Also, im thinking of

[bassmanwithband]

Boss SYB-5 Bass Synthesizer later on. is it a good buy? or is there something else y'all could recomend?

[warwick.hoy]

I rather like crispydelicious' opinion of the SYB-5.

I've tried it in a store and hated it. It seems to have tracking issues and it's really harsh sounding; like fingernails on a chalkboard. The Digitech Bass Synth Wah would be a better choice in that price range. Ultimately I'd rather have an analog synth like the Electro Harmonix Bass Micro Synth.

[bassmanwithband]

Originally Posted by warwick.hoy

I rather like crispydelicious' opinion of the SYB-5.

I've tried it in a store and hated it. It seems to have tracking issues and it's really harsh sounding; like fingernails on a chalkboard. The Digitech Bass Synth Wah would be a better choice in that price range. Ultimately I'd rather have an analog synth like the Electro Harmonix Bass Micro Synth.

kk thanks

[René_Julien]

Originally Posted by warwick.hoy

I rather like crispydelicious' opinion of the SYB-5.

I've tried it in a store and hated it. It seems to have tracking issues and it's really harsh sounding; like fingernails on a chalkboard. The Digitech Bass Synth Wah would be a better choice in that price range. Ultimately I'd rather have an analog synth like the Electro Harmonix Bass Micro Synth.

Actually I had the same question on this.

I'm looking for a synth pedal that does the square wave thing really well.
How does the BMS pull of the job?
I'm looking for a deep clean synth sound.

I never was a fan of the SYB-5.

[TheMutt]

Originally Posted by C'thulhu

Actually I had the same question on this.

I'm looking for a synth pedal that does the square wave thing really well.
How does the BMS pull of the job?
I'm looking for a deep clean synth sound.

I never was a fan of the SYB-5.

IME the BMS doesn't do a square wave type sound so well. It's "square wave" sounds more like a variation of a muff circuit. Not a bad thing, but it's definitely not a square wave. I'm still on the search for a good standalone synth. Going to be looking into the Markbass Synth when there's some more info on it, and maybe take a look at the G5 which gets a lot of love on here. I've currently got a PitchFactor coming in which has a synth sound in it, so I'm also hopeful that it might satisfy my GAS somewhat.

[fightthepower]

Well if you just want to square you basses signal with no octave or filter action, then a gated fuzz would do you better than the BMS's fuzz imo, though it does sound pretty good but not as 'sqaurewave' as a choppy gated fuzz like the Brown Dog or Mammoth. My Brown Dog sounds closer to the Freqbox's squarewave than the BMS does.

The G5 did a decent sawtooth but I really didn't like anything about the pedal. Dry and dead sounding in my opinion.. it had great tracking everywhere on my fretboard (except the dead spots..) but it has a weird decay and I just didn't really like the pedal.I think the sound quality of the SYB-3 and BSW were better than the G5, despite not tracking as well.

[warwick.hoy]

Yeah...Gated Fuzz would give you a straight "Square" or "Saw Wave" Sound. I put quotes around them because I'm not entirely sure the are truly square or sawtooth waves. To be honest...a bass with FX can come awfully close...but I find that to get that sound...nothing beats actual analog synths like the moogs (and others) or softsynths and DSP modeling (MicroKORG...JUNOs).

[René_Julien]

Originally Posted by TheMutt

IME the BMS doesn't do a square wave type sound so well. It's "square wave" sounds more like a variation of a muff circuit. Not a bad thing, but it's definitely not a square wave. I'm still on the search for a good standalone synth. Going to be looking into the Markbass Synth when there's some more info on it, and maybe take a look at the G5 which gets a lot of love on here. I've currently got a PitchFactor coming in which has a synth sound in it, so I'm also hopeful that it might satisfy my GAS somewhat.

Originally Posted by fightthepower

Well if you just want to square you basses signal with no octave or filter action, then a gated fuzz would do you better than the BMS's fuzz imo, though it does sound pretty good but not as 'sqaurewave' as a choppy gated fuzz like the Brown Dog or Mammoth. My Brown Dog sounds closer to the Freqbox's squarewave than the BMS does.

The G5 did a decent sawtooth but I really didn't like anything about the pedal. Dry and dead sounding in my opinion.. it had great tracking everywhere on my fretboard (except the dead spots..) but it has a weird decay and I just didn't really like the pedal.I think the sound quality of the SYB-3 and BSW were better than the G5, despite not tracking as well.

Thanks guys. So a BMS is not the right pedal for me.

I have the BJ Hairy Balls, wich is a fuzz with a gate. I really like that pedal for straight up fuzz/distortion. It holds the low end really well and is very articulate on my fretless.
But I'm also looking for a milder drive, big chunks of square waves that come to surface when playing heavier.

I'll look into the Mammoth and Brown Dog.

[TheMutt]

I recently sold my Brown Dog, but I'm definitely having seller's remorse. I'm hoping that I can dial in similar sounds on the Markbass or Octavius Squeezer.

[fightthepower]

I dont now about the Markbass but the Octavius will definitely give you the same sounds. The OS has the BrownDog circuit in it and the preset fuzz sounds you get with it are great and are similar to what I dial in on the Brown Dog since trading down from the synth to the fuzz.

[kevteop]

For square wave sounds currently the best (most "authentic"-sounding) option is the Octavius Squeezer. The Robot Factory Pulse Synth will also - as the name suggests - put out a very malleable square wave but mine seemed to lack a lot of low end. Fun pedal though, sounded pretty awesome mixed with an OC-2s -1 oct voice. I've never tried the Boss SYB-x pedals but they apparently do square wave sounds too.

The G5's best trick is its octave down sawtooth, which is very good. But you can't get a square wave out of it unless it's combined with a sawtooth wave an octave up.

[René_Julien]

The problem I always have with octavers and synths is that I mostly play fretless. And very few pedals do tracking well when playing fretless. (Perhaps I should learn to play fretless better, but meh. )

Except the EHX POG, that thing tracks PERFECT, even with fretless slides and all.
And the Ibanez SB-7 Bass Synthesizer also loves my fretless.
Maybe I'm going to play around with that pedal some more, to see if I can get a deep clean Moog-like sound. I've been neglecting it.

[theunknowndude]

Originally Posted by C'thulhu

The problem I always have with octavers and synths is that I mostly play fretless. And very few pedals do tracking well when playing fretless. (Perhaps I should learn to play fretless better, but meh. )

Except the EHX POG, that thing tracks PERFECT, even with fretless slides and all.
And the Ibanez SB-7 Bass Synthesizer also loves my fretless.
Maybe I'm going to play around with that pedal some more, to see if I can get a deep clean Moog-like sound. I've been neglecting it.

SB7 doesn't track as far as I recall cos its basically just a filter, it sounds pretty wild on the synth settings but the autowah setting seems to have a major volume drop

[kevteop]

Originally Posted by C'thulhu

The problem I always have with octavers and synths is that I mostly play fretless. And very few pedals do tracking well when playing fretless. (Perhaps I should learn to play fretless better, but meh. )

I use fretless a lot with my synth pedals and haven't noticed any issues (except for the dead spot on my G string, but that's another story). Works fine with my OC-2, BMS, Octavius Squeezer, worked fine with my G5, Pulse Synth... whatever else I've had.

[René_Julien]

Originally Posted by theunknowndude

SB7 doesn't track as far as I recall cos its basically just a filter, it sounds pretty wild on the synth settings but the autowah setting seems to have a major volume drop

You may be correct about this. I'm not that technical educated on synth and filter pedals.
I have been using the SB-7 for fuzz-like sounds. And it does that job very well. But I replaced it with a Hairy Balls because I has a sharper more straight up tone. The HB complements my bass and amp, while the SB-7 has more a will of it's own.

[bigchiefbc]

Originally Posted by kevteop

For square wave sounds currently the best (most "authentic"-sounding) option is the Octavius Squeezer. The Robot Factory Pulse Synth will also - as the name suggests - put out a very malleable square wave but mine seemed to lack a lot of low end. Fun pedal though, sounded pretty awesome mixed with an OC-2s -1 oct voice. I've never tried the Boss SYB-x pedals but they apparently do square wave sounds too.

The G5's best trick is its octave down sawtooth, which is very good. But you can't get a square wave out of it unless it's combined with a sawtooth wave an octave up.

I also think the Freqbox has to be pretty damn near the top of the list for current options that can do a straight square wave

[kevteop]

Originally Posted by bigchiefbc

I also think the Freqbox has to be pretty damn near the top of the list for current options that can do a straight square wave

Yep, forgot the FreqBox. Although I've never used one. The whole business about having to adjust some setting so it's never lower than the note you're playing confused me into not buying one.

[René_Julien]

Originally Posted by bigchiefbc

I also think the Freqbox has to be pretty damn near the top of the list for current options that can do a straight square wave

Thanks for bringing the freqbox up.
Now why didn't I thought of that myself.
Isn't even that expensive... IMO.
I'll check it out.

Originally Posted by kevteop

Yep, forgot the FreqBox. Although I've never used one. The whole business about having to adjust some setting so it's never lower than the note you're playing confused me into not buying one.

I don't understand completely.
Could you please give me more info on this?

[kevteop]

Originally Posted by C'thulhu

I don't understand completely.
Could you please give me more info on this?

I didn't understand it either!

I think TheBigO and FightThePower both had/have FreqBoxes so maybe they can explain.

[bigchiefbc]

Originally Posted by kevteop

I didn't understand it either!

I think TheBigO and FightThePower both had/have FreqBoxes so maybe they can explain.

I also had one, so I'll try to explain what and why this happens.

This primarily applies to square-wave mode, but I had it happen on pulse wave, too. When the input signal drops below the frequency of the freq control (either via knob or exp pedal), the effected sound will drop out

The reason why this happens has to do with how hard-sync works. WARNING, this will get technical.

The Freqbox has an oscillator (carrier) in the box that runs at whatever frequency the freq control is set to. When you turn on hard sync, the carrier will reset its cycle to match the frequency of the signal you are feeding it. This only works when the frequency of the carrier is lower (thus the wavelength is longer) than whatever you are resetting it with.

EDIT, I corrected something that I had backwards