Bass FX - Cool or Unnecessary?

depends on the style of music you are playing, and too much of anything is never good.   Unless its volume (but wear earplugs).

whatver sounds good to y

well it all depends on what your after and who your trying to impress 8) 8) ;D

Unnecessary, I believe. Bass is one of the few instruments that escapes the need for effects.

im sorry to say, but youll find that the older of the bass players, the more 'pure' they want their sound.
the other day at work, i was just asking a middle aged bloke what he thought of ebs (quality wise) for effect pedals.  the guy then gave me a 15 minute lecture of how:
1: i should set my bass up properly so i dont get that 'loose sound'
2: i should learn how to play the thing properly before i start messing whith sounds for no reason.
3: leave the effects for the guitars to mess up the sound
4: the bassist is there solely for the rhythm factor.
my answers were:
1: 'you dont know how i play my bass as you only came to one of my bands first gigs. and a) it MY personal preference b) the new songs have that fast bass parts you wont notice and i gives the sound more definition
2: piss off ive been playing for 11 years
3: bass creats unnoticed (usually) feeling in songs. why not add to it with a new dimension?
4: thats narrow minded, do you listen to the chili p's? or ratm for that matter?

apart from being pissed off from some usual, ive played bass for years - middle aged twat, i figured 1 thing in common... everyone likes to do things their way.

buy some pedals, test some out at a shop, figure it for yourself, think about your sound.
everyone in a band has just as important roles, if ones shit, the whole song sounds shit. like someone said before, use fx in modeation unless theres a part that needs it.

er yeah,
hope that helped :-/

www.sherock.co.uk

I'm of the opinion that you should try and remain as true to the original sound as possible with effects. For example, for my guitar, I have a DS-1 Distortion pedal, a Crybaby wah and a Zoom 505. No effect I use distorts the sound to a degree that it becomes hard to differentiate the original notes.

Unnecessary, I believe. Bass is one of the few instruments that escapes the need for effects.

totally agrees :-X

I've never used FX for my bass playing.

I have nothing in particular against them, but I have never felt the need.

But then, in my band (alernative/melodic punk), we have never used any effects for the guitars either, just the gain knob.  

Guitar distortion has been so overcranked and overused in recent years that it has become a very boring sound to my ears.

I never use effects, but thats only because I can't afford them ;D

I think its all about your style, and whether you actually WANT effects.

You gotta remember that effects wont actually improve your playing, but they sure will improve your sound

There are no rules for music, only guidelines.  Very rarely in older music did bass players use effects, but that doesn't mean that no one should.  Sometimes effects can be perfect to spice up a particularly boring bass line, or to add a little feeling where it's needed.  Don't be afraid to use an effect because someone will think it's stupid, because just as many people will say, "Hey, that sounds really cool!"

Rock On,
Casey

I have never used an effect and probably wont unless i win the lottery.  Or get a lot of money unexpectedly due to the fact that my mom guessed the correct numbers that came out a big sphere printed on small balls that are moving about inside the sphere due to a big ole fan or something. 8)  I dont much like effects for bass.  I see bass as sort of the conservative guy that will bring you back down to earth if you go to far out, by that i mean its the grounding so the guitar can go off and play with some crazy effects but you dont go crazy because the bass is there to keep you grounded.