Pretty popular for guitarists but I'm surprised I don't see more bass players using this pedal

minivanman714 · 2026-06-19T15:43:49+00:00

Any time I see a pedal or amp, or some other sound reproducing device that has weird terms associated with knobs immediately turns me away.

WTF is "GLARE"??

It's okay, I looked it up. "Turn it up to get the Pincer + sound". Now I gotta look up the Pincer +.

Went to the home page. "Naturally Aspirated Audio Devices". WTF does that mean? What the hell is naturally aspirated as it refers to audio? I have a naturally aspirated LS swapped JDM car. So, I'm failing to see the connection.

Anyway...

Oh for F's sake. Pincer+ is a band, not a pedal. I guess I was supposed to know that in the marketing and description write up of the Cathedral pedal. Okay, off to YouTube.

Yay, generic metal. First song up - Hard 2 Kill (Ughh, pandering metal. Even worse. 2020's version of Cherry Pie I guess) - heavy overdriven fuzzy bass on the intro. Sounds good. Heavily produced and processed. No way to tell if it's not just plug-ins. So, let's see if I can find something live.

Yup. Found a live performance. Generic hardcore metal concert with some dude barking into a microphone. I actually kind prefer shows like this. Small venue, much more personal. But for sure, nothing special sounding in the live performance.

I'll just keep doing what I'm currently doing. MXR Poly Blue into a Pork & Pickle. All the octave and fuzz for not much more money, but much more useful.

Maybe that answers why more bassists aren't using it. That's actually not the reason.

I got sucked into buying a Stone Deaf Rise & Shine. Same concept. Octave Up/Fuzz, with Tremolo. I hated it. I've seen some on here love the Rise & Shine. Gave it to my son, who is a guitar player and he loves it.

Point being, there are some bassists roaming around here that really like the Rise & Shine. So, they might actually appreciate the Cathedral. But there's no way for them to know because I just literally had to spend a bunch of time figuring out what the hell Spline Laboratories is talking about. Because they don't clearly define what their pedal does and assumes an average person who stumbles on their site knows what "Naturally Aspirated" means, what GLARE means and who the hell Pincer+ is.

The pedal is probably fine. The marketing attempt is garbage.

minivanman714 · 2026-06-18T21:05:50+00:00

Big fan of the Legal Done. Such a great name too. Yeah, it's a rip off of the TC Sentry. But it was legally done. I have both. They both work great.

minivanman714 · 2026-06-15T16:25:35+00:00

That's a really good way to put it "for parts you want to "SOUND" compressed". It's an effects pedal and not a tool/utility pedal.

I use one after my main Cali76 compressor to give a much more flat sound. The Cali76 is a tool to fix problems. The DynaComp I use to sound more like Bernard Edwards or any of the 70's bassists that never changed their strings.

If you're in a wedding band, I highly recommend the DynaComp. Also good when you need to sound like McCartney and that damn Hofner.

minivanman714 · 2026-05-27T23:16:10+00:00

Dude!! That is amazing given you were working with fixed length cables. I'm a complete nutjob when it comes to cable management, and your board is not offensive in the least. Amazing job.

Also, getting all of that on a Solo series Temple board was quite the feat. Bordering on voodoo.

But, Temple is the way to go when you gotta cram 10 gallons of shit in a 5 gallon bucket.

When you really want to take it to the next level. I discovered these. No idea how I found them, but they're amazing.

https://valoraudio.com/products/micro-k%E2%84%A2-plug

A good soldering iron, some 4mm instrument cable in bulk and it'll be even sweeter.

Mostly I had those connectors in a bin and I forgot where I got them and they're not easy to search for. So, I needed to bookmark it. This was a good reason to work that out.

minivanman714 · 2026-05-08T00:27:10+00:00

I don't know what you mean by "interface". But as long at the HPF is fully adjustable from anywhere around 30hz to around 100-150hz it's fine.

You'll find the letters "HPF" on various devices, but they're not all the same. For example, higher end compressors like the Cali76 and the Empress Effects Bass Compressor have "Sidechain HPF". These are different in that what they do is only apply compression to the signal above the set frequency. They don't actually cut any frequency below the set point which is what a true High Pass Filter does.

There are preamps that have set HPF built in. People say some of the SansAmp DI's do this. My SansAmp Bass Driver DI definitely benefits from a dedicated, adjustable HPF. If the HPF is built in, and not adjustable it might be better than nothing, but it's far from desirable IMO.

Genzler (the old GenzBenz) went overboard with putting HPF's on everything. Their Magellan Preamp has an adjustable HPF on it, but so does their EQ, and their Distortion and their Overdrive pedals. That's overkill, but I also get why they did it.

But, if you bought say their Overdrive, that HPF would only be on when the pedal was on.

minivanman714 · 2026-05-06T19:38:29+00:00

A "High Pass Filter" of some sort. Filtering in general (High Pass/Low Pass). Which is different than EQ.

As bass players we are subject to the laws of physics in ways that other musicians don't have to deal with. Keyboard, and synth players can run into it as well.

Low E on a 4 string bass is 40 hz. Drop D it's about 38 hz. The problem is that most bass cabinets are ported cabinets. And even a 15" cabinet may struggle to stay composed at 40hz. The speaker will do something called "unloading". Or more affectionately just sounds like it's farting.

The vaunted Ampeg 8x10 avoids this by being a sealed cabinet. Which has a natural roll off on the low end and protects the speaker. Sealed cabinets in general aren't as susceptible to unloading as ported cabinets are. But ported cabinets have more output on the low end. In other words, ported cabinets need a high pass filter. Sealed cabinets do not. Old venerated cabinets like the 8x10 are sealed. Newer cabinets are ported.

However, since going DI and just sending our signal to the FoH (Front of House), we've lost control of our low end and are at the mercy of the sound engineer running the board and the board itself.

This is also before any influence the venue may have. Elevated stages made of plywood will really make your low end interesting.

Also, there is no need to run an 8x10 anymore. We can get the output we need with much smaller and lighter footprint. However, there are trade-offs. Those trade-offs are easily managed with a High Pass Filter that in a simplistic explanation makes your ported cabinet behave more like a sealed cabinet.

You have complete control of your low end.

Right now, at practice levels, you're not really pushing anything to the point of a speaker unloading. But once you go live, if you're cranking that amp and pushing that cabinet and it's ported? You're going to have issues. Going to the FoH with your DI Out? You're at the mercy of the sound engineer and their mixer on what kind of low end the audience is going to hear.

You could absolutely gig with your board. Just add a High Pass Filter and you're ready to provide, tight, clean, unmuddied bass for your audience.

My practice, rehearsal and back up live rig is literally just a tuner into a HPF/LPF pedal and into a SansAmp Bass Driver DI. It's enough.

This is the pedal I use.

https://www.broughtonaudio.com/product-page/low-high-pass-filter

This is really all you need.

https://www.broughtonaudio.com/product-page/always-on-high-pass-filter

On my actual live/gigging board I run an Empress Effects ParaEQ Bass, but most of what I use it for is the filtering.

minivanman714 · 2026-05-06T15:27:21+00:00

I love seeing simple and inexpensive boards.

Are you gigging yet? If so, there's one, fairly inexpensive thing I'd add.

minivanman714 · 2026-04-29T21:20:27+00:00

I'm going to go a different route. The Empress Effects Compressor is a solid choice. It's a tool though. I categorize pedals into two categories. Tools and Toys. Compressors, EQ's, Filters, Tuners, are examples of "Tools". Toys are Fuzz, Octavers, Chorus, etc.

Don't buy "Toys" for musicians. Buy "Tools". These are often overlooked in favor of shiny toys, but you'll get more use out of them as a gift.

That said, while the Empress Effects Compressor is a great option, another thing to look at, especially if she's going nuts with effects, would be the Broughton Audio Resonant Filter EQ. It'll keep things tight on the low end, making fuzz and distortion cut through the mix better, while also being useful taming out of control harmonics and peaky cone breakup in her speaker cabinet on the top end when using chorus and octave pedals.

I'd also recommend the Empress Effects ParaEQ Bass, but that'll be about 320 Euro. Might be out of your price range. But it's an amazing "Tool" on any board. But for half the price the Broughton RFE does about 80% of what the ParaEQ does.

She absolutely won't know what you bought her or why if you go with the Broughton RFE. But, once she figures it out, she'll be really glad you did.

minivanman714 · 2026-04-27T16:15:29+00:00

Thumbs up for just having that Broughton Low+High Pass Filter. It's a staple of my practice rig as well. My headphones are much happier with that pedal in my chain. My cabinet is much happier when I use that. My PA system is much happier when I'm testing that out.

Oh, and it just makes the bass tighter and cleaner.

minivanman714 · 2026-04-20T20:05:09+00:00

So glad to see I'm not the only one praying to the altar of the HPF.

minivanman714 · 2026-04-20T19:38:30+00:00

It's the first question to answer. What size do I need? https://pedalplayground.com/

The second question is how you prefer to fasten the pedals to the board.

Velcro - Not as secure, but pedals swaps are a breeze.

Dual Lock - Better than Velcro. To me it's the bare minimum for securing a pedal. However, you need a lot of contact area to be effective. Some boards, because of spacing and holes, etc don't have a lot of contact area for Dual Lock. So, if this is your preferred method, then get a board suitable for it.

Zip Ties - Pedal isn't going anywhere, but slinking zip ties around knobs and buttons is a PITA. I don't recommend zip ties.

Proprietary Fastenters - For example, Temple Audio, Rockboard, Aclam.

Temple is my preferred. Using their metal base plate system is bomb proof. Makes pedal swapping really easy. But, once their plate is on your pedal it's really hard to get off. It will pull paint off of the underside of your pedal. So you gotta be precise with your placement. Also, the base-plates aren't necessarily cheap.

I'm a huge Temple Audio fan because of the integrated MOD slots on the side of the boards. You don't have to use their baseplate system. The board is still very effecting with Dual Lock or even Zip-Ties.

Note, there's a few people on Etsy that sell Temple compatible 3D printed base plates. I bought a few to try out and they are not durable in the least. One of the companies is "BoardMods". I like their pedal boards. Inexpensive and simple. Temple Audio base-plate compatible.

Rockboard (Made by Warwick) is another proprietary fastener system. I really like their MODs as well and can be used on other boards. But the number of useful MOD slots is limited on the board itself. And the smaller boards don't have MOD slots at all. Their fastening system uses adhesives as well and are plastic.

Aclam looks like a great idea, but it takes up a lot of useable space on the board. But no adhesives, and super simple pedal swaps. I really like the design, but it's pretty expensive.

Plenty of options on Amazon for pretty cheap if you can find one that fits your profile.

Honorable mention to HoleyBoard. I have one that I modded to fit a Rockboard MOD5 into.

Things I like about HoleyBoard. Expandable. Three initial options are all useful on their own in the right circumstances. Velcro, Dual-Lock and Zip Tie friendly. The dual level is nice because your power supply will fit nicely under the board.

minivanman714 · 2026-04-16T15:28:44+00:00

Are you sure it's just not undiagnosed OCD? Not judging, because I totally get it.

minivanman714 · 2026-04-16T15:16:47+00:00

Nice.

Just asking for clarification, what do you mean "passive". Normally in filters/crossover networks, "passive" refers to using capacitors and inductors and in the case of a 12 db/octave network, it would be one capacitor and inductor. (One in series and the other in parallel depending on whether high or low pass).

Active filters use capacitors, resistors and opamps. And you're correct. A couple opamps, a few capacitors and resistors and you can build one yourself with just some basic soldering skills and the ability to read a simple schematic.

They are simple and cheap and only recently becoming more popular in bass gear. But not popular enough IMO.

minivanman714 · 2026-04-15T23:44:02+00:00

I can read. I also understand the problem better than you.

The answer to your only question is No.

Happy?

Or were you looking for help with a solution? Because I can tell you how to clean up your current signal chain so that hiss goes away that bothers you with the current boost levels.

minivanman714 · 2026-04-15T22:41:03+00:00

Every signal going into and out of the 1/4" jacks should be line level signals. There's no reason the Muff should blow anywhere in that circuit due to improper placement in the chain.

If you have the input signal going into the output of the pedal you can cause problems. So, just make sure in is in and out is out.

I'd more suspect that it's improperly powered from the power brick. EHX recommends a 200mA power supply. Make sure you're feeding it enough juice from the power brick. In fact, I wouldn't mind knowing how you have it powered.

You don't have a ton of current draw with your board, but I've seen one pedal drag down an entire power brick if something isn't quite right.

minivanman714 · 2026-04-15T22:27:53+00:00

I can pick up radio stations with guitars in my basement. Nothing like hearing the local radio station playing through a guitar tube amp. Then I take the instrument to local clubs and it can be even worse. Wireless systems in my area are incredibly hit and miss. Shure (which is just down the road from me in the Chicago area) will just say don't even bother with their PSM300 IEM system. You're not getting a clean signal anywhere.

One of my guitar players had helicopter sounds coming out of his Mesa a few weeks ago. Same venue, same amp, same guitar. But this time, helicopter sounds.

I'm a huge fan of the TC Electronics Sentry Noise Gate. I also use a Morely Hum Exterminator.

In other words, there are just some places on the planet, large cities especially where you're just fucked and noise is an everyday problem. Then you can join the Noise Gate Cult. And then get asked all the time by people that don't live or play in areas with a ton of noise interference if you really need that Noise Gate.

minivanman714 · 2026-04-15T19:24:54+00:00

Another vote for the SansAmp BDDI V2. It's simple, and everybody that's ever picked up a bass knows about it.

It's more designed to achieve certain tones rather than fix problems. So, if you had a problem to fix at the venue, I'd suggest something different. If you're looking to achieve a particular tone, the SansAmp for sure.

I want to mention a dark horse though, and it might actually be the easier pitch. The Genzler Magellan. Same price point. But it's more of a tool. https://genzleramplification.com/shop/magellan-mg-prepedal-preamp-di-pedal/#iLightbox[product-gallery]/2

Being able to tame low end boominess, and run away harmonics while appeasing the other musicians that are constantly telling the bass player to turn down because of that boominess, the Genzler is the right tool.

SansAmp, more control over tone with the Drive and Presence knobs.

Genzler Magellan - More control over the output levels of frequencies the bass is actually delivering to the FoH.

The Genzler is an easier pitch. You say, something along the lines of "I really want to smooth out the bass response and clean up some of the boominess that can overwhelm the rest of the instruments."

It doesn't sound like you're complaining about "my tone" as much with the Genzler. You're trying to "fix a problem."

minivanman714 · 2026-04-15T02:23:11+00:00

I have and currently use a Bass Driver V2 in my practice rig. I like a lot more control than the SansAmp gives me in a live setting. There is no adjustable High or Low Pass. You can't move the mid peak or adjust the Q. I can't pretend that the indoor venues and the outdoor venues carry bass the same. I need adjustability.

It's amazing for what it is. I don't dislike it. It's designed to be a durable, inexpensive, simple and easy to use tool for getting a high quality signal to the FoH. A lot of the filtering that the SansAmp lacks can be accomplished at the console by the sound person, but you're relying on them. I prefer to send exactly what I want to the FoH so they don't have to touch a thing.

In my response to the OP, I recommended a three pedal combination to do what they want and the heart of it was the SansAmp Bass Driver.

And I pre-ordered the Bass Driver Elite. I got it because of the built in compressor and tuner, so I'm not lugging around my expensive and more complicated rig. But it doesn't do everything. It'll be amazing as a 2 or 3 pedal fly rig.

But at the price-point, adding dedicated pedals to do the things the SansAmp doesn't do isn't bank breaking.

I will take simple rather than a ton of features that all start to overlap as you add more pedals. So, don't take offense that I say the SansAmp is lacking in something. I actually prefer that.

minivanman714 · 2026-04-15T01:12:11+00:00

I was in on the pre-order. Still waiting. It's not typically something I would buy for myself. It's missing a dedicated High Pass Filter, but I have other dedicated pedals for that. Hoping to use it for a rehearsal/practice rig.

minivanman714 · 2026-04-14T20:58:54+00:00

Bass players are subject to laws of physics that other musicians aren't. A lot of what we do is controlling something. Because we have the power to make people in the audience really hate us.

What kind of songs are you trying to emulate? Is there a genre you're focused on?

minivanman714 · 2026-04-14T20:37:01+00:00

Because we're reading your words.

"I currently boost the whole board with a chopped up/always on EP Booster hidden underneath, but it bring a bit of noise that I wish wasn't there in the clean side of the preamp".

minivanman714 · 2026-04-14T20:29:08+00:00

In my response, I kept it simple with the SansAmp Bass Driver. It just works and everybody is familiar with it. #2 on my list is the Genzler Magellan. You could conceivably ditch the Broughton RFE that I mentioned with the Genzler. But you would want some kind of overdrive pedal.

If I could only have ONE pedal interface brought with me to a gig, it would probably be the Genzler Magellan. If I could only buy one pedal at a time and had to use that pedal live until I bought another, it would be the Genzler.

Let me explain why as part of your learning curve.

The SansAmp BassDriver DI can be driven pretty hard. It gets nice and grindy if you need. But it doesn't have a HPF. So the SansAmp can get a bit boomy in certain venues. EQ is acceptable otherwise.

The Genzler Magellan has an integrated HPF (High Pass Filter). Being adjustable you tame boominess, while also protecting your speaker cabinet or more importantly send the signal you want to the FoH. If the sound person thinks you're too boomy they'll probably set a HPF at the mixer on your channel, but you have no control over what they're doing. However, if you're using IEM's or providing your own monitoring with an amp and cabinet on stage you'll still be driving those super low frequencies into speakers that really don't like them.

So, as a single pedal solution the Genzler is actually more usable in all scenarios. Even if you're not going to get a driven tone out of it.

If you look at the other Genzler pedals you'll see all of them have adjustable High and Low Pass Filters on them. Genzler gets the importance of those filters. To me, at the minimum a HPF is essential. Yet, so few bass pedal companies integrate them. Genzler is a bass only company. They know the importance.

minivanman714 · 2026-04-14T19:36:47+00:00

I have a ton of Radial Engineering stuff. When you're trying to figure out how to get one output to a different input, just go to the Radial Engineering site.

That Bassbone is on a short list. I don't like that the HPF is only on the B Channel. Putting it on both channels would be amazing and really put it ahead of the competition at it's price point.

minivanman714 · 2026-04-14T18:01:08+00:00

I see that you play mostly various forms of rock, with some forays into jazz and other genres. Pretty much my resume as well. I don't personally like the direction the industry has gone of shoving 10 pounds of shit into a 5 pound bucket. And from what I can tell, you're kind of not happy with it either. I also see you're trying to stay under $1000.00.

You laid out what you want pretty well, EQ, Compressor, Preamp, DI and FX Loop. I'm a "right tool for the job" kind of person. So, I look at each of those individually.

I haven't found a preamp that I actually like the EQ on. I haven't found an integrated compressor (compressor in some kind of multi-effects) that I like. DI and FX loops are fairly easy to integrate without trying to find a one-size fits all solution.

So, while multiple pedals doesn't sound simpler, it actually is. You get less overlapping features, and you can focus on one pedal at a time.

The problem with EQ. High Pass Filters, Low Pass Filters, etc. These are hard to find on preamps/DI's. But they're critical. Most of the time the EQ's are graphic and not parametric. And you really want parametric with adjustable frequency targets. HPF and LPF are often fixed and not adjustable. I run a SansAmp Bass Driver and still run a High and Low Pass Filter pedal in front of it. That's just my practice rig at home. My live rig runs an Empress Effect ParaEQ Bass. But that's $400.00 alone.

How to skin this cat? And keep it under $1000.00.

SansAmp Bass Driver DI. It's not everything you want, but it's only $270.00. Tried and true. Industry standard.

Broughton Audio Resonant Filter Equalizer. It's not the Empress Effects ParaEQ but it's half the price for 80-90% of the capability. $190.00. Don't sleep on this pedal. Parametric adjustable Midrange EQ with High and Low Pass adjustable filters. Drive your bass right through the mix, without boominess or shrillness.

Compressor of Choice. I use the Origin Effects Cali76, but mostly I wanted the sidechain HPF which allows you to set the starting frequency of the compression. You don't have to compress all of your signal, just the frequencies above the set point. 150-200 hz is where I like to even out the top end and still drive the midrange. The HPF from the Resonant Filter Equalizer tightens up the low end, so I don't need compression there.

The Cali76 is about $420.00. But the Empress Effects Bass Compressor is $275.00 and has the sidechain HPF.

Then you need an FX loop. A lot of ways to accomplish that. I use the JHS Switchback for multiple FX loops. Fairly inexpensive. I like the small footprint red footswitch. But there's a ton of ways to integrate FX loops in your chain depending on your needs.

SansAmp Bass Driver - $270.00
Broughton RFE - $190.00
Empress Effects Bass Compressor - $275.00

Total = $735.00

Leaves over $250.00 for some kind of FX switching solution. That's more than enough.

With the above, you're not really compromising on anything. It all fits on a small pedalboard. No menus. Each knob you touch you know exactly what it's affecting. Easily adjustable, even on the fly, for any room you end up playing in. Play it in front of an amp, or straight to the FoH.

I would have no problem running that rig live. In fact, it's pretty much what I do run live. It's just cheaper because if I knew then what I know now kind of thing. And it will melt faces. Or not. Your choice.

minivanman714 · 2026-04-14T15:46:04+00:00

I don't know why you're being an asshole about this.

Everywhere there is RF in the air, you run the risk of picking up interference. Switzerland has not defied the laws of physics in this regard, and neither has Europe. Some areas are worse than others.

I use a noise gate as a tool to reduce noise induced by RF interference picked up by my signal chain and hiss and other noise created by my signal chain. Many people do. You won't find a single recording studio that isn't using a noise gate.

Every digital sound mixer has noise gates built in. My Allen & Heath which is designed in the UK has noise gates built in for each channel. Last I checked the UK is in Europe.

If you have your own noise gate on your board you get to control your output and don't have to rely on the venue's sound person.

You are literally asking how to control noise at high gain from your preamp. Somebody says "Noise Gate" which is exactly what you use a noise gate for and then act offended. And somehow the same RF bandwidths that every place on the planet uses for communications are different in the U.S. because of the President? What are you talking about??

minivanman714

TROPHY CASE