Electro Harmonics Bass Micro Synth XO

[Ruck]

Since I own one of these and am having endless amounts of joy creating incredible synth tones from this tiny box of wonders Id thought Id clear a few things up to all those keen on buying one but have researched and read all the horror stories about the new version.

ok so to begin with I'm playing a passive bass but with stupidly high output pickups (more than i bargained for!) and just my bass plugged into my Little Mark II head I have to keep the Gain to 10 o'clock to not clip the amp.

Now reading all the horror stories I'll list the ones I am aware of:

-Sound cutting out early when sustaining a long note,
-Sub Octave voice distorting when pushed,
-Not enough Headroom for each voicing.

Well I admit upon first plugging mine in I had the distorted Sub Octave when playing hard, however the sound wouldn't cut off for a good 20-30 seconds when holding a note and the same volume of the True-Bypass was reached when the the Guitar Voicing was just above half way.

Now you see, the clever buggers at Electro Harmonics added an internal gain trim-pot inside the Micro Synth. This, which so many people fail to realise is mentioned in the Instruction manual. Factory setting is about 70-75%, apparently set for use with your average passive single coil bass. After adjusting through trail and error, I found the right setting.

And what do you know, all the above issues are no longer an issue and the pedal works 100%, notes sustain for ages (although not forever) and the volumes of each voicing are all balanced except the square wave which is always going to sound huge! No distortion from the Suboctave.

To conclude, this is such a hell of a pedal with many many many usable settings. 10/10!

Edited November 5, 2010 by Ruck

[thisnameistaken]

[quote name='Ruck' post='1013626' date='Nov 5 2010, 06:52 PM']Now you see, the clever buggers at Electro Harmonics added an internal gain trim-pot inside the Micro Synth. This, which so many people fail to realise is mentioned in the Instruction manual. Factory setting is about 70-75%, apparently set for use with your average passive single coil bass. After adjusting through trail and error, I found the right setting.

And what do you know, all the above issues are no longer an issue and the pedal works 100%, notes sustain for ages (although not forever) and the volumes of each voicing are all balanced except the square wave which is always going to sound huge! No distortion from the Suboctave.[/quote]

I've had four BMSs, funnily enough I had noticed the preamp gain trimpot. I tossed about with it for ages on my XO model and there was no way to get decent performance out of the suboctave on low notes and a sensible output volume. IMO it just doesn't sound as good as the old one, but if you're happy with it then fair enough.

Also the gating effect on sustained notes is actually governed by the other trimpot. Adjust that if you don't like the way it's gating. Personally I was happy with the factory setting, and extending it too far will result in glitchy tracking as your input signal gets weaker (especially if you've turned down the preamp gain trimpot).

[DanOwens]

Learning to use your kit properly is essential. Rarely do manufacturers release products that aren't up to scratch; more often than not it's users not reading manuals or not bothering to try and dismissing equipment. The BMS is a perfect example.

I could rant all day about people moaning octavers sound muddy below A on the E string or fuzzes sound too raucous. RTFM and make some noise!!!

Dan

PS. Sorry for the neggy vibes. I've had a morning of normal people and I find them annoying.