Best Bass Effects: Adding Depth to Your Music!

25 Jan by George Loveridge |

4,4 / 5,0 | Approximate reading time: 4 Minutes

Best Bass Effects: Adding Depth to Your Music · Source: Thomann

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Your bass playing provides the whole vibe to a song. But what if you want to spice things up a little? Our list of the best bass effects will keep things interesting for many jam sessions to come…

Best Bass Effects: Adding Depth to Your Music!

We all know that electric guitarists are renowned for having an unhealthy addiction to guitar pedals. But why can’t we bass players be part of the same crowd?

Bass effects are just as important as guitar effects. In the old days, all you needed was a couple hundred watts of bass cab and that was you good to go! However, it’s 2024. There is an abundance of weird and wonderful bass effects that are perfect for you.

Origin Effects Cali76 Comp. Bass. Compressor

Kicking us off is arguably one of the most fundamental pedals you can use to improve your overall playing experience.

What is a compressor? This pedal will act as your fairy godmother for an overall improved tone. Guaranteeing a linear sound from your cab and ensuring that there are no harsh peaks or troffs in the mix. Harsh notes get softer, and your soft notes get a little harder.

What are we working with here then? This compressor from Origin Effects encompasses many welcome attributes. You get to control the rate of your compression with six easily accessible knobs, allowing you to change the amount of attack, release, input and output.

Origin Effects Cali76 Comp. Bass Compressor

Customer rating:

(30)

Available for 349.00 € at

For Further Information:

Origin Effects Product Page

Boss CEB-3 Bass Chorus

Next up, we’ve got a more budget-friendly way to add another flavour to your playing.

Chorus pedals add a degree of the 1980s. Perfect for clean bass lines, this CEB-3 provides just enough modulation to keep your overall tone nice and clean. Not sure of what chorus is? Cast your mind back to Nirvana’s Come As You Are.

This example is a great entry-level way to get into varying signal chains. What’s nice about this pedal is that thanks to a low-pass filter, the chorus won’t interfere with your sweet low bass frequencies. Simply load it with a 9v battery and you’re ready to go.

Boss CEB-3 Bass Chorus

Customer rating:

(120)

Available for 119.00 € at

For Further Information:

Boss Product Page

Origin Effects Bassrig Super Vintage

We spoke earlier about high-wattage bass amps. Sure, they’re great! But hardly practical for loading onto a bus or train when getting to gigs and jam sessions…

Here, you get a complete bass stack in one 846g pedal! Moreover, it’s based on a US head with an 8″ x 10″ cabinet, so you’ve got a good pedigree behind you.

Unlike the other pedals we’ve seen so far, this pedal has added versatility with an XLR output. Meaning that you could replace your existing amp for live shows. Giving you tube amp sounds, for less cash and weight.

Origin Effects Bassrig Super Vintage

Customer rating:

(2)

Available for 449.00 € at

For Further Information:

Origin Effects Product Page

MXR M288 Bass Octave Deluxe

This next-best bass effects pedal will provide you with the most fun when practising your instrument.

Octave pedals are used on many records to add extra layers to the bass sound. Just listen to Figure It Out by Royal Blood, how good does an octave pedal sound?

Make use of the Growl control to comprehensively customise the amount of low-end dirt you want. Furthermore, you get a true bypass to turn on, or off, the power of octaves whenever suits you.

MXR M288 Bass Octave Deluxe

Customer rating:

(176)

Available for 180.00 € at

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Jim Dunlop Product Page

Zoom B3n

Finally, we’re taking a look at this multi-effects stompbox from Zoom. When considering the best bass effects, you need to think about multi-effects pedals such as this.

Multi-effects are a great way to cover as many aspects as possible. Yes, a dedicated reverb pedal will get you the best sound, but this B3n has 67 different effects!

Before you start playing, you’ll be able to use the built-in chromatic tuner. Then, choose between 5 amp models, whilst using 7 digital effects simultaneously. Unlike our other pedals on this list, you get AUX input and stereo headphone out ports to maximise usability.

Zoom B3n

Customer rating:

(119)

Available for 199.00 € at

For Further Information:

Zoom Product Page

Best Bass Effects: Multi or stand-alone?

Having looked at some great ways to change up the sound of your bass playing, which is best? I’m a multi-effects kind of guy these days. Everything I need in one compact unit. However, you can’t beat a good old-fashioned pedalboard…