The brazilian dude Posted December 3, 2004 Share Posted December 3, 2004 I play in a power trio and I think that it would be nice (sometimes necessary) to have some effects to make a sound more complete and full. Do you think it´s necessary to have effects in a power trio? And if you do, do you have any suggestions? Single pedals? Multieffects? Witch ones? Thanks! Please, forgive my english, I don´t speak it very well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moot Posted December 3, 2004 Share Posted December 3, 2004 I too am in a power trio. I use a DigiTech BP200 and regularly chain a wee bit of chorus with a touch of reverb or delay. It has to be fat when the guitarist solos to fill the hole. I love the amp modeler and the speaker emulator a lot and got the silly thing on sale for $149 a couple years ago. I really only have 4 patches that I have programmed and only use 2 mostly, but can't imagine playing dry and never do. "He is to music what Stevie Wonder is to photography." getz76 I have nothing nice to say so . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahuna855 Posted December 3, 2004 Share Posted December 3, 2004 what is a power trio? "I'm thinkin' we should let bump answer this one... Prepare to don Nomex!" -social critic "When I install my cannons, I'm totally going to blast their asses back to the 16th century; Black Beard style" -bumpcity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moot Posted December 4, 2004 Share Posted December 4, 2004 3-piece that plays heavier stuff and is unencumbered by a singer. Rush is a good example of a power trio. "He is to music what Stevie Wonder is to photography." getz76 I have nothing nice to say so . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basshappi Posted December 4, 2004 Share Posted December 4, 2004 Playing in trios is fun because you really have to strech out and fill some space. I have been playing in a duo situation for several months now and have found that to be quite fun and rewarding as well. To answer your specific question, No. I think that you can play in such a setting without effects quite well.The most important thing is to have good, space-filling tone to begin with. Here are some good examples of good rock trio bass playing sans effects. Rush Robin Trower Stevie Ray Vaughn Cream Beck,Bogart, Appice Gov't Mule ZZ Top While there is some occasional effects usage in the above mentioned bands, The bassists most often just used a full, slightly over-driven (sometimes very overdriven) tone that filled up the space. Having said that, there are some effects that can help to fill things up some without seeming like an "effect" per say. Distortion/Fuzz - A lot of the best tones of this type are from the natural distortion of overdriving amplifers. However, most of us are not playing in situations that will tolerate the decible levels to accomplish that, so use pre-gain if your amp has it or use a pedal. Chorus and/or Reverb - A little goes a long way. Octave Dividers& Harmonizers - we're getting closer to the "effects" side of thing here. Sub octave generators/exciters - Like synth pedals and the Aphex type Aural Exciters. I have been messing around with some of the 'mulit-effect' units lately. I own a Zoom 506II, and have played through the Boss ME50B & GT-6B, but so far I have not been very impressed with them.I have not experimented with the high-end units like the Line6 pods and the Roland V-synth, but Greenboy and some other of our members are really putting these units through their paces and have very interesting and knowledgable things to say about the capabilities and limitations of these units. It would be worth your while to search their topic threads about them. As always, you will have to get out to the store and try them out for yourself. But then the journey is where the fun really is! Cheers! Nothing is as it seems but everything is exactly what it is - B. Banzai Life is what happens while you are busy playing in bands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy c Posted December 4, 2004 Share Posted December 4, 2004 If you want just one pedal, get an octave pedal. Power trio: Cream, Hendrix, Led Zep, The Who, (I didn't count the vocalists). All the rest are mere imitators. (donning flame suit). Free download of my cd!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The brazilian dude Posted December 4, 2004 Author Share Posted December 4, 2004 How could we forget the LED!?!?! Please, forgive my english, I don´t speak it very well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bass_god_offspring Posted December 4, 2004 Share Posted December 4, 2004 now what use does an Octave pedal have? i know that it changes the octave, but what would one use it for? just curious, since i am ever expanding my pedal board. -BGO 5 words you should live by... Music is its own reward --------------- My Band: www.Myspace.com/audreyisanarcissist Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy c Posted December 4, 2004 Share Posted December 4, 2004 An octave pedal adds a note one octave below the note you are playing. A boss octave pedal can also add a note two octaves below the note you are playing (although bass players will rarely use this). You play your bass part an octave higher than usual and the pedal doubles your part in the normal octave and now it sounds like two people are playing. The Boss pedal is a workhorse and very affordable. I had one for years. Now I've got the EBS which sounds a little better for three times the price. Free download of my cd!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basshappi Posted December 4, 2004 Share Posted December 4, 2004 Yeah, I've been waiting for someone to get the new Boss OC-3 in to test drive. Nothing is as it seems but everything is exactly what it is - B. Banzai Life is what happens while you are busy playing in bands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ondray Posted December 4, 2004 Share Posted December 4, 2004 Hi, I got this great idea from watching a live band at the Sydney Opera Bar a couple of weeks ago. The bassist used a loop device to repeat the basslines over and over again while he played notes from the higher range. It sounded full and unique. Just my .02 cents Andre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
groovehead Posted December 4, 2004 Share Posted December 4, 2004 If you like effects, use them. However it is not necessary. I have played in a trio for the past 2.5 years and we are constantly complimented on the fullness of our sound. I think the key to such a full sound is to simply fill up the space when necessary. Play more notes, but keep them interesting. I am the lead instrument in my band, whereas the guitarist plays rythm for the most part. So I tend to be a busy player both by nature and in this case necessity. A good drummer who knows how to syncopate and fill tasetfully is a big plus. You'll notice that the power trios mentioned in earlier posts all had/have busy bassists who play a lot more than the root. Their drummers werent too shabby either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexclaber Posted December 4, 2004 Share Posted December 4, 2004 Originally posted by jeremy c: If you want just one pedal, get an octave pedal.I'm going to step out of line here and disagree with our Jedi master - if you want just one pedal, get a (good) overdrive/distortion pedal (the Fulltone BassDrive being my weapon of choice). YMMV (as Jeremy's clearly does) As I'm becoming more of an effects gnu, I've coming to feel that effects aren't simply something you stick your bass through to fill up space or sound cool. They become part of your instrument and you have to play them as well as the bass. Like a rock guitarist plays his guitar AND amp, not just his guitar. Alex Barefaced Ltd - ultra lightweight, high ouput, toneful bass cabs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RHINO_ROB Posted December 4, 2004 Share Posted December 4, 2004 Originally posted by C. Alexander Claber: Originally posted by jeremy c: If you want just one pedal, get an octave pedal.I'm going to step out of line here and disagree with our Jedi master - if you want just one pedal, get a (good) overdrive/distortion pedal (the Fulltone BassDrive being my weapon of choice). YMMV (as Jeremy's clearly does) Alexi would agree. i play in a trio + singer. i use distortion/overdrive live to help fill the void. the only thing that i want to add is that you might want to have something to blend in some of your clean signal. it will help keep you from loosing some of your low end. i currently have 3 distortion units that i use. an ibanez phat-hed distortion, a big muff pi, and some of the drives that i have on a bp 200. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy c Posted December 4, 2004 Share Posted December 4, 2004 Yes, Rob and Alex. I stand corrected. Get the distortion first. It's a must. Then get the octave. Free download of my cd!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Eldon Posted December 4, 2004 Share Posted December 4, 2004 Look into getting an old Russian Big Muff. The green one with the input on the left and the output on the right. Hell, get two, one with the gain slightly on, one with the gain full blast. Robert Sledge of Ben Folds Five (my personal favorite power trio, as piano substituted the guitar) ran two big muffs, and his tone was always right on. He had the slight distortion in the verses, for some hairy punch that the piano was of course not covering, and then stomped on Big Muff #2 for the full-on-blow-your-head-off fuzz. Check out "One Angry Dwarf And 200 Solemn Faces" for a good example of this. http://www.purevolume.com/seaneldon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
... Posted December 4, 2004 Share Posted December 4, 2004 Another vote of overdrive or distortion pedal first. Then an octave pedal. After that, knock yourself out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tarkus Posted December 6, 2004 Share Posted December 6, 2004 I went from all pedals to no pedals. Octave pedal is nice. Did I mention my 8 string? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicklab Posted December 6, 2004 Share Posted December 6, 2004 In a power trio setting, I've tried to make a point of playing counterpoint parts when I can to fill things out. It definitely has worked for me. As for effects, I'd recommend the following: overdrive, octave and chorus. Those are the three I would choose first and foremost over any others. Obligatory Social Media Link "My concern is, and I have to, uh, check with my accountant, that this might bump me into a higher, uh, tax..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenLoy Posted December 6, 2004 Share Posted December 6, 2004 These pedals are an absolute must. Buy all of them before you get anything else.URL] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gruuve Posted December 6, 2004 Share Posted December 6, 2004 Ya know, there's one really, really nice thing about a power trio (assuming someone in the group can pull off vocals as well as playing their instrument). With only 3 people, you can only have one conversation going at a time (4 people can have 2 seperate conversations going, 5 people can have 3 different conversations going, etc.) This makes for potentially really productive rehearsals and/or writing sessions! Other benefits, IMHO, are easier to schedule rehearsals and gigs with only 3 folks, less bodies to split any revenue with, fewer egos to tango...there's quite a list actually. I think the trick for a power trio is for everyone to either play their instrument in a somewhat unusual way, or to play more than one instrument. I guess I can't say that as fact...maybe just my opinion... Dave Old bass players never die, they just buy lighter rigs. - Tom Capasso, 11/9/2006 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wraub Posted December 6, 2004 Share Posted December 6, 2004 The trio I am currently in tends to play pretty straight ahead stuff guitarwise, which leave me a lot of room to fill. I do this with counterpoint lines, melodies and such. Effects I tend to do with as little as possible, as they tend to hide the dynamics of my parts and muddy things up. This is also partly attributable to the guitarist's EQ settings, and where his voice sits in the mix. When I do use 'em, it's usually dist/OD, or chorus. But, that's just this band. The last trio I was in, anything that made a cool noise was mandatory. Peace, wraub I'm a lot more like I am now than I was when I got here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexclaber Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 Originally posted by Dave Sisk: Ya know, there's one really, really nice thing about a power trio (assuming someone in the group can pull off vocals as well as playing their instrument).Blind panic setting in... Alex Barefaced Ltd - ultra lightweight, high ouput, toneful bass cabs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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