Pedal Line Friday :: Loren L.

Here's my board for bass! It's been through a bit of an evolution over the years. It started solely with the Line 6 HX Stomp but I was never thrilled with the simulated preamps and cabs, especially though our bands' PAs. I am in two 90s cover bands that go ampless with in-ears and electronic drums. It gives us lots of control and the ability to bring down the volume for smaller venues.

I know most people fall in love with amp/cab sims but I couldn't get the sound I wanted, the sound would always be too thin or get swallowed up by low-end with no punch. The MXR M80 changed that. It has punch and clarity and I can physically get to the limited controls. Whatever magic is in the M80's "color" button is the secret sauce, IMO.

It should be noted that I have tried a handful of highly-praised devices from SansAmp and DarkGlass. I know there are many bass players dialing up great tones with them but they just weren't the right tools for me.

With the MXR M80 carrying my core sound , I still had a need for effects. The distortion on the M80 is ratty, good for ugly bass but not a sound I use regularly, maybe for those punk songs. So I use the HX Stomp to be a multi effects unit, mostly dialing in Fuzz and Octave sounds but sometimes something wilder (think Hysteria by Muse)! The Stomp is also SUPER handy to pitch down my bass to play along with those 90s songs in straight Eb tuning. It tracks pretty well and the artifacting doesn't get too noticeable until you shift down more than a whole step.

My XLR signal to the board is sent from the M80 but I do send my sound to the Rolls Personal Monitor. That is my solution for in ears. It takes three inputs (bass, my vocal mic, main mix out) and allows me to mix them with three tactile knobs. In the past, I had the ability to create my own separate mix from our digital mixer but it was cumbersome to fiddle with my phone during a performance. Three knobs, I can do that on the fly!

The signal chain: Snark Tuner -> MXR M87 Bass Compressor -> Line 6 HX Stomp (w/TRS switch) -> MXR M80 Preamp -> Rolls PM351

Submit Your Pedal Line!

About a million years ago, I used to run a blog called EffectsBay. On that blog, the most popular feature I would run was Pedal Line Friday. This is where readers of the site would send pics of their pedalboard and a short (sometimes long) write-up of routing and thoughts about specific pedals and the reasoning why they liked it, etc. Readers. loved this. It was a great way to learn about new applications or techniques regarding pedals. It also brought a little inspiration and knowledge about pedals you were not familiar with. It also brought a great sense of community - people like sharing and absorbing cool things, right? It was a super popular feature, and I loved putting them together.

All you have to do is send a pic of your pedalboard (or pedal line - it doesn't have to be on a board) along with a short (or long) write-up of the board. We want a list of pedals (manufacturer/model), routing would be great, and, most importantly, why you use those particular pedals. Also, this is a great way to promote your band or musical project - include that information as well!

You can send the pic and the write-up to pedalline@rattlesnakecables.com.