thisnameistaken Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 Sound clips later - work's got some "urgent" stuff for me to do today. Typical! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crez5150 Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 Oooooo... Lots of twiddling to come...!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umph Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 i think this may be the best delivery ever Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 i want full active and passive bass sample of that pulse synth when your ready boyo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisnameistaken Posted June 27, 2008 Author Share Posted June 27, 2008 [quote name='BassManKev' post='227961' date='Jun 27 2008, 12:46 PM']i want full active and passive bass sample of that pulse synth when your ready boyo [/quote] Er, I think my Thumb does passive with the vol. pot pulled up but I've never tried it... I'll give it a go though. If you're referring to the thread on Talkbass where Mario thought the Pulse Synth was doing that harsh crunchy attack sound because it was receiving too hot an input signal from an active bass: Apparently after he upgraded the guy's pedal to the latest revision it stopped doing it, so I think we should be OK. Right, must do work so I can play with pedals, brb... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 [quote name='thisnameistaken' post='227967' date='Jun 27 2008, 12:51 PM']Er, I think my Thumb does passive with the vol. pot pulled up but I've never tried it... I'll give it a go though. If you're referring to the thread on Talkbass where Mario thought the Pulse Synth was doing that harsh crunchy attack sound because it was receiving too hot an input signal from an active bass: Apparently after he upgraded the guy's pedal to the latest revision it stopped doing it, so I think we should be OK. Right, must do work so I can play with pedals, brb...[/quote] i dont go on talkbass il look forward to it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannybuoy Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 Nice Meatwad! Has it got the switch added to retain the fx loop in bypass mode? I'm after one of these myself - I thought if you wanted an expression socket you had to make do with a stereo fx send/return socket and use a Y-cable - or is having the exp socket on the bottom a custom mod too? Also, did you get stung for import duty/charges? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisnameistaken Posted June 27, 2008 Author Share Posted June 27, 2008 [quote name='dannybuoy' post='227974' date='Jun 27 2008, 01:00 PM']Nice Meatwad! Has it got the switch added to retain the fx loop in bypass mode?[/quote] Yeah, actually I think Mario has made that more useful than I asked him to (seems to be a theme with this order!). The top two flicky switches you see on the left side of the unit (according to the sheet of scribbled instructions he sent): With both switches "on" it's normal Meatball operation - loop comes on with the filter. With both switches "off" the stomp switch switches between the Meatwad with the FX loop disabled and the FX loop with the Meatwad disabled. I'm guessing some other combination of the two will give the FX loop both with the Meatwad on and in bypass mode, and the other combination will be FX loop off either with the Meatwad on or in bypass mode. Remind me never to gig this thing when I'm pissed. There's a similarly complicated toggling mod on the Pulse Synth too, but I'll get to that later when I do sound clips. [quote name='dannybuoy' post='227974' date='Jun 27 2008, 01:00 PM']I'm after one of these myself - I thought if you wanted an expression socket you had to make do with a stereo fx send/return socket and use a Y-cable - or is having the exp socket on the bottom a custom mod too?[/quote] The TRS jack for the effects loops is only necessary if you order both the exp. pedal jack and the external filter trigger input. I decided the external trigger in wasn't entirely necessary (you could just put your filter-controlling signal in the input and your bass signal in the FX return) so managed to avoid having to do that. [quote name='dannybuoy' post='227974' date='Jun 27 2008, 01:00 PM']Also, did you get stung for import duty/charges?[/quote] About £80 of your English quids, but I haven't paid it yet. Big sticker on the box saying it must be paid before delivery, bit weird. Have to call them later to avoid having customs officers turn up and smash up my house I suppose. Right, now I really MUST finish this work... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umcoo Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 When I got a green muff from america, i owed £24 in charges and the guy just wrote on the box 'don't worry about it'. Got a letter a few days later saying i owed them, but ignored it! nada problemo! enjoy your pedals, that filter looks great Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MB1 Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 MB1. Brunged????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burno70 Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 I got a meatwad a few weeks ago, fantastic pedal it is too. Previously I owned a Q-tron and an EBS IQ and the Meatwad out quacks both of them. It's just so tweakable, I'm getting new tones out of it all the time. I touched lucky and didn't get hit with any import charges. Thisnameistaken - is there any chance you could give us a sound clip of the Meatwad with the expression pedal? I didn't go with this option but am thinking that I should have. Go on, fill me with regret and envy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannybuoy Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 I want to hear what it's like after a heavy fuzz (in the fx loop and with the exp pedal) using the LP filter. I love my Supercollider going into my 442 filter, I hope I can get similar tones with one of these! Hopefully you've got a big muff or similar lying around... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1976fenderhead Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 Hmm, my work blocks links to image hosting sites... What is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisnameistaken Posted June 27, 2008 Author Share Posted June 27, 2008 Clips will have to wait until the weekend I think - spent an hour with these boxes so far and I'm still none the wiser. Lotsa knobs + switches... Pulse Synth: Got some hilarious '50s B-movie-sounding stuff with the LFO modulation in, not managed to find an especially bassy tone without it yet, still more knob-twiddling to do. Everything's dependant on everything else so it's tricky to dial stuff in. Once I figure out what they actually do it should get easier. Out of the box it sounded like a harsh fuzz, although it seems possible to calm that down a bit (again, controls complicated, experimentation needed). There's a tone knob on it but even at zero there's a lot of treble. There's potential for shaping it with the Meatwad though. Meatwad: In a word: Lush. Tried it with a couple of fuzzes in the loop (Muff, Blowtorch) but so far not happy with the results, most of the fuzz is getting eaten by the filter. There's so many band selection options on this thing I think I just need to find the right tweaks. The combo of attack/decay/sensitivity/resonance/intensity controls really does let you set the filter response exactly how you want it, so much so I can't imagine ever needing another filter. It's definitely outmoded my Q-Tron already (Q-Tron coming soon to an Effects For Sale forum near you!). As for the expression pedal: The pedal itself that Lovetone recommends (Bespeco) isn't all that pleasant to use - it's a keyboard volume pedal so it rocks a bit far back for me, not too bad though given that the bottom of the range can get extremely low with the Meatwad anyway. Easy to use as a wah, was also doing some slow sweeps with the Pulse Synth in the Meatwad loop to get cheesy big beat/techno effects, definitely glad I got it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisnameistaken Posted June 28, 2008 Author Share Posted June 28, 2008 Think I've decided the Pulse Synth is altogether too harsh on its own unless the modulation is switched in, although it's very nice as a "low-bit-depth"-type fuzz. On my board though it's mostly going to want to have its hand held I think. It's basically just raw oscillator, but that's not necessarily a bad thing if you've got shaping controls elsewhere. The modulation goes a low way towards shaping it into something smoother, but I would've liked more depth available on a couple of controls. I've also found the envelope-following LFO speed setting can give more depth than the standard modulation, which is a bit weird - I would like that range without the envelope follower engaged. I don't know if these deeper tones are practical (I don't really know anything about analogue synthesis) but I know Mario has never had the opportunity to try it with a bass - the only reference he's got is guitar - so maybe there is potential for more bass-friendly tones. I've emailed him about this anyway so I'll no doubt get feedback soon. I'm definitely glad I paired it with the Meatwad. Through a particularly peaky, watery filter the Pulse Synth sounds very bonkers and had me grinning like a loon. It's also nice to set the Meatwad static and just dial in the filter so everything you want from the Pulse Synth comes through. Also if you set the Meatwad's resonance way up and the decay quite long it's cool to just play one note and listen to the Pulse Synth's harmonics get swallowed one by one as the filter sweeps back down. I also think the Pulse Synth will sound cool blended with my OC-2 so I'm going to try that tomorrow. Then I'll do some samples. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisnameistaken Posted July 6, 2008 Author Share Posted July 6, 2008 (edited) Well, I managed to find half an hour to do a quick sample (after I realised I said I would, then never did...), first clip is just the pulse synth at about as bassy as it will go - there are other sounds available of course, it can go much thinner. The wobbly modulation on a couple of notes is the LFO sweep which I've got wired to a momentary switch so I can stick it in and out, haven't had a lot of time to play with that yet so excuse me if I get a bit enthusiastic with it. I can also switch it the other way, so the LFO is always on and I can cut it with the momentary. There's also an envelope follower which varies the speed of the LFO, which I haven't really used yet but could be cool. Second part of the clip I recorded quickly for the dude who wanted to hear the Meatwad with the expression pedal. The Pulse Synth is in its FX loop. I just go from all the way up to the bottom and back again just to show the range, probably could've picked a lower starting point actually, it's pretty hissy up there, but I suppose at least that shows the range available. [url="http://teop.org/media/psynth_clip.mp3"]http://teop.org/media/psynth_clip.mp3[/url] Verdict: I'm much happier now I've had some time to spend with the pulse synth - it can take a while to find the tones you want because the controls are quite dependant on eachother. As for tracking: If you play cleanly, it behaves itself very well. I'd say tracking is on a par with my OC-2 if fed a signal it likes. The clip above was recorded with my fretless 3-band Stingray (stock electronics), with vol. full up and everything else flat. It seems to warble a bit with my Thumb bass - which has a much stronger output - but if I pull the vol. pot up to put it in passive mode it tracks just as well as the 'Ray does. Tried a few options to tart up the sound of the Pulse Synth. Blending it with an octave below really beefs things up but stays nice and gnarly. Adding some chorus (again, blended about half) is also neat, gives it some depth but without getting too thick, and of course there's lots of nasal and gutteral combinations to be had with the Meatwad. All in all I'd have to say this pedal performs better than I expected, there's a lot of buzzy, trumpy, synthy fun to be had. As for the Meatwad: I suppose some of you will be familiar with the Meatball so not much to tell you, although people who've used both seem to think there are greater extremes to be had from the Meatwad. I can imagine they're right - if I put the resonance anywhere above about 12 o'clock with the filter closed it can feed back easily if it finds a harmonic it likes, and with the filter open it twitters and squawks in pretty bizarre ways. I had wondered before it arrived whether - despite all these controls - I'd just find an envelope filter setting I liked and then never tweak it again, but nah there's a lot of useful sounds to be found. Both sweep directions are useful (I always found my Q-Tron to be a bit boomy when sweeping down, but this can be tweaked a lot more - lower resonance helps a lot), the attack/decay and sweep strength settings can really make a difference too, calming things down and making the filter sit in slower songs surprisingly well. And of course the expression pedal is handy either for long, House/D&B-type sweeps or wah effects. It's also pretty cool with the envelope follower on, so the filter quacks away while you choke it into lower ranges with the expression pedal. I did have an issue with the range available on the expression pedal when the unit first arrived - it either wouldn't go deep enough or high enough, depending on the sweep direction setting. Mario offered to take the unit back, paying shipping both ways and modifying it for free, which was very generous given that he markets it as a Meatball clone and that's the stock behaviour of the Meatball's expression pedal - there really was nothing wrong with the pedal that he'd sent to me, I just wanted it to be more extreme. He also offered to mail me a "mod kit" to do it myself, which would've been quicker, but when he told me it involved just two wires and a switch I decided to buy a switch and do it myself rather than have a long wait for stuff in the post. He supplied the instructions, it was an easy job, and as you can hear from the clip the sweep is now full range. Mario has said that this sweep range will be standard on future Meatwads with expression inputs. A quick word about Mario himself: I haven't been the easiest customer ever - both my pedals have custom mods on them, so of course the spec. had to be bashed out through a series of emails, and in the case of the pulse synth he had some experimenting to do to get the mods I asked for working well. Then of course we had this business with the exp. pedal range after I took delivery and again he was 100% willing to sort it all out for me if that's what I wanted. He's really just a great guy to buy pedals from. Edited July 6, 2008 by thisnameistaken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burno70 Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 Quality! Some cool riffs in there mate. Love the scratchy texture of the pulse synth. And yes, I now know that I should have requested the expression pedal mod with the Meatwad, damn, there is no cure the the never ending GAS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisnameistaken Posted July 8, 2008 Author Share Posted July 8, 2008 That GAS is a bitch. To be honest I stole one of the "cool riffs" from [url="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=SonUW_yEMWw"]Moloko[/url] because I accidentally reminded myself of it with the low gliss in the previous bit. After I recorded that clip I actually went chasing the tone from that tune just to see if the pulse synth could do it, and found it pretty quickly. Must get out of the habit of picking mute notes with the pulse synth on - would be more convincing without little hints like that giving it away as a guitar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squire5 Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 BRUNGED??? Honestly,I've never heard the like!! it's BRINGDED!Look what the postman BRINGDED me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr.sibs Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 the puse synth sounds like a better controlled version of the analog soul provider, nice! and that filter effect is just too cool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannybuoy Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 About that Bespeco expression pedal, I was considering one myself, but have just ordered a Moog EP-2 pedal from Digital Village for £28.99. Looks a lot better quality and is still pretty cheap. I've just received the bits I need to go ahead and mod my Tonefactor 442 filter for manual expression control, fingers crossed I don't cock it up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisnameistaken Posted July 16, 2008 Author Share Posted July 16, 2008 [quote name='dannybuoy' post='240726' date='Jul 16 2008, 11:28 AM']About that Bespeco expression pedal, I was considering one myself, but have just ordered a Moog EP-2 pedal from Digital Village for £28.99. Looks a lot better quality and is still pretty cheap.[/quote] Yeah I had a look around to see what else was available but AFAIK the Moog is a 50Kohm pot, and the Meatball filter will close with around 20Kohm so the Bespeco is a better match. I imagine if I had the Moog only about half the pedal travel would do anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jobiebass Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 Ill be honest with you, I only looked at this thread because I read it as "look what the prozy brought me" I was thinking Clap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannybuoy Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 [quote name='thisnameistaken' post='241068' date='Jul 16 2008, 04:56 PM']Yeah I had a look around to see what else was available but AFAIK the Moog is a 50Kohm pot, and the Meatball filter will close with around 20Kohm so the Bespeco is a better match. I imagine if I had the Moog only about half the pedal travel would do anything.[/quote] I'm not sure if I got this right in my head but,for my purposes at least, the resistance doesn't matter. There are 3 connections on the TRS cable, connected to 3 points in the potentiometer. One connects to +9v, one to ground, and the third returns a voltage between 0v and 9v depending on where the pedal is. Of course I may have got all this wrong, but I'm going to do a bit of checking with a multimeter before I commit to soldering everything down! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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