before the compressor ! Should I get another pre amp pedal for that ? And just leave the other one at the end for the XLR? Or , like you said , maybe should I just get a DI box type Radial for XLR only ? My question is , it’s not logical to have 2 pre amp pedals , is it ? Pre amp should always come at the beginning of the chain , correct ? Thanks for your help on clarifying that ! Really appreciate! 🙏🏻
I think having your di with a preamp and xlr should go in the beginning since that’s what you prefer, and get a Radial DI Box for the very end so you have that xlr balanced output at the end of chain. If you get a second preamp di pedal just for the xlr at the end.. that is not logical. But if you want two preamp pedals on your board, because maybe you want one to be your low and warm tone, and the second to be a dirty bright tone, or another reason that makes you sound better and create better music… then that sounds logical to me. So preamp pedals typically go in the beginning unless you use the xlr then it should go last.
Watch this video on DI boxes if your new to them: ruclips.net/video/exY06hCOYpc/видео.htmlsi=3oDTIYeiNsKVWc0a
Thank you so much! It really helped to understand and to make my decision ! 🙏🏻👍
Thank you 👍
Your welcome 🤘
Hello, very deep explanation and gently explained. After watching that I guess about my pedal chain order...
I have this setup: active bass>>tc electronic bonafide buffer>>donner tuner>>Dunlop Bass Q Crybaby wah>>tc electronic forefield compressor>>donner octaverdonner mod square(multieffects)>>donner echo square (multidelay)>>donner verb square (multireverb)>>mxr m80 di>>amp.
My question is, should i move my wah after compressor and after big muff? I read it would be better to have wah before compressor. I will try to put my effects as you have to experiment sounds: effects>>reverb>>delays. Thank you so much.
The bad news is, I don’t have a definitive answer for this. The good news is, there’s no wrong answer because it comes down to what sounds good to you personally. If I were you I would plan the wah and compressor around the big muff. See if you like wah before or after big muff. Then see if you like compression before or after big muff. Once you find out, then that should lead you in a direction of the best order for you. Let me know how it goes, or if it just leads you to another question
@@AmbientBassCreations thank you for your response. Yesterday I tried several combinations. Wah after compressor and muff sounds awfull, no dynamics, no tone...Also I tried compressor behind muff and the bass lost all its punch bottom bass, just muff sound. I left these like I had before and just with a few buttons set up I finally get a good sound. I modified the effect pedals as you sugessted and I like the results.
So mi final setup is:
active bass>>tc electronic bonafide buffer>>donner tuner>>Dunlop Bass Q Crybaby wah>>tc electronic forefield compressor>>donner octaverdonner echo square (multidelay)>>donner mod square(multieffects)>>donner verb square (multireverb)>>mxr m80 di>>amp.
Thank you for your video and made me think again how to improve my sound. I really apreciate your work and made us musicians to keeping research.