Video of my (bass)Balls

[ped]

Despite everything, the humble Bassballs remains one of my favourite pedals to play. And I say that purposely; you really have to 'play' the pedal because it reacts so much to changes in dynamics. This is an example I just recorded showing it at about 50% sensitivity where you can get a nice synthy sound from it, and during the chorus I run it into an octave (it sounds better with the octave first but I was being lazy)

 

This version in particular I really like because it has a far more open sound than my others, and partly because it's really rare to have a green one with the big footswitch.

 

Anyway I hope you enjoy my filthy sounds

 

 

[Bigwan]

That sounds lush! What's the track? Could listen to more of that...

Edited July 13, 2023 by Bigwan

[ped]

4 minutes ago, Bigwan said:

That sounds lush! What's the track? Could listen to more of that...

 

Thanks! It's a great sound, and really useful, it goes with so many things because it can be quite subtle if you play really lightly.

 

The band is called MICHELLE, they're brilliant, some tasty basslines. Here's the album:

 

The track I'm playing is called Looking Glass, and I used the Moises app to remove their (better) bassline.

 

 

[ped]

I just found a pretty rare version of the Bassballs - this came directly after the (very limited) run of green ones - it's the same tall box as the green one but has the circular graphic in blue, and the big chunky switch before they changed it for a smaller one (then reduced the height of the box). It has a more conventional footswitch.

 

After tinkering with it last night (adjusting the two filter sweeps by opening up the case) I have found it's sweet spot. It sounds quite different to the other; slightly more raspy and less punch, so like the filters are moving more slowly. Sounds great for synthy lines. I don't think it'll fit on my pedalboard though, which only has four pedals on it but they're all huge!

 

 

[HoorayForAnonyms]

On 13/07/2023 at 11:10, ped said:

Despite everything, the humble Bassballs remains one of my favourite pedals to play. And I say that purposely; you really have to 'play' the pedal because it reacts so much to changes in dynamics. This is an example I just recorded showing it at about 50% sensitivity where you can get a nice synthy sound from it, and during the chorus I run it into an octave (it sounds better with the octave first but I was being lazy)

 

This version in particular I really like because it has a far more open sound than my others, and partly because it's really rare to have a green one with the big footswitch.

 

Anyway I hope you enjoy my filthy sounds

 

 

Slightly late to this but thanks for sharing Ped. The Bassballs sounds great in this context and you’re coaxing a sound from it that I didn’t think was possible. Very tasteful playing too. I really enjoyed it

[HoorayForAnonyms]

9 minutes ago, ped said:

I just found a pretty rare version of the Bassballs - this came directly after the (very limited) run of green ones - it's the same tall box as the green one but has the circular graphic in blue, and the big chunky switch before they changed it for a smaller one (then reduced the height of the box). It has a more conventional footswitch.

 

After tinkering with it last night (adjusting the two filter sweeps by opening up the case) I have found it's sweet spot. It sounds quite different to the other; slightly more raspy and less punch, so like the filters are moving more slowly. Sounds great for synthy lines. I don't think it'll fit on my pedalboard though, which only has four pedals on it but they're all huge!

 

 

Great find! I like how you’ve found your niche. My very first pedal was the black box bassballs; I wanted to emulate Stuart Zender’s sound on ‘The Kids’ from Jamiroquai’s Return of the Space Cowboy album. I didn’t know the filters could be adjusted internally! 

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

I love the bass balls. In the 80s I had an original one without an LED. I have no idea what happened to it, it might be in a long forgotten box in the loft or I might have sold it, given it away, or left it somewhere. I now have a Mooer bass sweeper mini pedal which does a good job of copying the bass balls with a bonus that it has a pair of external knobs in place of the internal trimpots of the bass balls.

[ped]

43 minutes ago, HoorayForAnonyms said:

Slightly late to this but thanks for sharing Ped. The Bassballs sounds great in this context and you’re coaxing a sound from it that I didn’t think was possible. Very tasteful playing too. I really enjoyed it

Thanks! It’s a really flexible pedal actually, it responds very differently to  dynamics - even more so than a conventional filter I think because the actual envelope control is only half the story; the distortion (more like a croak) adds another element which responds dynamically. Generally I like to use it palm muted and open up for certain notes or accents. I use it in one song where it goes under a keyboard and playing long notes which sound like a fretless!

[ped]

40 minutes ago, HoorayForAnonyms said:

Great find! I like how you’ve found your niche. My very first pedal was the black box bassballs; I wanted to emulate Stuart Zender’s sound on ‘The Kids’ from Jamiroquai’s Return of the Space Cowboy album. I didn’t know the filters could be adjusted internally! 

Same, I had one (actually the USA version) and a mini Q tron. I think I didn't use them properly at the time, relying on them to make cool noises for me without appreciating how to ‘play’ the pedal, so I’ve come back to both and appreciate them anew. 
 

I didn't know about the adjustment either until I saw a mod where someone added external pots to adjust in the fly (a cool feature of the little Mooer Sweeper as mentioned by @Jean-Luc Pickguard). Judicious use and experimentation can yield results way beyond the factory settings, which I tend to find lean too much towards the top end and the bass end of the filter can  slam open and whistle in response to a bass input)

[ped]

8 minutes ago, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

I love the bass balls. In the 80s I had an original one without an LED. I have no idea what happened to it, it might be in a long forgotten box in the loft or I might have sold it, given it away, or left it somewhere. I now have a Mooer bass sweeper mini pedal which does a good job of copying the bass balls with a bonus that it has a pair of external knobs in place of the internal trimpots of the bass balls.

You could get about six Sweepers in the space one of the Russians takes up. Maybe I should try it!! I keep thinking about making a mini board as an excuse to buy one 😂

[LukeFRC]

27 minutes ago, ped said:

You could get about six Sweepers in the space one of the Russians takes up. Maybe I should try it!! I keep thinking about making a mini board as an excuse to buy one 😂

how many mini pedals could you fit on your board that currently has 4? (EBS flat jack plugs  )

[ped]

9 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

how many mini pedals could you fit on your board that currently has 4? (EBS flat jack plugs  )

 

Hm about 22 I think