EHX Mono Synth: completely useless? Please tell me otherwise...

[charlie ford]

I love bass and I love synth bass. I thought I'd love this synth bass pedal, two loves put together, right? But so far it's useless. It makes fun sounds, but that's about it.

Please tell me of anyone that's used this for a gig, or a show, or even jamming with other people. I've watched every review I can get ahold of, and nobody's playing in a band with one that I've seen.

I even grabbed an external expression pedal to use with it. I don't think I'm doing anything wrong, nor do I think it's broken, it just seems to not be useable unless I'm just jamming by myself.

Are there some secret settings or something that I don't know about? Thanks for any help.

 

[gtirard]

I love bass and I love synth bass. I thought I'd love this synth bass pedal, two loves put together, right? But so far it's useless. It makes fun sounds, but that's about it.

Please tell me of anyone that's used this for a gig, or a show, or even jamming with other people. I've watched every review I can get ahold of, and nobody's playing in a band with one that I've seen.

I even grabbed an external expression pedal to use with it. I don't think I'm doing anything wrong, nor do I think it's broken, it just seems to not be useable unless I'm just jamming by myself.

Are there some secret settings or something that I don't know about? Thanks for any help.

Sorry to comment even though I've never used this pedal, but something strikes me right away: you say it makes fun sounds when you play by yourself, but it's unusable when playing with others.

Maybe you can't get used to the inherent attack envelop present in most synth sounds, which makes you think there's a huge latency? Like you play the note and you hear it after the attack time.

I play synth very rarely, and I noticed that I can get used to hearing my note after the attack time if I'm playing on a keyboard, but when plucking the string of my bass, It's much more difficult to get used to that feeling of huge latency due to long attack time. I think it's because I'm conditioned to think that when I play bass I'm the guardian of timen whereas when I'm playing on a keyboard it's ok to play out of sync.

Don't know if it makes sense?

 

[charlie ford]

Sorry to comment even though I've never used this pedal, but something strikes me right away: you say it makes fun sounds when you play by yourself, but it's unusable when playing with others.

Maybe you can't get used to the inherent attack envelop present in most synth sounds, which makes you think there's a huge latency? Like you play the note and you hear it after the attack time.

I play synth very rarely, and I noticed that I can get used to hearing my note after the attack time if I'm playing on a keyboard, but when plucking the string of my bass, It's much more difficult to get used to that feeling of huge latency due to long attack time. I think it's because I'm conditioned to think that when I play bass I'm the guardian of timen whereas when I'm playing on a keyboard it's ok to play out of sync.

Don't know if it makes sense?

I see what you're saying, and I've played with the settings on it to improve the latency issue but sometimes the pedal doesn't track at all (and if you have 0% dry then you have 0% sound lol). I adjusted my playing to account for that latency and still didn't like it.

It makes these huge giant noises on some settings that I'm sure it's partially my fault, but dang if I didn't have my compressor after it I woulda blown my headphones I bet.

Some stuff sounds like it would go great at the beginning or end of a movie, and I swear I recreated the THX movie theater sound by accident!

 

[theunknowndude]

I too feel your pain… it seems similar to the old boss syb3 in which I couldn’t use it hardly well at all (preferred the analogue version of fuzz, filter, chorus, reverb combined etc )
And yet there are some YouTube videos where people are covering Michael Jackson perfectly with it. Shrug

Maybe it’s the type of music I play or my rig but I pretty much tend to steer clear of pedals that “track” or have weird sensitive attack / envelopes…
Like said, I guess keyboard has a lot better control/ stability so I now either do the faux synth combos or an actual keyboard for synth stuff now.

 

[pcake]

i only use mine at home alone or jamming.

i almost didn't buy it because so many people say it glitches if you play fast and you have to play at pretty much the same intensity or use a compressor. i ordered it anyway, as i liked the many samples i heard, and it was simple to use. i really wasn't in the mood for a learning curve like with micro synth. i just wanted to make some late 70s/early 80s synth on my basses.

to my surprise, i didn't run into almost any glitching, and i never use compression nor do i consider myself someone who plays at a very even pressure - i love dynamics, but that wasn't an issue, although it's a one-note at a time deal. i love how it sounds, i love how simple it is to use. i wouldn't try to use it playing 16 notes - i'm sure that would get it to glitch, but i've found it much better than i expected. YMMV as playing styles, types of music and other stuff vary from player to player and bass to bass.

 

[Bevan777]

Some things I have found help synth pedals track better.
- A strong, ‘squished’ signal, e.g. using a compressor before it in the chain
- Dead rounds or flatwounds, it gets confused by too many overtones
- not using a bridge pickup (few overtones again)
- plucking nearer the neck
- a foam mute

Also tone wise, consider using eq, reverb and cab sims after the synth to give it some warmth.

 

[Deleted member 271037]

Fun sounds when playing alone but useless with a band is the way I would describe LOTS of effect pedals for bass.

Some effect pedal provide tones that you will realistically never really need, unless your band is in a very specific genre that uses this specific type of bass effect. If you are in a cover band I guess these "niche" pedals can also be useful, or sometimes even necessary for certain songs, or maybe even just ONE song. But I get the impression that lots of bass players waste lots of money on effect pedals they will never really need or use for anything except for having fun with it at home.

Synth bass pedals are a good example of this. Most bands/genres don't need (or want!) the bass to sound like that. The tones that synth bass pedals provide also tend to get lost in a dense mix, so unless the bass is given a lot of space in the mix, like a solo, synth bass pedals can be rather useless. And how many bands REALLY want the bass player to do solos? With a poor "synth" tone?

A.synth bass pedal that triggers poorly makes matters even worse. And the built-in tones on this one from DHX... There's maybe ONE of them I could perhaps find useful for an intro or something like that, but probably not (and I'm in a prog band!). And the rest? Seriously, how often does anyone need the bass guitar to sound like a laser gun from a vintage sci-fi movie? Very poor selection of tones IMO. And I could say the same about several other synth pedals too.

EHX make a couple of VERY cool pedals, but they also make a lot of junk. It seems to me that the process from an idea to an actual finished product must be extremely short at EHX HQ. Many of their pedal are extremely quirky (which can be cool), have serious flaws (like the noise levels that makes the otherwise fantastis Bass Precher comp almost useless) or they are downright useless. This synth bass pedals can fit either of these categories, depending on your expectations or tonal needs.


And of course, 99% of the magic of a REAL mono synth is the ability to tweak filters, oscillators and envelopes in real time. If you take that away (for obvious reasons on a bass pedal) you're stuck with lifeless, flat sounding presets. Many of the presets on this pedal actually have more of an 80s FM synth vibe than what I personally think of as mono synth.

 

[el murdoque]

I do think that the Monosynth, along with the other pedals of that line that EHX provides, is a highly specialized tool.

And "highly specialized tool" can be as useful as a 1/2" torque wrench in a watchmaker's shop.


It's more a solution to a problem than a thing to fool around with. You have that one part in that song where a synth sound would sit perfectly and one of the synth sounds works for that? Well, then. Go ahead and slap that thing on your pedal board. No huge amount of knob fiddling needed for that. switch it on, select the sound and you can fine tune a little bit, but that's it.

In one of my bands, we needed an organ sound for one part of one song. One of the guitarists bought that EHX organ pedal, put it on his board and played the organ. It's obviously quite useless apart from that, but it's a valid solution to the problem we had.

If you want to go and explore there are better pedals for that. The EHX Microsynth. The Source Audio C4, the Panda Audio Future Impact, to name a few.

 

[dune]

Fun sounds when playing alone but useless with a band is the way I would describe LOTS of effect pedals for bass.

Yep.

 

[JesterR]

Just try real monosynth. Moog Minitaur, Korg Monologue, Novation Bass Station.

It's fun, and makes you better musician.

 

[TonyP-]

I love bass and I love synth bass. I thought I'd love this synth bass pedal, two loves put together, right? But so far it's useless. It makes fun sounds, but that's about it.

Please tell me of anyone that's used this for a gig, or a show, or even jamming with other people. I've watched every review I can get ahold of, and nobody's playing in a band with one that I've seen.

I even grabbed an external expression pedal to use with it. I don't think I'm doing anything wrong, nor do I think it's broken, it just seems to not be useable unless I'm just jamming by myself.

Are there some secret settings or something that I don't know about? Thanks for any help.

Man, I have the same exact sentiment about bass synth in general.
I tried and I can’t get it do what I want.

I’m a hitting it with a compressed signal as well.

I personally love the EHX stuff and as mentioned above, they to be very specific in what each pedal is trying to do. I don’t mind that…Hell, I use the cheapest overdrive ever by them because it does that 1 thing well.

However I tried a few synth pedals by them and none of them can I use to actually help create music.

 

[corvette_br]

Some things I have found help synth pedals track better.
- A strong, ‘squished’ signal, e.g. using a compressor before it in the chain

+1.

Using a compressor before the synth pedals I've got (Dedalo Byte and an Into the Unknown clone) has pretty much solved my tracking problems.

 

[charlie ford]

I too feel your pain… it seems similar to the old boss syb3 in which I couldn’t use it hardly well at all (preferred the analogue version of fuzz, filter, chorus, reverb combined etc )
And yet there are some YouTube videos where people are covering Michael Jackson perfectly with it. Shrug

Maybe it’s the type of music I play or my rig but I pretty much tend to steer clear of pedals that “track” or have weird sensitive attack / envelopes…
Like said, I guess keyboard has a lot better control/ stability so I now either do the faux synth combos or an actual keyboard for synth stuff now.

Okay, that's interesting because I have the SYB3 (and wanna get the SYB5) and definitely have gotten to get some good sounds out of it, but it took a good 2 weeks of fiddling with it.
I haven't used it with a group yet, though, but that's probably happening Saturday.

+1.

Using a compressor before the synth pedals I've got (Dedalo Byte and an Into the Unknown clone) has pretty much solved my tracking problems.

After the pedal made a noise that I was surprised didn't knock things off the walls (at low volume, I'm in an apartment!) I put the compressor after it. I'll try it before it. Another issue is that it tries to process string noise, which maybe it's the sensitivity knob I need to mess with there.

I'm feeling more and more like I need to use a chain of pedals to get the synth sound I want, but I still wanna try the SYB5 before I give up on synth pedals, at least the ones in a social worker budget lol. And I have a friend with the micro synth that maybe I can borrow and test that out.

The flatness mentioned of the sound I thought would be partially eliminated by using the expression pedal with the mono synth but it mainly just makes (in my words) the sound go up and weird. It's not controllable enough.

Thanks y'all so far for the help.

 

[W_R]

Short answer: cool looking pedal with no guarantee that it will be essential or useful.

————

Longer…. and not knocking individual synth effects pedals.

Synth effects are fascinating for me and I experimented with EHX and Boss, plus the Deep Impact… but ended up moving on. I found plenty of useful capability in multi-effects (currently a Helix) where you can go somewhat beyond guitar/bass while playing said guitar/bass. And I acquired a keytar, which is a different avenue of endless fun.

For me, I had two different questions happening… at first when looking at an interesting piece of gear, it was “what can it do?” But once the discovery phase passed, new questions “what am I trying to do?” or “how can I best … ?” come from an opposite perspective. It could be unfulfilling when the cool niche gadget didn’t have its perfect useful moment.

Unfortunately, not ideal for me to collect effects pedals or get into the special Boss pickups at this time—sure, I would enjoy those things under other circumstances. Surprisingly the keytar was the cheapest, and most reliable/capable option to do synth things beyond the multi-effects level.

 

[charlie ford]

Synth effects are fascinating for me and I experimented with EHX and Boss, plus the Deep Impact… but ended up moving on. I found plenty of useful capability in multi-effects (currently a Helix) where you can go somewhat beyond guitar/bass while playing said guitar/bass. And I acquired a keytar, which is a different avenue of endless fun.

Okay Keytars are so rad,I want one some day. I jammed with someone that had one over the summer.

What was your experience like with Deep Impact? That's not a cheap pedal and it looks like it's got one heck of a learning curve.

I also have the Boss ME90B multi effects pedal that I've been having fun with, but I've got this impression that multi effects are kind of a joke to other musicians? Idk the thing certainly wasn't cheap and it does a lot!

 

[corvette_br]

After the pedal made a noise that I was surprised didn't knock things off the walls (at low volume, I'm in an apartment!) I put the compressor after it. I'll try it before it. Another issue is that it tries to process string noise, which maybe it's the sensitivity knob I need to mess with there.

I'm feeling more and more like I need to use a chain of pedals to get the synth sound I want, but I still wanna try the SYB5 before I give up on synth pedals, at least the ones in a social worker budget lol. And I have a friend with the micro synth that maybe I can borrow and test that out.

The flatness mentioned of the sound I thought would be partially eliminated by using the expression pedal with the mono synth but it mainly just makes (in my words) the sound go up and weird. It's not controllable enough.

Thanks y'all so far for the help.

Sure, I didn't mean to imply that you should move the compressor somewhere else. But maybe a two-compressor set-up could help make it work? It could be a simple, no-frills compressor that doesn't degrade the sound and gets the job done.

 

[Deleted member 271037]

I haven't used it with a group yet, though, but that's probably happening Saturday.

I would love to hear how that works out, and how it is received by the rest of the band.

Shortly after the SYB3 was released I borrowed one from a local guitar store (they know and trust me, so I can borrow whatever I like for testing, without even paying a deposit). I messed around with the settings at home for a couple of days to get the feel of it until I thought it MIGHT work with the band. Then I brought it to a band rehearsal... I have never, EVER gotten so many negative comments and snide remarks about an effect pedal, and this was with a prog band, where this type of effect wouldn't be entirely out of place. In the end we all (myself included) found it to be utterly useless with that band.

But of course, maybe you are better at dialing in cool tones on it than me, and maybe it will be a better fit for your band. Part of the problem for me was probably that we already had a keyboard player with lots of cool, analog monosynths. There really was no need or space for a bass synth pedal, and the SYB sounded rather sterile and unspiring compared to "the real thing". The SYB3 also has somewhat more "modern" synth tones than what we ideally needed with that particular band. It's definitely no Moog, that's for sure!

Hopefully your band mates will at least be more polite about it than mine were!

 

[W_R]

The Deep Impact did what it was advertised to do, pretty well I thought. I’m sure the new version Future Impact is about the same with more features. True that the lower notes on a bass are at a disadvantage for note-tracking. Plus sound quality can get a bit rough for lower notes, if left unchecked (effects and synths alike).

I had a Line 6 Low Down bass amp with an effects section, and I thought they were similar quality wise to the Deep Impact. In that case, the entire signal chain was Line 6 optimized for bass in that combo amp, so easier to ensure it worked well together.

Sorry if you covered this already, but I recently saw a Scott’s Bass Lessons YouTube video where Ian described effects you can use to pull off synth bass lines with a bass and less than full synth capability, interesting.

Having no prior synth experience, then delving into the Roland keytar, I realized all the layering and tweaking you can do in the synth engine. It’s beyond a bass guitar through an effect—even though you can cover a lot with a bass and a simpler effect setup. No tracking issues, all in one instrument, very adjustable. Fascinating to check out synth guys’ YouTube stories about how iconic songs and synth parts were constructed and layered and applied note for note… search for the one about “Billie Jean”, fascinating. Also I was checking out how “Rock of Ages” was done in the studio and separately how it sounded live back in the day, e.g. this link to a 1983 concert where you can see


No real problems with bass guitar and synth left hand overlapping if you’re doing both!

 

[Billyears IV]

I considered the ehx mono for quite a while.... Cheap starter pedal to dabble in synth.

But bought a source audio C4 in the end. Big learning curve to understand the parameters of building synth sounds, plus getting used to the pedal.

A few years down the line and my philosophy is to focus on what the pedal CAN do, rather than be moan what isn't so good. You have to modify your playing technique and thinking. No 1/16s but huge potential for other pulsing bassy rhythm.

What I particularly like with this bass synth pedal, which might apply in general, is how the string Pluck gives it's own envelop, together with envelop of a synth style setting. You can bend, slide, tap, use hard/soft dynamics to get variations of the synth envelop sound, whether it's a pad, square wave, phaser or whatever. This is vastly more expressive than a keyboard IMHO. Chuck an expression pedal controlling a set parameter and yet more sound variations.

I actually like some glitches when used for gritty expression.

I haven't messed with the ehx mono and the C4 is a massive tool. But yes to bass guitar synth pedals for doing their own thing.

I've recently paired up with a synth player who is impressed with what I can offer. Frees him up from playing bass parts. Some C4 sounds have wide harmonics and with Fuzz we don't need a guitar player. We're into song making around funky electro beats and it's great fun.

 

[charlie ford]

I would love to hear how that works out, and how it is received by the rest of the band.

Shortly after the SYB3 was released I borrowed one from a local guitar store (they know and trust me, so I can borrow whatever I like for testing, without even paying a deposit). I messed around with the settings at home for a couple of days to get the feel of it until I thought it MIGHT work with the band. Then I brought it to a band rehearsal... I have never, EVER gotten so many negative comments and snide remarks about an effect pedal, and this was with a prog band, where this type of effect wouldn't be entirely out of place. In the end we all (myself included) found it to be utterly useless with that band.

But of course, maybe you are better at dialing in cool tones on it than me, and maybe it will be a better fit for your band. Part of the problem for me was probably that we already had a keyboard player with lots of cool, analog monosynths. There really was no need or space for a bass synth pedal, and the SYB sounded rather sterile and unspiring compared to "the real thing". The SYB3 also has somewhat more "modern" synth tones than what we ideally needed with that particular band. It's definitely no Moog, that's for sure!

Hopefully your band mates will at least be more polite about it than mine were!

I'm jamming with a couple friends, one that plays trumpet and guitar and my other friend will be playing drum machine and synths, we're looking to just make some house/techno stuff so it should be a good setting for it. Hopefully!

I tried bringing my mono synth to a band rehearsal with my (now defunct) funk band (haha get it?) and it was useless though. I got a lot more use of my traditional pedals (envelope, octave, chorus) than either that or the syb3 but I was able to use the syb3. Just wasn't 100% happy with it.

Sorry if you covered this already, but I recently saw a Scott’s Bass Lessons YouTube video where Ian described effects you can use to pull off synth bass lines with a bass and less than full synth capability, interesting.

No real problems with bass guitar and synth left hand overlapping if you’re doing both!

I'll look for that video! SBL, though, in recent years, has become such a overdone thing imo. He was great in the beginning. He's just in the content trends it seems like.