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Iron Ether Appreciation Society

After an incident mid-March on public transit that caused me to drop my pedalboard (100% facedown, naturally...), I sadly had to get my Subterranea repaired; the toggle switches for Uni and Octo ate the brunt of the impact! Thankfully, Taylor wasn't too busy to help, and just under a month after I put it in the mail, got my li'l guy back from the IE laboratory this afternoon.

Instead of just getting the switches repaired, I requested some stubby toggles to replace them; I took the Sub on an overseas tour for the first time back in January, and there were some dicey moments where I was worried for my board. Mostly because of the Sub! LOL. These new switches are way stiffer, and far less prone to impact, being so much shorter. Additionally, I asked for a less blindingly bright LED; the previous one was INTENSE! Like, I had to purposefully avoid looking at it on stage, or I'd be blinded temporarily. This one is diffused, so equally visible from all angles, and far less bright. I can stare at it all gig now ;)

So nice having this back. I rented a Boss OC-5 as a stand-in, and while it's no Sub, it actually did a great job (I don't use the synth capabilities on the Sub for any of my gigs. Yet.). It fully nails the OC-2 sound, somewhat surprisingly. The octave alone on the Sub is close, but has a different character. Less hollow, a touch tighter, not quite as round/rubbery. But it also tracks better than the Boss. Like, a lot better. I can get clean tracking, on roundwounds, all the way down to F# on the E-string. I mean, it doesn't sound good down there to me, but it doesn't glitch out, either! The Boss gives up around A, and has more problem spots across the board.

I ended up re-ordering my board in the Subterranea's absence, so dropping it back in to a new-ish environment is a lotta fun; things are reacting differently than I remember, but not unpleasantly so. BRB gonna go play some more :bassist:

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Hey ya'll!

I ordered a xerograph deluxe back in January and this is my first time preordering an IE pedal. How long does Taylor generally take with these? Do you get an email with a tracking number before he ships them out?
There is a shipping notification. When you ordered, it stated how many months out. He's been good about not going beyond that point
 
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I just got my SubT back after a looong borrow and I'm finding that passive basses are sounding weak and all basses are bleeding through clean signals with only the octave solo'd and filter wide open. Can others confirm this is normal? (I don't remember and it is likely totally fine...)
 
I just got my SubT back after a looong borrow and I'm finding that passive basses are sounding weak and all basses are bleeding through clean signals with only the octave solo'd and filter wide open. Can others confirm this is normal? (I don't remember and it is likely totally fine...)
Different pedal, but my Oxide was like that, Taylor then confirmed it as well with one of his.
 
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I just got my SubT back after a looong borrow and I'm finding that passive basses are sounding weak and all basses are bleeding through clean signals with only the octave solo'd and filter wide open. Can others confirm this is normal? (I don't remember and it is likely totally fine...)

I can test later; I usually keep the filter closed, and I get no bleed if the octave is solo'd.

Using only passive basses over here, but I don't think I'd call what I'm getting from my Sub weak. That said, I do keep a little boost pedal just in front of it, because it does react differently once that's on. If I were to describe the difference, the un-boosted sound is a great dub reggae thing, whereas boosted is definitely more pushing towards a proper synth sound. IMHO, of course. And that's with the filter closed. Will let you know later once I'm back home, and can plug everything in, if I can recreate your issue.
 
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@Alien8 Is there anywhere specific on the fretboard you are hearing the clean notes bleed in? I can't get it to happen at all, unless we are talking about nearly imperceptible levels of clean; I am not noticing any at all, but am listening very closely. Using my in-ear monitors, since I can't turn up this time of night. Tried with a Jazz and a Ricky, up and down both their fretboards.

I've got the octave set to about 2 o'clock, the filter fully CW, and everything else off.

EDIT: Just turned the Octo Synth up to about 9 o'clock, and now I'm hearing some clean string noise/attack in the mix. Strange!
 
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@Alien8 Is there anywhere specific on the fretboard you are hearing the clean notes bleed in? I can't get it to happen at all, unless we are talking about nearly imperceptible levels of clean; I am not noticing any at all, but am listening very closely. Using my in-ear monitors, since I can't turn up this time of night. Tried with a Jazz and a Ricky, up and down both their fretboards.

I've got the octave set to about 2 o'clock, the filter fully CW, and everything else off.

EDIT: Just turned the Octo Synth up to about 9 o'clock, and now I'm hearing some clean string noise/attack in the mix. Strange!

Thank-you!

It's a bit stange for me... Filter up past 2 oclock and I can hear clean bass right through the middle. If I dull down the treble on the bass it blends in well, but still there. I'm using rounds which I haven't done before.

I switched to my flats fretless and can't hear it at all.

I will play with the signal chain, it might have something to do with it.

It also isn't gating well, but I seem to recall that being one of my gripes before. Regardless, I'm happy to have that hollow mid massive low end back.
 
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Thank-you!

It's a bit stange for me... Filter up past 2 oclock and I can hear clean bass right through the middle. If I dull down the treble on the bass it blends in well, but still there. I'm using rounds which I haven't done before.

I switched to my flats fretless and can't hear it at all.

I will play with the signal chain, it might have something to do with it.

It also isn't gating well, but I seem to recall that being one of my gripes before. Regardless, I'm happy to have that hollow mid massive low end back.

Interesting indeed. I use rounds on both the basses I tested with, too. Though to be fair, they're thoroughly dead at this point!

I'd probably have never noticed this on my own, since I keep the filter fully CCW. I play a TON of reggae/dub music, and I love the way this sits in the mix, especially live. I love me the OC-2 sound, but it's almost *too* hollowed out in the mids to the point that it gets indistinct. The Sub has yet to give me that problem! And for the reggae sound, I like just the barest smidge of Octo (square wave) blended in, to provide a bit of "fur" to proceedings. When I'm doing that Barrington Levy/Shabba Ranks/Super Cat kind of stuff, it's killer for recreating those synth sounds. That's my "home" setting, but then for synth chains and such, I'll start blending in the Uni, and/or bring up the Octo.

I don't know how long yours was borrowed out for, but even after just a month of mine being gone, having it back makes me realize how much I truly missed it... can only imagine how you're feeling! :hyper:
 

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