Pedals

yevveh

Following my discovery late last night that using the effects loop of my Ashdown bass amp makes a huge different to my sound, I've got myself in a big pedal mood. So does anyone have any advice on:

- Boss NS-2 (as my bass has ridiculously active pickups, I get bucketloads of hiss with the volume turned up)
- Morley PLA (Little Alligator) volume pedal, or if there is a better volume pedal around for roughly the same price.

And where I should place when in my effects loop. Currently it looks like this:

send > Dunlop Crybaby Bass Wah > Metal Muff (if it survives its hangover from Saturday) > Boss ODB-3 > Boss TU-2 > Boss RC20XL > return

Any advice appreciated

Doctor J

I'd try to sort the hiss issue before adding extra crap into the signal chain.

What's the bass? Are the pickups active or is it just an active pre-amp? Is the Pre boost only?

yevveh

Pickups are active, they're the custom Bartolinis on the Ibby SR1005, you were commenting on them on the thread I made before I got this bass (I think?). What I do usually is keep the input low on my amp and the output high, but not all the amps I gig with have that capability. I was playing through a Behringer on Saturday and the hiss was ridiculous, I'd to mute with my tuner between songs.

I'm not actually sure what a pre-amp is

Doctor J

Ah right. Those Barts are passive.

The Pre-amp is the EQ section on the bass, you've got bass cut and boost, treble cut and boost and a sweepable mid cut and boost. Keeping your input signal low is probably where the noise is coming from. Every amp has a level of noise. If your input signal is not much higher than the noise level, when you make it loud, you make a ****-load of noise loud too. You want your bass signal to be as high above the basic noise level as possible.

Your input signal should be just below where the amp starts to distort, your signal should be strong and full going through the amp and use the output to control the volume. Really, I would set your input as high as possible before it clips.

Bear in mind, if you add a lot of EQ from the bass pre-amp this can distort the amp, that pre-amp can boost up to 12db, I think, which is a lot.

yevveh

I don't think it's the basic noise level of the amp... Right now, I have my bass turned down fully and the amp input and output at 12 o' clock and there's no problems - I can hear a little hiss but nothing to write home about. When I turn the volume up on my bass say to 2 (there's no markings, obviously) already a highly noticable hiss is there. The volume output of my bass is much higher than it so it's only really a problem when I'm not playing.

I just noticed the hiss is entirely coming from the treble boost on the pre-amp, I just turned it all the way down with the bass volume up full and there's nothing. The treble EQ on my amp doesn't give as much treble as I like so is there any way to eliminate the hiss while keeping as much of the treble as possible, or will I just have to sacrifice treble for hiss? Could the NS-2 eliminate it?

Doctor J

Set all your EQ flat, to the centre detent, that is the sound of your bass uneffected. Boosting everything is not the way forward. Set it so there is no cut or boost, then tweak to taste. You shouldn't need to use a lot of EQ and certainly you should never need to boost anything all the way. That drastically affects the tone in a very unnatural way.

darrenw5094

Just a note on the Boss NS-2...
It could well be the worst noise supressor you can use. It might clear up the noise pollution, but what it gives with one hand, it takes away with the other.

It literally sucks and completely changes the tone of your gear because it is not so good. People have an idea that Boss are the best pedals on the market, but not true at all.

The ISP Decimator pedal is the best around. On Thomann for €155 or over from USA for about €105.