Retailers seem to be re-stocked today and the Bass Synth is available. I ordered one from John Fox Bass (no sales tax).
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Mxr bass synth sb301
- Thread starter drewphishesp
- Start date
I'm still on the fence getting one of these. I use a One Spot power supply for my smallish pedalboard and I don't think it will power this digital pedal properly. I only need a synth bass tone for a couple of songs. I was hoping I could replace both my octave and chorus pedals with one of these but I'm not quite sure how well it can do just octave and chorus effects. Need someone this isn't an enabler to make a suggestion for me, lol.
Bought one last week. It's on backorder from Sweetwater... so don't know when I'll get it. The demand must be off the charts for this thing... like the Justin Chancellor Wah was a few years ago. Now I have to re-arrange my pedalboard. Gonna put it after my Empress Compressor in the chain.... and before my Tech 21 Dug distortion, EHX Deluxe Big Muff, EHX Soul Food Overdrive. Removing my reverb pedal that I seldomly use.
I'm excited to get this thing... been learning Michael Jackson, New Edition, Parliament, Bjork, Prince, Level 42 and Nine Inch Nails basslines! Stuff I normally don't play or learn.
I'm excited to get this thing... been learning Michael Jackson, New Edition, Parliament, Bjork, Prince, Level 42 and Nine Inch Nails basslines! Stuff I normally don't play or learn.
I found one yesterday at a local hole in the wall store I've never been to. Wife and I went there looking for a particular gig bag for one of my sons' instruments, and the shop owner was at the front counter unboxing a Dunlop delivery and he got two. So the wife bought one to put under the tree.
So they seem to be arriving.
What settings do you use for chorus and octave?
The 1st Red preset is an octaver-ish tone with chorus and compression added, but you can turn both of those off if you want just an octave. The MXR can’t do a typical analog octaver tone because you only get synth waveforms to do it with, but if you put the Sub Mix control all the way up then you have an octave-down synth voice that blends with your clean tone using the Mix control. Depending on waveform and filter settings it can go from super subby to gnarly. Choose waveforms and filter settings to taste (you’ll probably want some static filter to shape the tone depending on the waveform you use, but you can also essentially turn off the filter by setting the Cutoff all the way up. Turning Envelope all the way down turns off the envelope).
For chorus you turn on the “Dry Thru FX” feature, turn the Mix/Mod Blend/Envelope/Resonance all the way down, Cutoff all the way up, and Mod to taste.
I plugged in today for the first time.
I get no bass sound in bypass/off.
Engage the pedal, and all the presets sound good, tracking is good, everything sounds pretty good.
Hit the toggle to turn off... no dry bass sound comes through.
I dont see anything about that in the manual, and watched vids, nothing mentioned.
And yes, I tried factory reset twice.
I get no bass sound in bypass/off.
Engage the pedal, and all the presets sound good, tracking is good, everything sounds pretty good.
Hit the toggle to turn off... no dry bass sound comes through.
I dont see anything about that in the manual, and watched vids, nothing mentioned.
And yes, I tried factory reset twice.
Last edited:
Pinch me, did I just pay for a backordered pedal sure to get me fired from every gig I’ve done in the last 3 years?
Wow….
Wow….
Problems with this pedal are rare. I’ve had mine for a couple of months with zero issues. There are two precautions:
(1) The pedal needs its own 9V power supply. I-Spot 9V chain won’t work.
(2) This pedal performs best as the first pedal in a chain where signal strength is strong which helps with playing technique.
Santa brought one of these for me today. Cool!
I tried it out in my normal small pedal board using power from a Noble DI (last in my signal chain). I did get a bit of high pitched noise, so at a minimum, I'm going to have to think about power for this thing. Default tracking (5 string??) out of the box was not great, but I think I understand how to set it to 4 string.
Fun to play around with so far, but I'll have to sit down with it and the manual to get a better feel on how to work with it.
Merry Christmas to all!
I tried it out in my normal small pedal board using power from a Noble DI (last in my signal chain). I did get a bit of high pitched noise, so at a minimum, I'm going to have to think about power for this thing. Default tracking (5 string??) out of the box was not great, but I think I understand how to set it to 4 string.
Fun to play around with so far, but I'll have to sit down with it and the manual to get a better feel on how to work with it.
Merry Christmas to all!
MXR did a great video manual on youtube, its about 30 min long. It really helped understand it much faster.
I think I might understand what this pedal is and definitely have the technology to power it. What I don’t have are gigs it’s even remotely appropriate for. Nothing says “fire me” quite like nasty micromoog bass on a Patsy Cline song.
The One Spot provides 1700mA. The Bass Synth pedal uses 330 mA. I currently use the One Spot to power my Shure wireless (400mA) and three other pedals that only take up around 33mA. If my math is correct that's a total of 763mA which is far below the maximum the One Spot provides. I guess I don't really see the issue with running a daisy chain setup with this pedal?
Recommendations:
(1) The MXR Bass Synth works best at the beginning of the signal chain where the signal is strong and uncolored/unaffected by other pedals in the chain.
(2) I’ve already been down this road so you won’t have to. Sharing power on an I-Spot is not ideal for this pedal. The MXR Bass Synth requires full power to perform effectively. Any deviation or drop in power will cause problems. I bought the CIOKS SOL isolated power supply from Sweetwater and it does a great job. It comes with all the cables you need, including one cable to power 2 pedals and another cable to power 3 of them. It also comes with individual cables as well which is what you need for your MXR Bass Synth.
Last edited:
I just called my Sweetwater rep and he said while an isolated power supply is more ideal, there shouldn't be any reason I would need one for my smaller pedalboard. I just ordered one of the few new ones still available (SW said they have 1500 backorders!) and it should arrive by tomorrow. I'll report back with any glitches or noise issues using my One Spot daisy chain setup.
