What They’re Making

Thanks to an unprecedented number of companies big and small, the world of bass effects right now is as wide open as a Bootsy Collins fuzz-wah pedal. Kevin Bolembach, founder and president of major effect distributor Godlyke, notes, “It’s a very fertile period in the effects market. There’s a huge selection of products that run the gamut in analog, digital, hybrid, and tube formats. Where the large companies are falling short, the smaller guys are picking up the slack, and vice versa. The most pervasive trend is the use of true-bypass switching by many companies.” Jack Thompson, until recently the director of marketing and artist relations at Ashdown USA, concurs. “True-bypass is the big thing. In the old days your signal went through some part of the pedal’s circuitry, whether the effect was on or not. Impedance loading and the influence of the components had a negative impact on bypassed tone. True-bypass switching bypasses the internal circtuiry, preserving your original tone.”

Dale Titus, marketing communications manager and product specialist for Dana B. Goods (which distributes the Danish T-Rex line of pedals), adds, “About a year ago I noticed that rack effects had gone out of style in favor of pedals. The technology has improved so much that pedals can sound as good as their rack brethren, and they’re much easier to use. So, manufacturers seem to be focusing their efforts on building foot pedals that have the flexibility and sonic quality normally found in racks.”

Peter Swiadon, division manager of the Amplifier and Guitar Division at Roland/Boss, has seen a dividing trend by age. “While analog is still sought after by so-called ‘purists’—who maybe acquired their sensibilities when analog was the only game in town—younger players don’t care quite so much about it. They seem to be more into what effects they can get to radically alter their basic sound. Younger players are used to computers, plug-ins, and other digital audio products, and manufacturers are following suit.”

Digital Vs. Analog

Former BP Technical Editor Scott Shiraki, now in sales, marketing, and product development at Jim Dunlop, weighs in on the longtime debate. “You cannot beat the sound of analog pedals for a rich, thick, warm tone—three essentials for bassists. There are convenience factors, especially in the studio, regarding digital effects, and they can cram a lot of functions and control in digital effects boxes—but live, they don’t sound as good. Tube-based effects don’t seem to be that popular at the moment. They can be ultra-warm and rich sounding, but sometimes they’re too mushy or soft if combined with a tube amp.” Peter Swiadon adds, “Digital is getting cheaper and cheaper, and manufacturers can use it to create their own signature sounds without fear of clones and knock-offs. Plus, analog components are becoming increasingly difficult to get. Early analog effect chips like germanium transistors and bucket brigade devices are almost extinct.” Paul Youngblood, vice president of Boss, agrees. “Most manufacturers are going to digital effects if they’re mass produced. Only boutique effects are analog nowadays, due to parts issues and limitations of analog technology. Tubes are still common in effects as a sort of gimmick; the reality is that a single 12AX7 in a digital processor is more marketing than anything else.”

Looping & Modeling

Scott Shiraki opines about the more-recent technology of modeling and looping devices. “Bassists like Michael Manring, Steve Lawson, and Doug Wimbish have certainly popularized looping effects, and there are more options of late—but I don’t see a huge market for them.” He continues, “Modeling effects are very convenient for studio use, but why model when the real pedals sound better?” Paul Youngblood adds, “Looping is the rage right now with guitarists more than bassists, and the Boss RC-20 is the unit that started the craze. Modeling has become standard in most digital effects for distortion, overdrive, and of course amp modeling.” Dale Titus sees it in a different light. “Looping has gone through the roof. I recently did a bass clinic, and when I asked how many people in the audience had a looping device of some sort, nearly half of them raised their hands. Not long ago it would have been only about ten percent.” Peter Swiadon seconds that emotion. “Looping is an obvious effect trend. Now that products are available, many musicians—including bassists—are using them for all kinds of music.”

What We’re Using

As we’ve heard, we bass players have many options. But what does our panel see among user trends? On most bassists’ pedalboards, Scott Shiraki sees an overdrive/fuzz/distortion unit, octaver, modulation (phaser, flanger, or chorus), power supply, volume pedal, tuner, wah-wah, envelope filter/auto-wah, EQ, and compressor. “We’re seeing what are considered more traditional ‘funk’ effects starting to pop up more on rock players’ boards, such as Crybaby wah-wahs and envelope filters,” he says. “You can make some sinister and evil sounds with these types of effects—check out some of Geezer Butler’s and Cliff Burton’s wah-wah recordings. We’re also seeing the opposite, with distortion and overdrives showing up on funk/R&B players’ boards—sometimes used in conjunction with other effects to create synth-like tones.” Peter Swiadon allows, “Young players mainly use inexpensive multi-effects, while most pros use single effects.” Paul Youngblood adds, “Other usage trends include plug-ins; many players are computer-based and proudly make their sounds within the computer, treating it like an instrument.”

Jack Thompson beholds the good old effect pedal. “Players young and old are getting back to the stompbox phase. Digital or analog is not as important as it not being a rack effect. Rack gear has a tendency to try to do way too much, and it ends up doing nothing well. Folks want rack sound quality, but in a box.” Dale Titus echoes the thought on tone. “Most bassists I know lean toward digital effects, mostly because of the cleaner sound. Bassists are always very protective of their clean tone. I’m also noticing more and more bass players using effects not specifically made for bass. This opens a lot more buying options for us, and gives us access to a whole new world of tones and textures.”

Kevin Bolembach sums up, “We’re really seeing it all, from cheap stompers to live performers using laptops and loopers to eliminate the need for a backup band. It’s pretty interesting stuff; some of the pedal setups we see by bassists would make your head spin! Effects have become a way to achieve creative inspiration: Plugging into a new pedal can certainly eliminate hurdles on the path to creativity. On the other side of the coin, despite the wide range of products available and their myriad potential uses, most players are somewhat conservative and are looking for simple tone tweaks to add a little dimension to their sound without altering it dramatically.”

Future Waves

The consensus is that technology will continue to march forward, but will bassists get in stride? For that matter, will the manufacturers? Kevin Bolembach notes, “I read an interesting interview with [effect innovator] Roger Linn, who thinks the future of effects will be in new types of controller devices, as existing interfaces have been around for decades. I’m starting to see these things pop up, such as Source Audio’s motion-controlled Hot Hand. But the current bass and guitar market is conservative, and it will probably take a long time for these types of products to take hold.” Peter Swiadon sees a cap on that mentality. “As the older, backward-looking players move on, analog effects will become antiques, not sought-after prizes like today. Effects will continue to thrive; they are easy to use, affordable, and not subtle for the most part. More and more will be digital, be they stomp boxes or free-standing devices.” Dale Titus envisions various advancements. “I think you’ll see more pedals with the ability to store settings to an external storage device, like a memory card. Also, pedals will have to connect directly to computers for recording or deep editing. And bassists will be able to hook up their effects to their computers and download sample settings and version updates. Someone will make a pedal that models Larry Graham’s or Bootsy Collins’s most famous settings, like the DigiTech Hendrix and Brian May guitar pedals now available. That will make it easy for bassists to plug in and play without having to learn how to edit and stack effects.”

Scott Shiraki sees developments on the grassroots level. “Bassists are starting to learn what guitarists already know, such as employing effect-bypass pedals and amp splitters [to run more than one amp]. These utilitarian pedals are crucial for getting a big, better-defined sound. I see these types of pedals being developed, with more bass-specific features.” Adds Jack Thompson, “I think folks are getting back to a box for each sound as opposed to a multi-effect pedal or rack unit for everything. There will always be a need for real good basic stompboxes. The direction we’ll see is greater dependibility and usability, with better sounds that are easier to get.” So get your feet steady, your ears ready, and let your imagination be your guide.