Hey, Anyone Remember the MagicStomp EB?

Bongolation · #1 02-09-2009, 12:06 AM

Y'know, this thing?:

A complex simulator/MFX box for bass, discontinued almost as soon as it was introduced and never supported as promised, it was dumped for $80 by MF and lots of people here bought them.

To condense the existing old thread info, everyone was suitably impressed by its potential, somewhat intimidated by the programing and the whole thing pretty much dropped off TB's radar -- the proverbial nine day's wonder.

So...did anyone ever really work this thing out and get any usable, quality bass patches he would like to share? I found mine in the studio tonight and was wistfully thinking of what might have been.

Thanks for any new input about this interesting device.

Deluge Of Sound · #2 02-09-2009, 12:16 AM

I have no idea what it is, other than the fact that it looks vaguely like a digital thermometer.

Jared Lash · #3 02-09-2009, 12:48 AM

I never bought one, but I do remember when the TB hype machine cranked up behind them.

I always wondered if they got a lot of use from the people who bought them back then.

bongomania · #4 02-09-2009, 12:59 AM

I dismissed them "back then", but later picked one up because a few people recommended I try out its compressor patches. As noted in my review, I was actually quite impressed by certain qualities of those patches! However the UI was abysmal and I never did get around to installing the librarian on my computer, so...

I guess that's no help to the OP. *shrug*

Bongolation · #5 02-09-2009, 01:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBigO

I always wondered if they got a lot of use from the people who bought them back then.

You'd have to be a pretty righteous geek with no conflicting social obligations or distractions for a while to really master programming it. It has an astonishingly high number of adjustable parameters -- something over three thousand, if I remember correctly.

One problem is that installing the USB/MIDI driver needed for editing it with the Yamaha software wreaks havoc with many other programs and drivers (such as DigiTech's), and incredibly it can't be removed from XP by any normal method. I have a message on my answering machine at the moment from Yamaha advanced technical support trying to reach me with information on how to clean it out by manually editing the registry. Jeeze! I have to get back to them tomorrow.

The factory presets are -- like those of every other simulator/MFX in history -- useless, but I've found some of them very good with guitar.

The models are not identified by comparison to any other amp name, so there's no way of really duplicating anything except by groping.

I really dying for someone with more mental discipline and technical obsession than I have to share some really great, useful bass patches. The ones Yamaha promised from noted artists never materialized.

Mitchell Royce · #6 02-09-2009, 06:20 AM

I've got one and still use it a lot. I'd never try to program one without a computer, there's just way too many parameters. I've tweaked with it quite a bit and it has some absolutly sick sounds in there. Modulation and dirt of any kind are really where it's strengths lie, anything too dependant on tracking is so-so. It is possible to create some gigantic phaser sounds unlike anything I've heard with it, to the point of sea-sickness.

One of the first things I did was to program a chromatic scale into the ring mod at the frequency range I like. Not something you can do with most multi units.

One other thing, I found it works best with an external blender and the mix on the individual patches maxed to the wet side. For most things, at least.

I agree though, support for this was completly absent.

Jared Lash · #7 02-09-2009, 07:49 AM

Sounds like it actually had a lot of potential.

MX21 · #8 02-09-2009, 04:08 PM

I still have mine and even figured out how to program it (deep editing). But I'm not into using much effects on my bass, so I don't use it. I'd sell it, but don't think I'd get much for it, so it sits there and occasionally I plug it in and enjoy the many wild effects.

Bongolation · #9 02-09-2009, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBigO

Sounds like it actually had a lot of potential.

It did, which was the really sad part. From what I gather from people who know more about DSP units than I do, the simulators and FX were of unusually high quality.

It's just that it had a weak interface and documentation, though certainly better than those of the M-Audio/Linn "Black Box."

Toasted · #10 02-09-2009, 04:42 PM

Am I wrong that these now sell for a TON of money on ebay?

fightthepower · #11 02-09-2009, 04:56 PM

There's a couple on ebay right now, and they seem to be going for $100-250.

Joe Gress · #12 02-09-2009, 05:43 PM

Bought mine for $100 just to try out different effects and such to see which ones I liked and which ones I did not. Was not to hard to program, it just took a while. But it's gone now.

bongomania · #13 02-09-2009, 05:45 PM

They had a spike in price that more or less corresponded with the wave of hype here on TB about them immediately after the last of the blowout ones sold for pennies. Then things settled down... I usually see them sell for no more than $150. Think I got $100 for mine.

Nyarlathotep · #14 02-09-2009, 06:06 PM

Man, this brings back some memories....

I never got one, but I remember the HYPE. TB never lets you down when "the next thing" comes along.

zcwilkes · #15 02-09-2009, 06:17 PM

I have one and still use it.

Bongolation · #16 02-09-2009, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanielTulip

TB never lets you down when "the next thing" comes along.

That's a DIFFERENT hype. I'm immune to that, totally deaf to "NEW!! NEW!!"

This was killer blowout price hype. I have no chance against that. Helpless. I'm waiting for delivery of a koa ATK750 and considering a maple ATK700 to go with it, irrespective of the fact that I wouldn't be caught dead playing an Ibanez anything and can't stand laminated tops. They're about 80% off MSRP and that's all I have to know.

The MagicStomp EB was eighty bucks, MSRP $300. I figured I couldn't go wrong with that. Maybe not, but I've never gotten a single bit of use out of it, aside from hopelessly corrupting my OS with their MIDI/USB driver.

Joe Gress · #17 02-09-2009, 06:23 PM

Hey, just remember, Deep Impacts were being sold at $100 or something like that at the end of their run right?

Bongolation · #18 02-10-2009, 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joeinsprings

Hey, just remember, Deep Impacts were being sold at $100 or something like that at the end of their run right?

It seems to me that being a DSP/MFX unit is like being a musician: If you want your perceived value to increase, die young. I can think of several guitar/bass DSP/MFXs that croaked in the marketplace and retroactively became worth more used than they were at the time they were discontinued.

So, anyhow, this trip down memory lane has been swell, but does anyone have any great presets or at least general programming guidelines he wants to share, or what?