Multiple Pedal Synth Sounds

[stewblack]

Thought this might be fun. Not a thread for actual synth pedals, which are utterly incredible these days.

I'm after those of us who also enjoy the old fashioned way to 'build' a synth bass sound by stacking individual stomp boxes.

What do you use? In what order? To produce what sound?

[paul_5]

Funny you should start this thread, I’ve literally just finished assembling a Meatball and am experimenting with fuzz and octave in the effects loop - then I’ll start with the expression pedals…

[thisisswanbon]

36 minutes ago, stewblack said:

Thought this might be fun. Not a thread for actual synth pedals, which are utterly incredible these days.

I'm after those of us who also enjoy the old fashioned way to 'build' a synth bass sound by stacking individual stomp boxes.

What do you use? In what order? To produce what sound?

I Tried, but the modulation aspect always got the best of me, I always found the chorus etc used to take too much away so it wouldn't sit right.  Sure I would've got there with a better chorus.

 

I get a great synthy bass sound from my EHX Sovtek deluxe with the mids engaged if that counts? I also may be cheating, but I feed my Octabvre Mini into a saw wave C4 patch with clean mix 60/40 gives some filthy results!

[jimbobothy]

… I occasionally play about with a compressor into OC-2, a Fredric Effects BugCrusher, Solidgold FX Beta Mk2, a MXR Bass Envelope Filter and finally a chorus of some kind (either EHX Eddy or MXR Bass Chorus Deluxe). I do have other pedals that can be swapped out but some good synth sounds can be got with those lot. Err, I also have a Pigtronix Mothership 2 that is an actual analogue synth so that works nicely aswell. Once I got some very convincing Space invaders dying sounds I almost laughed at ha ha 😆

[paul_5]

Bass - Emma compressor - oc2 clone (well, mostly an OC2,  DO like to tinker), Meatball clone with a fuzz in the FX loop, not decided which one yet.

[songofthewind]

How about sound clips? I've got a few synth pad noises on the go.

[Doddy]

I go Octave >Envelope filter > Overdrive > Chorus (sometimes).

 

For me, a good synth tone starts with an octave pedal that sounds great with the direct signal turned off, so I usually use either an OC2 or  Octabvre. Everything else I change around depending on my mood, but generally it's in the above order.

[MacDaddy]

This setting on my Flattley bass Poison Ivy, gives a nice fuzzy synth effect 

[stewblack]

Some great replies - thanks folks. I was putting together a bass synth board (in my head at least) ready for a gig on Thursday.

Time was against me so I ended up just taking a synth pedal which is such a cop out I know.

I plan to revisit the project today. Planning to include the EHX Blurst with an expression pedal attached, which I thought might be fun.

Here's the chair top experimental board

I'll have to put a SoundCloud clip up. It actually sounds good.The Blurst I'm not sure about. Doesn't really add anything.

What I've learned is that the compressor is important before the dirt and octave. A little of the clean sound with the octave down helps tighten things up too. The filter twin is the absolute icing on the cake. The best filter I found in this set up. The noise gate I think I need, but I'm not sure. We all like a little glitch as the note fades, don't we?

 

Edited August 5, 2022 by stewblack

[Quatschmacher]

Mine is Octave (currently MXR VBO) into a Zvex Mastotron and then those in the loop of the Source Audio Spectrum. Have used other (analogue) filters such as Chromatron, Enigma but the Spectrum gives the best control over envelope shape and has most of the relevant controls accessible from the panel. 

[Pamparius]

 

Took another attempt on deciding which pedals to put on my board. 
 

The Octron sounds great with the just the sub but the upper octave adds so much, almost never have the dry engaged though. 
 

My “classic” synth sound is Octron into Big Muff then into one of the Bass Balls. In the pick there is a Phase 90 but i constantly switch between it and an Ehx Small Stone and currently fighting against the urge to purchase another phaser.

 

My favorite sound at the time is Octron-Doom2-MiniMu. 
 

Never owned a compressor and think about getting one to see what it can do for my setup. The Fairfield Accountant is intriguing.

 

 

[Baloney Balderdash]

Well, this one I stumbled on accidentally, as I fooling around turned a whole buttload of the pedals in my relatively complex pedal setup on all at once, just for the fun of it, but then to my total surprise discovered that it actually happened to produce an absolutely massive, gloriously thick, lush swooshing, quacking phaser analog synth-esque effect with a somewhat pad like quality, perfect for slow heavy melodic synth parts, that I am no doubt going to take advantage of at some point in my compositions.

 

 

First of all the individual components that this synth tone is made up of and a little about my signal chain to explain it:

 

First of all there is my instrument, which is a Harley Benton GuitarBass, a take on the Fender Bass VI concept, but that I have tuned to G1 standard tuning, that is 9 half steps bellow a regular E2 guitar tuning, or 3 half steps above regular E standard bass tuning.

 

That then, to simplify it a bit and cut it down the essentials, though there are really more pedals involved in this (not least because it is an "amp-less" setup), goes through an always on TC Electronuic Sub'N'Up Mini octaver, loaded with a custom made 1 octave up polyphonic Toneprint, blended with dry signal, to deliver a sound similar to an 8 string bass, though the octave up signal is probably a bit more subtle than the octave strings on an 8 string bass usually would be.

 

Well this then goes into an always on Boss LS-2 with an always on Joyo Orange Juice in one of the effect loops, dialed in to a higher low gain kind of overdrive, which then for my basic "clean" tone is just blended with parallel clean signal (that is {1 Octave Up + Dry}), at about equal measures, from the other effect loop of the LS-2.

 

However in the same effect loop of the LS-2 that always on Orange Juice is followed by a Boss MT-2 Metal Zone, and then finally a Behringer VP1 Vintage Phaser, which is a really great original big box EHX Small Stone clone, set with the color switch engaged.

 

And then In the other effect loop of the LS-2 is a Mosky Black Rat, set to a high gain Turbo RAT distortion, followed by a Behringer SF300 Super Fuzz, octave fuzz, and then concluded with a Monarch MFL-22 Stereo Flanger (rebrand on the identical Arion Stereo Flanger), used in mono.

 

After the Boss LS-2 then is a Boss TR-2 Tremolo, followed by a TC Electronic Shaker vibrato, loaded with a custom made Toneprint consisting of a triangle wave vibrato effect blended with clean signal, effectively making it fuction as a chorus effect, after that then is a Zoom B1Xon digital multi effect, which among other stuff is used for an always on subtle plate reverb into a really subtle spring reverb, and the Zoom multi effect is then followed by a NUX Tape Core Deluxe, which is a really great digital emulation of the legendary Roland RE-201 Space Echo tape delay.

 

 

Normally how I'd use all this would be either:

 

- Basic "clean" tone: {1 Octave up + Dry} -> [Loop A + B: {Orange Juice overdrive} + {Dry*)}] -> Zoom Reverb

 

- High gain Distortion: {1 Octave up + Dry} -> [Loop A: {Orange Juice Overdrive -> Metal Zone}, blended in parallel at about equal measures with Loop B: {Turbo Rat}] -> Zoom Reverb

 

- High gain Fuzz: {1 Octave up + Dry} -> [Loop A: {Orange Juice Overdrive -> Metal Zone}, or just {Orange Juice Overdrive}, blended in parallel at about equal measures with Loop B: {Super Fuzz}] -> Zoom Reverb

 

- Thick lush Phaser effect: {1 Octave up + Dry} -> [Loop A: {Orange Juice Overdrive -> Behringer Small Stone Phaser clone}, blended in parallel at about equal measures with Loop B: {Flanger}] -> Zoom Reverb

 

- Lush Chorus effect: {1 Octave up + Dry} -> [Loop A + B: {Orange Juice Overdrive} + {Dry*)}] -> Tremolo -> Chorus -> Zoom reverb

 

- Or for an even lusher Chorus effect: {1 Octave up + Dry} -> [Loop A: {Orange Juice Overdrive}, blended in parallel with Loop B: {Flanger}] -> Tremolo -> Chorus -> Zoom Reverb

 

*) 1 Octave Up + Dry

 

Beside of course sometimes using the Boss Tremolo just on its own, or combined by the NUX Tape Delay, as well as sometimes using the Tape Delay just on its own.

 

 

However this massive faux Synth effect that I happened to accidentially discover is composed of a combination all of that, which is:

 

{1 Octave Up + Dry} -> [Loop A: {Orange Juice Overdrive -> Metal Zone -> Behringer Small Stone Phaser clone}, blended in parallel at about equal measures with Loop B: {Turbo Rat -> Flanger} or {Super Fuzz -> Flanger}] -> Tremolo -> Chorus ->  Zoom Reverb -> NUX Tape Delay, set to a single virtual playback tape head delay mode, that in this case is dialed in to really functions as more of an ambient, reverb like, thickening ethereal effect than a traditional delay, clearly discernible repeat, effect. 

 

 

I know it looks like a massive overkill, and way overly complicated as well, and it is definitely not a subtle effect either, or an effect that will work for fast runs, but as a massive thick lush analog synth-esque sound with a somewhat pad like quality it actually works amazingly well for slow heavy synth parts.

 

Who would have guessed, but it really does. 

 

It definitely was not intentional in any way, as said I was just fooling around, playing the fun old "everything on at once" game, and there was no way I had even just the slightest suspicion that it might turn out as anything actually even just remotely useful.

 

Honestly I would never have thought this up, it was a pure incident that I fooling around just for the fun of it tried to turn a whole buttload of the effects on all at once, that I otherwise normally use in relatively more limited/moderate, somewhat more sensible, combinations, but then much to my surprise found that it happened to actually turn out sounding totally awesome, and definitely could be useful for some specific stuff down the line, to mimic an analog synth tone.

 

 

Here's what my entire "amp-less" pedal setup looks like (the HoTone tremolo is really just there to boost, as well as slightly brighten, the Behringer Small Stone phaser clone, which, just like the original big box Small Stone, comes with a slight volume drop when engaged, and the XVive tremolo is exclusively used as a buffer effect, which it works extremely well as (think it's output impedance is something like just 200 or 250 Ohm), before my EHX Black Finger, as that for some reason was designed with a relatively low input impedance, and which I by the way use primarily as an always on tube preamp stage, with the optical compression circuit effectively dialed out of the equation) :

 

Edited August 6, 2022 by Baloney Balderdash

[stewblack]

I think @Baloney Balderdashjust won the thread.

[Baloney Balderdash]

9 hours ago, stewblack said:

I think @Baloney Balderdashjust won the thread.

 

WOOHOO!!! YES!!!

  

 

Do I get a price too? 

 

Edited August 6, 2022 by Baloney Balderdash

[ped]

I was going to say these two but now that feels a bit inadequate now!!

 

 

[Bassmidget209]

Don't think I'm bringing anything new to the party but this is what I do for one of our songs: deluxe octave into mojomojo (light-medium gain) into microsynth (filter trigger off) into ms60b with a basic patch using compression and detune. Superego is fun in this but gets pretty wild. Can also engage the drive channel on the digbeth. That's great if the filter is on as it really highlights the frequency swoop. Muff is there as well for muffiness but it kinda overloads everything else. Still a fun noise though 😁

[stewblack]

4 hours ago, ped said:

I was going to say these two but now that feels a bit inadequate now!!

 

 

It's quality sometimes..not just about the quantity 

[stewblack]

2 hours ago, Bassmidget209 said:

Don't think I'm bringing anything new to the party but this is what I do for one of our songs: deluxe octave into mojomojo (light-medium gain) into microsynth (filter trigger off) into ms60b with a basic patch using compression and detune. Superego is fun in this but gets pretty wild. Can also engage the drive channel on the digbeth. That's great if the filter is on as it really highlights the frequency swoop. Muff is there as well for muffiness but it kinda overloads everything else. Still a fun noise though 😁

I'd say that adds quite a lot. I like the MS60B in all that, a really useful Swiss army pedal.

[Boodang]

 

Aguilar octamizer into a Mr Black Fwonkbeta. The octave filter tone goes from smooth to edgy, the more edgy the heavier the synth tone with a slight overdrive tinge to it. Delay from the TC and / or textured reverb from the Walrus adds lots of balls!

Have found that you can't use the phase and envelope filters together as the peaks add and you get clipping. I have an MXR bass deluxe fuzz which I'll add as well to see if that adds even more balls.

[stewblack]

1 hour ago, Boodang said:

 

Aguilar octamizer into a Mr Black Fwonkbeta. The octave filter tone goes from smooth to edgy, the more edgy the heavier the synth tone with a slight overdrive tinge to it. Delay from the TC and / or textured reverb from the Walrus adds lots of balls!

Have found that you can't use the phase and envelope filters together as the peaks add and you get clipping. I have an MXR bass deluxe fuzz which I'll add as well to see if that adds even more balls.

Oh man that's my kind of board! I own some and lust after others there!

[Baloney Balderdash]

On 07/08/2022 at 01:38, stewblack said:

I'd say that adds quite a lot. I like the MS60B in all that, a really useful Swiss army pedal.

I own and use in my setup both a Zoom MS-70CDR and a Zoom B1Xon, even plays a quite central role in it, both loaded with my own custom set of Zoom effect models, via the unofficial 3rd party Zoom Effect Manager firmware hack program (that in my opinion Zoom really ought to have offered something similar to anyway long ago), especially love the Zoom B1Xon with the easier on the fly switching between different patches and the, by the way great, build in expression pedal that can be assigned freely to whatever one parameter of any one effect of any given patch, at any range and working in any direction you should wish for, though undoubtful the stomp box format is really practical from a space saving perspective.

 

I really do believe that the Zoom B1Xon and G1Xon (which I also own one of as a backup should my beloved B1Xon ever stop working) is the best multi effect Zoom ever made, so genuinely great sounding (well admittedly this doesn't go for all the effect models of that generation equally, there are in fact some pretty horrible sounding effects on these units as well, but generally speaking) despite it being a bit aged budget digital multi effect, and so amazingly versatile and tweakable.

 

As far as I am concerned the newer generation of Zoom units and digital effect models is a step back in the wrong direction for Zoom (they most of all remind me of the equally horribly crappy digital effect units Zoom put out in the 90's), much less versatile and tweakable, and in my opinion also sounds like crap, and I should know, being stupid enough to have bought and own both the Zoom B1 Four and G1 Four, which I am sure I will never use again, and really ought to sell, was it not for me feeling bad about passing on such crappy pieces of gear.

 

Love my Zoom B1Xon, and I am pretty sure it would still earn a spot on my pedal board even if I at some point should acquire a more contemporary high end digital multi effect unit, like for instance the widely popular Line 6 Helix Stomp, or the, on paper at least, even greater (more processor power, and a relatively large touch screen, which for instance allow you to draw EQ curves freely) and more recent, but also actually slightly cheaper, HoTone Ampero II Stomp, which I have been eyeing and actually seriously pondered on weather I should maybe buy at some point in the future. 

 

 

Edited August 8, 2022 by Baloney Balderdash

[stewblack]

I know what you mean about the quality of the B1on. I'm not nearly as angry about their other models, the B6 for example is a formidable piece of kit.

But yes the B1on is still a very usable bit of gear

[bassist_lewis]

For a long time I was obsessed with getting the bass sound from I Wanna Dance with Somebody/How Will I Know/We Can Work it Out (Chaka's version). Before I got the EHX micro synth the closest I got was a octave>chorus>filter, in particular the 3Leaf Chromatron, which gave me the down sweep sound I was looking for.

I also found that my Malekko B:Assmaster into my Moog 101 was a great Stevie Wonder-esque synth sound, though oddly I couldn't get the same sound with any other fuzz pedal.

I also got a great atmospheric David Lynch's Dune-esqe sound with octave>fuzz>moog filter w/expression pedal>delay.

[Bassmidget209]

On 07/08/2022 at 00:38, stewblack said:

I'd say that adds quite a lot. I like the MS60B in all that, a really useful Swiss army pedal.

It is really handy I have to say but it's a bit of a double edged sword. I LOVE the versitlity to size ratio but I find it frustrating to adjust or mess with on the fly. I honestly think it's one of those pedals most bassists should have at some point (other one being a sansamp/insert your di-preamp here). I mainly use the zoom for modulation so I am on the lookout for an appropriate multimodulator, not sure I'm gonna find a better one though. I also don't want to spend more that like a tenner which is probably the greater limiting factor here 🤣🤣

[paul_5]

Yeah, the MS60B is a great little piece of kit.