phagor

Another option is to upgrade the Bass Big Muff to a deluxe that has a blend knob (and a crossover)...

Fishman have just come out with a wireless guitar to Midi converter, but there doesn't seem to be a bass version (yet). http://www.fishman.com/tripleplay/

I also have the Iron Ether Oxide. It's a great gated fuzz, and does sound very synthy with an envelope filter and a bit of chorus. Like all gated fuzzes, it can be a little tricky to dial it in - sometime it will miss some quiet notes or be glitching wildly depending on how you set it. It's off my board at the moment, replaced by an Iron Ether Subterranea, which isn't as clipped as a gated fuzz, but way more flexible.

All three of those examples sounds pretty analogy to me. The classic DX7 bass sound is more like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIYvHMMJWjI. I haven't had or heard a synth pedal that can get close to the DX7. However for the more traditional analog sounds, the Markbass Super Synth is great - it has three oscillators which can be detuned for fatness. There's quite a lot of control over the triggering, but you'll need to use the software editor to set it up, which isn't ideal on a gig. The Bass Micro Synth is also great, but I found that the envelope triggering is all at one level - you can't affect the filter amount with your playing volume. That might be good for you - make the synth more robotic, or it can be tricky live. My favourite synth sound at the moment is the Iron Ether Subterranea and Xerograph Deluxe pedals with expression pedal, or the Three Leaf Groove Regulator 2 with the Sub plus other stuff in its effect loop.

Just received a Pedaltrain 2 from Graeme. Very smooth transaction - the case was described very honestly and was well packed. Graeme let me know exactly what was happening at all stages, even giving me a tracking number for the parcel. Highly recommended!

Just bought a pedal from Darren - very easy, smooth transaction. Good communications - he let me know exactly when the pedal would arrive, and it came well packed and in perfect condition. Deal with confidence!

Iron Ether Oxide is a good gated fuzz, comes up occasionally second hand in the Effects For Sale forum.

Sorry, I haven't tried the Stanley Wah. Looks cool - has different filter modes etc. But it isn't an envelope filter, and a wah does sound different. You might get close depending on how quick your ankle is! Maybe try them both out somewhere?

I would do octave -> envelope -> compressor. This will stop the "bwaps" from the filter getting too loud. You could also try the compressor before the filter - this will make the filter dynamic response more even, sounding the same for loud and quiet notes. Some players like that. For me, the dynamics are what makes an envelope filter cool. I like the Bass IQ, and still use it occasionally - it's a nice, smooth sounding filter. The problem I have with it is getting the Threshold knob set right - depending on your bass, the sweet spot is really small. On my pedal board I have two envelope filters with lots more control over the filter - a Three Leaf Groove Regulator 2 and an Iron Ether Xerograph Deluxe.

Just purchased a cab from Russ - a very pleasant, easy transaction. Good to meet and chat with you. Many thanks, Mike

That's going to be tricky. Can't imagine what pedals will get you close. You'll might need to build the chords up note by note in the looper. Maybe this is cheating, but what about cutting the first 4 bars off the original track on your computer, then loading it into a looper pedal with USB input or SD card so you can just start it, then play the bass line over the top?

Analog octave pedals do produce a square wave at 1/2 the fundamental frequency of your note. But they then use this to invert the original signal. Half of the squarewave is normal signal. Half of it is turned upside down. This means that the effected sound retains some of the character of your bass's tone (you can tell this by turning your treble knob up or down - you can hear the result in the octave effect), but which also has a strong octave down component. It also means that the effect follows the volume of your bass's signal, both overall and as each note dies away. After the squarewave is applied, they usually do some filtering to remove the rough edges - some, like thisnameistaken's synth modded OC-2 or the EHX Octave Multiplexer let you control the filtering. The Meatbox and the Density Hulk clones also do this trick, but use a specific chip to do the work which sounds smoother, and they have additional low filters to help boost the bass. Another type of pedal to have a look at are bass enhancers like the Aphex Xciter. I have one somewhere - it makes the bottom end thicker and more plasticky. I think it works by phase aligning different harmonics within the signal. It also does exciting which is adding extra high frequency harmonics. If you want to play with waveforms, check out the Iron Ether Subterranea. Mine arrived two days ago. It gives you an octave down with adjustable filter (sounds cleaner than the synth mod OC2 to my ears), plus octave down and normal octave synth waveforms - square, pulse and triangle that you can mix together - sounds great into my Iron Ether Xerograph low pass filter. Video here: [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-mcop5MFUo%5B/media"]http://www.youtube....cop5MFUo[/url]

I'm interested in this too. There's a Youtube vid of a chap comparing them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KygeNL6m4qc There's probably no alternative but trying them out.

[quote name='BigBassBob' timestamp='1379375681' post='2212032']has anyone looked at the frequency output of say an octave pedal, say an OC 2 to see what the lowest frequencies are? [/quote] One or two octaves below your lowest note. A low B string is 30 Hz, so one octave below is 15 Hz, and two is 7.5 Hz! Ain't a cab made that's going near that. Of course, an OC2 will be a wobbly, glitchy mess on a low B... Having said that, there's some psychoacoustic stuff that says that you don't need to hear the fundamental for your brain to guess the pitch of a note - your brain recognises it from the harmonics, especially relative to other notes.

They're both great. The GR2 is a lovely, controllable envelope. The Xerograph Deluxe is a wild beast of a filter. To be honest, I wish it had more control over attack and release than just the fast/slow switch. But it sounds great with an expression pedal. Maybe your Wonderlove will do both jobs - I'd be interested to hear how you get on with them both. I have OC2 into fuzz (Iron Ether Oxide) into Xero into chorus (Mooer Pitchbox) into Sansamp VT Bass. All of those are then in the effect loop of the GR2. That way, I can use them in any combination (GR2 bypassed), or put them through the envelope (GR2 on), but triggered by my clean bass sound. Great feature on the GR2 and Wonderlove, I recommend trying it. For long synth sweeps, I use the Xero with expression pedal and fuzz and chorus. For short synth notes or straight envelope filter, I use the GR2 instead. I can even have both filters going at the same time, which can sound crazy, occasionally giving vowel sounds.

I have three envelope filters on the go at the moment - a 3 Leaf GR2, an Iron Ether Xerograph Deluxe and an EBS BassIQ. All good in their own way. Before you bin the Bassballs, have a play with the trimpots inside the case. Apparently you can beef the sound up quite considerably with them. Some folk have modded it so they are moved to knobs on the front panel. http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f36/bassballs-big-surprise-951095/ http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f36/nano-bassballs-trimpots-mod-590329/

It would be great. But I think the individual piezo pickups on the Roland and Line 6 modellers are important to the results. The modellers work using a sort of dynamic eq to simulate the pickups and construction of different basses. The piezos give a common baseline with lots of high frequencies to work against. Don't think it would work with all the various pickups and tones on our basses. Also, the piezos are individual - one per string, so the modeller can work on separate notes instead of a chord. Less important for us bass players than guitarists, I guess.

It lives! Zoom MS-60B Multistomp for Bass Patch 1 to 10 Test [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7rXx84fO8M[/media] See the user's other videos for patches 11-20 and 21-30 Zoom MS-60B vs Sansamp Bass Driver [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1820_IXnxg[/media]

The OC2 works by controlling your bass signal with a signal an octave (or two) down, so you can get a brighter sound by putting more high frequencies in - don't be afraid to open up your tone or treble control on your bass. Having said that, the octave sounds are filtered, so they're never going to be that bright. I get some boost from the octave knobs - I don't need to turn them up much above 12 o'clock. Difficult to judge, because the bass heavy octave sounds seem louder than the direct level, but you need plenty of level to cut through in a band situation. Maybe also try a distortion or fuzz before the OC2 - you will get the brighter, louder tone out of the octaves, although it may affect tracking.

The Microbass EQ is pretty flexible. The enhanced filter button lets the treble control scoop out mids at the same time as boosting the treble, a bit like the Markbass VPF. You can also link both channels A+B to get bass, treble (with enhanced filter) and a semi parametric mid control. It's completely clean sounding unless you turn up the drive control or valve sim. I do sometimes miss not being able to tweak the treble frequency - it's set quite high for my taste. But on the whole it's a very useful pedal to have - I've used it way more than I thought I would.

[quote name='elephantgrey' timestamp='1363974847' post='2020457'] Isnt this technique called phase modulation? [/quote] I guess it is - had to think about it that one for a bit! The square wave modulates the phase of your bass's signal by exactly 0 or 180 degrees. I know of phase modulation from the old Casio CZ keyboards where the phase of the oscillator could be modulated continuously from 0 to 360 degrees.

[quote name='elephantgrey' timestamp='1363963204' post='2020236'] Are there any octave pedals out there that give you control over the waveforms used?[/quote] Unfortunately, octavers don't work that way. They do generate a square wave down one octave or two, but that square wave is then multiplied by your bass's signal. That result is your bass's signal, but with the polarity flipped every half cycle of the squarewave, to add an octave down component. The output is also filtered to remove any high frequency bits of the squarewave. This can make the soloed octave sound very sine-ish. I think you will need a synth pedal to get different waveforms.

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