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Bass Synth... (Plug In Baby)


son of frog
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Hi there, I know there are already a few topics already about synth pedals

I've recently joined a Function band, and i've been asked to play Plug In Baby, so of course i need a synth pedal quick, id already given some thought before and explored the web to see whats out there, and obviously narrowed the search down to two candidates...


i want to know peoples opinions on which is the best one?

Boss Synth / EHX Micro-synth?

i know they have many similarities in terms of tone and function and are both reliable, but which gives me more control and overall power over a sexy sweet synth bass sound, especially as it needs to sound right for this.

Thanks
-Tom

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I dont think a synth is needed really. If the guitar is fuzzed enough a shallow chorus+distortion on the bass will do the job. Synths are too pricey to buy for just occasional use. And 99% of your average pub audience wouldnt realise if there was a synth there or not.

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[quote name='Mog' post='1039716' date='Nov 28 2010, 10:59 AM']I dont think a synth is needed really. If the guitar is fuzzed enough a shallow chorus+distortion on the bass will do the job. Synths are too pricey to buy for just occasional use. And 99% of your average pub audience wouldnt realise if there was a synth there or not.[/quote]

Yeah thats a valid point but i've been considering getting a bass synth pedal for a while now, for my own personal use, Using it to better my tone at a gig is just a bonus, i want to know what the best one is to go for

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[quote name='son of frog' post='1039574' date='Nov 28 2010, 02:44 AM']Hi there, I know there are already a few topics already about synth pedals

I've recently joined a Function band, and i've been asked to play Plug In Baby, so of course i need a synth pedal quick, id already given some thought before and explored the web to see whats out there, and obviously narrowed the search down to two candidates...


i want to know peoples opinions on which is the best one?

Boss Synth / EHX Micro-synth?

i know they have many similarities in terms of tone and function and are both reliable, but which gives me more control and overall power over a sexy sweet synth bass sound, especially as it needs to sound right for this.

Thanks
-Tom[/quote]

Please don't buy the Boss, its terrible and the tracking is aweful. If you are looking for a reasonably inexpensive synth pedal (ie not a Chunk OS or MB SuperSynth) then go with the EH Bass Micro-Synth or maybe even try the Digitech Bass Synth Wah, I know Chris from Muse has used it in the past (around that Origin era).

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OC-2 > Fuzz > Filter. That does plug in baby spot on for me. No idea how wolstenholme does it (I would assume the deep impact is in there somehwere). But he definietly uses and ocatver and distortion in the chorus when the synthy sound drops out, admittedly 95% of a pub audience won't notice, but if you want to do it absolutely spot on it's something to remember.

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There you go, thats a pretty recent article, not the highest resolution, but you can indeed see one of the little green blighters in his rack.

Not to derail the thread too much, I think you can happily get that sound by combing Octave>Fuzz>Filter as suggested by bobbass4k (which would be my method of choicd), or you could cop it using a Bass Micro Synth.
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[quote name='absolutpepper' post='1040149' date='Nov 28 2010, 05:31 PM']Please don't buy the Boss, its terrible and the tracking is aweful.[/quote](sic) I have a Boss SYB5, and I agree that the tracking does leave a lot to be desired, even for a high output bass. 95% of the sounds are unusable in a rock band scenario; I tend to use it to hold a drone note when I go walkabout up the dusty end... other than that it's good fun to play with, but not the most useful pedal I have. I'd go with an OC2, fuzz and Q-tron. Oh, and a loop pedal :)

EDIT: just had a listen to the track, and I reckon an EHX Bassballs will cover that quite nicely (fire up the distortion circuit and it's certainly close enough for a pub full of p*ssed up punters!).

Edited by paul_5
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For fear of repeating myself from another post I just hooked up an Ernie Earplugs Regenerative Feedback Processor - its a passive pedal requiring no batteries- that can adda synth like quality to your dirty tone and allows you to switch it in and out and retain the tone of your dirt pedal. For me its been quite fun playing with the volume control and hearing how that affects the tone.

Its maybe not he perfect replication but for about £25 quid 2nd hand you might find it more fun and much cheaper than a synth pedal that won't track the notes etc. or certainly a component in a sound that allows you your stamp of originality :)

OK vid link added below and please dont comment on the playing especially when I decide to 'slap' :) Should give a good indication of the messed up tones though - I'd be happy to have comment on that :lol:





[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9o3cnfKiEe4"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9o3cnfKiEe4[/url]

Edited by krispn
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[quote name='citizenerased' post='1045956' date='Dec 3 2010, 07:56 AM']Agree with comments on SYB-5, it's virtually unusable in a live scenario, more of a "gimmick" box. For Plug-in I used a combination of octave and flanger with a bit of "dirt" on my Korg AX3000B - got pretty close.[/quote]


The SYB-3 was far superior IMO.

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[quote name='krispn' post='1045817' date='Dec 2 2010, 11:22 PM']For fear of repeating myself from another post I just hooked up an Ernie Earplugs Regenerative Feedback Processor - its a passive pedal requiring no batteries- that can adda synth like quality to your dirty tone and allows you to switch it in and out and retain the tone of your dirt pedal. For me its been quite fun playing with the volume control and hearing how that affects the tone.[/quote]


That's pretty cool!

I've just purchased one on ebay.
£29 inc shipping. brand new.

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[quote name='bartelby' post='1054478' date='Dec 10 2010, 08:38 PM']That's pretty cool!

I've just purchased one on ebay.
£29 inc shipping. brand new.[/quote]

That sounds like a steal! I do miss using the feedback loop on my blender, but I dont have space for it on my board. At that price, this is definitely on my radar.

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  • 2 weeks later...

[quote name='allighatt0r' post='1046385' date='Dec 3 2010, 02:32 PM']I just jack up the treble and play it clean with a pick :) Punters don't care.[/quote]

I use a little bit of digitech bass synth wah.. its Ok blended with some dry signal. No body mentioned a deep impact ? they are supposed to be the best synth pedal bar none aren't they ?

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  • 3 weeks later...

[quote name='bartelby' post='1054478' date='Dec 10 2010, 08:38 PM']That's pretty cool!

I've just purchased one on ebay.
£29 inc shipping. brand new.[/quote]


Well, it took a bit of time getting here, but it arrived today.
I shall have a mess around with it at rehearsal on Friday!

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I've played PIB many times, using straight bass . Active basses make it sound nearer to the original IMHO.
As for synth pedals: more people seem discouraged/disappointed in their overall performance.

I would think a multi fx pedal such as Zoom B2 1 U or Boss ME -8B would be a better option.
If the synthy stuff doesn't do it for you, I'm sure you'd find something that does.

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