Okay, this is a discussion I want to start because I'm curious as to the opinions on this.

Is it better to use guitar effects for bass, or can effects really be "voiced" for bass as they say?

What have you had better experience with? Which do you use? Favorite brands? Do you have certain effects that you only like to use the guitar versions of (e.g. distortion, chorus), or isn't there a difference to you?

Start posting!

A friend of mine is a bass player, I used to sing earlier for his band. He was using effects for his bass guitar all the time to achieve the strangest tone colors. Sometimes I think the distortion he uses is just a bit too much for the bass. Maybe some guitar effects were never meant to be used on bass, I don't know...

I'm not a dedicated bassist Shack, but I do know that some effects can at least be "tuned" for the bass frequencies. I used to have an effects and amp modeling plugin for Sonar (by Cakewalk) that I was using in my home studio, you could adjust the frequency spectrum where the effects were prominent within a certain frequency "band", such as those that represent the octaves available on a 4 or 5 string bass. For what it's worth...

It does seem that most effects pedals/ racks are 'tuned' for bass in that they are made to affect low frequencies.

I find that using guitar effects is an interesting way to get new and different sounds from my bass, so I like using these too.

Boss pedals are great; old Ibanez pedals and racks are fun too. I like the Danelectro overdrive pedal, and the Digitech SC-2 Valve distortion pedal on my bass.

My brother's band is currently using the DigiTech BP80 Bass Multi-Effect Pedal. He really likes it; although, like Gibson, sometimes I think he over does it a little. He said he got it at musiciansfriend.com for right at $100.

Does anyone make a bass effects pedal that can make my jazz bass sound like an upright bass?

In my experience -- I've been playing bass for 45 years -- there is no pedal that will do this. My advice: use the heaviest flatwound strings you can be comfortable with and put a piece of foam under the strings at the bridge. You still won't get that "woody" resonant sound that having a massive hollow body gives you, but the flats combined with the foam will give you the same type of decay. The first Fender Precisions basses -- not the one that they now call the Telecaster, '51 P or "Sting" bass -- had a foam mute under the bridge cover. The tighter you screwed down the cover, the less sustain you had. EQ can help, too.