Synth/Electronica/Funk-Rock Board Plan

[jufros]

I'm working on some solo stuff at the moment, playing keyboard, bass, guitar, and programming drums. I'm also playing bass for a funky pop rock band that I get to use a bunch of synth stuff in and I just got hired to record on an electro-pop album. I also started sketching out some drum and bass-esque material with a jazz drummer friend of mine and he's excited to record with me.

This is what I'm sporting on my PT-2 at the moment:


I really like this setup and it definitely gives me a lot of flexibility. I don't really want to change anything but I'm thinking that I might want to add a few pedals to the board, use a PT-Pro for practice and recording, and downsize to the PT-2 live.

I'm thinking about picking up an Enigma so I have a really flexible envelope filter for synth sounds and a Moog MF-101 to nail drum and bass and dub sounds.

If I did that and picked up a PT-Pro, I'd have room for 1 expression pedal (2 if the Enigma replaces the AF-9 but at the moment I'm pretty smitten with the Maxon). So it's likely that I'll have an expression pedal for the Moog on the board.

This leaves me about 4.5 inches of pedal space left. I don't have a delay, largely because a) I prefer tremolo and b) I would definitely need one large enough with a tap tempo switch on the faceplate and I haven't had the room for that before.

I'm considering the following to fill that:
-Boss LMB-3: to help tame any synth spikes (my rack compressor seems to be doing a fairly good job of this though)
-Micro POG: I've owned one before and definitely prefer my MXR BOD, but I was able to get some unique sounds due its flawless digital tracking by running fuzz before the micro POG.
-Digitech BSW: I've owned one previously as well and wasn't particularly impressed but in retrospect, I don't think I really gave it much a fair shot and there might be some unique sounds in there that I can use.
-Another LS-2: I'm using my current one as a clean blend but I'm sure that I'd be able to throw together some insane sounds if I was blending effects in parallel.
-Vibrato: would be great for dub stuff but I'm definitely liking tremolo for that as well at the moment

Any thoughts, comments, or suggestions?

[bongomania]

How about that Rolls Tiny Crossover we've been talking about here lately? Pull some Bootsy action splitting your lows to one effects chain and your highs to another, and mixing them back together with the LS-2.

[jufros]

That's actually a really great suggestion. Any others?

[jufros]

I've decided that it really makes a lot more sense for me to get a PT-Jr and put the extra pedals on that board. I'm not going to use them with my pop-funk band, and it would be a huge hassle to have to strip the big board every time we gigged. This way, I can just rewire the extra synthy pedals to my LS-2 return, put the two boards next to each other, and call it a day.

So for the PT-Jr I'm thinking:
LS-2
OC-2
Enigma
Moog MF-101
Expression for Moog
Another Gated Fuzz (Chunk Brown Dog vs. Copilot Orbit but leaning towards the Orbit)
I'd like to try putting a CE-5 either right after the OC-2 or right after the dirt (before the filter) to see if I can get a pseudo de-tuned sound that way.

The basic idea is that I'll run my current board as is, with overdrives into the LS-2's input and BOD->GI->MXR BT->FX25->AF-9->BMS in loop 1 of the LS-2. I'll route OC-2 -> (maybe CE-5) -> (TBD dirt) -> Engima -> Moog (or Moog -> Enigma?) through the LS-2's second loop. This will give me the option of switching between sounds pretty quickly. So I'll be able to switch between my current synth setup and the new one, blend the two, or run them together in series, with the LS-2's output going to my modulation pedals in each case.

I think I can throw together some really insane sounds with this setup, especially with expression control of Moog. I'd much rather be able to change the Moog's cutoff and sweep than have the room for more pedals. All I really need for board 2 is Moog w/ Expression, Enigma, and some dirt (probably Brown Dog at this point). I've got everything but dirt on the way.

What I really wish I could do is be able to switch between everything currently in loop 1 (octave, fuzzes, filters) except the BMS, the BMS (which I use on its own and then with modulation afterwards), and the new setup, with everything going to modulation afterwards. A possible solution might be to have a second LS-2, put loop 1 minus the BMS in the first LS-2's loop 1, and then send loop 2 to a second LS-2. I could put the BMS in one loop and board 2 in the other loop, return that LS-2 to the first LS-2, and then send the first LS-2's output to modulation... Seems like a good call to me and gives me a lot of options.

Another option would be to have
LS#1, Loop #1: BOD->GI->MXR BT->FX25->AF-9->BMS
LS#1, Loop #2: LS#2
LS#2, Loop #1: Copilot Orbit
LS#2, Loop #2: OC-2->Brown Dog->Enigma->Moog

This might be even more flexible since it's likely that I'd use the Orbit on its own for some sounds:
I can use LS#2 on A->B mode as well. This prevents me from going OC-2->Orbit, but I can always get the octave from the BOD on the other board, bypass the OC-2, and then I can run the Orbit into everything else on board #2. More importantly, I can use the Orbit on a wetter setting for high end and keep lows by blending both channels of LS#2. I could also run A->B, run the Brown Dog at 50/50 clean and have 50% Orbit and 50% Brown Dog going to the filters. I could then blend that with the BMS or BOD->FX25 or whatever I wanted.

[jufros]

I'm pretty sure that I'm going to go ahead with this

MI Audio Blue Boy Deluxe -> Electronix Gemini Drive ->

LS#1, Loop #1: BOD->GI->MXR BT->FX25->AF-9->BMS
LS#1, Loop #2: LS#2
LS#2, Loop #1: Copilot Orbit
LS#2, Loop #2: OC-2->Brown Dog->Enigma->Moog

LS#2 Output: LS#1 Loop 2 Receive
LS#1 Output: Boss CE-5->Source Audio Tri-Mod Phaser->Duncan Shape Shifter->Amp/Mixer/DI/whatever I'm using for the task at hand.

I've got the Enigma, Moog, and a Moog EP-2 on the way. I'll probably buy the Orbit/BD today as well unless someone talks me out of it. Then I'll try to hunt down a used LS-2 and OC-2.

[Gashaponcito]

maybe another synth pedal could be good, a Deep Impact or something like that if money is no object... also check the threads of John Davis from Nerve amazing tones right there and he has posted his pedalboard several times here also worth looking a Polish Bassist called "Bond" also his pedalboard has been posted here.

[jufros]

Bond as in "Bond" from Miloopa? I'm definitely familiar with his work and it's excellent. I'm going to go ahead with the Orbit and I might wind up using an expression control for it. The Deep Impact would be cool but from what I've heard, it's not exactly what I'm going for and would carry a hefty price tag for a pedal that I don't really want that badly.

I'd probably go with the Squeezer over the DI but I'd rather have individual pedals that I can tweak on the fly and get usable sounds out of as quickly as possible. In the studio, I don't have much time to obsess over patches and dive through menus so I'm going to keep things more simplistic, hands-on, and familiar.

I think I'm going to go ahead with the Orbit today. I'm still not 100% sold on the Brown Dog but I'm not sure that there's a better option with its footprint (besides maybe the DI). It would be cool to have an FM-4 but I definitely won't have room for it anywhere and I can live without it.

Small hitch in the gears though: there's no way to go from Loop1->Loop2 on the LS-2. I need a workaround solution for this because I need to send my current synth setup to the new board and bypass my modulation pedals so they're still last in the chain...

I might actually not go with the OC-2 and just stick with the Bass Octave Deluxe since I'd have issues triggering it that late in my chain and I like the BOD just fine. A micro POG might not be a bad idea though.

[jufros]

Ok so this is basically how the setup is going to work:

From LS-2 thread:

The meta signal chain is:
MXR BOD->LS#1 Input->LS#1 Output->LS#2 Input->LS#2 Output->CE-5, Source Audio Tri-Mod Phaser->Duncan Shape Shifter

LS#1, Loop 1 (L1.1):
L1.1 Send->GI Fuzz->BlowTorch->FX25->AF-9->BMS->L2.1 Return->L2.1 Send->L1.1 Return

LS#1, Loop 2 (L1.2):
L1.2 Send->L2.1 Return->L2.1 Send->L1.2 Return

LS#2, Loop 1 (L2.1):
L2.1 Send->L1.2 Return->L1.2 Send->L2.1 Return

LS#2, Loop 2 (L2.2):
L2.2 Send->Orbit->(Heliotrope?)->Brown Dog->Enigma->Moog->L2.2 Return

If I use LS#1 in output select mode and choose output A, then L2.1 becomes identical to L1.1.
If I then put LS#2 in A/B mix mode, I have both loops mixed in parallel.
If instead I put LS#2 in A/B/Bypass mode, I have either 1.1 (since 2.1=1.1 right now), 2.2, or just the BOD soloed going to modulation.

If I put LS#1 in A mode and LS#2 in B mode, then I have 1.1->2.2, which is both loops in series. The series loops are then sent to modulation.

I'm going to be able to do some other interesting things in addition to series/parallel routing of both loops. I'll be able to run:
(MXR BOD and MXR BOD->FX25 summed in parallel) -> Moog
(MXR BOD and MXR BlowTorch summed in parallel) -> Moog
Bass MicroSynth and Orbit in parallel
etc. etc.

This is going to give me a lot of options, especially given the fact that I'm going to able to use the AF-9 in HP mode or the BMS with a lot of high end, and mix the signal in parallel with the Moog or Enigma set to a deep LP.

It'll be really interesting to set the Enigma and BMS to totally different sweep ranges, maybe one sweeping up and one down, maybe with the stop frequencies nearly identical, set the sweep durations to be uniform, and then send the mixed signal to the CE-5 to make it even fatter.

I've also thought about re-purchasing a GEB-7 so that I can have more control of the frequencies coming from the BOD. For deeper sounds, I'd be able to boost 50 and 120 for more subs or fundamental respectively. For more aggressive present synth sounds, I could cut some lows and highs and boost the mids. What do you think? I'd have to ditch something from the first board though and I'm not really sure what it would be. If the BOD->GEB-7 combo was really stunning, I might be tempted to ditch the GI Fuzz, but for funky stuff, I really love the way it sounds with the Maxon. But if I've got Brown Dog -> Enigma on the 2nd board, I might not need the sound at all.

Another possibility would be to sell the GI Fuzz and replace it with a GEB-7 on the old board and then pick up Mario's (Robot Factory) Pocket Synth. It has a switchable gate, selectable 70hz-13khz frequency, an LFO with controls for speed and depth, and you can sweep the frequency with an envelope or choose not to sweep the frequency at all. Seems pretty powerful and definitely worth the money but I wonder how good the tracking is.

I'm excited.