New MXR bass synth pedal released

[Al Krow]

54 minutes ago, kiat said:

Yes @Al Krow a couple of bass pros I follow use synth bass and it would be handy for ultra-funky lines (eg Stevie Wonder, Soulive) for the attack and very short notes. I'm right handed and would use my right, so a short KB would be fine and would be fun.

 

As others have mentioned already the extra gear is off-putting and  definitely not necessary for the dep gigs I do, which the MXR Bass Synth pedal should be more than enough for. As it is my compact pedal board will need reorganising which I didn't plan on doing, but want to get two signal chains combined (synth & non synth) so will have to get a new board anyway.

Need to adapt my playing to get the best out of the pedal, which will be a challenge, but hopefully won't take long.

 

Agreed. Also I've not really figured how you play synth keys and a bass at the same time! And, more importantly, whether as a bass-player, there's actually much demand or expectation for any of us to be a keys player with a different skillset?

 

Maybe surprised at hearing this from me, but once the next software update goes through on the FI v4 VIP (not sure when that's planned - waiting to hear from @Quatschmacher re. timing), I've got a feeling from the comments @LukeFRC has made in his recent excellent review that the FI could actually be the better pedal with better display, many more presets, and midi connectivity. So, if you're getting frustrated waiting for a MXR that's maybe another option and only £20 more new.

[Quatschmacher]

9 hours ago, Al Krow said:

waiting to hear from @Quatschmacher 

It’s not within my remit to speak to this. Also, I’ve not even begun updating the manual yet, partly because there are still some discussions about some other cool ideas that may end up going into the next update. I don’t want to start writing until all updates have been finalised.

 

The FI4 in its current state is still the better pedal. The main difference that MIDI-shy folks will benefit from with the next update is some new presets that will be in the factory sound set, some nice onboard patch management and portamento on audio-triggered playing. Those features are in and working as expected. (The other potential stuff being discussed is more for folks who’ll use the deeper editing functions and will offer some cool extended sound creation possibilities.) 

Edited Sunday at 00:58 by Quatschmacher

[EmmettC]

On 01/11/2025 at 08:47, kiat said:

The sellers are having unexpected problems getting hold of these and sorting out who gets them. I ordered one on the 12th Oct with Thomann (exp 3-4 weeks), then two weeks later I checked and it said (exp 1-2 wks) which was on track. Last week it jumped to (exp 8-9 wks). I called them up and was told they have a longer list of people who've ordered them, than what they are getting in. Some will get there's sooner, maybe me too. It seems they've not got their automation sorted, given that they have all the data - and a friendly phone call might be just the thing to ensure that you don't get bumped down the queue, by any carelessness.

 

Still I'm looking forward immensely to getting to grips with the pedal and using it on dep gigs especially.

 

Like others, have considered a bass synth keyboard but my regular bands don't think we need one yet.

Bass direct had a social media post showing lots of them in stock - might be worth checking there if you want it quicker.

[krispn]

1 hour ago, EmmettC said:

Bass direct had a social media post showing lots of them in stock - might be worth checking there if you want it quicker.

I think they’re already accounted for. 

[Kev]

On 01/11/2025 at 16:17, Quatschmacher said:

The FI4 in its current state is still the better pedal.

 

Depends in what sense you speak.  I would wager for the vast majority of players, the MXR is far more suited to them and therefore "better", the FI by comparison is far more difficult to program and needs a better knowledge of synthesis, whereas the MXR is still comfortably in the realm of tweaking knobs on the fly until you hear something you like.

 

I'd like to try one, but I'm conscious that most demos i've heard of it are nowhere near as good as the initial video sounded, and much as I love the interface, I don't like the C4 esque lack of easy foot accessible presets, combined with lack of midi.

[Paddy777]

1 hour ago, Kev said:

 

Depends in what sense you speak.  I would wager for the vast majority of players, the MXR is far more suited to them and therefore "better", the FI by comparison is far more difficult to program and needs a better knowledge of synthesis, whereas the MXR is still comfortably in the realm of tweaking knobs on the fly until you hear something you like.

 

I'd like to try one, but I'm conscious that most demos i've heard of it are nowhere near as good as the initial video sounded, and much as I love the interface, I don't like the C4 esque lack of easy foot accessible presets, combined with lack of midi.

I press the little preset changer button with my toe to change presets between songs all the time, works fine - not ideal, but it’s not a problem really 

[Kev]

31 minutes ago, Paddy777 said:

I press the little preset changer button with my toe to change presets between songs all the time, works fine - not ideal, but it’s not a problem really 

 

I'm talking more stage use than what I assume you mean is at home  

 

 

Edited Monday at 18:34 by Kev

[EmmettC]

3 hours ago, Paddy777 said:

I press the little preset changer button with my toe to change presets between songs all the time, works fine - not ideal, but it’s not a problem really 

If you hold down the footswitch the lights start flashing, then you can scroll through the presets using the footswitch. I'm not keen on pressing the little button with my foot, seems like it's asking for trouble in the long run.

[Kev]

Can you use an external footswitch to switch presets and make preset changing on stage a realistic prospect?

[EmmettC]

7 minutes ago, Kev said:

Can you use an external footswitch to switch presets and make preset changing on stage a realistic prospect?

Yes, there are a few ways to use the external footswitch, or expression pedal, but one of them is scrolling the presets.
Using the footswitch on the pedal is fine for scrolling through presets as long as you don't need to change during a song. If you want to do that the easiest way is to use an expression pedal, you can save a setting for the up and down position of the pedal, so going between them is easy - it actually blends between them, which can be cool if you want that, but if not just being quick with the pedal works fine.

[LukeFRC]

Kinda long video from someone who is doing the whole livestream thing - but somewhere in there is comparing the MXR, Enzo X, C4 and FI4 

 

all custom settings as he’s the kinda guy who wants you to buy stuff on his patreon …

 

 

[Kev]

2 hours ago, LukeFRC said:

Kinda long video from someone who is doing the whole livestream thing - but somewhere in there is comparing the MXR, Enzo X, C4 and FI4 

 

all custom settings as he’s the kinda guy who wants you to buy stuff on his patreon …

 

 

 

Nice, i'll dive into that later.  Did you get any verdict from it?

 

Slightly OT, but did I see someone somewhere express concern about how visible the FI VIP's text is under stage lights?  Looking at this video compared to all the other pedals, it does seem pretty bad!  Shame really, as its a nice design otherwise.

[GisserD]

2 hours ago, LukeFRC said:

Kinda long video from someone who is doing the whole livestream thing - but somewhere in there is comparing the MXR, Enzo X, C4 and FI4 

 

 

 

 

nearly 2 hours of video, but no conclusions.....

He says at the end he wants community to come to their conclusions in the comments below. jeesus. 

[Al Krow]

18 minutes ago, Kev said:

 

Nice, i'll dive into that later.  Did you get any verdict from it?

 

Slightly OT, but did I see someone somewhere express concern about how visible the FI VIP's text is under stage lights?  Looking at this video compared to all the other pedals, it does seem pretty bad!  Shame really, as its a nice design otherwise.

 

That would have been me earlier on this thread and I did get ticked-off for pointing that out, haha!

 

However in a live context I won't be messing around with patch settings / trying to create a new patch from scratch mid-set, so as long as the display is visible and telling me which of the 99 available preset patch nos. I'm on, I would have thought that would be fine. And probably a lot easier to read than remembering which dot accounts for which of the 8 presets on the MXR for me.

 

Edited 5 hours ago by Al Krow

[Al Krow]

6 minutes ago, GisserD said:

nearly 2 hours of video, but no conclusions.....

He says at the end he wants community to come to their conclusions in the comments below. jeesus. 

 

You've got a very good ear, Darren, did you come to a conclusion?

[Kev]

31 minutes ago, GisserD said:

nearly 2 hours of video, but no conclusions.....

He says at the end he wants community to come to their conclusions in the comments below. jeesus. 

 

Ugh.

 

If there's one type of pedal that you can't really draw a consensus on from merely listening, its a synth pedal.  Is it worth watching?

[LukeFRC]

5 hours ago, GisserD said:

nearly 2 hours of video, but no conclusions.....

He says at the end he wants community to come to their conclusions in the comments below. jeesus. 

 

I had no idea if he's a member on here or anything so kept my thoughts to myself - but would agree - it's painful watching! 
@Kev - skip through and miss bits! 

 

My take, reinforces what I thought - Enzo X probably not deigned for bass... 
C4, the thing that annoyed me with the attack of the note you could hear on the video (bought and sold one twice)
FI4 - sounds best to me and can do a lot
MXR - pretty much on par and can do less with a simpler interface. 
 

Edited 32 minutes ago by LukeFRC

[Al Krow]

2 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

 

I had no idea if he's a member on here or anything so kept my thoughts to myself - but would agree - it's painful watching! 
@Kev - skip through and miss bits! 

 

My take, reinforces what I thought - Enzo X probably not deigned for bass... 
C4, the thing that annoyed me with the tracking you could hear on the video (bought and sold one twice)
FI4 - sounds best to me and can do a lot
MXR - pretty much on par and can do less with a simpler interface. 
 

 

Thanks Luke! What's the issue with the C4 tracking, for those of us who have never owned one?

[LukeFRC]

3 hours ago, Al Krow said:

 

Thanks Luke! What's the issue with the C4 tracking, for those of us who have never owned one?

With the caveat that hundreds of bass players have owned and loved this pedal…

 

Tracking was the wrong word! I meant latentcy - I couldn’t live with the slight latentcy and thr attack of the thing - I don’t know how to describe it but it was a me thing, and I could hear it listening to a video so it can’t just be latentcy …

[LukeFRC]

Updated my previous post to correct - cheers @Al Krow

[Al Krow]

16 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

With the caveat that hundreds of bass players have owned and loved this pedal…

 

Tracking was the wrong word! I meant latentcy - I couldn’t live with the slight latentcy and thr attack of the thing - I don’t know how to describe it but it was a me thing, and I could hear it listening to a video so it can’t just be latentcy …

 

Ah latency and tracking are very much intertwined, so all good! Are there particular timestamps on the video you could helpfully point to for us, so we can get a better idea of what you are referring to?

[Kev]

Just now, Al Krow said:

 

Ah latency and tracking are very much intertwined, so all good! Are there particular timestamps on the video you could helpfully point to for us, so we can get a better idea of what you are referring to?

 

For me, this is what I meant by the guy suggesting you should draw your own conclusions from the video.  Without playing the pedal, its very hard to get a feel from what tracking and latency issues they may have, as what your eyes see or ears hear are only as important as how it responds to your attack.