The One Pedal Every Bass Player Needs

Join me in the ultimate one-pedal challenge! Can you rock a whole gig with just one pedal? Check out my top picks based on music, space, fun, and function. No multi-fx allowed! Who will be the ultimate winner?

0:00 - Intro
0:57 - No Multi-FX
1:16 - Dirt Pedals
1:51 - Darkglass Distortions
2:05 - Octavers
2:53 - Filters
3:23 - LALAL.AI
4:39 - Preamps/Di's
5:34 - Modulation
6:13 - The Pedal I Can't Live Without
7:06 - Bonus Advice

[ringthane]

Hearing you slap is almost like a sasquatch or nessie sighting 🤣

[PaulHenshaw]

I have a programmed my TC Electronic Sub'n'up so that the Sub1 and Up controls give clean output level until the dial is at 12 o'clock and then add drive for positions > 12. The Sub 2 control mixes in a chorus effect (one could also choose a flanger or vibrato). It's not what I would normally consider a multi-fx but it certainly offers a lot of flexibility: traditional classic Octave down, POG-like poly octave, distorted up and/or down, a clean chorus and the option of mixing it all together.

[ToneeValle]

Akai Headrush E2 for me.
Great delay sounds, great looper.
I have gigged with that pedal alone already and had tons of fun.

[LALALAI]

Thank you so much for featuring our service 💛 much appreciated!

[gcvrsa]

Obviously, the sane, sensible choice is a tuner, specifically, the Peterson StroboStomp HD, the best tuner on the market.

But, supposing you mean “besides a tuner”, then the answer is dependent on what instrument I’m playing and what I’m playing it into. I will also assume that my next choice, which would be a proper DI, in my case a Countryman Type 85, is also not the kind of answer you are looking for.

So, since Janek is a bassist, then I will say that for me, on bass, the “one pedal” would be a compressor, and in my case, that would be either my Boss BC-1X Bass Comp or my tc electronic SpectraComp.

And since this is me I’m talking about and I play a piezo bass and use Boss pedals, then I’d be taking a Boss BCB-3 as my pedalboard, which means that after the TU-2 tuner and BC-1X, I have one more slot to fill, so I’ll put in my Boss AD-2 Acoustic Preamp, which sweetens up my piezo pickups and even offers a basic reverb.

Or, I could just take my Boss GT-1000Core.

[maxthub]

JHS Pulp N Peel. Great comp, eq, and dirt. With the dirt at min it gives you tube amp tones. The eq goes dub to grind.

[MusicLand]

Don't forget the compression pedal, which is my favorite after the Boss OC-5.

[charlesbassiste]

Man the BP1 caveman preamp sounded so good compared to everything else...
I expected the Noble to be closer to the caveman, but the caveman is just on another level.
Love the videos !

[MountainMistWanderer]

It will probably be my T-Rex Quint. I mainly play in 3 piece groups that are classic/jam rock to 90's rock type of rhythms. I use it with varying settings between different songs. The 5th and +1 up really helps with the more driving songs and filling in the sound. I can turn to my amp and hit a button for an overdrive channel.

[alexwynne]

Honestly for me its a tuner especially for live playing ability to mute the single and tune accurately is more important for me than any effect plus i do have the benefit of having amp with 4 band eq plus overdrive circuit built in but i do love my darkglass ultra pedals there phenomenal.

[Les]

I could do the whole gig with no pedals, one tube amp and one guitar, but if I were allowed a pedal it would be a boost. One of the klones like the Tumnus. Job done.

[muddlemore]

Shin-ei B1G !!! Or UT&T Lab !!! Done. Went for quite a few years gigging with none, used a Zvex Woolly Mammoth for rehearsals for depth.

[_B_E_A_D_G_C]

Proud owner of the BP1 Compact, and it does NOT disappoint!

[trunks]

One pedal. Boss odb-3. Such an underrated pedal cheap and does the job In so many ways. Fuzz- overdrive- distortion- preamp-clean boost. Don’t know about you but that pedals been in my board on and off since 2005.

[goncalomarques]

Since I play basically in power trio of instrumentalists, I would say my main one would probably be my DarkGlass Alpha Omega Overdrive
But my chain is: OC2 - EBS Compressor - Darkglass overdrive - MXR Filter - MXR Chorus - MXR Carbon Copy Delay

[christophercheney]

If a volume pedal counts, I'd have to go with that. I'm a volume swell junkie. I can get dirt at a couple of different levels outta my amps (one Orange OB-1 and one Peavey VK-100 that I pretend is a 5150 running simultaneously). Other than that, maybe a DL4 or my Boss MO-2.

[Barryer]

My Seymour Duncan Studio Bass Compressor Pedal.

[baldyhead]

Boss ODB-3. I'd have to have that or an HM-2 (which is great for bass).
My basses are rock solid for staying in tune, so I could get away with no tuner and though I use a compressor pedal, I could do without it and use my amp's.

[charlescremer]

What influenced you to start using effects and pedals? Is there a favorite brand of pedal if you had to choose?

[StringSoulGear]

I´m reconnecting with digitech bass synth, great option.