Digitech Bass Synth Wah disapointment

BassMan99 · #1 03-12-2008, 06:36 PM

I received a Digitech BSW today I ordered off ebay. I play in a cover band and was looking to cover a few synth bass lines more convincingly than I have playing straight bass guitar. After about three hours I am very disapointed. Not any useble synth tones I can find. I have tried every thing I can think of. Including an ABY switch.
I was hoping to cover things like INXS what you need, Sublime What I got- a simple sine wave synth sound. We also play a couple Justin Timberlake songs. Nothing close. The straight bass sounds better. I suppose the wah is decent but none of the synth sounds seem useable to me.
Can anyone help with a setting suggestion? Am I missing something? I know its a gamble buying without trying. Just no time and I read good things here about it so I went for it.
Thanks in advance.

assboglin · #2 03-12-2008, 07:09 PM

The synth sounds on the BSW suck. The envelope filter is ok, as is the suboctaver.

Swimming Bird · #3 03-12-2008, 07:24 PM

You're not missing anything, there is a reason the pedal is a bit controversial around here. Some people dig the filter, and some really love the octave, but pretty everyone agrees the synth part sucks.

Funny though, I was tried a new combo of pedals (env. filter >> distortion >> decimator) and got some sounds that are pretty similar to the BSW, but less compressed and fake. Go figure, that must be the combo of effects someone at Digitech thinks makes for a good synth sound. IMO, they're wrong.

tumpinjahosafat · #4 03-12-2008, 07:25 PM

so far im likin my BSW. I perfer the BMS but its limited in the settings department, i really like the envelopes on the BSW though. Eventually id like to try a Deep Impact to see what the deal is on that, never know till you try it. Because today actually, i tried out the Boss SYB-5 and it sounded really fake to me.

unclejam · #5 03-12-2008, 07:34 PM

if you need a synth sound

take a overdrive and add a wah/auto wah plus a VCA/VCO(chorus/flanger/phaser...)
VCA/Vco to the Overdrive into the Wah/Auto wah.

purdy convincing imho

lowfreqfreak · #6 03-12-2008, 07:51 PM

I bought one last February... gotta say I was very disappointed as well. I think I should get something like a mutron 3. I really wanted that bootys auto wah envelope filter sound, but one day I want to be able to mimic a deep moog type synth sound.

BassMan99 · #7 03-12-2008, 08:05 PM

well I have been messing with it more. Most convincing so far is Type 2 filter (with sub) playing bass guitar with treble off and sens 9 oclock, control and range about 3 oclock and playing the riff an octave higher. acceptable for one tune anyway. Oh and playing with a pick and palm muting. This way sounds the sub harmonic mostly with some filter grit.
The filter is good. Maybe I am expecting too much.

BassMan99 · #8 03-12-2008, 08:07 PM

uncle jam. I gotta see what pedals I have. FOr bass I am usually straight to the amp. we play 50 plus tunes a night and I like to keep it simple. I do play guitar and have let me think. A blues driver, a flanger and a compressor. Would the wah in the Digitech BSW and flanger work for your suggestion?

unclejam · #9 03-12-2008, 09:23 PM

th wah HAS to go after or you wont get the afformentioned Synth

Swimming Bird · #10 03-12-2008, 11:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BassMan99

The filter is good. Maybe I am expecting too much.

Naw, don't settle. I mean, you get what you pay for, but Digitech has no excuse for making something that sounds that crappy using modern digital sound processing chips.

EDIT: I don't quite get what unclejam's saying -- I've got that order and the flanger before doesn't make it that much more synthy, though it does weird it up a bit. My poor man's synth goes distortion >> envelope filter >> octave down. Luckily I have an Ibanez AW-7 that includes a distortion that can be pre or post filter. The filter itself sounds MUCH better than the BSW's, IMO. Get an Ibanez and use the Digitech for octave.

The one-button solution is a Korg G5, Akai Deep Impact or EH BMS. Again, you get what you pay for.

Sorefinger · #11 03-13-2008, 01:47 AM

I got my BSW pretty cheap used and didn´t expect much. My impressions: The envelope filter is fun and pretty useable, the filter + octave setting is even better and the octaver is actually very good and tracks great.

Synth sounds 3 and 4 take some tweaking, but are capable of some Muse-type fuzzy distortion sounds which aren´t bad at all. The trouble is - it only sounds good when you play with a very soft attack so you don´t trigger the envelope filter. It can be done, but even with the Sensitivity knob rolled back all the way I get the occasional "quack" that ruins every line.

I can see using these sounds for drone-like long notes, though. I´m determined to find a way to fit them into one or two songs.

The "vocoder" settings OTOH are pathetic. Can´t see how anyone could use these...

Overall, to me it´s worth it for the wah and the octaver.

Toasted · #12 03-13-2008, 02:49 AM

It's the best octaver on the market, bar none.

phat daddy · #13 03-13-2008, 02:59 AM

I use my BSW in many songs with my cover band, along with my Boss SYB-3 which is another pedal with questionable popularity around here. I find both pedals very useful and fun, and in my very unpopular opinion I also find both pedals very easy to tweak and find the tones I need quickly and painlessly. I've found at least 4 very usable sounds on the BSW and at least 3 on the SYB-3, and all you need for them to be usable is one good sound, so the way I see it, they've already paid for themselves at gigs. I honestly couldn't see myself wanting or needing any more synth sounds than those two guys put out. I'm not saying I'll never try out a Deep Impact, but I am saying that as long as these pedals are working out so well for me, I probably won't bother to look for one. And cost wise I find the combination of these two a lot more effective, as the Deep Impacts are going for upwards of $500 these days and I'm sure will for a while.

dirtgroove · #14 03-13-2008, 03:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toasted

It's the best octaver on the market, bar none.

....you're just trying to start a fight in here.

Toasted · #15 03-13-2008, 03:22 AM

I'm not, that would make me a troll and that's against the rules.

I believe that the XBSW is the best octaver on the market, bar none.

bmc · #16 03-13-2008, 03:27 AM

Our band does a Stevie Wonder medley that could have used a nice synth effect. I bought the same pedal and tried really hard to get a nice sound out of it. I went out and bought another synth/wah (can't remember brand) and it didn't fly either. I sold both.

I recently bought a Roland Cube CB100 that has a synth wah effect that I am really pleased with. I haven't used it with the band yet, but I have to say it sounds really nice and it's easily controlled by the amount of attack with your fingers.

I think there are a few of us that held our hopes out for those pedals.

fuNKmaster83 · #17 03-13-2008, 05:21 AM

with synth and envelop type pedals its like that... either you know how to work them or they work against you!!! its that simple!!!

syciprider · #18 03-13-2008, 07:48 AM

Munji can generate synth sounds by adjusting his playing style.

Toasted · #19 03-13-2008, 07:49 AM

Some jokes get really old, really fast.

fuNKmaster83 · #20 03-13-2008, 08:10 AM

this is no joke... i see this when people come to test my efx... some get right to it... some just shouldn't even play the bass alone