Bass Micro Synth - balancing the voices

pulse · #1 01-28-2012, 05:24 PM

Hi Guys

I just got one of these EHX BMS pedals and I am loving it but also kinda got some confusion about a certain aspect.

Some of the voices on the BMS seem to cancel each others low end out

E.g if I mix the bass guitar signal with the Square wave some kind of bass cancellation happens if I set them exactly level, so I kind of have to adjust one a bit lower to get the bass strong again.

any one else experience this / have any suggestions.

thanks ... and yes I think this is a great pedal

J

RickenBoogie · #2 01-28-2012, 06:02 PM

That's why each section has it's own slider. Not every combination sounds good, you have to tweak your sounds carefully.

Bill Ruppert · #3 01-29-2012, 10:19 AM

That is normal for the BMS.
You are not canceling out the bass but adding upper harmonic content that will throw the balance of the sound off.
The square wave,s job is to add the upper harmonics by distorting/clipping the original signal.
Just keep the distorted voices under the original to keep the original to maintain the bottom to top balance.

Using the attack delay slider and a tiny amount of the square wave
sound I have produced some VERY cool fretless acoustic bass sounds

pulse · #4 02-19-2012, 04:21 PM

Thanks for the replies.
Yes I have tweaked around and found cool sounds too.

One thing though, did you try running this with a hot output bass? I get this crappy clipping noise if I don't dial back my G&L's output or use a gain pedal set lower than unity gain .

I have tried tweaking the input trim pot as well but it's kinda a trade off. So the gain pedal works better.

It's a bummer because I like the overdrive on the guitar channel otherwise but the electro clipping sounds very unmusical

Is this common ? Hope so cos i really can't be bothered to go back to the shop.

Thanks in advance for any infor / links!
Best
J

pulse · #5 02-22-2012, 05:40 PM

Bump for any further info on the clipping sounds
Cheers
J

Bermel · #6 02-22-2012, 06:11 PM

Hi. Have you tried lowering the trigger slide? I use mine around 3-4 for any setting. Besides, you could try avoiding extreme settings on the suboctave and/or filter section.

Are you getting this clipping on every string of your bass, or only with the E or B string?

pulse · #7 02-23-2012, 03:58 AM

Hi

It happens with strong articulations on the EAD strings , again this is an electrical artifact buzzing noise , not distortion.

I am used to my G&L overloading some of my pedals making my OD and distortion pedals 'spit' so I started using a gain control pedal to lower it's level before reaching them. (to provide headroom)

Still none of them exhibited an electronic artifact sound before so I just wanna make sure this is the expected behaviour of the BMS with hot signals.

The unit works ok with a reduced input signal but I'd like to have the option of running it with hotter signals cos aside from the artifact sound, the overdrive it creates on the clean guitar channel sounds great to my ears.

The upper octave and square wave sound fine with hot signals, the lower octave does not track as well but I am ok with that since I have other octave pedals already. Just the clean channel gets this unmusical electro Buzz noise.

As I said before I am not hating on this pedal I think it's great , just trying to resolve my question

Thanks in advance!
J

morrisonhendrix · #8 02-23-2012, 07:44 AM

I think I have the same issue. I can plug my passive bass into it and it sounds better. I'm to the point of putting it up for sale as I think I can get the same sounds from combinations of other pedals, if I actually need those sounds. To me it doesn't sound like a synth really. Mostly I get the "electro Buzz noise" described above.

pulse · #9 02-23-2012, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by morrisonhendrix

I think I have the same issue. I can plug my passive bass into it and it sounds better. I'm to the point of putting it up for sale as I think I can get the same sounds from combinations of other pedals, if I actually need those sounds. To me it doesn't sound like a synth really. Mostly I get the "electro Buzz noise" described above.

Thanks Morrisonhendrix

Anyone else experience this issue?

J

pulse · #10 02-24-2012, 04:03 AM

Ok problem resolved

Tested today on a identical set up at my music store with a fresh BMS does exactly the same thing

So watch your input signals guys ;-)
It's still gonna be a keeper for me

Best
J

Bermel · #11 02-24-2012, 05:59 AM

I'm glad you resolved this. By the way, have you tried just rolling down the volume knob on your active bass instead of using a dedicated gain control pedal? I tried it this morning and got similar results as using a passive bass with the BMS.

pulse · #12 02-24-2012, 06:26 AM

Thanks my G&L is passive - but just has a very hot output

Thing is the tone of the bass dulls when lowered on the onboard volume

That's why I use a gain pedal to maintain the tone of the dimed G&L but reduce it before the pedals

I'm just glad I can forget about thinking something was up with my BMS :-)
Cheers
J

morrisonhendrix · #13 02-24-2012, 07:23 AM

I've tried rolling down my volume and it doesn't seem to help. I've tried different combinations of pickup/eq settings on the bass itself too. I'm gonna try and spend some more time with it. That's the thing I don't like about pedals, there are many that don't play nice with a hot output or an active bass.

Glad you got it resolved on your BMS Pulse.