Non synth sounding low octave pedal?

[MultiScaleMale]

yes played one and you need to play high notes. anything in a normal bass guitar rage was wisp thin and problematic. from A string down bad recognition with either active or passive basses. this was just my short time with it. maybe i didn't fiddle with it enough.
what do you think? you own it.

How low are you trying to go?

 

[Alien8]

thank you all so far with your advice and ideas. other than the above youtube i have not heard a reproduction of a lower note that was even close to the original. a few were closer, but only worked if you played notes really high on the neck. playing a high E and having the pedal reproduce a low E. i can do that without a pedal. as soon as you play a lower note the pedal does not work properly.

i am only using a side chain approach right now because its the closest to getting the sound i want, but i am not happy as it is only boosting lows. i am looking for a pedal.


the video above:
i had a meatbox. it sounded more synthy than that one. in fact all those pedals in the viddy sound kinda muted. maybe the way they set up the recording? i will research the ashdown more. i had all sorts of rackmounts that were no better.


i was really hoping that tech would have fixed a lot of our so called limitation of our past(glitchy, dropped notes, non-adjustabilty) pedals. my phone is a quad core processor computer that can make calls too. just as smart as my computer. have pedals not caught up yet? still using low tech FET and CAP's?



i am hopeful that there is an answer out there. please continue with opinions and ideas. i went down to the local keyboard shop and they have a midi keyboard that can play a realistic bass guitar sound and all the way down to very low notes. their version of a low octave patch playing the midi bass guitar was really great. almost beyond our hearing.

i had 3 midi basses. bad tracking and non capability at the time made it a dead end. i have seen a few midi controllers recently that had a pad bass instead of strings. didn't wet my fancy. after all i am a bass player.....

Industrial Radio MIDI Bass and that keyboard that sounded good is a solution. A midi controlled sound source is your best bet beyond having a low note strung instrument.

 

[OilcanRacer]

How low are you trying to go?

from the open D to the open E.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

I'd still just go with a keyboard. When you go really low if you sustain a note it will quickly glitch up an octave.

 

[Ricky Caboverde]

One more vote for the Aguilar Octimizer (if you're still taking suggestions). Derrick Hodges uses one to GREAT effect similar to your approach...natural sounding deeper tone.

 

[Downunderwonder]

Unless you are packing a mountain of subs there won't be any fundamental below regular low B. Most mortal bass rigs don't produce any more than a whisper of 40hz.

Octave below E is a pipedream. Tracking to A is plenty good enough.

 

[mc900ftj]

yes played one and you need to play high notes. anything in a normal bass guitar rage was wisp thin and problematic. from A string down bad recognition with either active or passive basses. this was just my short time with it. maybe i didn't fiddle with it enough.
what do you think? you own it.

Fiddling a bit more would probably help I haven't had a problem.

 

[OilcanRacer]

Unless you are packing a mountain of subs there won't be any fundamental below regular low B. Most mortal bass rigs don't produce any more than a whisper of 40hz.

Octave below E is a pipedream. Tracking to A is plenty good enough.

as stated in original post yes i am running regular cab and separate subwoofer cab(http://www.billfitzmaurice.com/) as my amp can cross over to run both cabs. also said amp has three eq sections, two being active. my stingray pumps out a decent amount of lower signal as well. my equipment can make those tones if i put them into it.

only use this application with one band, but would really like to blow the windows out of the clubs like dub bands do.

 

[Jared Lash]

as stated in original post yes i am running regular cab and separate subwoofer cab(http://www.billfitzmaurice.com/) as my amp can cross over to run both cabs. also said amp has three eq sections, two being active. my stingray pumps out a decent amount of lower signal as well. my equipment can make those tones if i put them into it.

only use this application with one band, but would really like to blow the windows out of the clubs like dub bands do.

An octave down from low E is going to be 20 Hz. Ignoring how much of what will be heard is harmonics/overtones vs the fundamental (and we've had plenty of those conversations over the years) the reality is that whatever IS pumped out at that point will be felt more than heard.

If you want that booming, rumbling sound I think the DOD Meatbox (or the recent clone, the Beef Bag) would get you there.

Personally when I want that Dub sub bass I use an analog octaver set fully wet and a low pass filter with some added resonance at the cutoff. It sounds massive through a FOH with subs. And honestly it sounds pretty massive through my rig which actually has pretty tight lows. The sensation of subby bass is often a slight trick of the ears rather than an actual perception of the super low frequencies.

 

[Downunderwonder]

To achieve what you're describing would take a massive PA, just to hit the results of B on the A string. Club subs are routinely highpassed at 50hz. The thump you feel in your chest is around 80hz.

Play some sinewaves through your rig at equal input levels. Don't blow it up! Unless it's some modern uber thing you'll find somewhere between 80 to 40 hz that output falls dramatically.

 

[OilcanRacer]

An octave down from low E is going to be 20 Hz. Ignoring how much of what will be heard is harmonics/overtones vs the fundamental (and we've had plenty of those conversations over the years) the reality is that whatever IS pumped out at that point will be felt more than heard.

If you want that booming, rumbling sound I think the DOD Meatbox (or the recent clone, the Beef Bag) would get you there.

Personally when I want that Dub sub bass I use an analog octaver set fully wet and a low pass filter with some added resonance at the cutoff. It sounds massive through a FOH with subs. And honestly it sounds pretty massive through my rig which actually has pretty tight lows. The sensation of subby bass is often a slight trick of the ears rather than an actual perception of the super low frequencies.

yes yes yes. looking to rumble the skirts off the ladies.....lol

feeling subs as much or more than hearing them is kinda the effect. i can reproduce those frequencies using my cab and playing music, sub generators or movies through them, so i know it can do that. i had a sub-harmonic rack(can't remember the name right now) that did an ok job at making those tones, but still synthy sounding.

 

[Driven Crane]

Ampeg Sub-Blaster can be rude or gentle, with only two knobs. EBS was also good, but it has sounded crappy with my Marcus Miller JB. This one is huge, but sound is perfect. Tracking? I do not hear any glitch.

 

[Jared Lash]

yes yes yes. looking to rumble the skirts off the ladies.....lol

feeling subs as much or more than hearing them is kinda the effect. i can reproduce those frequencies using my cab and playing music, sub generators or movies through them, so i know it can do that. i had a sub-harmonic rack(can't remember the name right now) that did an ok job at making those tones, but still synthy sounding.

I'm guessing you had a dbx 120A. The hard part is that there really isn't anything (that I know of anyway) that WON'T sound synthy when played that low. It's not a normal range to have musical sounds. Even the massive pipe organs that go super low don't sound natural. You start hearing the actual cycles of the waves instead of a cohesive note.

 

[JimmyM]

i was really hoping that tech would have fixed a lot of our so called limitation of our past(glitchy, dropped notes, non-adjustabilty) pedals. my phone is a quad core processor computer that can make calls too. just as smart as my computer. have pedals not caught up yet? still using low tech FET and CAP's?

No, pedals have not caught up yet. Well, they have to a degree, just not up to your standards.

i am hopeful that there is an answer out there. please continue with opinions and ideas. i went down to the local keyboard shop and they have a midi keyboard that can play a realistic bass guitar sound and all the way down to very low notes. their version of a low octave patch playing the midi bass guitar was really great. almost beyond our hearing.

i had 3 midi basses. bad tracking and non capability at the time made it a dead end. i have seen a few midi controllers recently that had a pad bass instead of strings. didn't wet my fancy. after all i am a bass player.....

You are comparing a sampler to an effect. Samplers produce whole new sounds while effects work with the sound you give them. That's why MIDI worked and effects didn't.

I'm afraid I think your last ditch effort for an effect would be getting this:

Eventide H7600 | Sweetwater.com

Otherwise, you might want to make your peace with MIDI.

 

[bareass]

i found the MXR Bass Octave (not Deluxe) to be a clean sounding octave. the deluxe is synthy sounding, and i was looking for a clean sound when i saw the non delux version at a GC. i was very impressd, so thats what i'm using

 

[Driven Crane]

Ampeg Sub Octave is the cleanest octaver i've had for 12 years. But, it is HUGE.

 

[kevteop]

Like Jared said above the key to a good heavy dub tone is to low-pass your signal and give it a little resonant hump at the cut-off. If you try to go extremely low you'll likely just cause yourself problems with standing waves and like others have said those frequencies don't have much of an effect on the listener anyway.

You need a ton of power to make a 20hz - 30hz signal 'loud'. That's wasted power IMHO.