Fishman Fission v POG + Pitchfork

[Guest]

I play in a grunge/alt rock 3 piece. Nothing technical, just lots of heavy noise (QOTSA, Smashing Pumpkins, Royal Blood styles). For a while I’d been splitting the signal and sending one into a guitar amp after it goes through a POG and a Pitchfork (POG for octave, Pitchfork to add a 5th to make a power chord). Latency was a serious issue, very annoying when playing and became really obvious in the recording studio.

So I looked for other products and noticed the Fishman Fission. I’ve seen the mixed reviews so I was unsure. But eventually enough youtube demos convinced me it would work for my needs.

Well it arrived and it’s perfect for my requirements. As others have noted, the pedal doesn’t like trying to interpret two notes at once, but for basic single string at a time playing it’s exactly what I needed. It tracks as well as the POG when playing one string at a time. I even really like the built in overdrive (had expected not to), though it’s important when playing the octave plus 5th to get the correct EQ setting on the upper signal to avoid it sounding shrill.

I can understand how more technical bass players might not like this pedal, because it does get confused when more than one string is playing simultaneously.

Most importantly of all for me - NO DISCERNIBLE LATENCY WHEN PLAYING!!

[Al Krow]

Agreed about the Pitchfork - which is a shame as it's otherwise a super versatile little pedal in compact format and not too pricey.

Linking you up with @ToneFree who took my Fishman Fission off my hands when I found that I could get something passably close with my Helix HX Effects by parallel routing pitch shifters (and something I had singularly failed to do on my much loved Zoom B1-4 where all I was getting was an unusable mush - partly due to fact Zoom only permits series routing. But hey for the price, I'm not complaining!).

Edited November 21, 2020 by Al Krow

[Guest]

The lag on the Pitchfork is so extreme that it actually puts you off your playing when you can hear the upper signal as loud as the bass signal. When playing fast palm muted bass bits, the lag almost makes the signal drop a full note behind - useless!

[Guest]

After further use I realise I don’t like the built in overdrive after all, and I get a much nicer tone with the overdrive on zero and the clean tone upper octave going through a TCE Dark Matter pedal.

[Dunk]

Apologies for arriving at this thread a bit late..

Are you suggesting the Fission as a replacement for the Pitchfork only or both that and the POG? I have no experience with the Fission but have been using a POG and was considering a Pitchfork to generate a 5th as you describe (power chord type feel).. would you suggest the Fission a better buy? The EHC stuff isn’t cheap and I want to do my homework before committing.. 

[cLepto-bass]

With reference to the OP, and to anyone else you might be interested in a achieving a similar setup, the TC Electronic Brainwaves is a very decent, cheap and compact alternative to adding multiple variable voicings to the original note (e.g. 5th above and octave below). The onboard pedal options are really quite expansive (inlcuding Whammy approximations) and the added Toneprint compatibility really makes it staggeringly versatile. 

[uk_lefty]

I was the lead bidder on an EHX Soul Pog pedal which I thought would give me this kind of thing (it combines the soul food and POG) . As usual I got excited and bid before doing my research. Phew am I glad I didn't win that pedal. No professional demo makes it sound remotely usable. Will look in to the Fission if I can't raise cash for a Helix Stomp. 

[Guest]

The Fission replaces both the POG and Pitchfork. But actually it didn’t work out for me after all. Just too glitchy when playing my band’s songs live. It goes berserk if you even lightly touch an adjacent string, and my playing just isn’t precise enough for that.

The latency of the Pitchfork was unusable, so I haven’t gone back to that. The current solution is POG —> Boss PS6 (to add a 5th). The latency issue is solved and the overall tone is better than it was with the Pitchfork. Only downside is having to change the key on the PS6 between songs. That will be a fiddly pain on stage with dark lighting.

[Happy Jack]

46 minutes ago, Lord Summerisle said:

The Fission replaces both the POG and Pitchfork. But actually it didn’t work out for me after all. Just too glitchy when playing my band’s songs live. It goes berserk if you even lightly touch an adjacent string, and my playing just isn’t precise enough for that.

Surprised to see that. My own style is best described as 'agricultural' and I often brush the wrong string, but I've not had any trouble with my Fission. It sounds like a signal chain issue ... perhaps you have another gain-adding pedal in front of the Fission?

Incidentally, you can make the Fission sound WAY better by dialing down the disappointing in-built Distortion control and instead feeding the effected signal through a proper distortion pedal such as a Boss DS-1. I actually run mine through a Joyo Orange Juice: https://www.joyoaudio.co.uk/bstock-joyo-jf-310-orange-juice-amp-sim-mini-guitar-effect-pedal?language=en&currency=GBP&gclid=CjwKCAiAl4WABhAJEiwATUnEF6ze_RpfL4RcCMQauAX4aLs-RkALMPj31WfgTvu9jHCK2yS6oe4MDhoCI6kQAvD_BwE

It's cheap, it's tiny, it sounds great, and there's a flip cover to protect the controls from accidental knocks when you have the sound you like.

 

[Guest]

56 minutes ago, Happy Jack said:

Surprised to see that. My own style is best described as 'agricultural' and I often brush the wrong string, but I've not had any trouble with my Fission. It sounds like a signal chain issue ... perhaps you have another gain-adding pedal in front of the Fission?

Incidentally, you can make the Fission sound WAY better by dialing down the disappointing in-built Distortion control and instead feeding the effected signal through a proper distortion pedal such as a Boss DS-1. I actually run mine through a Joyo Orange Juice: https://www.joyoaudio.co.uk/bstock-joyo-jf-310-orange-juice-amp-sim-mini-guitar-effect-pedal?language=en&currency=GBP&gclid=CjwKCAiAl4WABhAJEiwATUnEF6ze_RpfL4RcCMQauAX4aLs-RkALMPj31WfgTvu9jHCK2yS6oe4MDhoCI6kQAvD_BwE

It's cheap, it's tiny, it sounds great, and there's a flip cover to protect the controls from accidental knocks when you have the sound you like.

 

The signal to the Fission was bass —> MXR Bass Compressor —> ABY —> Fission. I have the compressor set so there’s no vol increase or drop when it’s on. I’m wondering if I should take another look, it’s definitely something I’d love to work! I don’t use the Fission overdrive, it goes into a TCE Dark Matter and it was a great tone.

[Happy Jack]

1 minute ago, Lord Summerisle said:

The signal to the Fission was bass —> MXR Bass Compressor —> ABY —> Fission. 

I have Bass --> Tuner --> Fission --> {UNeffected signal} to the rest of my bass chain

AND

                                            Fission --> {Effected signal} handled completely separately, either to a guitar combo or to a different channel on the PA

My suspicion would be that the Compressor in your signal chain is the culprit. To get any sort of decent response from the Fission effect it needs to receive a completely clean signal to start with. I put my tuner first partly so that I can mute both of my signal paths simultaneously.

 

[Guest]

I’m going to have a look at that, thanks for the suggestion. The Joyo pedal with the cover also looks excellent. Giving me GAS a bit! 
 

I'll move the location of the compressor so it doesn’t affect the Fission chain and let you know how it goes. Thanks again.

[Guest]

39 minutes ago, Happy Jack said:

I have Bass --> Tuner --> Fission --> {UNeffected signal} to the rest of my bass chain

AND

                                            Fission --> {Effected signal} handled completely separately, either to a guitar combo or to a different channel on the PA

My suspicion would be that the Compressor in your signal chain is the culprit. To get any sort of decent response from the Fission effect it needs to receive a completely clean signal to start with. I put my tuner first partly so that I can mute both of my signal paths simultaneously.

 

Happy Jack, you’ve made my Friday evening! I re-jigged the board - put the Fission back on and moved the compressor out of the Fission chain and it’s fixed the issue completely! Sounds awesome with no glitching. It’s permanently back on the board now. I was dreading having to change the key knob on the Boss between songs on stage - a sure recipe for disaster.

I can honestly say this has been the most useful thread for me on any bass forum or group. I’m extremely lucky you saw it and commented, so thanks again! 😊👍

[Happy Jack]

Outstanding!