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Markbass Super Synth or Soundblox Multiwave Pro Bass Distortion

B

BassAndDrums97

Jul 4, 2011
13
0
Pittsburgh, PA
#1
I want to get one of these two pedals simply because I play keyboards and bass in a band (and yes this is Geddy Lee typing this) but the only dis-advantage to this is: I don't know my way around the keys as well as I do a 4-string bass. (Nahhh I'm not Geddy Lee) I would like to get Synthesizer sound with out ALWAYS using a synthesizer. I will either buy one of these two pedals or a new synth depending on the answers I get on TalkBass.


Soundblox Multiwave Pro Bass Distortion:
Less $$$
MIDI control (so I can hook up my 88 w/ weighted action, and use it as a trigger)
Assignable presets that can be swtiched between using a swell pedal. (pretty cool)
Retro looking.

Markbass Super Synth:
More money
Factory asigned presets (I actually like that)
Octaver (one up and one down with volume controls for both) and synth sounds switchable by one stomp of the foot.
Has the word 'synth' in the title.

Any opinions would be nice. Even if they are completly based on everything I've typed in this thread.

Thank you.
 
#3
BassAndDrums97 said:
I want to get one of these two pedals simply because I play keyboards and bass in a band (and yes this is Geddy Lee typing this) but the only dis-advantage to this is: I don't know my way around the keys as well as I do a 4-string bass. (Nahhh I'm not Geddy Lee) I would like to get Synthesizer sound with out ALWAYS using a synthesizer. I will either buy one of these two pedals or a new synth depending on the answers I get on TalkBass.


Soundblox Multiwave Pro Bass Distortion:
Less $$$
MIDI control (so I can hook up my 88 w/ weighted action, and use it as a trigger)
Assignable presets that can be swtiched between using a swell pedal. (pretty cool)
Retro looking.

Markbass Super Synth:
More money
Factory asigned presets (I actually like that)
Octaver (one up and one down with volume controls for both) and synth sounds switchable by one stomp of the foot.
Has the word 'synth' in the title.

Any opinions would be nice. Even if they are completly based on everything I've typed in this thread.

Thank you.
Click to expand...

Just a quick warning on what you wrote for the Soundblox. The MIDI in is only for control messages that change parameters and presets. It has no internal oscillator that you could "play" with a keyboard. At it's heart, it's a distortion circuit.
 
#4
One great thing about the Markbass Super Synth is that the presets can be programmed by dedicated software (caveat: I haven't actually done this). Another bonus is that the presets can be selected via the footswitches so you don't have to reach down to select the sound you want while playing.
 
#6
rust_preacher said:
One great thing about the Markbass Super Synth is that the presets can be programmed by dedicated software (caveat: I haven't actually done this). Another bonus is that the presets can be selected via the footswitches so you don't have to reach down to select the sound you want while playing.
Click to expand...



The Source Audio Pro allows you to save presets and access them via the different footswitches well. I owned the Source Audio. It was a cool pedal with a lot of very usable sounds. I tried the MB at GC for about an hour one day. I couldn't find a usable sound in that time -- and I was using my personal bass, though my amp (well, GC's amp, but the model I own).

Out of the box, without a lot of tweaking, or computer use, I'd say the SA is a more usable pedal...IMHO.
 
#7
The Source Audio has room for 6 user defined presets period. The MarkBass has 12 factory presets (9 synth,3 octave), plus I can't exactly remember ,6 or 7 variations of the factory presets, and room for 12 user defined presets(9 synth, 3 octave).

For the OP's needs: replacing some actual keyboard lines, there is no comparison, a distortion pedal vs. a synth pedal.
I am not saying that the MB SS is without limitations, but it is an actual synth pedal that can cop pretty genuine keyboard sounds (triangle waves from this pedal, with 3 oscilators).
 
#8
I also own both- and use them on my board together. Although I really like the source audio it is a synthy pedal not a synth pedal; there is no onboard filter and it doesn't have an octave down- this means you’d need a separate filter pedal, octave down, and looper to turn them all on at once to get the same functionality out of the sa. The MB won’t track if you are playing uber fast.
 
#9
I used to own both. The SS sounds a lot more like a synth (I think it sounds better than the SA for that), but there's some tracking slowness and glitching. The SA will do fabulous distortion, which is a plus. If it's octaving you want, I wouldn't depend on the SS for that. One of the reasons I got rid of mine was that I couldn't get any good octave down sounds out of it.
 
#12
Thank you all for the feedback. I really appreciate it. I'm pretty sure I want to go with the Markbass SS because i have now learned that the MIDI is only for parameters. Also because the SA is a distortion pedal and I don't get my distortion from pedals; I get it from a very loud '68 Fender Bassman. I've seen some demos on youtube and I think that the Markbass is worth the extra (50??) bucks. And if I ultimatley decide against the Markbass, I'll just buy a synthesizer.

Thanks everyone.
 

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