The Case for Keeping It Simple: Bass Gear Overload

#21
I feel like the OPs post is similar to the 'All you need is a passive bass, Active basses are too complex' argument. I like both. You can list great players known for playing one, the other, or both. Neither is better. Simple might be better for one player, the next player might like having knobs to turn, all good either way. I like having both options, personally.

FTR I think we've all heard players who go a little pedal crazy and their tone is just a hodge-podge of sound, but we've also all heard tones and went "Dang, that sounds great, what is he/she using to get that?"
 
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#22
Maybe this will clarify some things for the OP.

OP: every single piece of gear added to a pedalboard makes the setup exponentially more complicated FOR ME.

OP: In the end, there’s no way a bass actually sounds better under all that complexity TO ME.

OP was at least self-aware when they said: Stripping things down to the essentials has helped ME focus more on my playing and less on chasing a tone that may not even exist.

Other people: It's not that complicated for me, and it does sound better to me because of that complexity. Getting the tone that I liked helped me focus more on my playing.


I get that something worked for you OP. That's good. I can also see it working for some others. However, I don't think it's universal.

Maybe you meant to be helpful with your post, but instead of saying things like "This worked for me, it might work for you", you went with the "what you're doing is worthless and here's why" and came across as preachy. Good luck on future posts.
 
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#23
To each their own. But this is like saying ketchup is better than mustard. Such a subjective thing that to say one or the other is less or more complex or that one way "adds so much room" for whatever. To me, it leaves a lot of room for experimentation. I liken it to painting with different brushes and textures. I see what you mean @bellbottoms , but IMO, you made it way more complex AND more complicated than it needs/ed to be.
 
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#24
Sometimes I wonder if people who make these posts think that people with pedalboards never play without 10 pedals on and forget how their bass and amp sound without them. I do typically use a pedalboard for gigs and recording, but I also routinely plug my bass straight into my amp or with fewer pedals when practicing, whether because I just feel like it or because I am actively confirming that there are no issues in my board that could be affecting my sound. The sound of my bass plugged straight into my amp is exactly the same as my bass plugged into my main gigging pedalboard with all the pedals turned off, so there is no issue being caused by any added complexity there. Each individual pedal or combination of pedals that I then turn on at any given time is something I use specifically because I want the changes to my sound I get from the pedal or pedals. There is no circumstance in which my sound is worse because of the pedals I use, for the simple reason that if the pedal made my sound worse I would notice and stop using it.
 
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#26
bellbottoms said:
Let’s talk about pedalboards and the endless pursuit of the perfect tone. Here’s my take: every single piece of gear you add to your pedalboard makes your setup exponentially more complicated.

Think about it—every knob on every pedal modifies your sound in a specific way. Now, multiply that by the number of knobs and switches on each pedal, and then multiply that by the number of pedals on your board. You’ve just created a system that’s orders of magnitude more complex than simply plugging directly into your amp—or, if you really need it, running through one or two well-chosen effects.

In the end, there’s no way your bass actually sounds better under all that complexity. What you’re really doing is chasing your tail, tweaking endlessly, and potentially masking the natural tone of your instrument.

I get it—buying gear is fun, and tweaking your sound is too. But personally, I’m moving in the opposite direction. Stripping things down to the essentials has helped me focus more on my playing and less on chasing a tone that may not even exist.

Sometimes, less is more. Simplicity gives you clarity, focus, and a sound that cuts through without getting bogged down in a maze of knobs and settings. So before you add that next pedal, ask yourself: Do I really need it?
Click to expand...
I agree

I have a pile of pedals on my floor right now as I’m trying to construct a simple board, and it’s a never ending set of decisions regarding what pedals, in what order, and at what settings.

I also know that I do just fine with something simple like an octave pedal and a Sansamp, or a Zoom B3, and yet here I am, substituting pedals and obsessing over whether or not a compressor has too much color or is transparent or not.

It’s like my pile of basses. In the mix, only bassists have a chance of hearing the difference. It doesn’t stop me from wanting a P, Jazz, Stingray, fretless, etc…
 
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#27
During a recent gig I had a moment mid-song where I started not sounding as good. The overall volume was the same. During the rest of the song, it kept bothering me. How was I playing differently? My performance might have suffered because I was a little distracted.

After the song, I saw my phone on the floor, Mixing Station still dialed in, those settings unchanged. It had slid off my cab during that song and fallen exactly onto the switch of my compressor.

I picked up the phone, turned the compressor back on and was back in business. I am not a pedal maximalist. I like to carry as little as possible to a gig. But other people don't, and I have to assume that if one pedal on their mega-board got switched off in the middle of a song, they'd be out of sorts.
 
#30
Parzival said:
You gave your advice. Thanks. We didn't need it though.
Click to expand...

The original post was an opinion post. The only “advice” in it is the last statement: “Before you buy another pedal ask yourself if you really need it”. I would have thought that is very sound advice - not just for pedals but for buying anything in life.
 
#31
Simplicity? Yes please. Zero pedals, zero FX, zero knobs to fiddle with. Just tune it and play.

SC bass guitar(0).jpg


Need a different sound? No problem.
basses (1).jpg
 
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#37
There is definitely an art to getting just what you need, and no extra, in a format that is small enough and more importantly simple enough to operate under stress.

For live I want the knobs and it’s easy to turn things on and off to diagnose I will not menu dive live, I know some people who are practiced with their gear do, but I can’t.

The other way to gauge your boundary of too much on one board. If at any point, you hesitate to decide what to use while rehearsing or playing live/studio, and others are waiting on you, then you need to reduce by n-1 until that doesn’t happen. (Mess around when practicing all you want).
 
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#38
I have a couple of pedalboards. The simpler one, (which I use for about 90 percent of my gigs), is essentially a two channel amp - each channel has EQ on it. One channel is clean - all that's in the chain is the EQ pedal and a boost (which is used to get the best signal to noise ratio out of the whole system). The "dirty channel" adds a distortion pedal., and uses the second channel of the eq pedal, so its eq can be different.

The amount of EQ I put on my signal is far less than a typical amp with its knobs set at noon (what you may think is flat, but likely is far from it). So, the amount of processing I have on my signal is less than what you'd have on an amp - you may think a pedalboard makes things more complicated, but in my world, (ampless gigs) my pedalboard is less complicated in terms of it's signal modification than a regular amp with tone controls.

You may think all pedalboards are sources of overcomplication, but in at least one case, you're dead wrong.
 
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#39
I think rather than trying to come up with sweeping general gear recommendations it's better to just have musicians use whatever works best for them within the context of the music they're playing and not try to propose some universal quasi rule for every player. Depending on what I'm playing and who I'm playing with, I can show up with something as basic as an instrument, a small combo amp, and a cable. In other situations I might bring a rack amp, multiple cabs, a selection of pedals and other outboard gear, a bass or two, and a small synth. It all depends on the musical context and what I'm being asked to do.

While there's merit to be found in trying to keep things simple, simplifying purely for the sake of simplification is somewhat pointless IMO.

I found B/Ls who have experience working with experienced musicians do what smart military leaders do - they assign their troops an objective, but leave how to accomplish it to the troops themselves on a unit level.
 
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