Programmable EQ and drive?

[SumOne]

I want to be able to stomp one footswitch to go from an overdriven mid focussed tone (ska/punk) to a clean and dubby tone (dub/reggae part of songs). So a change in overdrive and EQ with one footswitch - seemingly fairly simple thing but without going the multi-fx route it is only the VT Deluxe, or perhaps the EBS Microbass 3, or Darkglass Alpha Omega Photon that spring to mind, any other recommendations?

 

Or I suppose I could put a EQ pedal and drive pedal in one FX loop and an EQ pedal in another fx loop, that seems a bit inelegant/bulky/expensive, and the opposite of the KISS principle though.

 

A digital multi-fx is the probably the obvious answer given that things like the Darkglass cost £500 with fewer features.....which probably means back to the sell pedals/buy multi-fx cycle again! 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 3, 2023 by SumOne

[tayste_2000]

Zoom MS-60B and use the A/B mode.

 

Honestly as an utter gear snob it’s far better than it’s priced at.

 

Tech 21 PSA is still on sale at Thomann

[Downunderwonder]

There is a less fancy BDDI programmable 3 channel that is a bit cheaper than a Deluxe but would do what you want.  Possibly you would want an EQ as well to chuck in a few more mids before cutting them up with BDDI in different ways 

Edited May 3, 2023 by Downunderwonder

[SumOne]

Thanks for the suggestions. I like the form factor of the Tech 21 flyrig type pedals, it's a shame that none other than the VT Deluxe seem to have programmable EQ including mids.

 

The Zoom pedals are undoubtedtly the best value, I have found myself (particularaly with the MS-60B) scratching my head and clicking through menus to get into A/B mode or scrolling through A-G or whatever it is to get back to where I want to be and trying to remember which preset is which, or figure out what is unexpectedly on/off in the signal chain though. That is user error but I'd prefer something more foolproof for live use 'stomp this button for this sound, the other button for the other sound'.

 

The Valeton GP 200 LT is a contender (£229 Andertons), could click up/down between  EQ and drive presets, it also means I wouldn't need a seperate tuner or compressor. Probably not much better than the Zoom B1-four but the coloured footswitch lights and screen might make it a bit more foolproof.

Edited May 4, 2023 by SumOne

[fretmeister]

What about the Source Audio Aftershock?

 

Lots of drive options and the other stuff from the app is very comprehensive. @Quatschmacher might be able to give more information about the EQ capabilities of it.

[SumOne]

14 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

What about the Source Audio Aftershock?

 

Lots of drive options and the other stuff from the app is very comprehensive. @Quatschmacher might be able to give more information about the EQ capabilities of it.

 

That's a good call. I did own one and still have the Neuro app installed so had a quick look on it and there is a lot of EQ adjustability per preset, and a long-press on theh footswitch can change from one preset to the other. There is one for sale on here so I might go for that, or perhaps the Ultrawave that's for also for sale here as that has the EQ and drive and also a compressor. 

[fretmeister]

I've got an Ultrawave I'm not using.

It is great fun but I might sell it. I refuse to take any board bigger than a Nano+ and it's full and I'm happy with the stuff on there!

 

I hate to think how many pedals I've got lying about unused!

[SumOne]

Lack of hardware controls puts me off the SA One Series a bit. Menu diving on a Zoom MS-60B is a pain, but at least it is a possibility without attaching to a phone or Laptop.

 

I did own an Aftershock for a while and got rid of it because although it says it can do every conceivable type of distortion I didn't feel any were quite as good as just an individual pedals. Convenient though, and good for the EQ stuff so I might give it another go.

 

The Ultrawave looks interesting as it'd mean a seperate compressor isn't needed, I've been put off by the fact that every demo shows it doing really extreme foldover and synth and ring modulator type sounds and I just want a fairly standard tubescreamer type distortion, I assume it probably can do mild too though?

[fretmeister]

I've not tried milder sounds! Just mad ones!  

 

I might hook it up later and try some of the player library sounds to see what is there.

[Dood]

I've just finished editing my video review of the new Bergantino Super Pre. It will do everything you ask and more without the additional bells and whistles of a fully featured processor (that you might not need). It is DSP, but it's a top tier processor on board so it sounds superb even "flat" with zero tone suck. 

 

Compression (series and parallel) 4 band parametric equaliser (not just mids) high pass and low pass filters, OD, Distortion or Fuzz (bendable and adjustable crossover), feedback filter, tuner, dual DI's headphone for IEMS or practicing, effects loop, Bergantino proprietary 'Speaker Profiles' and all completely programmable. 

[fmb]

For a three button setup I'd go:

 

Zoom B3n (I own it): cheap multifx, with some patience you can do more than what you are asking for;

Tech21 SansAmp PSA 2.0 (I own it): fully analogue, already suggested, now cheap, not really an EQ pedal, I suggest you to give a look to the Tech21 bass presets demo.

Two Notes ReVolt Bass Preamp: I don't own it, but it seems to fit your request.

 

fmb

Edited May 4, 2023 by fmb

[SumOne]

1 hour ago, Dood said:

I've just finished editing my video review of the new Bergantino Super Pre. It will do everything you ask and more without the additional bells and whistles of a fully featured processor (that you might not need). It is DSP, but it's a top tier processor on board so it sounds superb even "flat" with zero tone suck. 

 

Compression (series and parallel) 4 band parametric equaliser (not just mids) high pass and low pass filters, OD, Distortion or Fuzz (bendable and adjustable crossover), feedback filter, tuner, dual DI's headphone for IEMS or practicing, effects loop, Bergantino proprietary 'Speaker Profiles' and all completely programmable. 

 

Nice! I look forward to the video. It looks like a great pedal - ticks all the boxes. The £729 price tag is a bit unfortunate as it is about £400 more than I was hoping to spend, I guess you get what you pay for though. 

[Quatschmacher]

10 hours ago, SumOne said:

The Ultrawave looks interesting as it'd mean a seperate compressor isn't needed, I've been put off by the fact that every demo shows it doing really extreme foldover and synth and ring modulator type sounds and I just want a fairly standard tubescreamer type distortion, I assume it probably can do mild too though?

Ultrawave does normal dirt too. There’s a user who has done a lot of presets for it of that nature. Mine (limited edition) is currently for sale as I don’t really use distortion at all. 

[SumOne]

11 hours ago, Quatschmacher said:

Ultrawave does normal dirt too. There’s a user who has done a lot of presets for it of that nature. Mine (limited edition) is currently for sale as I don’t really use distortion at all. 

 

The Ultrawave does look good, 3 seconds to long-press footswitch from one setting to the other isn't ideal for me though, and getting midi control adds to the complexity and cost. On reflection I think an all-in-one multi-fx is going to be the best option for me.

 

 

[SumOne]

I'll probably go for the Boss GT 1000 Core  (Again! I briefly owned one but sold it when I incorrectly thought I wouldn't be doing live stuff for a while - I have other ways of doing effects processing at home).

 

It seems reliable, compact, sounds good - has decent compressor, EQ, drives, amp/cab sims and IRs (and more), can split the outputs (i.e. clean to Amp, Amp/Cab sims signal to PA) and for my particular need I can easily have a preset with a footswitch switching between a split path that does Reggae type stuff on one path and ska/punk on the other  (with enough spare effects blocks to do things like have different compressors for each path),  or there's gapless switching between presets. 

 

 

[fretmeister]

TBH I don't think you can go wrong with any of the modern multi / modellers these days.

They are all very capable.

[SumOne]

1 minute ago, fretmeister said:

TBH I don't think you can go wrong with any of the modern multi / modellers these days.

They are all very capable.

 

It is a tough decision, in the last year or so there seems to be a lot more multi-fx choice that give Line 6 a run for their money and start to make individual pedals seem a bit of a costly specialist thing of the past - like having a classic car. 

 

[thewebow]

On 04/05/2023 at 14:40, Dood said:

I've just finished editing my video review of the new Bergantino Super Pre. It will do everything you ask and more without the additional bells and whistles of a fully featured processor (that you might not need). It is DSP, but it's a top tier processor on board so it sounds superb even "flat" with zero tone suck. 

 

Compression (series and parallel) 4 band parametric equaliser (not just mids) high pass and low pass filters, OD, Distortion or Fuzz (bendable and adjustable crossover), feedback filter, tuner, dual DI's headphone for IEMS or practicing, effects loop, Bergantino proprietary 'Speaker Profiles' and all completely programmable. 

Where can one see this mentioned amazing sounding video?

[ahpook]

On 03/05/2023 at 16:34, SumOne said:

...perhaps the EBS Microbass 3...

 

The Microbass II can act as two-channel preamp with adjustable gain on one channel- cheaper used than the III.

[ahpook]

12 hours ago, ahpook said:

 

The Microbass II can act as two-channel preamp with adjustable gain on one channel- cheaper used than the III.

 

Darn, I meant II.

 

Overzealous with the 'I' key :)

[Dood]

On 09/07/2023 at 10:09, thewebow said:

Where can one see this mentioned amazing sounding video?

 

I don't have a date I'm afraid! I've submitted my full feature video and column review, so it's in the system over at Bass Gear Magazine! I'm just editing up another four video reviews for them and another two on the way Busy, busy!