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Post subject: Effects Chain
Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2009 10:44 pm
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Hey guys... I'm more on using Multi effects for bass but I think I'm going for individual stompboxes but I don't really know how to put them in order, can you guys help me out?

here are list of pedals
Sans Amp BD DI
a compressor probably a boss CS-3 or aphex punch factory
EHX MicroSynth
MXR Auto Q
MXR Micro Amp or a MXR Line Booster
MXR BlowTorch
Boss Super Octave
Boss Flanger


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Post subject: Re: Effects Chain
Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2009 11:51 pm
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eyecandy wrote:
Hey guys... I'm more on using Multi effects for bass but I think I'm going for individual stompboxes but I don't really know how to put them in order, can you guys help me out?

here are list of pedals
Sans Amp BD DI
a compressor probably a boss CS-3 or aphex punch factory
EHX MicroSynth
MXR Auto Q
MXR Micro Amp or a MXR Line Booster
MXR BlowTorch
Boss Super Octave
Boss Flanger


eyecandy wrote:
Hey guys... I'm more on using Multi effects for bass but I think I'm going for individual stompboxes but I don't really know how to put them in order, can you guys help me out?

here are list of pedals
Sans Amp BD DI
a compressor probably a boss CS-3 or aphex punch factory
EHX MicroSynth
MXR Auto Q
MXR Micro Amp or a MXR Line Booster
MXR BlowTorch
Boss Super Octave
Boss Flanger


Many pedals generate some hiss. You should put the compressor first or the compressor will be pulling up the hiss generated by any other pedal in front of it when you are not playing anything.

The Sans Amp I'd put last, just like a real amp. But feel free to experiment.

You mentioned the Aphex Punch Factory. I own one. The only thing I don't like about it is the cheap jacks. I’ve been using mine for 3 years. I've also used EBS, Ashdown, Ibanez Sound Tank and an old rack mounted DBX over the past 15 years. I like the sound of the Aphex best. It is a set it and forget it thing with only two knobs. I just set both knobs on “7” and I’m good for a passive bass. My active bass I set around “3.5” or just turn down the volume on the instrument till it looks good on the pedal’s meter. The other compressors I’ve tried have too many knobs or kill the low end. I’ve not tried the Boss so can’t comment on how it does for bass. With compressors you have to select very carefully because some murder the low notes completely. My Aphex doesn’t. While the Aphex Punch Factory I have doesn’t hiss at all my friend bought one to use with his guitar and when he plugs it into his tube amp it hisses some. I’d buy another one, but I’d want a money-back or exchange guarantee. Maybe I just got lucky.


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Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:45 pm
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@brotherdave
speaking of Aphex Punch Factory, you mentioned at one of the threads here that it doesn't really work well with guitars right?
I recently heard a few sound demos and I'd like them making the bass sound sharper..
also you had one Aural Xciter right? does it work more like a booster?



-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Previously I was thinking of going on
Bass >> SansAmp >> MXR Auto Q >> Bass BlowTorch
and start from there..


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Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2009 11:14 pm
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eyecandy wrote:
@brotherdave
speaking of Aphex Punch Factory, you mentioned at one of the threads here that it doesn't really work well with guitars right?
I recently heard a few sound demos and I'd like them making the bass sound sharper..
also you had one Aural Xciter right? does it work more like a booster?



-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Previously I was thinking of going on
Bass >> SansAmp >> MXR Auto Q >> Bass BlowTorch
and start from there..


The Aphex Punch Factory compressor pedal works great for me. At first I had it last in the chain. When it was last it was pulling up the hiss from all the other pedals, even when I wasn’t playing. I think this is the problem my guitar playing friend was having. He had one of those Boss “Fender Deluxe Reverb-Amp” pedals, a Boss TU-2 pedal and an Ibanez Tube Screamer and some other pedals I can’t even remember. The Aphex compressor should work for guitar, but for this guy it didn’t. He was using all sorts of junky cables also to connect it all together. I’m pretty sure he had the compressor last in the chain and it was pulling up the hiss from the other pedals when he wasn’t playing. (I am not real big on tuner pedals anyway.)

I think as long as the Punch Factory (or any other compressor) is first in the chain you are better off. That might be why I didn’t like the rack DBX compressor I used for about 10 years through the Ampeg head's effects loop from the rack amp into and out of the compressor and rack tuner, which effectively also made the compressor last in the chain. I now am pretty sure that the compressor should be first in the processing chain. (Using a rack compressor for bass makes that difficult as you first need a line level signal to drive rack compressors like the DBX.)

I’ve tried many compressors, but the Aphex sounds best for me and my rig. There is ANOTHER one I’ve been dying to try out called a Demeter Compulator, which like the Aphex is another optical type compressor with only two controls on it! Odd coincidence perhaps? There are lots of bassists raving about the Demeters, but I can’t find one around here to demo. I live in the sticks in NC though. On the other hand, I do know the Aphex works and works well for me. I also know that about the only thing I don’t like about it is the cheap jacks. Otherwise it is solid compressor pedal. I think mine is now over 3 years old. No problems.

LONG STORY SHORT. Demo the compressor with YOUR bass and YOUR amp rig even if you have to truck the whole thing down to the store. And, put the compressor first in the chain.

Now about the Aphex Bass Xciter pedal. The Bass Xciter actually was my first Aphex pedal. I was happy with it so that is why I got the Aphex Punch Factory compressor pedal.

Not many people here on the Fender Forum know this but I worked in broadcasting and audio production for 35 years and that eclipsed anything else musically. I do know for a fact that you can not go into a recording studio or a decent radio station without seeing an Aphex Aural Exciter in the effects rack. It is just a standard studio fixture. What the Aural Exciter does is generate subtle harmonics of frequencies to reinforce the sound. This harmonic reinforcement makes any sound seem louder and denser without actually being any louder. (Radio stations can’t go over a certain modulation of 100% on negative peaks so anything that makes you SOUND louder without actually being any louder is for SURE going to find its way into a radio station’s processing chain.) An Aphex Aural Exciter makes any sound seem louder, but it is not in reality any louder at all. It is all just a psychoacoustic trick! It fools your brain. So, you can not accurately call it a booster, because it really isn’t a booster but instead is more of a harmonic generator that makes you sound louder, richer, fuller and with a brilliant high end. It does the harmonic generation so subtly that the harmonics sound completely natural.

The Aphex Bass Xciter pedal is an Aphex Aural Exciter like you find in recording studios or radio station racks, only it is specially voiced for electric bass guitar, has high impedance inputs and has been scaled down to pedal size instead of a rack space. It does have an XLR OUT so you could use it as a direct box too. Either Aphex unit can be powered by 9 volt battery or by practically any AC adapter! Basically if the plug fits the jack it will work. On top of that either Aphex unit may also be powered by a mic channel’s phantom power supply from a mixer for direct recording.

I power mine from my pedal board 9 volt power supply and just leave both Aphex units on ALL THE TIME. Turn either Aphex unit off and the sound tech will go nuts trying to figure out what to do. (This can be sort of fun near the end of the gig after the crowd is thinning out and the sound guy is sitting back with his arms folded all content. Turn off either Aphex and he’ll immediately go into panic mode.)

The main thing people don’t understand about an Aphex Aural Exciter is that really it does two things at once. It splits the audio into highs and lows and then allows you to generate harmonics in each of the two spectrums at a selectable ratio.

People not experienced with an Aphex unit might want to crank all the knobs wide open but that actually is the last thing you want to do with one for anything, much less for electric bass. There are four controls on an Aphex Bass Xciter pedal. They are all important. My Aphex Xciter settings are Low Tone 3.8, Low Blend 6.0, High Tune 1.5 and High Blend 8.8. Sounds like an Ampeg B-15 into a mixer like that. I just use those settings all the time.

An Aphex Bass Xciter makes a Sans Amp totally unnecessary if plugging into an amp voiced for bass like my Ampeg head. Other than my A/B switch the two Aphex pedals are all I use at gigs and the Sans Amp is OFF LINE. I AM NOT telling anyone to BUY AN APHEX Bass Xciter. I just like them and I know how to use them. So if you buy one without trying it out first, don’t blame me if you can’t figure out how to use it. An Aphex Exciter is a precisely engineered tool. You have to know what the heck you are doing to use one. Some people buy one and say they suck because they have no idea HOW to use it. The Bass Xciter is a fairly complicated device.

I just leave both Aphex pedals on all the time. I’m not much on effects pedals like distortion or overdrive or flanging or wah-wah or any of that sort of thing since about 1972. I outgrew it. I just want lush solid tone and sometimes I want really cutting upper mids but less often than the solid lush bottom.

For home practice I put a Sans Amp after the Bass Xciter pedal and patch into a mixer which feeds into my computer and play along to MP3’s. I also record demos like that so I can prove to fellow band members that I can play whatever song someone wants to work up. Anyone who has heard any of my demos knows what the Punch Factory and the Bass Xciter pedals sound like together. It is a very polished and studio ready sound. OK, here are two demos I cut at home of songs I was working on playing for a band project direct from these two pedals into a Sans Amp into a mixer straight into the computer. One of these worked out and one didn’t. Can you guess which one got tossed by the other players? Just click on the links. They should play. If not RIGHT CLICK and select SAVE AS and save it and then play it. They sound better in WAV files but those are huge and would take forever for you to download so I saved them in MP3’s for you.

http://www.brotherdave.com/audio/proudm ... ssdemo.mp3

http://www.brotherdave.com/audio/pleasa ... ssdemo.mp3


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Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 10:45 am
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I just had a quick listen to the demos.. errr..
I loved the basslines on proud mary but I tend to lean more on pleasant valley's tone..

both are good... clear and thumpy.. Really I can't decide which one.. :shock:


:roll: :roll: :roll:


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Post subject:
Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 3:46 pm
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eyecandy wrote:
I just had a quick listen to the demos.. errr..
I loved the basslines on proud mary but I tend to lean more on pleasant valley's tone..

both are good... clear and thumpy.. Really I can't decide which one.. :shock:


:roll: :roll: :roll:


Both songs had the same set up with all the knobs and mixer set the same. However I used different basses. "Pleasant Valley Sunday" was a Jay Turser First-Generation Single Coil P-bass copy with a Seymour Duncan SCPB3 Quarter Pounder pickup. Proud Mary is a second generation P/J passive bass with Bill Lawrence Pups. Both basses have Thomastik-Infeld EB344 PowerBass strings but the ones on the P/J are way older.

The band was already butchering the CCR "Proud Mary" and the keyboard player didn't want to learn all those horn parts yet. Still hoping. We have worked up that awaful Monkees song and playing it. The guitarist wanted to do it. His idea, not mine.


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Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 6:53 pm
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I see Quarter Pounds no wonder they have that punch to it.. The Bill Lawrences sound a lot more classic to me but I love the way that bass doesn't get left behind on both tracks.. well I hope to hear more from you ^_^


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Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2009 8:46 am
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brotherdave do you have a record with those pedals using a jazz bass?


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Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 1:09 pm
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Taken from Robertkeeley.com:

EFFECT PEDAL ORDER AND PLACEMENT
Q: Is there a specific order my effects should go in?

A: Yes and no. There are some guidelines that can be followed to make sure odd things don't happen. There have been times when a compressor after a delay pedal or reverb unit has caused some bad (good?) effects, there have been brilliant moves to place effects in certain orders that break most rules, but below is a guideline I came up with and was published in Musician's Hotline Magazine. Nice things is it gives you a way, a phrase to memorize so that when you're on the road, you can get it right if you pick up a new effect.
Placing effects in a logical order will help! This list of effects order is just a general guideline. Some of the best and most unique guitar tones have been created by breaking the rules! You guys need a head start at good tone right?! A way to make life easy right?! I came up with a little phrase to help remember the order because even I forget. Ask yourself this when you wonder about effects order or placement: Which Chain Of Effect Pedals Makes Life Easy? All you have to do is remember this phase and which letter corresponds to which type of effect. Wah -> Which, Compressor -> Chain, Overdrive -> Of, EQ -> Effect, Pitch -> Pedals, Modulation -> Make, Level -> Life, Echo -> Easy. I like to see wah pedals and sometimes even phasers as the first effect after the guitar. We�ll call these Wah effects (yes even the phaser). Wah pedals boost a frequency you sweep to with your foot and phasers cut or notch a frequency that is swept to electronically. Distortion pedals make interesting response changes to the boost or cut from these sweep pedals. Compressors typically go next although I like them after distortion pedals in many cases if the compressor is clean and transparent enough. Compression after distortion has two effects that I really like. First, the noise floor is lower because the noise from a compressor isn�t being amplified and distorted by the overdrive pedal. Second, there appears to be more sustain. There is one draw back that some people notice and that is a darker, warmer tone. Some folks might prefer a more conventional, brighter tone. Next comes Overdrive or distortion. Equalizer pedals can go next. They are commonly used for a boost pedal if they can be turned on and off, or used to shape the tone of the distortion pedal. Pitch changing pedals, Vibrato for example; go next for the simple reason that many distortion pedals can�t handle the many pitches at one time. Try strumming a complex chord with your distortion pedal on, say a C7#9#11. Modulation effects go next such as chorus and flanging go next. Level pedals that control the volume go next in many cases. This would include tremolo, volume pedals (great at this point in the effects chain because it cuts all the hiss going to your amp), noise gates and limiters. Since compression is a limiter in many cases and this is why it works post-distortion by the way. Echo effects go last. These include delay and reverb. A sample effects board might contain these effects: Guitar -> Wah, Compressor, Overdrive, EQ, Vibrato, Chorus, Tremolo, Volume Pedal, and Delay-> Amp.



Its all you will ever need to know, but once again, its not set in stone, so if you find something you like that falls outside of these guidelines, oh well, so be it...


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Post subject:
Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2009 7:32 pm
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eyecandy wrote:
brotherdave do you have a record with those pedals using a jazz bass?


No right now I don't have a Jazz. I sold my Highway One about 18 months ago. Sworn off Jazzes. LOL


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Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 1:37 pm
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LOL, but hearing your demos made me wanna play the p bass.. lately I've been on the studio with a Behringer BDI21..

brotherdave you use those as well right? what do you usually set it on?? I find mine settings to be woody.. and sweet in popping.


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Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 10:19 pm
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*bump* guys just a followup question.. where to place the octave pedal... like example in this chain..

Active Direct Box >> Filter >> Fuzz >> Flanger

does it come before the envelop filter or after the fuzz?

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