Gunsfreddy2003 Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 Hi all, Beginning to have a few problems with my sounds when I rehearse or play live and wonder if any one has any sensible solutions or suggestions? When using any of my active basses I find that when I switch to a thumbed passage in a song the bottom end is dropping out so I have started to tread on the compressor to use as a slight gain boost to compensate for the apparent drop in volume in bottom end. Trouble is that in a couple of tunes I am also using the Mu-Tron and Octaver to get a nice synthy sound and when you then switch from that monstrous sound to my regular bass sound (i.e. no effects) it sounds like everything is gone both in terms of volume and bottom end. Anyone any ideas how I can regulate the effects to more similar volume levels? I use a Tone Hammer or Sadowsky pre with me vintage jazz to fatten the overall tone and wonder if I would be better to use this with the active basses when I am slapping and reserve the compressor with gain for the vintage jazz when slapping to help keep the volume up. Any advise greatly received. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil.i.stein Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 (edited) have you got an LS-2 (or similar) ?, makes switching easy, as you can use independent levels for each loop. edit: or you could buy my clean boost off me here (shameless) [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/157501-clearout-time/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/157501-clearout-time/[/url] Edited October 10, 2011 by phil.i.stein Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wally Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 One of our guitar players has a decibel meter as an app on his i-phone. We've used it to measure and then smooth out the volumes switching in and out of effects with good results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 I use a Boss LS2 for that purpose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunsfreddy2003 Posted October 11, 2011 Author Share Posted October 11, 2011 I have looked at the LS2 spec on the web and it seems quite a complicated peice of kit! Can anyone explain in simple terms what it can do? I have never used effects loops before you see! [quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1318284954' post='1400194'] I use a Boss LS2 for that purpose. [/quote] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunsfreddy2003 Posted October 11, 2011 Author Share Posted October 11, 2011 Great idea - will try that to see if there is a big difference in volume or if it just perceived. [quote name='Wally' timestamp='1318283878' post='1400178'] One of our guitar players has a decibel meter as an app on his i-phone. We've used it to measure and then smooth out the volumes switching in and out of effects with good results. [/quote] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 [quote name='Gunsfreddy2003' timestamp='1318355996' post='1401105'] I have looked at the LS2 spec on the web and it seems quite a complicated peice of kit! Can anyone explain in simple terms what it can do? I have never used effects loops before you see! [/quote] It's not complicated: I can use it! It can have complicated uses, but the way I use it is very simple. The LS-2 has two loops. You can put pedals 1, 2 and 3 on loop A. You can also put pedals 4 and 5 on loop B. Each loop has individual level controls. You can preadjust each to match your tone when the pedal is off (and all 5 pedals are out of que equation). You can then choose teh pedal to act as a simple A/B switch, switching between loop A or B. Or to follow the sequence A - B - off - A - B - off - ... etc as you press the pedal. Or to just switch A/off, becoming a switch for the A loop only. Or the same with the B loop... Or blend both A and B adjusting the blend with the individual A and B level controls. I started using one for a very simple reason: I wanted to use my microQ-Tron pedal, but it does not have a level control and it's too loud when you engage it. Simple: I put the microQ-Tron alone on loopA, and turn down the volume a bit with the LS-2. I select the pedal to A/off mode and the microQ-Tron permanently on. Then when I want to switch on the microQ-Tron, I step on the LS-2, and when I step on it again it turns it off. It works brilliantly. The next step was... "ah, so I can use this to blend dry signal?" Yes. I can use the B loop, with nothing on it, to have dry signal that I can blend with my QTron. You control the balance with the level controls again. That was pretty cool, as I could use a very trebly setting on the microQ-Tron, and add some dry bass to it.. and it sounded a lot more round. This works really well with distortion/overdrive pedals if they do not have their own dry blend control. Right now I have 3 pedals on the A loop, and use B to blend dry signal. I don't use all three at the same time. Sometimes it's only one, sometimes one pair or another pair. I preadjust the level as before, and during the song I just step on the pedals I am going to need, with the LS-2 off... and simply stomp on the LS-2 to activate that particular combination of pedals. I hope you get the idea. I have actually bought another LS-2 so I can use two separate sets of pedals and preserve the ability to blend dry bass. One LS-2 controls envelope filters and octave, the other will have a couple of overdrive pedals. I hope this gives you a better idea of the practical use of the LS-2. It's a really versatile tool, even if you only use it for one particular thing in the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunsfreddy2003 Posted October 11, 2011 Author Share Posted October 11, 2011 Many thanks for taking the time to write all that out - it sounds like it could answer a lot of the problems that I have with my board! The biggest one being that when I go from one sound with 1 pedal and then changing to the next sound with 3 I can avoid all of the tap dancing routine that I do at the moment! Will see if I can find a 2nd hand one on the bay or on the forum. [quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1318359889' post='1401176'] It's not complicated: I can use it! It can have complicated uses, but the way I use it is very simple. The LS-2 has two loops. You can put pedals 1, 2 and 3 on loop A. You can also put pedals 4 and 5 on loop B. Each loop has individual level controls. You can preadjust each to match your tone when the pedal is off (and all 5 pedals are out of que equation). You can then choose teh pedal to act as a simple A/B switch, switching between loop A or B. Or to follow the sequence A - B - off - A - B - off - ... etc as you press the pedal. Or to just switch A/off, becoming a switch for the A loop only. Or the same with the B loop... Or blend both A and B adjusting the blend with the individual A and B level controls. I started using one for a very simple reason: I wanted to use my microQ-Tron pedal, but it does not have a level control and it's too loud when you engage it. Simple: I put the microQ-Tron alone on loopA, and turn down the volume a bit with the LS-2. I select the pedal to A/off mode and the microQ-Tron permanently on. Then when I want to switch on the microQ-Tron, I step on the LS-2, and when I step on it again it turns it off. It works brilliantly. The next step was... "ah, so I can use this to blend dry signal?" Yes. I can use the B loop, with nothing on it, to have dry signal that I can blend with my QTron. You control the balance with the level controls again. That was pretty cool, as I could use a very trebly setting on the microQ-Tron, and add some dry bass to it.. and it sounded a lot more round. This works really well with distortion/overdrive pedals if they do not have their own dry blend control. Right now I have 3 pedals on the A loop, and use B to blend dry signal. I don't use all three at the same time. Sometimes it's only one, sometimes one pair or another pair. I preadjust the level as before, and during the song I just step on the pedals I am going to need, with the LS-2 off... and simply stomp on the LS-2 to activate that particular combination of pedals. I hope you get the idea. I have actually bought another LS-2 so I can use two separate sets of pedals and preserve the ability to blend dry bass. One LS-2 controls envelope filters and octave, the other will have a couple of overdrive pedals. I hope this gives you a better idea of the practical use of the LS-2. It's a really versatile tool, even if you only use it for one particular thing in the end. [/quote] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 [quote name='Gunsfreddy2003' timestamp='1318360854' post='1401206'] The biggest one being that when I go from one sound with 1 pedal and then changing to the next sound with 3 I can avoid all of the tap dancing routine that I do at the moment! [/quote] Yeah, for that they are invaluable. You still need to tap dance to select what you want... but you can take your time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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