Bass Guitar Effects – An Introduction

If you have been playing bass guitar for a while, you may be thinking about spicing up your sound. The easiest way to do this is by using bass guitar effects. Although effects units can be rack-mounted, the most popular ones are pedals or Stomp Boxes. They have the advantage for live playing as you can switch them on and off with your feet while playing. Apart from helping to shape your sound and make it distinctive, you will also improve your tap-dancing skills.

Effects units began to appear in the late 1950′s and were quickly adopted by guitar players. The distinctive Surfing Sound of Dick Dale was perhaps one of the earliest uses of reverb. Later, in the 1960′s fuzz and distortion was quickly adopted by players such as Jimi Hendrix. The Beatles used phase shifting extensively on their Sergeant Pepper Album.

Well, the good news is that effects units are not just for guitar players any more – why should they have all the fun? Bass players have been using effects for some time and now there are many different effects units to choose from. One important point to remember is to use only effects units built for bass guitar. Regular guitar effects units are not designed to handle the lower bass frequencies and will not usually produce great results.

Bass guitar effects pedals will require power, usually in the form of one 9 volt battery, although some units require two batteries. Check these batteries regularly to prevent having one expire mid-song. A better solution is to use a power supply. These units can supply power to several pedals – no more batteries to worry about. Power supplies are available that can support  both 9 and 18 volt bass guitar effects.

If you use more than one or two pedals regularly, mounting them on a pedalboard is a really good idea. Pedalboards are available in many sizes, come with covers or bags, and some with flight cases. Using a board will not only keep your pedals in one place, but can help protect them. You can mount your power supply right on the board as well.

The many types of bass guitar effects such as overdrive, distortion, chorus, echo, reverb, and many more will be discussed in future articles. We will look at individual pedals and what they can do for your sound. Be sure not to miss these articles by subscribing to our RSS Feed.