How do i get the Behringer bsy600 bass synth pedal to sound good?

LexLutheran · #1 02-27-2010, 12:08 AM

I just recently bought the Behringer bsy600 bass synthesizer pedal and so far I am highly disappointed. I just read some reviews and most of them surprisingly say that it is well liked, but I am having trouble producing sounds that aren't aggravating. A few people say that I need to hook up the bsy600 to another pedal to give it a sound boost ...

("At first I was disappointed, it seemed that some notes would not register a synth tone. Performance seemed random and extremely frustrating.. But I saw a HUGE improvement when i put another pedal before the BSY600 to boost the signal going in. I think that may be key to behringer pedals, they need a loud signal going in. The sounds you get are good, especially with the ability to blend in the dry signal. Don't expect to plug it in and get instant Moog sounds. Getting this pedal to sound right takes some trial and error") [from http://reviews.harmony-central.com/r...er+BSY600/10/1 ],

but that sounds like a lot of trouble. And the tracking seems terrible as well yet I read a review in which the person claims he played "Hysteria" by Muse.

So I would just like any help I can get with trying to get a good noise out of the pedal and not having it sound terrible... thank you!

bobulibobium · #2 02-27-2010, 03:41 AM

have you checked the manual to give you an idea of what settings to use? it might be a good place to start :P

alternatively, you can check out this video:
http://www.youtube.com/user/ganderd#p/u/8/St1zYbN3-QI

it might give you some good settings to start with as well

Planet Boulder · #3 02-27-2010, 06:33 AM

I think you've pretty much found your answer. Try a clean boost pedal, such as the MXR Micro Amp. Without the ability to adjust the input level on the Behringer, you're at the mercy of your bass's signal strength, so a clean boost should help resolve this issue.

Have you tried playing other basses (ones with hotter signals) through it and, if so, did you notice a difference? What bass are you currently playing? Active and passive basses will likely produce different results.

Kromwarp · #4 02-27-2010, 11:12 AM

you don't

In all seriousness though, I've had the same question on my mind, I have a Boss SYB-3 that just sounds bad every setting I put it on. I sits in a drawer now.

bigchiefbc · #5 02-27-2010, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kromwarp

you don't

In all seriousness though, I've had the same question on my mind, I have a Boss SYB-3 that just sounds bad every setting I put it on. I sits in a drawer now.

I said this in the other thread, but I'll say it here. I've gotten to know this pedal pretty well in the last few months, and it is permanently on my pedalboard now. Let me know what kind of synth tone you're looking for, and I can give you some settings help.

BTW - I was the one that put up that clip of Hysteria. It wasn't a claim, you can go listen to it for yourself in the other BSY600 thread.

Jazz Ad · #6 02-27-2010, 05:06 PM

The Boss SYB and its Behringer copy can actually sound very good.
It isn't a plug'n'play effect, you need to work a bit on it to ge usable tones.
In the end the sound can be killer. Unfortunately tracking is very very poor.

Kromwarp · #7 02-27-2010, 07:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigchiefbc

I said this in the other thread, but I'll say it here. I've gotten to know this pedal pretty well in the last few months, and it is permanently on my pedalboard now. Let me know what kind of synth tone you're looking for, and I can give you some settings help.

BTW - I was the one that put up that clip of Hysteria. It wasn't a claim, you can go listen to it for yourself in the other BSY600 thread.

I'd like to get something that sounds like a bowed upright (if possible with the SYB), and something just really fuzzy. Thanks

bigchiefbc · #8 02-27-2010, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kromwarp

I'd like to get something that sounds like a bowed upright (if possible with the SYB), and something just really fuzzy. Thanks

A bowed upright definitely isn't gonna happen. You're going to want to look into some sort of swell effect for that (Behringer's Slow Motion is one of them).

When you say something "really fuzzy", do you just mean a fuzzy synth without much of a filter sweep? Here's one setting I use for that:

Mode 1 (sawtooth wave), 4 (square wave) or 7 (pulse wave)
Decay knob all the way up
Resonance at about 9:00
Frequency at about 10:00
direct at 10:00
effect at 2:00

Should just sound like a thick pure synth tone, with the filter sweep being very faint. Roll your tone knob all the way to neck pickup, and make sure you don't let strings ring out when you change from one string to another.

argensfinest · #9 04-15-2010, 02:24 PM

i feel like it's kinda envelope controlled, because when i play with just the BSY600, it barely works unless i really play hard, but when i put a distortion dialed down as a volume boost before the synth, it gets instantly cooler. i have a fender standard MIM jazz bass and use headphones rather than my amp's speaker, if that makes a difference.