Synth sounds

[cureswhatailsye]

Hi people,

I'm looking for a pedal to get a variety of decent synth sounds, most specifically late 70s and 80s synth bass tones.

The prime example for what I'm looking for would be AJ's (I assume it's him) sound on "We can work it out" on Chaka Khan's "Whatcha gonna do for me?" album. (Although this could well be Greg Phillinganes on Keys?)

I've heard the tracking on the Digitech Synth Bass Wah has a little to be desired but I don't have a colossal budget for this.

Any suggestions much appreciated!

Cheers, Nick

[xgsjx]

@ £200-250 would get you a Markbass Super Synth or @ £100 odd would get you a EH Bass Micro Synth.

[crez5150]

If you can stretch to an Akai SB-1 (Deep Impact) I highly recommend one. I have two that I use and for that era there is not much else out there that does it better. I've had a play with the Markbass unit which is quite good though not quite as analogue sounding as the Akai to my ears.

I'd steer clear of the Digitech unit as it's fairly limited to what it can do. You could also try combining pedals. A good distortion unit with an OC-2 can obtain some wonderful synth effects.

[pantherairsoft]

You get what you pay for. If your thinking around the price of the Digitech, then honestly that I the best at that price point.

Spend a little more and you can get a Boss SYB or EHX MicroSynth. The EHX has the better sound, but can only be set up for one sound at a time... The Boss will let you have a few presets, but non of which are amazing.

For a Single pedal solution the Markbass is by far the best but you need to spend time with it hooked up to a computer to get the best out of the sounds (although the presets are still better than the other pedals listed).

There's loads of info here - [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=72012"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=72012[/url] plus if you use the search function in the effects forum for 'synth' you'll find loads more.

Obviously the most versatile way to do it is analog with multiple pedals... But it gets expensive... Like this -


DanOwens blog is worth reading as well - [url="http://mrdfowens.tumblr.com/"]http://mrdfowens.tumblr.com/[/url]

Shep

[cureswhatailsye]

[quote name='pantherairsoft' post='1071060' date='Dec 28 2010, 04:14 PM']You get what you pay for. If your thinking around the price of the Digitech, then honestly that I the best at that price point.

Spend a little more and you can get a Boss SYB or EHX MicroSynth. The EHX has the better sound, but can only be set up for one sound at a time... The Boss will let you have a few presets, but non of which are amazing.

For a Single pedal solution the Markbass is by far the best but you need to spend time with it hooked up to a computer to get the best out of the sounds (although the presets are still better than the other pedals listed).

There's loads of info here - [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=72012"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=72012[/url] plus if you use the search function in the effects forum for 'synth' you'll find loads more.

Obviously the most versatile way to do it is analog with multiple pedals... But it gets expensive... Like this -


DanOwens blog is worth reading as well - [url="http://mrdfowens.tumblr.com/"]http://mrdfowens.tumblr.com/[/url]

Shep[/quote]

An impressive set up...to be honest I'm a complete pedal newbie so am lookin for something in one...watching the video demo of the EHX microsynth that seems to have some really nice analogue sounds so must see if I can try one out.

Thanks for the advice chaps.

[King Tut]

I use a digitech BSW on setting 2 - kind of an envolope follower with an octave down. I think it tracks pretty well and the sound is great - but it's not hugely versatile. Just my ha'penneth.

[sshorepunk]

I agree on the BSW, for the price it's good, the octave setting on it's own is good. worth it just for that

EHX bass micro synth with exp pedal mod is worth a look

I use a nice fdistortion through a wah and with an EBS octa bass. Some distortions are better than others though, get something, nice thick and creamy, oooh errr!

Not tried the mark bass, I think there was one for sale not long ago in the market place

Shep, that is some board, insane man, the moog hook up looks cool, spent some time checking it all out last night, but too extreme for me

Tony

[Stan_da_man]

I've recently bought an Ibanez SB7 and its a great little pedal. I've had no problems with tracking and there are a lot of useable sounds.

[pantherairsoft]

[quote name='sshorepunk' post='1071521' date='Dec 29 2010, 10:19 AM']Shep, that is some board, insane man, the moog hook up looks cool, spent some time checking it all out last night, but too extreme for me

Tony[/quote]

It's pretty barmy but sounds amazing. The Moog section is basically a modular synth itself. The LPF gets lots of use but the FreqBox is barmy... Very strange beast. I use the MP201 to drive the FreqBox with LFO's and other craziness.

Coop fun

Shep