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Roland VB-99

#221
I love contrast... Don't you ever want your bass on the A section and a wildly different sound on the B section? And even though I have a whole new palette, I still want to be able to paint/play with my normal bass sound. After all, I've ended up with the bass I have because I love its sound.
 
#222
Sometimes the sound of your bass just does not work for the gig and the divided pickup doesn't fit on every bass. I play a lot of community theater and the VB-99 has been great for dialing in the tone that works best for the show.

fokof

Are there any patches out there that emulate other basses like say an Alembic Series II?
 
#223
Look There if you haven't.
But it looks like I'm the only one on the planet who's posting patches , and I haven't posted much of bass patch , mostly synth.

I mostly use a Vari with my fretless and with my cover band , I try to duplicate the songs to certain extend. (a god sent for that)

I would start with a Vari + EQing to emulate an Alembic.
The Vari is very flexible
 
#224
So here's an update on my learning to handle this beast.

I went through and attached the pickup better (using fokof's excellent magnetic setup suggestion), and entered the proper distances in the UI. Response and tone is more even across the strings now.

The overall sound of the COSM basses is still kind of dead. They sound good, but every time I switch back to my magnetic pickups, it sounds so midrange-rich and lively. I can crank the VB-99 midrange eq up, but then it gets harsh. Don't get me wrong, I can get some great tones, but warm organic tones like the Jaco bridge tone are difficult to nail.

I switched to plugging the bass output into the back of the unit instead of into the GK-3B. It sounds a bit better, but still noticeably worse than going directly into the amp. I think I'll have to use the external mixer method.

Another weirdness: I've adjusted my onboard preamp so the active and passive modes are about the same volume. But when I go through the VB-99, the passive mode is much softer (10dB or more). Anybody know what's going on?
 
#228
Hey VB-99 lovers,

I need to share this brand new track that I wrote and produced with my band midiBurger. It features me playing a bunch of bass sounds (and some software synths and a prophet600) and the one synth pad at the end was straight up VB-99! I achieved the swell with the help of a Boss PS-6.

Check it out:

 
Last edited by a moderator:
#229
shroomt said:
Hey VB-99 lovers,

I need to share this brand new track that I wrote and produced with my band midiBurger. It features me playing a bunch of bass sounds (and some software synths and a prophet600) and the one synth pad at the end was straight up VB-99! I achieved the swell with the help of a Boss PS-6.
Click to expand...

Cool!

If you want , you can post patches back to vguitar forum :)
 
#231
Easy , open VB editor while it is plugged USB

Go to :
File/Export SMP/Patch

Important to export patch only because if you choose patch and system , all you GK settings , your system EQ , etc are gonna load in everybody's system and if they haven't made any back up ..... :help:


That patch is a Midi file that you can upload back to VGuitar forum , in the VB99 section.


( I think you have to register to see the VB section)
 
#232
....and that brings me to :

Tip of the month

Backup your library !!!!!



Open Librarian while VB99 is USB plugged

-Press on "Read - All"

Will takes a couple of minutes to read all your VB's parameter

Then go to :
File / Duplicate (cmd D)
Click on the Untitled1 window
File / Save as


If you want to save only a couple of those , just erase all the others on that list and "save as"
 
#233
I know this is late, but I used this to good effect for a couple of songs where there's a rhythm guitar going on where the guitarist is soloing (for instance, parts of Beat It). I can have both my bass sound AND the rhythm part going. Also used it for a Joan Jett song... I Love RnR. Though we no longer do EITHER of these songs, I blame the fickle nature of my bandmates more than the job the VB-99 was doing ;)

smeet said:
I love contrast... Don't you ever want your bass on the A section and a wildly different sound on the B section? And even though I have a whole new palette, I still want to be able to paint/play with my normal bass sound. After all, I've ended up with the bass I have because I love its sound.
Click to expand...
 
#235
Here's a question for some of you more experimental types.

The Fishman Triple Play will be available soon, but I suspect that there will be some delays in the launch of both a bass specific and internal option, and I'm not sure I can be bothered messing around with my 13-pin graphtech setup again...

So... as the Fishman Triple Play is just driven by pitch like a GK3, and will only need the amplified signal from the strings, could I effectively just chop off the divided pickup from their setup and connect a 13pin connector onto the 4 pickup lines on the remaining lead, then just plug it in and drive the signal to it from my Roland US-20?

Not sure how much latency would be incurred in the single chain from the strings into the saddles, through the hexpander before the info gets to the US-20 but i guess it would still make for a faster pitch to midi setup.
 
#236
Matt Golgotha said:
Here's a question for some of you more experimental types.

The Fishman Triple Play will be available soon, but I suspect that there will be some delays in the launch of both a bass specific and internal option, and I'm not sure I can be bothered messing around with my 13-pin graphtech setup again...

So... as the Fishman Triple Play is just driven by pitch like a GK3, and will only need the amplified signal from the strings, could I effectively just chop off the divided pickup from their setup and connect a 13pin connector onto the 4 pickup lines on the remaining lead, then just plug it in and drive the signal to it from my Roland US-20?

Not sure how much latency would be incurred in the single chain from the strings into the saddles, through the hexpander before the info gets to the US-20 but i guess it would still make for a faster pitch to midi setup.
Click to expand...
There are physical limitations to pitch to midi conversion, especially from pitch detection at lower frequecies, to measure a pitch a half cycle must occur, which is where the time delay occurs. Pitch detection can't occur before the pitch has been measured, so at low frequencies will always be slow, no matter what speed technology can read the pitch from the strings.
I don't think there will be any advantage for bass with the Fishman system.
 
#237
:help:
Need some help, guys.

My VB-99 has been parked for some time, unfortunately.
Some of my strings occasionally lose volume or drop out all together. If I wiggle the VB-99 cable connector the sound will come back. I tried electric contact cleaner on both ends of my VB-99 cable. That sometimes works for some time, but not really well.

I live in a dry climate (Colorado) so it's not moisture.

This happens on different basses that have the GK-3B.

Anyone else have this problem? I want full use of my VB-99 back.

Any thoughts?
 

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