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Roland VB-99

Yeah those cables a finicky to deal with.
The weak link (pun intended) of that system.

I had this problem too and shots of contact cleaner did the trick.

I do take good care of them since then:
I never put any pressure on them , always pass the cable behind my straplock and leave a little loose cable.
I use two Tie-wrap for this , see photo.
I also check when the bass is on a stand for the connector.

I also attach the VB's end with a velcro so no accidental pressure is done there too.
 

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Yeah those cables a finicky to deal with.

I use two Tie-wrap for this , see photo.
I also check when the bass is on a stand for the connector.

I also attach the VB's end with a velcro so no accidental pressure is done there too.
Thanks for the photos.

Exactly what I did on on all 3 counts. Maybe my cord is just bad - which doesn't seem likely, but is obviously possible. OR maybe I'm just using the wrong contact cleaner. I bought it on Amazon and it was rated as "Food Grade."
Maybe that's industry code for "non-toxic but doesn't work, either"
 
It's a very powerful FX to add to any Synth patch , can change the tone completely. Also very good on distortion patches.

Tip:
Put to "Intelligent"
Effect level +- 30
Direct level 100

Play the the frequency.
Default is 38 but at 1 , 24 , 76 and 100 is doin' different type of magic.
At 24 , it creates a type of Synthish octave lower
At 76 and 100 , a octave higher
At 1 , it creates a very subtil vibrato.

EDIT: I just posted a patch with an audio clip back at Vguitar forum of a dirty bass with ring modulation
 
Just found out that the Poly Ring modulator sounds very nice with distortion patches with the settings to:
-Intelligent
-Frequency :48 or 32

I assign a controller to change the frequency while soloing.

Really nice :)
 
A little subtlety in the "control assign" function :

If you want to assign a filter or T-Arm from the ribbon or D-Beam section to any controller , you need to assign an "On/Off" also.

The "Ribbon/D-Beam" section is particular in that respect.
If you only assign the controller , it won't work , maybe some of you (from the millions of users) came across that problem without finding the solution.

Lets setup a "dive bomb" with the EXP1 of an FC300:
-go to control assign page 2 = D-Beam
-pitch
-Pitch type = T-arm
-T-arm ch = A+B
-type = transpose
-Down min = +24
-Down max = 0
-exit

then go to the controller you want it assigned to , let's say:
-FC300 EXP1 (page 5 )
-SW = on
-F4 = D-Beam
-F5 = T-Arm
-F6 = sw
-min = on
-max = off
-range low = 126
-range high = 127
-SW = on
-F4 = D Beam
-F5 = T-Arm
-F6 = Control
-min = 0
-max = 100
-range low = 0
-range high = 127

Hope that helps
 
Quick Question: I have a bass being built with the internal GK-3B kit...does the unit receive power from the GK cable or does it tap power from the bass 9V?
The +7volts and -7volts comes from the VB/GR unit via the 13 pin cable.
The internal kit does have an internal electronic switch capability to disable the internal 9 volt pickup battery from your existing active pickup when the 13 pin system is powered off/unplugged.
 
The +7volts and -7volts comes from the VB/GR unit via the 13 pin cable.
The internal kit does have an internal electronic switch capability to disable the internal 9 volt pickup battery from your existing active pickup when the 13 pin system is powered off/unplugged.

Thanks for the reply.

The last part basically means it won't burn your 9V battery down unnecessarily, right?

Also, if I'm reading the supplied wiring diagram correctly, the GK-3B (again, the internal kit) gets its direct bass signal from the output jack, right? (therefore it's getting the bass preamp as well?)
 
The internal GK 9volt switch is so you don't have to have a jack plug in the normal existing bass pickup output to engage the 9 volt preamp switch in the jack socket.

I was just wondering how the preamp would engage without the cable plugged in...thanks for that answer!

In response to a sturdier 13-pin cable: maybe you could use the Carvin cable and then put techflex sleeving on it followed by heat-shrinks (kinda like armor gold cables)?
 
I did post a couple of soundclips of patches there :
http://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php

You have to register to see the VB99 section though....
(a good thing if you have one )


I haven't posted sound clip of all patches but did A YYZ attempt:http://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=4448.0
A Squire patch (no soundclip) : http://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=4448.0

Upright patch: http://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=3375.0

And loads of synth patches (some audio) :
http://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?board=103.0
 
I did post a couple of soundclips of patches there :
http://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php

You have to register to see the VB99 section though....
(a good thing if you have one )


I haven't posted sound clip of all patches but did A YYZ attempt:http://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=4448.0
A Squire patch (no soundclip) : http://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=4448.0

Upright patch: http://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=3375.0

And loads of synth patches (some audio) :
http://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?board=103.0

Thanks for the links...actually about 5 seconds after I posted, I remembered I saw an mp3 in Vguitar forums so I went back and checked all those things...Thanks.

Question (please note that I don't have a VB-99 yet, but have one on order with the pickup currently being internally installed into a custom bass): I read several times about the delay issue between engines A and B when using different COSM/FX/etc, and that you should put a ch delay on the faster one to put them closer in phase...but is there a parameter in the VB99 to delay the "bass direct" signal so that it matches up more closely?

For example: If I wanted to have 2 OSC synths running AND hear my direct bass sound at the same time, how would I go about this (while keeping everything as closely in phase as possible)?
 

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