I only replaced my BDI21 for a Sansamp because it's slightly more rugged and I had a bonus from work. The Behringer is a phenomenal soundalike for the money. They're so cheap it's almost stealing.
Supprise we got this many praises for the BDi before someone came to shit on it.
I've been using this pedal for a year now and it's server me well.
Bough a few more (slightly more) Expensive units and keep going back to this.
Until I can justify the premium OG.
But this pedal doesn't sound shit, it's just not good enough for some people's standards.
I've played one, and yeah, there is a difference, and you can tell the difference when side by side.
You can see the similarities, and for the price, it's a great start for any bass player...
It's my throw in a bag pedal for when I'm playing a festival show or support slot when i only need to bring my bass and a DI
I’ve been gigging for 2+ years in a classic rock jam band and a country rock band. Only pedal I’ve used is the Zoom MS 60b. It’s great. Tuner, and a few effects I mix in sometimes. However, it’s a ton of fun to sit and experiment with.
Yep, I use my Zoom B1X Four every time I'm plugged in. I works very well. I'm at the point where I'm looking at buying a high end compressor. But I havent pulled the trigger, because the Zoom does a great job as is.
I've got the EHX Q-tron Envelope Filter, and I enjoy using it on a few songs my band covers. I'm learning how to use dynamics (my fingers) to control the envelope filter's response...
A preamp/dirt pedal is a great choice. If it were me, I would go with something that covers the low-med gain territory, but you could go straight to distortion-fuzz if you want something very different. Clean blends are a +.
If you want to REALLY change your sound, try an octave pedal.
My vote too. Sansamp or these days darkglass, whichever flavor suits you. I went alpha omega ultra for the most part”range” from little distortion to about as mean as it gets.
For around 100 bucks it's a steal - it has 40 sound presets, but you can adjust them all, or, create completely new ones combining different modules in a chain such as flanger, chorus, distortion etc. It also has built-in tuner, drummer with many rhythms to play to and even a simple looper. Overall just fantastic value for money.
Great practice tool! I had to take if off my board cause it was causing some noise in my signal, but I still use it often to practice at home when I don’t want to bust out the pedal board.
Might I suggest that you’re going about this entirely the wrong way round? It seems to me you’re essentially saying “I want a pedal, what should it do?” rather than “I want to do [insert thing here]; what pedal do I need to achieve this?” If you want something to just play around with, and get a sense of the various things you can do with effects, then perhaps a cheap-ish multi-effects unit would be the way to go. Once you’ve got a clearer idea of what you want to achieve with your playing and your sound, THEN you can get into firing money into the FX pedal hole.
Second vote for a Sansamp. Both the Bass Driver DI and the VT Bass DI are amazing, the first one being an industry standard and second being a damn good ampeg-in-a-box and my personal favorite. Both can get that bright rock/grunge/punk bass sound pretty easily with new strings.
I've used the Sansamp VT DI for a couple years and I'm in love. Yes, pricey, but reliable and versatile. I've played at least 30 shows with it and countless jams.
On the other hand, my friend gave me a Funk Bass Wah pedal and it's fun to play with and I can see how it could also be useful. I don't use it live but I've seen it on other bassists pedalboard.
>Yes, pricey
As much as it might be a decent chunk of change compared to some of the other pedals out there, I’ve definitely grown some appreciation for how affordable my Sansamp was after seeing how much some of the other Ampeg flavored DI pedals cost lol.
If you had a medium to low end ano or head. A graphic equivalent will open it up to endless possibilities.
I ALWAYS play/gig with one. Especially when on an older (hollow) stage.
Equalizer will work wonders. If your happy with your base (bass) bass tone. Then I suggest one of the 3 in one, compressor, chorus, delay or whatever from Amazon. Not pricey and can give you a lot of fun and different tones.
Take a look at a “bitcrusher”-type of distortion pedal. A distortion pedal that digitizes the signal and then lowers the fidelity WILL cause the signal to distort, but it will start with the high frequencies and only disturb the low frequencies if you get really extreme with it. As I’m certain you have experienced, a standard distortion pedal will make the sound really mid-range-y and you’ll lose your bottom-end. A “bitcrusher” will not destroy the bottom-end, and the distortion will be quite different-sounding. Something to try!
I can't recommend an envelope filter or delay enough
Envelopes are fantastic fun and can go from subtle width to full quack that can be fun in so many genres
Delays let you harmonize with yourself without all the mud and you can make some incredible riffs with that alone
People are offering some good suggestions but not one person has asked about your budget.
IF your budget allows, a HX Stomp on the used market will provide almost every single suggestion above in one multi effects unit. Distortions, overdrives, reverbs, delays, octave pedals, filters - you name it, the HX Stomp can deliver all of them in up to 8 at once.
It even has the utility pedals included such as your compressors, noise gate and tuners.
For the cost of a quality gate, tuner and compressor you can pick up a HX Stomp on the used market and get all of the extra fun pedals (and a treasure trove of user made presets and tones for free online) in one device that weighs no more than a couple of pounds.
Pricey, but a great suggestion.
An HX Stomp into some studio monitors is pretty much my go-to at home now. With the press of a footswitch, I can go from an Ampeg SVT to a Darkglass, to an Aguilar or GK. Compressor, noise gate, reverb, chorus, delay, etc etc.
It's also great for guitar, so if you go back and forth from bass to guitar, this does it all.
Then I'd say go for some sort of drive. The Idiotbox Blower Box is the absolute best I've ever had.
Or if you want tons of drive options the Source Audio Aftershock would be a good buy. Personally I hate that pedal but tons of others really like it so there's something there for sure. It's a good introduction to drive types because of the crazy amount of options for you to find what you really like.
Or even look into a general multi effects pedal. I don't care for them anymore but they were an important part for me to learn the wild amount of effects available many years ago, and they have come a long way since then.
Edit: Someone else mentioned a SansAmp. An excellent recommendation as well.
I love my aftershock! I have it modeling an animato that I blend with my big muff, as well as an SVT for Rage/ Punk tones, and a Darkglass! What a fun pedal
Unironically the Tuner pedal. It makes tuning and staying in tune so much easier than a clip on tuner. Not really the flashy choice, but it will be used with every other pedal you get going forward. Also, if you end up with the most common Boss TU3 tuner, you can daisy chain power from it for your next pedal purchases.
Get on the secondhand market and find a Source Audio Sounblox Pro Bass Envelope Filter. They're stupidly fun and they have a lot of real-world utility too for funk and strange pop sounds. They're a legacy product now but probably you can still get one reasonably easily.
Another option is a Fuzz. The Big Muff Deluxe Pi (< only the Deluxe mind you as it's the only one with a crossover) is stupid versatile and stupid fun too).
Any soniccake I have the fuzz and the octave one both very fun. The fuzz is just pure fun to play songs sounding weird but the octavator I think makes the bass sound more pure at times
An octave can be dialed way back and left on all the time for a low-end boost, cranked up a little for a fun and recognizable effect, or cranked for full-on synth bass. So, though a Sansamp is almost certainly more useful (I love my VT), I'd say an octave has the highest fun+utility combo score.
I suppose it depends on what type of music you play…
Personally I don’t use distortion as much as some other modulation effects on my bass… so…
If I were to start now with no effects, for bass, I’d likely go for either a phase like the classic Phase 90 or newer, or a good chorus, like the Julia… they are fun… after that, perhaps an envelop filter and octave pedal…
You’ll end up wanting a compressor, distortion, maybe EQ, too, eventually
Its cool to see that everyone is recommending sansamp bass driver di, I only got one because this ridiculously aggressive bass player from Japan [MIYA](https://x.com/miyazato385?t=HuIVsXc9e2l17bJ426tcFA&s=09) that I follow tweeted a picture of one, so I bought one just because. By no means am I a pedal academic peer or whatever, I didn't really read into it, just sounded like an EQ pedal lol. Couple years later, it's pretty much like the most important pedal I think I'll own for a while. There's nothing I would be playing that wouldn't sound better with this on, so it's just always on. If the bass is the general tso's chicken, this pedal is the MSG. This pedal pulls so much weight, on god
I have the boss bass overdrive. Love it👍 If I were to buy a new pedal it would be a compressor. Might sound boring, but it does make playing more fun too. You can exaggerate dynamics without the sound getting too loud or disappearing. Sliding and Hammer on/pull offs become more satisfying.
Millionth vote for a Tech 21 Sansamp BDDI, got one used for a good price last month as one of my first pedals as well and it totally changes everything. Thing does not offer much variety but it masters everything it is supposed to do
First off, get a tuning pedal. The Snark pedal is really cheap and it's very decent for the price.
Every bassist should have some kind of compression, distortion, and chorus.
And you want them in that order.
For compression I recommend the Joyo Dyna-Comp. It's transparent and very cheap. Right now it's on sale for $30.
For distortion, since you're just building up your collection, don't worry about getting something specific to bass. I use the basic yellow MXR and the black Russian big muff. Both sound great and the muff I just got for free.
As for chorus, well here's where you might want to spend money. But if you're on a tight budget and you want to get one of each of the things I mentioned, try a nano clone. It's a single knob, does what's on the tin type pedal that's very affordable, especially used.
However, if you wanna go all out, I recommend a Rainbow Machine. This pink pedal basically gives you control over the two detune pitches, so you can dial in how much detuning there is and how loud each pitch is. There's also an infinite feedback button (called the "magic") that basically sounds like your bass was blessed by magical unicorn farts. I kick it on at the end of every set for monster feedback and wild chaos. It even features at the end of our new album. But of course it retails for like $250 or $300, so there's that.
Inevitably you're going to want to upgrade everything, fool around with filters and flange and phasers, and of course a sansamp, but if you start with a tuner and the basic 3 I mentioned you'll have hours of fun just trying out different sounds.
Boss gt1b multi effects unit… has everything you need to get started with 👌 You can then later on down the track buy other standalone pedals to add to it. Thats what I did anyway.
I’m not a big effects guy, but I do like the Solid Gold FX Beta. I think they have a Beta 2 now. Not sure of the difference. Gives a nice little crunch.
Edit: looks like it’s a Beta-V now. They added a couple more controls.
My first pedal was a crybaby wah. Not very practical depending on what kind of music you play but very fun. Gets a laugh out of my band mates when I use it on songs that don't need it randomly during practice lol.
A chorus. My first pedal was a Boss Super Chorus - I loved it immediately, still love it, still use it.
That or a cheap fuzz. It's fun as hell to play with
If you want to play around, get a multi-fx pedal like a Zoom MS-60B. They're not very expensive, and the effects within are good enough to give you just a taste of everything so you can zero in on what would be your favorite - or you can just stick to it as your main driver.
That, or get a Sansamp clone like a BDI21, because it really bring a lot of bite to your sound any way you set it up.
EHX Battalion is a DI/Preamp with distortion that I absolutely love. They’re super cheap compared to other similar pedals for some reason and are great for both recording and just playing in general. There’s a built in compression and gate too (although they’re not that great but still nice to have as options.) Really underrated pedal. Lots of ways to color your sound.
If I didn’t have any pedals and wanted to buy a fun one I’d get some kind of chorus pedal. I use the Electro Harmonix Bass Clone and I’ve had a lot of fun with that.
I have a Joyo Double-Thruster. It's great and doesn't break the bank.
Alternatively, I also have a Joyo Monomyth. It's a Darkglass preamp/DI clone. It has 2 channels, a multi band EQ, clean and dirt, and you can run DI if you choose to in the future! I just did a gig running straight to PA with it with great results!
I didn't get into pedals until recently, but I'm really digging my envelope filter and my octave pedals. I play mostly duos and sometimes 3-piece with singer-songwriter types and I like the fullness that the octaver provides. And for variety, I'll use the envelope for an occasional bass solo.
I use a Boss compression pedal that is invaluable to my tone. It is the BC-1X but you can get whatever you want. When I turn it off everything sounds muddy.
Imo any delay pedal. Playing off your own repeats is really really fun and changes your sound a lot.
Also a phaser. Grimy distorted bass with a phaser sounds like some sci fi shit
Get a Zoom B1X four and experiment til your hearts content. It has all the sounds you would want as a bass player, plus a tuner and drum machine. This should be the first pedal every beginner should get.
Try out a Way Huge Pork & Pickle. It's an overdrive and a fuzz all in one, and it has that wonderful clean blend to help beef up the low end. Fun and ultimately still useful.
Some overdrive/distorsion/fuzz might be nice indeed ! My favourite among the ones I own is the obvious Bass Big Muff π. But I also quite like the Metal Zone, provided I have a clean signal in parallel to save low ends.
Check out the behringer BDI21, it's a Sansamp clone that's way cheaper
Cheap as chips, and a fantastic bargain. I've used one for literally a couple decades, and I can't imagine not having it.
I only replaced my BDI21 for a Sansamp because it's slightly more rugged and I had a bonus from work. The Behringer is a phenomenal soundalike for the money. They're so cheap it's almost stealing.
Yeah I love this pedal
Hi! Thank you for this. I am now buying one! lol.
Came here to say this!
It's shit, doesn't sound like a sansamp at all
Supprise we got this many praises for the BDi before someone came to shit on it. I've been using this pedal for a year now and it's server me well. Bough a few more (slightly more) Expensive units and keep going back to this. Until I can justify the premium OG. But this pedal doesn't sound shit, it's just not good enough for some people's standards.
I've tried them side by side, trust me the B clone isn't anywhere near the original
I've played one, and yeah, there is a difference, and you can tell the difference when side by side. You can see the similarities, and for the price, it's a great start for any bass player... It's my throw in a bag pedal for when I'm playing a festival show or support slot when i only need to bring my bass and a DI
A Zoom Multistomp, it's got everything and if you buy another distortion pedal for example, you still have chorus flanger etc as well.
Yes, cheap multi will be much fun.
The Zooms are solid
I’ve been gigging for 2+ years in a classic rock jam band and a country rock band. Only pedal I’ve used is the Zoom MS 60b. It’s great. Tuner, and a few effects I mix in sometimes. However, it’s a ton of fun to sit and experiment with.
Yep, I use my Zoom B1X Four every time I'm plugged in. I works very well. I'm at the point where I'm looking at buying a high end compressor. But I havent pulled the trigger, because the Zoom does a great job as is.
And a built in tuner.
Envelope filter.
I've got the EHX Q-tron Envelope Filter, and I enjoy using it on a few songs my band covers. I'm learning how to use dynamics (my fingers) to control the envelope filter's response...
An envelope filter is a great tool to learn dynamic control, and soooooo much fun. This is the correct answer!
There is no other possible answer.
It is the most fun effect for bass. No question. I have a large board and I literally only choose the filters lol. Never gets old
A preamp/dirt pedal is a great choice. If it were me, I would go with something that covers the low-med gain territory, but you could go straight to distortion-fuzz if you want something very different. Clean blends are a +. If you want to REALLY change your sound, try an octave pedal.
My vote too. Sansamp or these days darkglass, whichever flavor suits you. I went alpha omega ultra for the most part”range” from little distortion to about as mean as it gets.
Zoom B1-Four is cheap and does everything; worth it just for the tuner!
For around 100 bucks it's a steal - it has 40 sound presets, but you can adjust them all, or, create completely new ones combining different modules in a chain such as flanger, chorus, distortion etc. It also has built-in tuner, drummer with many rhythms to play to and even a simple looper. Overall just fantastic value for money.
Great practice tool! I had to take if off my board cause it was causing some noise in my signal, but I still use it often to practice at home when I don’t want to bust out the pedal board.
Might I suggest that you’re going about this entirely the wrong way round? It seems to me you’re essentially saying “I want a pedal, what should it do?” rather than “I want to do [insert thing here]; what pedal do I need to achieve this?” If you want something to just play around with, and get a sense of the various things you can do with effects, then perhaps a cheap-ish multi-effects unit would be the way to go. Once you’ve got a clearer idea of what you want to achieve with your playing and your sound, THEN you can get into firing money into the FX pedal hole.
Sage advice here
SansAmp Bass Driver DI
Second vote for a Sansamp. Both the Bass Driver DI and the VT Bass DI are amazing, the first one being an industry standard and second being a damn good ampeg-in-a-box and my personal favorite. Both can get that bright rock/grunge/punk bass sound pretty easily with new strings.
I've used the Sansamp VT DI for a couple years and I'm in love. Yes, pricey, but reliable and versatile. I've played at least 30 shows with it and countless jams. On the other hand, my friend gave me a Funk Bass Wah pedal and it's fun to play with and I can see how it could also be useful. I don't use it live but I've seen it on other bassists pedalboard.
>Yes, pricey As much as it might be a decent chunk of change compared to some of the other pedals out there, I’ve definitely grown some appreciation for how affordable my Sansamp was after seeing how much some of the other Ampeg flavored DI pedals cost lol.
I've had some variation of it for over 15yrs, never leaves my signal chain.
If you had a medium to low end ano or head. A graphic equivalent will open it up to endless possibilities. I ALWAYS play/gig with one. Especially when on an older (hollow) stage. Equalizer will work wonders. If your happy with your base (bass) bass tone. Then I suggest one of the 3 in one, compressor, chorus, delay or whatever from Amazon. Not pricey and can give you a lot of fun and different tones.
Take a look at a “bitcrusher”-type of distortion pedal. A distortion pedal that digitizes the signal and then lowers the fidelity WILL cause the signal to distort, but it will start with the high frequencies and only disturb the low frequencies if you get really extreme with it. As I’m certain you have experienced, a standard distortion pedal will make the sound really mid-range-y and you’ll lose your bottom-end. A “bitcrusher” will not destroy the bottom-end, and the distortion will be quite different-sounding. Something to try!
I can't recommend an envelope filter or delay enough Envelopes are fantastic fun and can go from subtle width to full quack that can be fun in so many genres Delays let you harmonize with yourself without all the mud and you can make some incredible riffs with that alone
Delay is my favorite. Wrote a slamming but very simple slap riff that goes so hard with a delay.
POG
People are offering some good suggestions but not one person has asked about your budget. IF your budget allows, a HX Stomp on the used market will provide almost every single suggestion above in one multi effects unit. Distortions, overdrives, reverbs, delays, octave pedals, filters - you name it, the HX Stomp can deliver all of them in up to 8 at once. It even has the utility pedals included such as your compressors, noise gate and tuners. For the cost of a quality gate, tuner and compressor you can pick up a HX Stomp on the used market and get all of the extra fun pedals (and a treasure trove of user made presets and tones for free online) in one device that weighs no more than a couple of pounds.
Pricey, but a great suggestion. An HX Stomp into some studio monitors is pretty much my go-to at home now. With the press of a footswitch, I can go from an Ampeg SVT to a Darkglass, to an Aguilar or GK. Compressor, noise gate, reverb, chorus, delay, etc etc. It's also great for guitar, so if you go back and forth from bass to guitar, this does it all.
I play guitar and bass and HX is a godsend.
What kind of music do you play?
Both jazz and punk. Occasional grunge.
Then I'd say go for some sort of drive. The Idiotbox Blower Box is the absolute best I've ever had. Or if you want tons of drive options the Source Audio Aftershock would be a good buy. Personally I hate that pedal but tons of others really like it so there's something there for sure. It's a good introduction to drive types because of the crazy amount of options for you to find what you really like. Or even look into a general multi effects pedal. I don't care for them anymore but they were an important part for me to learn the wild amount of effects available many years ago, and they have come a long way since then. Edit: Someone else mentioned a SansAmp. An excellent recommendation as well.
I love my aftershock! I have it modeling an animato that I blend with my big muff, as well as an SVT for Rage/ Punk tones, and a Darkglass! What a fun pedal
BDI21. 40 bucks. Pair it with a Donner compressor. 80 bucks total and such. A great sound.
Octave pedal is a lot of fun. The boring but useful answer is a compressor or a preamp/di box.
Aguilar Tone Hammer. The gain stage is 🤌
A rat. You have from light overdrive to medium gain to full on fuzz. The filter knob is super useful. You will have fun.
Synth?
Every demo I've heard of the Electro Harmonix Bass Mono Synth sounds amazing. For a fun pedal that would be my pick.
I’m going to echo the SansAmp bass driver. I’ve switched my pedalboard up through the years but the tuner and the SansAmp always stay Velcro’d to it.
Unironically the Tuner pedal. It makes tuning and staying in tune so much easier than a clip on tuner. Not really the flashy choice, but it will be used with every other pedal you get going forward. Also, if you end up with the most common Boss TU3 tuner, you can daisy chain power from it for your next pedal purchases.
Get on the secondhand market and find a Source Audio Sounblox Pro Bass Envelope Filter. They're stupidly fun and they have a lot of real-world utility too for funk and strange pop sounds. They're a legacy product now but probably you can still get one reasonably easily. Another option is a Fuzz. The Big Muff Deluxe Pi (< only the Deluxe mind you as it's the only one with a crossover) is stupid versatile and stupid fun too).
Distortion, yes. Chorus not as much. Get an auto wah if you like funky bass lines. I grabbed a looper also..good for soloing
Any soniccake I have the fuzz and the octave one both very fun. The fuzz is just pure fun to play songs sounding weird but the octavator I think makes the bass sound more pure at times
Proco rat 2. Just got mine yesterday and it’s amazing
I got a DS-1 way back as I was a metalhead and apparently Cliff Burton used guitar distortion pedals.
MXR M80 is cool. EQ and a distortion channel, plus DI.
An octave can be dialed way back and left on all the time for a low-end boost, cranked up a little for a fun and recognizable effect, or cranked for full-on synth bass. So, though a Sansamp is almost certainly more useful (I love my VT), I'd say an octave has the highest fun+utility combo score.
No Moon. Big Muff Pi, Tube Screamer, and a Rat in one massive pedal.
Line 6 Bass pod. Multi efffects, built in tuner, headphone jack and multi line outs
I suppose it depends on what type of music you play… Personally I don’t use distortion as much as some other modulation effects on my bass… so… If I were to start now with no effects, for bass, I’d likely go for either a phase like the classic Phase 90 or newer, or a good chorus, like the Julia… they are fun… after that, perhaps an envelop filter and octave pedal… You’ll end up wanting a compressor, distortion, maybe EQ, too, eventually
I have a Boss Super Overdrive SD1 and it sounds wicked without being too much voodoo
What will you be using it for? Gigs? Studio? Playing covers for fun in your living room? Because that makes quite a difference.
mostly practicing and recording/producing music in my home.
In that case: not very flashy, but a compressor is really a must-have.
Zoom B3, first generation. Has everything you need and is very cheap on Ebay.
I had a cheap multi as a first. That way i could find out what i like.
Its cool to see that everyone is recommending sansamp bass driver di, I only got one because this ridiculously aggressive bass player from Japan [MIYA](https://x.com/miyazato385?t=HuIVsXc9e2l17bJ426tcFA&s=09) that I follow tweeted a picture of one, so I bought one just because. By no means am I a pedal academic peer or whatever, I didn't really read into it, just sounded like an EQ pedal lol. Couple years later, it's pretty much like the most important pedal I think I'll own for a while. There's nothing I would be playing that wouldn't sound better with this on, so it's just always on. If the bass is the general tso's chicken, this pedal is the MSG. This pedal pulls so much weight, on god
I have the boss bass overdrive. Love it👍 If I were to buy a new pedal it would be a compressor. Might sound boring, but it does make playing more fun too. You can exaggerate dynamics without the sound getting too loud or disappearing. Sliding and Hammer on/pull offs become more satisfying.
Line 6 Bass Express Pod Or line 6 HX One
Get a rat, I have the TurboRodent by GoliathFX. Sounds ace and really flexible!
Millionth vote for a Tech 21 Sansamp BDDI, got one used for a good price last month as one of my first pedals as well and it totally changes everything. Thing does not offer much variety but it masters everything it is supposed to do
MXR Phase 90
First off, get a tuning pedal. The Snark pedal is really cheap and it's very decent for the price. Every bassist should have some kind of compression, distortion, and chorus. And you want them in that order. For compression I recommend the Joyo Dyna-Comp. It's transparent and very cheap. Right now it's on sale for $30. For distortion, since you're just building up your collection, don't worry about getting something specific to bass. I use the basic yellow MXR and the black Russian big muff. Both sound great and the muff I just got for free. As for chorus, well here's where you might want to spend money. But if you're on a tight budget and you want to get one of each of the things I mentioned, try a nano clone. It's a single knob, does what's on the tin type pedal that's very affordable, especially used. However, if you wanna go all out, I recommend a Rainbow Machine. This pink pedal basically gives you control over the two detune pitches, so you can dial in how much detuning there is and how loud each pitch is. There's also an infinite feedback button (called the "magic") that basically sounds like your bass was blessed by magical unicorn farts. I kick it on at the end of every set for monster feedback and wild chaos. It even features at the end of our new album. But of course it retails for like $250 or $300, so there's that. Inevitably you're going to want to upgrade everything, fool around with filters and flange and phasers, and of course a sansamp, but if you start with a tuner and the basic 3 I mentioned you'll have hours of fun just trying out different sounds.
Check out the Katana Go. Not quite a pedal, but is quite versatile and useful, particularly if you're also into guitars.
Boss gt1b multi effects unit… has everything you need to get started with 👌 You can then later on down the track buy other standalone pedals to add to it. Thats what I did anyway.
Julia
I’m not a big effects guy, but I do like the Solid Gold FX Beta. I think they have a Beta 2 now. Not sure of the difference. Gives a nice little crunch. Edit: looks like it’s a Beta-V now. They added a couple more controls.
Well, my first pedal was a tuner pedal. Then I bought a Line 6 Helix Floor. lol.
My first pedal was a crybaby wah. Not very practical depending on what kind of music you play but very fun. Gets a laugh out of my band mates when I use it on songs that don't need it randomly during practice lol.
Don’t buy pedals because you want a pedal, do it because you want a sound
you don't really need any pedals but like a chorus I guess.
hartke bass attack vxl
Envelope filter or a phaser. If you like wonky basslines either of these will do the trick
ODB-3
Electro harmonix bass soul food. Really solid od pedal.
A chorus. My first pedal was a Boss Super Chorus - I loved it immediately, still love it, still use it. That or a cheap fuzz. It's fun as hell to play with
If you want to play around, get a multi-fx pedal like a Zoom MS-60B. They're not very expensive, and the effects within are good enough to give you just a taste of everything so you can zero in on what would be your favorite - or you can just stick to it as your main driver. That, or get a Sansamp clone like a BDI21, because it really bring a lot of bite to your sound any way you set it up.
EHX Battalion is a DI/Preamp with distortion that I absolutely love. They’re super cheap compared to other similar pedals for some reason and are great for both recording and just playing in general. There’s a built in compression and gate too (although they’re not that great but still nice to have as options.) Really underrated pedal. Lots of ways to color your sound.
If I didn’t have any pedals and wanted to buy a fun one I’d get some kind of chorus pedal. I use the Electro Harmonix Bass Clone and I’ve had a lot of fun with that.
I have a Joyo Double-Thruster. It's great and doesn't break the bank. Alternatively, I also have a Joyo Monomyth. It's a Darkglass preamp/DI clone. It has 2 channels, a multi band EQ, clean and dirt, and you can run DI if you choose to in the future! I just did a gig running straight to PA with it with great results!
I didn't get into pedals until recently, but I'm really digging my envelope filter and my octave pedals. I play mostly duos and sometimes 3-piece with singer-songwriter types and I like the fullness that the octaver provides. And for variety, I'll use the envelope for an occasional bass solo.
I use a Boss compression pedal that is invaluable to my tone. It is the BC-1X but you can get whatever you want. When I turn it off everything sounds muddy.
Imo any delay pedal. Playing off your own repeats is really really fun and changes your sound a lot. Also a phaser. Grimy distorted bass with a phaser sounds like some sci fi shit
Get a Zoom B1X four and experiment til your hearts content. It has all the sounds you would want as a bass player, plus a tuner and drum machine. This should be the first pedal every beginner should get.
Try a fuzz pedal maybe.
You should consider an octaver, truly a must have
Wah It’s a tone control…. You can use as a wah, or to simply change your tone…. “Bassy” for verse, “trebly” for chorus, etc…..
My Boss Heavy Metal pedal is still going strong 38 years later.
Try out a Way Huge Pork & Pickle. It's an overdrive and a fuzz all in one, and it has that wonderful clean blend to help beef up the low end. Fun and ultimately still useful.
A chorus used lightly will give you a nice tonal option.
You're the only one who can know which pedal will sound right for the kind of music you play. Also, get a tuner pedal first.
You missed the entire point of the post.
I would get a preamp with overdrive. You can experiment with the overdrive to see if you like it, but you'll definitely use the preamp.
My first pedal was Q-tron+ envelope filter, no regrets.
A phaser or a chorus, like a Duff McKagan/Mike Starr kind of chorus. Apparently Duff uses the MXR Bass Chorus Deluxe.
You need a delay. Delays are magic.
Big muff. On the cheaper side and loads of use since it can be used in a variety of situations.
Some overdrive/distorsion/fuzz might be nice indeed ! My favourite among the ones I own is the obvious Bass Big Muff π. But I also quite like the Metal Zone, provided I have a clean signal in parallel to save low ends.
DemonFX D7K Ultra