EBS MicroBass II Questions

[Nyarlathotep]

1) Can this thing drive a power amp

2) Does the drive on this thing emulate a tube being drivin'. In other words, does it emulate the compression/overdrive clipping effect that a drivin' tube gives.

3) is the entire bass/mid/treble EQ after the gain/od clipping stage, or is some/all of it before the gain/od clipping stage

I did a couple of searches, but i didn't find anything on these specifically.

[niftydog]

1) Probably.

2) The drive circuitry is basically like that of the Multidrive.

Originally Posted by www.ebs.bass.se

Tube ”Class A” simulator
...using the awarded tube emulation circuitry found in the EBS range of professional bass heads.

3) Download the manual - it has a very handy and comprehensive block diagram on page 2 that shows the signal path. The Drive stage is the first stage of channel B, but in A+B mode the EQ of channel A comes before everything in channel B.

I know it's unusual to find the answers to your questions at the manufacturers website, but you should try it anyway because some days you are surprised to find good information!

[Nyarlathotep]

^ Thanks

Any idea as to what cab config the speaker sim emulates?

[niftydog]

Ah, see that's where the info dries up. They talk about it a lot, but as far as I can tell they don't go into detail about it.

[Nyarlathotep]

Hehe, ya. Im not to worried about it, as it is just for the DI, and you can switch it in/out.

I think i might give one a try. If anything else I can power it from my TU-2 and itll take up less space than a POD on a mic stand and an FBV on the floor

[Nyarlathotep]

2 more questions: is the EBS analog?

and where can I get one shipped to canada? MF has em on backorder and i really dont feel like waiting, since ill prolly pull zee trigga in another month (or sooner, i'll have to see)

[niftydog]

Yep and No idea.

[Nyarlathotep]

^ Nice.

I've found a couple on e-bay stores that ship here. I figure i should be good with the rating and all that the guy has.

[BrentSimons]

Daniel,
Are you giving up on the Pod X3? I really enjoyed your review of it and the soundclips. I tried one at a Guitar Center a month ago. I thought it would be better. They certainly left out a few goodies like the crossover for effects. I never found out can you combine a guitar amp with a bass amp in one patch? Sorry for the hijack.
B

[Nyarlathotep]

Originally Posted by BrentSimons

Daniel,
Are you giving up on the Pod X3? I really enjoyed your review of it and the soundclips. I tried one at a Guitar Center a month ago. I thought it would be better. They certainly left out a few goodies like the crossover for effects. I never found out can you combine a guitar amp with a bass amp in one patch? Sorry for the hijack.
B

No need to appologize Yes, I am giving up on the POD. The one thing that ive noticed is that the cab and mic models tend to either overcolor (ie. too much bass) the sound, or they just sound "meh". Its really hard to describe "meh", but i guess "unexciting" would be a better word. It could just be the way im running it, thru a home stereo, but I really dont wanna spend a load of $$$ (1000$ min) on an amp with EQ compensation for the speaker, to find out if its just the stereo. I tried just the tube pre, without cab/mic modelling on, and it sounded much better.

As for running a guitar amp on one side, and a bass amp on the other: Yes you can. Both tones/patch are completly independant in terms of what effect you want for each section. You could theoretically run Wah->Fuzz->High Gain Guitar Amp->4x12 guitar cab->Phaser->Verb->Delay on one side and SVT->8x10 on the other.

Its definatly got some potential, and like I said in the review thread, I wish that you could turn off the mic modelling without turning the cab stuff off. I especially wish this after playing around with no cab modeling. Running thru the mics: "20 Dynamic" = too thin, "112 Dynamic" = too boomy, "Tube 47 Far/Close" = Too much like playing underneath a pillow.

When the 6" speaker on my 15W amp gives a livelier tone than the POD, there's something wrong IMO. Between that and a new update almost every week (iirc) since i got the thing, I can say without hesitation that I no longer like the POD....

[Mytola]

The drive on the Microbass doesn not sound at all like the one in the Multidrive, so if you are expecting it to sound like the sound clips of the Multidrive over at the EBS website, you will probably be very dissapointed. I can record some clips of the drive on the Microbass if you want to.

[Nyarlathotep]

Ive actually heard some great clean clips of the microbass, which is what im gonna use it for. There where points in the 10 min one by JazzAd that really sounded like what a pushed tube should sound like imo. Nice and midrange thick, without any really obvious "grit", but at the same time punchy and compressed. Personally I like to get my grit from elsewhere, and have been looking at the Attack Goat for my purposes

Not to say that sound clips would not be apriciated I plan on recording many when i finally get the MBII. Thank god for that XLR->1/4" Stereo adaptor i picked up when i had my SAPDDI.

I also had my Korg KDM-2 delivered today. I have it plugged into the aux in on my 15W POS. I cant wait to be able to patch that into the FX return on the MB, and blending it in. That'll make practice a breeze

[Mytola]

Then the Microbass should work well for you. I love mine, allthough the DI signal is very hot, which can cause problems with mixers and stuff. I do have another DI on my board, so it isn't a problem for me.

The versatility and sound (exept for the drive, as I said. I prefer the grit in the MultiDrive) is just awesome.

[BrentSimons]

Originally Posted by DanielTulip

No need to appologize Yes, I am giving up on the POD. The one thing that ive noticed is that the cab and mic models tend to either overcolor (ie. too much bass) the sound, or they just sound "meh". Its really hard to describe "meh", but i guess "unexciting" would be a better word. It could just be the way im running it, thru a home stereo, but I really dont wanna spend a load of $$$ (1000$ min) on an amp with EQ compensation for the speaker, to find out if its just the stereo. I tried just the tube pre, without cab/mic modelling on, and it sounded much better.

As for running a guitar amp on one side, and a bass amp on the other: Yes you can. Both tones/patch are completly independant in terms of what effect you want for each section. You could theoretically run Wah->Fuzz->High Gain Guitar Amp->4x12 guitar cab->Phaser->Verb->Delay on one side and SVT->8x10 on the other.

Its definatly got some potential, and like I said in the review thread, I wish that you could turn off the mic modelling without turning the cab stuff off. I especially wish this after playing around with no cab modeling. Running thru the mics: "20 Dynamic" = too thin, "112 Dynamic" = too boomy, "Tube 47 Far/Close" = Too much like playing underneath a pillow.

When the 6" speaker on my 15W amp gives a livelier tone than the POD, there's something wrong IMO. Between that and a new update almost every week (iirc) since i got the thing, I can say without hesitation that I no longer like the POD....

Daniel,
Does the Pod X3 ask you what your plugging into? Studio vs Live like the Xt series? I thought when you selected live the Mic sims turned off. Have you tried that?
B

[Nyarlathotep]

^ Speaker/cab sim is turned off as well in "live" mode.

Originally Posted by POD X3 Manual

“Live” Modes (for feeding a guitar amp, without speaker/mic/room simulation, and
with a set of controls for on/mute and pan for Tone 1 and Tone 2 that is independent
from the Studio/Direct Mix settings)

[i2k]

Originally Posted by Mytola

The drive on the Microbass doesn not sound at all like the one in the Multidrive, so if you are expecting it to sound like the sound clips of the Multidrive over at the EBS website, you will probably be very dissapointed. I can record some clips of the drive on the Microbass if you want to.

+1, Microbass drive doesn't sound like Multidrive at all....but somehow EBS claims that they're based on the same circuit...

[Nyarlathotep]

^ Hehe, ime "based" on something doesnt mean they're gonna be remotly the same

Its all gravy tho, cus im not looking for actual grit from the EBS itself