elephantgrey Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 I have an iron ether frantabit, and i love it. The only thing is that its very harsh in the high end, and im wondering if adding a dirt pedal of some kind (probably a low gain distortion or overdrive) could maybe soften it up a bit. Dont get me wrong, sometimes this harshness is a good thing, but i really would love to be able to turn a pedal on to soften it up a bit, so i could use it a bit more often. Anyone have any ideas for a relatively cheap (preferably with a boss style power) pedal to do the job? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topheteatwo Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 Maybe a Joyo Ultimate Drive? They're super cheap and based off the OCD circuit, heard good things about, so it could be subtle but sounds nice with the frantabit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 (edited) [quote name='topheteatwo' timestamp='1402835075' post='2477095'] Maybe a Joyo Ultimate Drive? They're super cheap and based off the OCD circuit, heard good things about, so it could be subtle but sounds nice with the frantabit [/quote] I was just going to suggest a Joyo Ultimate Drive, but found the one I had quite OTT through most of gain settings. I bought a Caline CP-18 (an Xotic preamp clone ?) recently for guitar and it's pretty darn good on bass. Good for low gains and has a two-band EQ, which might be just what's needed to soften a bitcrusher. Edited June 15, 2014 by ahpook Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Edwards69 Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 What amp/cab are you using? My Mooer fog can sound a little brittle in the vey top end. Turning down the tweeter pad softens it up a treat without affecting how the treble cuts through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elephantgrey Posted June 15, 2014 Author Share Posted June 15, 2014 I know i said cheap, but wow, didnt expect that cheap. for the price i might give both of them a try. Im just running straight through to a monitor at the moment, I sound fine while the frantabit is bypassed, but just the nature of the effect adds a very harsh high end to the sound when its turned on. Theres two ways i use the pedal, the first one is fine, i use the analogue sample rate simulation with the rate knob all the way down and the bit knob aat 3 o clock for a tremolo type effect, and the second effect i use it for is digital sample rate reduction, rate knob at 3, bit at 10-11. its a lovely sound, i just would like to round off the high end a bit (i like it being there, it works very well with a bandpass delay, i just want it a little less square-ey). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr pablo Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 Digitech bad monkey is another cheap option Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prime_BASS Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 I don't know this pedal but there must be some kind of "tone" control to turn the harshness down. If you are playing through a monitor anything like that will sound really brittle and harsh on the top. I'm sure through a bass amp and cab that will go away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle psychosis Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 Wouldn't an EQ do what you want? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 yeh it sounds like you want an EQ rather than a dirt pedal you can never have too many dirt pedals though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elephantgrey Posted June 16, 2014 Author Share Posted June 16, 2014 [quote name='Prime_BASS' timestamp='1402905454' post='2477624'] I don't know this pedal but there must be some kind of "tone" control to turn the harshness down. If you are playing through a monitor anything like that will sound really brittle and harsh on the top. I'm sure through a bass amp and cab that will go away. [/quote] No, there is no real way of making a bitcrusher less harsh by itself, and it is a quite harsh effect by its very nature. im running though a amp/cab simulation on my ms60b (Hartke HA3500 with a MB 1x10 cab simulation). As i said, my tone is fine without the effect, but reducing the bit-depth of a signal that much just creates harsh treble. [quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1402906803' post='2477642'] Wouldn't an EQ do what you want? [/quote] I dont really want to remove the high end, just soften it up a bit, hence why i want to go with a dirt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prime_BASS Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 Sorry its just I had a Geiger counter and I'm sure there was some sort of tone knob to tame those harsh highs on some of the setting but that might be not remembering. Is there not a drive on the MS60B? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elephantgrey Posted June 16, 2014 Author Share Posted June 16, 2014 Im using all four of the effects slots on the ms60b to create my 'clean' tone (plus a phase shifter that i use enough to not take away). maybe one of there new pedals would do the job, but i think id rather a single pedal that i could set after the frantabit, and leave the knobs alone forever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prime_BASS Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 Really depends on your budget. My experience of stacking drives (I know bit crushe r isn't really a drive but still distorts the signal) it only adds more hiss, and high end. What you are really after is a Low pass EQ filter. The boss EQ pedal will do yhe job fine just set it flat and cut the highs to taste. Won't change the frantabit tone just cut the highs off. Either way you go, another OD pedal or an EQ pedal you'll still have to press two pedals to get the sound you want. If you can play with Sims, I would try A/B ODs and EQs after the frantabit and see which you prefer, before you go spending money Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruck Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 (edited) Hi I have a Frantabit and love the Bit Depth fuzz sounds too. There are many ways you can try to decrease the high end. 1) buy a Xerograph or another Low Pass Filter, 2) run a sub octave into the Frantabit with the dry signal turned down 3) running the Frantabit into my DHA valve overdrive tames it a lot so it sounds more like a grainy fuzz or a broken radio The one disadvantage I find with the Frantabit is unless you have a high output signal or a boost pedal or a compressor/sustainer infront of the frantabit the Fuzz sustain decays quite fast if your planning on drawing out the note. You most likely already know this. Have you tried the Oxide? Apart from the "fwapping" attack noise some people are not keen on, the Oxide can come pretty close the Frantabit unless you really like the extreme Bit Depth crushing noise all the anti-clockwise. My recommendation then, try finding a cheap second hand DHA VT1 pedal to try out? Edited June 20, 2014 by Ruck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruck Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 Also, I've never tried it, but EHX do an "Analogizer" Pedal which I guess introduces certain filters to eliminate the unwanted square-wave distortion digital pedals can add. http://www.ehx.com/products/analogizer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruck Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 Maybe even this on another thread: http://basschat.co.uk/topic/239220-ehx-hot-tubes-nano/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elephantgrey Posted July 5, 2014 Author Share Posted July 5, 2014 I found an unexpected solution to what i wanted when playing about with my board this morning, the defret algorithm on the MS60b. Takes the nastyness out of the high end of the frantabit without taking it away completely like a lpf or something like that, so nice swells on the bandpass delay still, but the top end is defined enough so you can hear what im playing. Im wondering if there is a stand alone defret effect out there, that i can stick in a loop with the frantabit (and free up the slot again on the ms60b for the detune/whatever else)? or is it the kind of thing you only see in multieffects units? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted July 5, 2014 Share Posted July 5, 2014 For softening high end I think a Dave Hall (DHA) pedal would work wonders. Gain on lowest setting (so virtually un-noticeable), would nicely round everything up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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