A 'will this work' thread.

Meddle · #1 07-12-2010, 02:25 PM

Hello all. I want to get a more electronic sound into my band, and a dubsteppy bass sound would be cool.

At the moment I have a vox wah, so I am planning to pick up some cheaper pedals when I get my bass next month.

I picture a signal chain in my head to get a thick dubstep sound, here it is.

Bass Big Muff Pi -> Chorus pedal on lush old Roland Chorus setting -> Boss tremolo -> Ashdown Envelope filter -. delay (optional) -> Bass eq.

I only need the Big Muff Pi (I need this anyway as the switch had died in my Boss DS-1, they are NOT bombproof). My idea is thicken out the bass sound with the oldschool chorus sound, and feed the signal through the trem. The trem should influence the envelope on the Ashdown, so it is more Wont Get Fooled Again and less Bootsy Collins. The Big Muff should flatten out the signal and sustain it nicely, so I can alter the tremolo rate and wave-form to alter the envelope characteristics. The delay is for quick little pops and clicks ala the dub style, and the eq is just handy to have down there.

I am overhauling my 'experimental' board, and in my head this should make a nice dubstep sound, and I can work right back to a clean bass sound the rest of the time.

Thoughts?

bongomania · #2 07-12-2010, 02:35 PM

Sounds like it's worth a go. You have tried all of these effects in person already?

Meddle · #3 07-12-2010, 02:37 PM

I have not no. I don't have the Ashdown Envelope or the Bass Big Muff. The Big Muff looks versatile enough to kick out a good source sound, with the treble up you can stick in the bass boost so thats cool.

Albibass · #4 07-12-2010, 02:41 PM

Personally, I'd put a square wave kinda sound in front of the Muff.
Something like a OC-2.

Meddle · #5 07-12-2010, 02:47 PM

Will the muff not pump out enough square wave? the OC-2 is an octave pedal right? I've heard people say that a good sound from that pedal is the octave down function 100% wet, then play higher up the neck to get a synth sound. The OC-2 is beyond my budget though. Hmmmm.

I have an old FM synth I can recruite if things don't go to plan. I can dig out a gnarly tone out of that.

Albibass · #6 07-12-2010, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meddle

Will the muff not pump out enough square wave? the OC-2 is an octave pedal right? I've heard people say that a good sound from that pedal is the octave down function 100% wet, then play higher up the neck to get a synth sound. The OC-2 is beyond my budget though. Hmmmm.
.

It is an octave pedal yes, but the -1 octave has a very synthy sound.
Also, an OC-2 will be cheaper than a big muff.
Don't get fooled by that "made in japan" hype and pay twice as much it's really worth. The latest versions were exactly the same and even had a better power-jack.

bongomania · #7 07-12-2010, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meddle

I have not no.

No offense intended, but it is foolish to try to create an elaborate effects chain without actually using each and every pedal. Just because a pedal is labeled "fuzz" or "octave" etc. does not tell you (a) whether it is the sound you hoped for, or (b) whether it will work the way you hope for in the planned chain.

The real approach: buy (or borrow) pedals until you find the ones that actually do what you hope; then combine them until they actually behave in the way that you hope.

Certainly it can help to read other peoples' opinions, but if you are building this chain just based on expectations, you can expect to be disappointed.

ryansalmond · #8 07-12-2010, 04:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bongomania

No offense intended, but it is foolish to try to create an elaborate effects chain without actually using each and every pedal. Just because a pedal is labeled "fuzz" or "octave" etc. does not tell you (a) whether it is the sound you hoped for, or (b) whether it will work the way you hope for in the planned chain.

The real approach: buy (or borrow) pedals until you find the ones that actually do what you hope; then combine them until they actually behave in the way that you hope.

Certainly it can help to read other peoples' opinions, but if you are building this chain just based on expectations, you can expect to be disappointed.

+1 and it's meant in the nicest way possible. This will help you immensely.

I would also caution you against the ashdown, try it if you can for free, but if you can only get it by buying it online as is often the case with bass pedals, I'd just like to warn you that while Ashdown seems to make pretty good amps, their line of pedals is made of low quality parts, my ashdown compressor for example only sounds good about half the time, it's just unreliable (and I've bought two, so it's probably not just a defective one).

kevteop · #9 07-12-2010, 04:29 PM

I wouldn't recommend a Big Muff for this sort of thing, they're too wild. A gated fuzz is a better fit if you're trying to sound like a keyboard. Pretty much any gated fuzz.

Meddle · #10 07-13-2010, 05:39 AM

Thanks for the advice guys, certainly no offence taken. I know of a shop in Glasgow that has both the Ashdown pedal and the Bass Big Muff Pi, so I can turn up with my patch leads and power supply and try then out. I can even try them out with my other pedals probably, they seem really friendly in that shop and might be curious as well.

I have an Ashdown drive plus pedal, and the red light has died on it somehow, so their parts are not the best. Having gutted it I see the switch goes straight onto the PCB, which is always a bit of a heartache.

I am looking to get both an envelope filter (the Vox wah cuts off too much bottom end), and a fuzz/distortion since my DS-1 became unpredictable, so the dubstep sound would be an added bonus. I have a filter on a Zoom G2 multieffects pedal, and was trying that out a few times but the lack of bottom end from that pedal is also a problem. I need more bass effects and less moonlighting guitar effects I think.