son of frog Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 Hi there, I know there are already a few topics already about synth pedals I've recently joined a Function band, and i've been asked to play Plug In Baby, so of course i need a synth pedal quick, id already given some thought before and explored the web to see whats out there, and obviously narrowed the search down to two candidates... i want to know peoples opinions on which is the best one? Boss Synth / EHX Micro-synth? i know they have many similarities in terms of tone and function and are both reliable, but which gives me more control and overall power over a sexy sweet synth bass sound, especially as it needs to sound right for this. Thanks -Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Tut Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 Function band . . . . plug in baby . . . . . . does not compute. Wish i had some of your functions mate LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
son of frog Posted November 28, 2010 Author Share Posted November 28, 2010 [quote name='King Tut' post='1039578' date='Nov 28 2010, 03:58 AM']Function band . . . . plug in baby . . . . . . does not compute. Wish i had some of your functions mate LOL![/quote] Haha, Well we also play Pubs and we need plenty of crowd pleasers... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mog Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 I dont think a synth is needed really. If the guitar is fuzzed enough a shallow chorus+distortion on the bass will do the job. Synths are too pricey to buy for just occasional use. And 99% of your average pub audience wouldnt realise if there was a synth there or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
son of frog Posted November 28, 2010 Author Share Posted November 28, 2010 [quote name='Mog' post='1039716' date='Nov 28 2010, 10:59 AM']I dont think a synth is needed really. If the guitar is fuzzed enough a shallow chorus+distortion on the bass will do the job. Synths are too pricey to buy for just occasional use. And 99% of your average pub audience wouldnt realise if there was a synth there or not.[/quote] Yeah thats a valid point but i've been considering getting a bass synth pedal for a while now, for my own personal use, Using it to better my tone at a gig is just a bonus, i want to know what the best one is to go for Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
absolutpepper Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 [quote name='son of frog' post='1039574' date='Nov 28 2010, 02:44 AM']Hi there, I know there are already a few topics already about synth pedals I've recently joined a Function band, and i've been asked to play Plug In Baby, so of course i need a synth pedal quick, id already given some thought before and explored the web to see whats out there, and obviously narrowed the search down to two candidates... i want to know peoples opinions on which is the best one? Boss Synth / EHX Micro-synth? i know they have many similarities in terms of tone and function and are both reliable, but which gives me more control and overall power over a sexy sweet synth bass sound, especially as it needs to sound right for this. Thanks -Tom[/quote] Please don't buy the Boss, its terrible and the tracking is aweful. If you are looking for a reasonably inexpensive synth pedal (ie not a Chunk OS or MB SuperSynth) then go with the EH Bass Micro-Synth or maybe even try the Digitech Bass Synth Wah, I know Chris from Muse has used it in the past (around that Origin era). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 Never knew Chris went anywere near EH or Digitech synths, you sure? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mog Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 yea he used a digi for a while and quickly realised how sh*te it was. never was there a more pointless pedal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leonshelley01 Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 For a covers band, I just use my Bass Muff and a wah. Push the wah fully open for the intro riff and drop the wah off during the rest. Near enough for a pub anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbass4k Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 OC-2 > Fuzz > Filter. That does plug in baby spot on for me. No idea how wolstenholme does it (I would assume the deep impact is in there somehwere). But he definietly uses and ocatver and distortion in the chorus when the synthy sound drops out, admittedly 95% of a pub audience won't notice, but if you want to do it absolutely spot on it's something to remember. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EskimoBassist Posted November 29, 2010 Share Posted November 29, 2010 To be fair, love them or hate them, Chris still uses the BSW live in his pedalboard. I'ma have a look for recent board shots proving so, I know that they exist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EskimoBassist Posted November 29, 2010 Share Posted November 29, 2010 There you go, thats a pretty recent article, not the highest resolution, but you can indeed see one of the little green blighters in his rack. Not to derail the thread too much, I think you can happily get that sound by combing Octave>Fuzz>Filter as suggested by bobbass4k (which would be my method of choicd), or you could cop it using a Bass Micro Synth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stan_da_man Posted November 29, 2010 Share Posted November 29, 2010 The Boss SYB-3 has some pretty good Muse-alikes, it just takes time finding them sounds... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theotherphiljones Posted December 1, 2010 Share Posted December 1, 2010 here you go [url="http://www.musewiki.org/Bass"]http://www.musewiki.org/Bass[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_5 Posted December 1, 2010 Share Posted December 1, 2010 (edited) [quote name='absolutpepper' post='1040149' date='Nov 28 2010, 05:31 PM']Please don't buy the Boss, its terrible and the tracking is aweful.[/quote](sic) I have a Boss SYB5, and I agree that the tracking does leave a lot to be desired, even for a high output bass. 95% of the sounds are unusable in a rock band scenario; I tend to use it to hold a drone note when I go walkabout up the dusty end... other than that it's good fun to play with, but not the most useful pedal I have. I'd go with an OC2, fuzz and Q-tron. Oh, and a loop pedal EDIT: just had a listen to the track, and I reckon an EHX Bassballs will cover that quite nicely (fire up the distortion circuit and it's certainly close enough for a pub full of p*ssed up punters!). Edited December 1, 2010 by paul_5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krispn Posted December 2, 2010 Share Posted December 2, 2010 (edited) For fear of repeating myself from another post I just hooked up an Ernie Earplugs Regenerative Feedback Processor - its a passive pedal requiring no batteries- that can adda synth like quality to your dirty tone and allows you to switch it in and out and retain the tone of your dirt pedal. For me its been quite fun playing with the volume control and hearing how that affects the tone. Its maybe not he perfect replication but for about £25 quid 2nd hand you might find it more fun and much cheaper than a synth pedal that won't track the notes etc. or certainly a component in a sound that allows you your stamp of originality OK vid link added below and please dont comment on the playing especially when I decide to 'slap' Should give a good indication of the messed up tones though - I'd be happy to have comment on that [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9o3cnfKiEe4"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9o3cnfKiEe4[/url] Edited December 2, 2010 by krispn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
citizenerased Posted December 3, 2010 Share Posted December 3, 2010 Agree with comments on SYB-5, it's virtually unusable in a live scenario, more of a "gimmick" box. For Plug-in I used a combination of octave and flanger with a bit of "dirt" on my Korg AX3000B - got pretty close. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crez5150 Posted December 3, 2010 Share Posted December 3, 2010 [quote name='citizenerased' post='1045956' date='Dec 3 2010, 07:56 AM']Agree with comments on SYB-5, it's virtually unusable in a live scenario, more of a "gimmick" box. For Plug-in I used a combination of octave and flanger with a bit of "dirt" on my Korg AX3000B - got pretty close.[/quote] The SYB-3 was far superior IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted December 3, 2010 Share Posted December 3, 2010 [quote name='paul_5' post='1044375' date='Dec 1 2010, 09:39 PM']I reckon an EHX Bassballs will cover that quite nicely (fire up the distortion circuit and it's certainly close enough for a pub full of p*ssed up punters!).[/quote] I totally agree! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allighatt0r Posted December 3, 2010 Share Posted December 3, 2010 I just jack up the treble and play it clean with a pick Punters don't care. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartelby Posted December 10, 2010 Share Posted December 10, 2010 [quote name='krispn' post='1045817' date='Dec 2 2010, 11:22 PM']For fear of repeating myself from another post I just hooked up an Ernie Earplugs Regenerative Feedback Processor - its a passive pedal requiring no batteries- that can adda synth like quality to your dirty tone and allows you to switch it in and out and retain the tone of your dirt pedal. For me its been quite fun playing with the volume control and hearing how that affects the tone.[/quote] That's pretty cool! I've just purchased one on ebay. £29 inc shipping. brand new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deej Posted December 10, 2010 Share Posted December 10, 2010 [quote name='bartelby' post='1054478' date='Dec 10 2010, 08:38 PM']That's pretty cool! I've just purchased one on ebay. £29 inc shipping. brand new.[/quote] That sounds like a steal! I do miss using the feedback loop on my blender, but I dont have space for it on my board. At that price, this is definitely on my radar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolov Posted December 20, 2010 Share Posted December 20, 2010 [quote name='allighatt0r' post='1046385' date='Dec 3 2010, 02:32 PM']I just jack up the treble and play it clean with a pick Punters don't care.[/quote] I use a little bit of digitech bass synth wah.. its Ok blended with some dry signal. No body mentioned a deep impact ? they are supposed to be the best synth pedal bar none aren't they ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartelby Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 [quote name='bartelby' post='1054478' date='Dec 10 2010, 08:38 PM']That's pretty cool! I've just purchased one on ebay. £29 inc shipping. brand new.[/quote] Well, it took a bit of time getting here, but it arrived today. I shall have a mess around with it at rehearsal on Friday! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 I've played PIB many times, using straight bass . Active basses make it sound nearer to the original IMHO. As for synth pedals: more people seem discouraged/disappointed in their overall performance. I would think a multi fx pedal such as Zoom B2 1 U or Boss ME -8B would be a better option. If the synthy stuff doesn't do it for you, I'm sure you'd find something that does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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