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fishman fisson

#8
At its price point it seems like nothing special. It has some distortion which is something. It doesn't sound especially nice to me in this video, and it has some notably inaccurate sales-speak. Not confidence inspiring for me.

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#9
It seems to be a slightly more featured take on the long-discontinued Akai Unibass, though I believe the Unibass had a footswitch dedicated to the overdrive, which in theory sounds ideal (though I think most people that use the Unibass do so with some dirt afterwards anyway). I believe it will sell new for equal or less than what a well-used Unibass will generally sell for on Ebay, so it seems pretty cool if you are looking for the thing that it does. What other products in this price range can independantly create chords, have a built in overdrive, and track well with bass? The EH HOG is the only one I can think of in a similar class outside of multi-effect pedal, and the HOG really isn't that similar at all feature or price-wise. I personally wouldn't have much use for it, but there are certainly some Unibass super-fans out there to attest to its usefullness!
 
#11
I'll keep my UniBass until I hear the Fission and likely even still, the Fission looks huge and I really like the UniBass. The UniBass offered octave up added to the original signal, it was very "guitar" or 8 string bass sounding as opposed to the artificial sound you get from a pitch shifter or harmonizer. The UniBass offered a tone control and overdrive for the octave sound and the ability to solo the octave up or add a 4th below the octave or a fifth above the octave for an instant power chord sound. There was also a separate out for the shifted sound to add effects or send to another guitar amp.
 
#12
LiquidMidnight said:
There are other similarly priced units that do this (other than the Akai unibass)? What are they? I'm definitely interested.

I
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There are some that can do one harmony. Not many that can do two and most are way more expensive. And only one that I can think of that will add a harmony and add distortion.

Whammy
M9
M5
Holy Stain (although the harmony drags a little on this one).

All of these come in near or below the fission. My biggest problem with the Fission is I thought it sounded like poop, especially for the price. A more competent user may prove me wrong in the future.
 
#14
I had just gotten my micro POG and decided to send it back when I read about this thing. It should be arriving by next Wed. I'll let you know what I think. Kind of excited about the prospects. Going to run the high end signal from the insert on the amp's internal crossover to the loop on my pedal board to the Fishman, return the dry signal and run the effected signal to a little 20 watt tube amp. At least that is the plan in my head.
 
#17
I've got one.......

It's a nice pedal for a lot of reasons and it does a really nice job....but like most of my pedals, I use it sparingly. I WILL say that it is a little touchy and it has a tendency to spiral in between octaves....but nothing bad.

It would be PERFECT for a three piece band....really beefs up the mix when the guitar player takes off on a solo. Personally, I tend to dial back the distortion a little, but when I first got it (a month ago) it was fun as hell to play around with.....

It is built like a tank and the attention to detail is second to none. All in all, I give it a STRONG B+......
 
#20
chuck3 said:
My main band is a three piece plus a female lead singer, so I'm always looking for what to do when the guitar player solos. The POG II is an awesome pedal but this looks good too.
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I recently bought the Fishman Powerchord for exactly this same kind of band situation. Our female singer plays keys, and a little guitar, but I needed something to fill the space during guitar solos and in certain songs that need a rhythm guitar part that tracks the bassline.

I'm wiring the effect out into a Sansamp British distortion pedal to add a better sounding overdrive than what is built in to the Fishman. From there, I run straight into the PA, and add a slight amount of reverb/delay at that point. My guitarist even approves of the sound and tone it gets, and he is a tone SNOB.

In my opinion, none of the demo videos or audio samples show very typical or useful applications of this pedal. Everything I found had the bassist playing typical fingerstyle bass riffs, with the overdriven effect layered over the top of slides, fills, and quicker single note riffs. The main use I have is to create a rhythm guitar part that follows the bassline, much as a second guitarist would do when playing alongside me.

We're a cover band, so I'm using it in songs like 867-5309. I am a fingerstyle player, but I have found that I get the best sounding result by playing with a pick when the effect is engaged. That delivers the most crisp attack to trigger the octaver and generate the most realistic guitar tone from the effect.

In my opinion, this pedal is a great replacement for the rhythm guitarist that we attempted to bring onboard, but never did the work needed to learn our tunes. Now, at the click of a button, I have a nice sounding rhythm guitar to accompany me. It always locks in tight with the bassline, and has a great tone. Plus, everyone in the band gets a bigger cut of the pay at the end of the gig. :bassist:
 

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