Bass Synth Recommendation

[JBMysteron]

Hello again TB folk!

All of a sudden my G.A.S. has driven me to a bass synth pedal. As usual, my crappy state/country has overpriced products and a distinct lack of gear in it so I will be buying online.

What have you all got/what do you recommend?

[derrico1]

I've gigged Boss SYB-3 and SYB-5, Akai Deep Impact, EHX Bass Micro Synth, MarkBass SuperSynth, and Line6 M9.

The Bass Micro Synth is the one that sees the most gigs--it's reliable (cough! Deep Impact!), tracks well (cough! SYB-3 & 5), and does 70's funky better than the SuperSynth.

The MarkBass and the Akai are better than the BMS at 80's pop-synth sounds, and they let you use presets (as does the M9). Of those two, the Markbass is the one I kept, because the few Deep Impacts I've been able to get my hands on have been somewhat-to-impossibly glitchy for live work. ("Glitchy" as in intermittent output, periodically powering off, and unbidden high-speed cycling through presets.)

I sometimes use the M9 for synth, but only for gigs where I don't want to bring a proper pedalboard. It sounds fine, but whenever I use it for synth sounds (as I did at a gig last night), I wish I'd brought either the Bass Micro Synth or the SuperSynth.

[Jimbob Jones]

Just to throw in a shout for the Digitech Bass Synth Wah; it's a great, cheap synth pedal with a lot of usable sounds and a great octaver.

The BMS and SuperSynth seem to be very popular as well.

I would not reccomend the SYB-3 or SYB-5, as (IME) they track poorly and the sounds are a bit too harsh and metallic to be really useful.

[RickenBoogie]

Without trying them out for yourself, or finding sound samples online, it's just a guessing game. I actually like the SYB-5, but I stack it with a Moog FreqBox, a filter or 2, and an octave. Also, with an exp. pedal, good stuff happens. In your case, search for sound samples, and figure out exactly what kind of synth bass you want. Could be, you want an actual keyboard synth- which I would also highly recomend.

[Slackerprince]

Lots of cool and funky stuff in the Digitech for cheap.

S.

[bigblondeafro87]

The Markbass Supersynth also comes highly recommended. But for real, please do a search. There seems to be three of this exact same thread per day...

[Thaos627]

i use a ibanez synth pedal simply put u can make only 6 effects with an active bass and only 4 with a passive, but u have full control not only in the way u tune the knobs but also u can change the sound by playin more/less aggresive and if u play by the bridge or neck. ive used the boss synth, digitech synth, moog, line 6, and the ehx micro synth simply put i hate them but the digitech has potential. im currently looking into korg and behringer.

[okcrum]

Originally Posted by derrico1

I've gigged Boss SYB-3 and SYB-5, Akai Deep Impact, EHX Bass Micro Synth, MarkBass SuperSynth, and Line6 M9.

The Bass Micro Synth is the one that sees the most gigs--it's reliable (cough! Deep Impact!), tracks well (cough! SYB-3 & 5), and does 70's funky better than the SuperSynth.

The MarkBass and the Akai are better than the BMS at 80's pop-synth sounds, and they let you use presets (as does the M9). Of those two, the Markbass is the one I kept, because the few Deep Impacts I've been able to get my hands on have been somewhat-to-impossibly glitchy for live work. ("Glitchy" as in intermittent output, periodically powering off, and unbidden high-speed cycling through presets.)

I sometimes use the M9 for synth, but only for gigs where I don't want to bring a proper pedalboard. It sounds fine, but whenever I use it for synth sounds (as I did at a gig last night), I wish I'd brought either the Bass Micro Synth or the SuperSynth.

I use a Boss ME-50B, and it tracks fine. I assume the synth section is similar to one of the SYB-3 or -5 pedals.

One thing that's important is to set up the bass to have as little clank, harmonics, etc. as possible and to play with clean technique. You can fake out even the best synths by playing sloppy.