SYB-5 + exp. pedal clip

[Hector_G]

I like my SYB-5.
The longer I have it, the more I'm finding out you can do pretty cool things with it.

This is a really short, really low quality clip. But you can see how you can use the optional expression pedal to control the LFO rate.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwhyiZrkAjQ




This is the actual song if you've never heard it before. The bass part starts a little after 1:10
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSWrepLjTKc


As far as the tracking issues that sooo many people on here complain about...
well...
feed it a strong enough signal and you'll have no problems.
The active electronics in my Carvin drive the pedal just fine. Just boost the bass a touch and I have no problems at all.

[rnilson]

Sounds good dude!

[TheMutt]

Sweet! I'd love to see how it would sound with an octave down afterwards.

This is definitely giving me GAS for one of these pedals. Excellent Dubstep tones.

[Hector_G]

Originally Posted by TheMutt

Sweet! I'd love to see how it would sound with an octave down afterwards.

This is definitely giving me GAS for one of these pedals. Excellent Dubstep tones.

Hmm... I have the octave effect on my Zoom B2.1u that I run after the SYB-5. That effect doesn't track too well though. I'll give it a shot tomorrow. I'll try to post a clip of that as well.

[TheMutt]

Originally Posted by Hector_G

Hmm... I have the octave effect on my Zoom B2.1u that I run after the SYB-5. That effect doesn't track too well though. I'll give it a shot tomorrow. I'll try to post a clip of that as well.

I look forward to it.

[idoru]

Nice work! I always had a soft spot for my SYB-3, until I got into DnB and realised just how limited it was. I play P basses with flats now, and I'd love to see if they track any better than my Warwick Thumb and Jazz used to...

c-

[G0rilla]

Hey guys, just dont hit up the price for it, as you have done with many other pedals, okay? It's a second thread already, and looks like it has fed up some g.a.s. lists already...



Okay, okay, i want one too...

[TheMutt]

Originally Posted by G0rilla

Hey guys, just dont hit up the price for it, as you have done with many other pedals, okay? It's a second thread already, and looks like it has fed up some g.a.s. lists already...



Okay, okay, i want one too...

Hmmm... good point...
This pedal sucks! Boooo! It can't do a dubstep tone at all. Boo Hiss! It sounds like a guy farting through a rain gutter downspout. You should just sell it to me for $50 and let me shoulder the enormity of suckage that is this pedal...

[Derk_Falsco]

Wow, I'm very impressed with that clip man. With all the SYB bashing I've read on these forums I've been hesitant to try it out, but you've certainly changed my perceptions on that pedal. Hopefully I'll get to try one soon, but after textbooks and other school expenses purchasing one may not happen for a while.

[idoru]

Originally Posted by Derk_Falsco

Wow, I'm very impressed with that clip man. With all the SYB bashing I've read on these forums I've been hesitant to try it out, but you've certainly changed my perceptions on that pedal. Hopefully I'll get to try one soon, but after textbooks and other school expenses purchasing one may not happen for a while.

The key to using the Boss SYB pedals is twofold: correct input level, and not too much harmonic content.

I borrowed a compressor to run in front of the SYB-3, and that did wonders in helping the synth notes trigger correctly and sustain for longer.

Using the neck-most pickup and rolling your tone back reduces the amount of string noise and upper harmonic content that tends to confuse the synth input.

For the record, I'd love to see an SYB-20 pedal. The option to have the right footswitch be used for LFO tap tempo or Hold mode would be very cool, and hopefully with all the extra space in the chassis they could tweak the circuit a bit and give us more oscillators and some proper ADSR controls.

Ooh, instead of hold mode, how about an option for fixed ADSR and different retrigger modes (every note, only notes over a certain threshold or no retrigger until the note releases below a certain threshold). All this with patch saving would be killer

It's not too far-fetched either; take it one step further and give it a MIDI input, make it suitable for line level input as well as instrument & they could tap into the whole desktop musician demographic too...

c-

[Hector_G]

Originally Posted by idoru

The key to using the Boss SYB pedals is twofold: correct input level, and not too much harmonic content.

I borrowed a compressor to run in front of the SYB-3, and that did wonders in helping the synth notes trigger correctly and sustain for longer.

Using the neck-most pickup and rolling your tone back reduces the amount of string noise and upper harmonic content that tends to confuse the synth input.

For the record, I'd love to see an SYB-20 pedal. The option to have the right footswitch be used for LFO tap tempo or Hold mode would be very cool, and hopefully with all the extra space in the chassis they could tweak the circuit a bit and give us more oscillators and some proper ADSR controls.

Ooh, instead of hold mode, how about an option for fixed ADSR and different retrigger modes (every note, only notes over a certain threshold or no retrigger until the note releases below a certain threshold). All this with patch saving would be killer

It's not too far-fetched either; take it one step further and give it a MIDI input, make it suitable for line level input as well as instrument & they could tap into the whole desktop musician demographic too...

c-

Now why couldn't they make some pedals like you've described. I've also read that the synth patches in one of their other pedal boards are absolutely amazing.(I've forgotten what model number it was) So why not include those sound in there too?

I would imagine with the ever increasing popularity of dubstep and bass centered electronic music, that a manufacturer would jump all over the oppurtunity to create an affordable ($200-$300, maybe a bit more) pedal that can handle these tasks.

Like I said, I'm finding that with the SYB-5 I can come convincingly close to that wobble bass sound. In my opinion of course.

And regarding triggering...
I've had the practice with playing techniques on synths. The synths in the Zoom can be very finicky. It's a lot to do with your fingering. Muting. Control. Attack. All these factor in to "playing" the synth itself. Not the bass.
Produce a strong, clear fundamental note with the bass and the synth will trigger off that note easily.
You really really have to clean up your playing when using synths.

[jufros]

That sounds pretty good man! I'd love to hear some samples recorded with a sound card. I may have to head to GC with one of my EP-2's and try this thing out. Any tips for some quick dubstep settings that I could dial in in a hurry?

[Hector_G]

Originally Posted by jufros

That sounds pretty good man! I'd love to hear some samples recorded with a sound card. I may have to head to GC with one of my EP-2's and try this thing out. Any tips for some quick dubstep settings that I could dial in in a hurry?

Well to get this effect you absolutely need the expression pedal. With this you can speed up and slow down the wobble.
Without the expression pedal, you can only set the LFO for one constant rate.

Setting number 6 is the one I use for this sound.
It's super easy to get a decent sound out of the pedal. You'd have absolutely no problems duplicating this exact sound.

Unfortunately the sound card on my computer is crap. So I can't do any decent recordings.
I can however post more clips with different setting later tonight when I get home.
I'll also post exact pedal settings as well.

[Stachio]

I posted this clip on another thread. Hope it's relevant here:
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=7746407
It's a couple of seconds in (poor editing on my part). I really dig the pedal for the sawtooth sounds. I originally bought this to use on the album with plans of returning it, but I've decided to keep it. Wish I would have found a killer deal on it like some other people in this forum . This thread definitely convinces me to get the expression pedal, though.

[BigDim]

Originally Posted by Hector_G

Well to get this effect you absolutely need the expression pedal. With this you can speed up and slow down the wobble.
Without the expression pedal, you can only set the LFO for one constant rate.

Setting number 6 is the one I use for this sound.
It's super easy to get a decent sound out of the pedal. You'd have absolutely no problems duplicating this exact sound.

Yeah I totally agree. I'm working on some of that DnB, Dubstep, Jungle sound on my bass, but having a bit of trouble with the expression pedal.

I chose to go for a cheaper Exp. pedal, the Zoom Fp-20, it does the job but has a lot of 'dead-play'.

Trying to find a way of explaining what I mean by 'dead-play'... Starting with the Exp. pedal in the 'Up' or 'Off' position and the Rate/Delay knob at 12 o'clock on the SYB-5:

I only tap the Exp. pedal forwards a tiny degree towards the 'Down' or 'On' position, it alters the Rate/Delay a very small amount but then there's plenty of remaining sweep in the Exp. pedal that has no effect upon sound of the SYB-5.

Is this something to do with the potentiometer in the Exp. pedal?

Boss suggest you use the Roland FV-5 expression pedal but I'm beggered if I'm gonna spend £100+ on top of my initial £100+ for the SYB-5 in the first place!!

Anyone know what potentiometer is in the Zoom Fp-20 expression pedal?

I'm pretty sure that there's a 10k potentiometer in the FV-5 - would replacing the potentiometer in the Zoom pedal with that of the FV-5 solve the problem or is it something to do with the sweep of the Zoom pedal itself?

[crapusername]

i use the boss volume pedal - fv500H. it has an extra socket for the pedal to be used as an exp pedal. i find that it has no 'dead play' at all, and sweeps very smoothly. plus you can use it as a volume too!

[bigblondeafro87]

I've got like four or five usable tones with this pedal when using the exp pedal (Roland FV5), the sawtooth on 10, the reese-ish sound on 9, wobble sounds on 6 and 3, and sometimes the non octave square (?) ish waveform on 3. Other might be useful, but not until I get a compressor so it doesn't blow my speakers on the sharp attack.

[Floridabwoy]

The Kid Cudi track was probably not done w. a SYB5. But is cool that you can recreate it.

FYI.... for the people with the tracking comments. If you turn the treble mids down and play lightly near the neck you can get excellent tracking. At least this is the case w. my FM4. I can get some great dubstep tones, but I cannot change the occillation rate (see the dubstep wobbbbble thread).

[Jake of Bass]

The big question is: Can the pedal also make women dance around in their underwear like in the clip?