A standard Roland or equivalent 9v wall wart.
still procrastinating and came across the tech21 bass fly rig, original and v2. i thought that looks interesting so been watching videos, it seems to have fewer options so thought it would be considerably cheaper and maybe a good compromise. however, it looks to cost more than the ME-90B which surprises me.
could anyone explain the difference to me please, and has anyone tried one?
thanks
well i bought my mates Vevor 20 X 11” pedalboard ‘just because’ as it was cheap. however i dont want that to lead me down the wrong path and buy a load of expensive pedals for it, i still agree with the above recommendations to get a multi effects jobbie. it can wait until i know what i like 
that being said….. any advice on that Tech 21 Sansamp Bass fly Rig V2 above ^^^ compared to the ME-90B say?
thanks
I really recommend going as cheap as possible on the board itself. Expensive pedalboard frames are terrible return on investment; a metal rack is a metal rack. So by going cheap there ypu actually took the best path
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This is also a really good place to shop your used markets. There are TONS of used pedalboards available locally. I got a Pedaltrain Metro 20 for like $30. It didn’t come with a case, but that’s what Harbor Freight is for.
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I’m thinking of building a pedalboard out of some scrap wood I already have. I’ve also seen people use skateboard decks as pedalboards, and I have an old board that I could take the trucks off of and put feet on the bottom. But it’s concave and I think something flat would be more stable.
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well i suppose ive got the pedalboard, im just not sure whether to slowly build up a rig with it, or go for the easier option, the Tech 21 Sansamp Bass fly Rig V2. thattll probably be cheaper long term too although a pricey initial hit.
Tech21 gear is expensive but sounds great. In this case it comes with a lot fewer options than the ME-90B or Zoom units, but it also comes with two of the best bass preamps you can buy built in already. Especially the VT Bass DI - it’s my second favorite preamp I owned.
On the other hand, for its price new, you could also buy excellent versions of the minimal set of basic discrete pedals you would want (including a circuit clone of the Tech21 SansAmp).
The reason people recommend multi-effects is that they are an inexpensive way to get a large number of reasonable quality effects to experiment with, or for the high end ones, a large number of top tier effects. That Tech21 box has a small number of very high quality effects and two stellar preamps. It’s a bit of a different tradeoff.
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On the other hand, for its price new, you could also buy excellent versions of the minimal set of basic discrete pedals you would want (including a circuit clone of the Tech21 SansAmp).
thanks, i think ive made up my mind im going to go for the pedalboard option. itll be more expensive long term, but more fun to build what i want, swap things about. been reading through this and a few other threads, and will probably make a start on looking for a boss TU-3 tuner, EH bass soul food for distortion, EHX small clone for chorus and a battery pack. i’ll add to these when funds allow with maybe a pre-amp and compressor.
any advice on the cables id need to connect them to each other? anything to look into to prevent unwanted hum or buzz? and what length to buy? oh and velcro good enough? where do you guys source these type of things?
thanks
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Oooh… that’s a really cool idea. It seems like velcro would have a tough time sticking to the grip tape though.
I think add some wood to it to make it stand at an angle. Just some 2x2 or some skirting or something would probably be enough.
Or better yet - flip it upside down so you can see your patinaed graphic. Put the wood block on one edge of the top of the deck. Velcro tape should stick better to the underside.
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That’s where I’m at. I feel a bit guilty about spending the money “unnecessarily” but it’s fun. And it’s a cheaper way to scratch that GAS hunting-for-new-toys itch than guitars. I’m getting ready to pounce on a listing for a lot of 5 pedals and a board for $150.
I’ve done really well with my Microtubes Infinity so far. That covers all of my “needs”. That and a fuzz have handled everything for the band so far. I’m still hunting for some other things. I’d like a good modulation and/or an octave/synth that I like… but that’s for fun and play. I’ve got a quick-and-dirty formula for a synth-like tone that is plenty good enough for a live-performance situation (passive bass, solo bridge pickup, tone full off, preamp EQ bump lowest and high-mids, bit of drive, pluck with fingers as close to the bridge as you can cleanly)
The DG has: Tuner, 6 band EQ, compression, 3 drive/amp-modeler circuits (Vintage Microtubes, B3k, and a clean tube), noise gate, cab modeler, DI, and a number of nifty features.
The quirks or minor frustrations: You have to set up the compression response in the digital suite, or it won’t sound great (but this means there are a lot on the used market, because people didn’t bother to learn how to set them up properly); There’s no effects loop, so you’re putting your compression at the end of the chain; You’d need another DI if you want reverb/delay after it.
Cables are cables. I got a 6-pack of inexpensive 6” ribbon patch cables off Amazon, they work fine.
Velcro is good enough. 3m Dual Lock is better but more expensive, and I already had some velcro tape lying around. I will probably go with 3m to secure my PSU to the underside of my board.
Noise will come primarily from digital pedals and some are noisier than others. Modern 9v analog pedals tend to be fairly quiet. You can start with wall-warts and a daisy chain if you don’t have noisy pedals. Isolated power supplies will make it completely a non-issue.
I don’t yet need an isolated power supply, but got one anyway, because I’ll know I’ll want one eventually. And in the meantime, it will make cable management much simpler and cleaner than running two wall-warts off of an extension cord.
I’ve been learning/realizing the importance of blending in a clean signal into your mix. You can get a line-selector pedal (e.g. Boss LS-2) to do this. It’s not a big deal for guitars, but it is for bass. I have been trying to find a modulation effect that I like, and I realized they all sound kinda like crap if you don’t blend in a clean signal. Otherwise, you lose your initial attack and some of the low end. It’s okay at home, but you disappear in a band mix.
oh and apologies to @Barney
reading therough the thread again and it reads as though i maybe dismissed your advice…..
and then later i posted ……
still procrastinating and came across the tech21 bass fly rig, original and v2. i thought that looks interesting so been watching videos,
reading it back it looks as though i ignored your advice and found this myself, but ive been reading sooooo many posts, been down sooooo many rabbitholes that i hadnt twigged it was actually your post that suggested it so thank you
but….. im still plumping for the pedalboard now theres a world of shiny pedals out there 
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get the Bass Clone instead - it’s the small clone circuit with an added crossover for bass, and is still made.
interesting, i read on another thread on here (the blasted pick i think) that the small clone would be better for playing joy division. is that not the case?
thanks
Hooky used a small clone back in the day but a few years ago EHX released the Bass Clone and it is a better choice for bass in every way. The EHX promo video for it even uses “Age of Consent” as its intro theme
There is no reason to choose a Small Clone for bass these days. The Bass Clone sounds just like Hooky’s tone and has a nice bass crossover feature.
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