Roland VB-99

[fokof]

Have you read That thread ?
I explain how to put a slight delay on your mag to put it in phase with synth when using one engine for your mag and the othe engine for synth.

The "direct Bass" button have no parameter , it's really direct , no delay possible but like I stated in that thread you use the "Mag pickup" volume in the COSM bass section.
If you want to use two OSC + your bass , the only way to put a delay on your mag is to put your mag sound first in the chain on one engine, then put a delay , then the rest of the stuff.
(see pic of chain and delay)

 

[fokof]

Note that the phase issue is more important when you blend your bass sound with other electric bass emulations , because of the attacks and the similar waveforms.

When blending your bass and synth sounds , the latency (phasing) is not a big issue.

 

[magichand]

thanks fokof for pointing out the phasing issue. the difference is night and day.
new vb-99/fc-300 user.

 

[fokof]

I've posted a patch back on VGuitar forum , on the VB99 section, that addresses the latency issue when using both Mag and COSM on the same engine.
Because we can't add a delay to the mag , there is a huge Phasing issue wich can be repaired by adding the delay to Mag only.

Patch is called "delayed mag"

It's basically in "chain" > mag/delay/COSM/etc....

If you use an engine as mag only , you can use the delay in the mixer section
(as in the patch called "Delay mag Mixer")

I also made a little audio clip , first riff is delay off , second riff , delay On , huge difference.
Both Mag and COSM are hard paned.

Delay is set to 2ms but playing with that value changes the tone a lot. (1-2-3ms)

Heads up:
I found that when using piezo system , they have to set to reverse in : System/GK/page 3 / GK PU phase
Makes all the difference.

GK3B is better left normal. (1cm off the bridge)


Patch and audio clip here:
http://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=9374.msg67491#msg67491

 

[bassjamn]

Hmm is the vb-99 discontinued? i see it dissapearing from online shops like sweetwater.
guess my hope of new software updates are dashed.

 

[fokof]

Hmm is the vb-99 discontinued? i see it dissapearing from online shops like sweetwater.
guess my hope of new software updates are dashed.

Oh!


That would be "kinda" normal since they dis-continued the VG99 in march ….. It went on the market end of 2008

Can't wait to see the VB100

 

[johndough247]

Seems like it...I got mine just in time (or too late, If they're planning to do an upgraded model)...I think I may have bought the last one from American Musical Supply...it disappeared when I checked back a couple days later.

 

[fokof]

Haven't posted here in a while but I just saw that link , it's a couple of patches with Mp3 of those patches.

Couple of useful ones.

But the gain structure is all over the place , if you check in "chain" , the signal clips , you have to lower at the level at the COSM instrument or at the comp.

http://www.rolandus.com/support/eula/vb-99_stage_expert_soundset.zip

 

[fokof]

Rumor saying that Roland would have a bass version of the GP-10 in the oven.

Can't wait !!!!

 

[JehuJava]

Rumor saying that Roland would have a bass version of the GP-10 in the oven.

Can't wait !!!!

My wallet does not like you, sir.

 

[johndough247]

Hey guys, I've been trying to fine tune my upright patches but one thing I've noticed is sometimes there's a delay in tracking the lowest notes on the E string. It doesn't happen all the time, but particularly from open E to A, there's an occasional lag (sounds like a stutter).

I've tried it on all of my basses: my Sadowsky 5, my Fender fretless J-Bass and a custom short scale 6 string (all using the GK-3B) and get the same result. I've made settings for each bass on the VB-99 and I've measured the pickup distance to bridge saddle correctly and adjust the string sensitivity to be as hot as possible on the softest string and adjust the others to compensate. Anybody having/had the same issue? This issue only happens with upright patches (and I believe a few synth as well), the electric bass patches are all spot on.

 

[fokof]

Have you experienced that problem since ?

 

[johndough247]

Have you experienced that problem since ?

Yea, still happens, never got it fixed...I have to be very careful with how hard I play the E string or I'll get a stutter...and I'm not playing the string obnoxiously loud or anything, just within reason. Like If I play 10 random notes between Low E to A at decent volume, anywhere from 2 to 4 of them will stutter.

 

[fokof]

Couple of suggestions :

-In the GK input levels , you're sure the levels are not too high ?
-Have you tried with another GK cable ? The weak point of the whole system.
-Any "dynamic controllers" assigned to the E or A string ? try to do an upright patch from a blank patch to be sure....
-Do you have the latest firmware in your VB99 ? -- v 1.02

Can't see what else....

 

[johndough247]

Couple of suggestions :

-In the GK input levels , you're sure the levels are not too high ?
-Have you tried with another GK cable ? The weak point of the whole system.
-Any "dynamic controllers" assigned to the E or A string ? try to do an upright patch from a blank patch to be sure....
-Do you have the latest firmware in your VB99 ? -- v 1.02

Can't see what else....

Doing some work right now but will try it out in a few hours...what I can tell you so far:

1) Not sure if I'm clipping but I usually calibrate each bass to the VB-99 by figuring out which string is the softest, adjusting that string level (System - GK setting - page 5) so the meter has about 6 to 8 "dots" of headroom left:

Example: adjust the levels until the loudest notes on the weakest string looks something like this on the level meter: ||||||||||||||||||||||||||......

then I adjust the other strings to match that. Then I play the bass for a bit and tweak the levels it til it responds like that bass should with its ordinary pickups. Maybe 6 dots of headroom is too hot? Let me know how hot your levels are typically.

2) Haven't tried other cables yet, I only have the cable that came with the unit (I bought it new). I have some very short 13 pin cables (2 ft) that I've rarely used, I'll try those later. Honestly, not sure if it's the cable, as the regular bass models work very accurately.

3) I have created upright patches from blank with the same results (I created a blank patch from early and usually start building my patches from there).

4) Seems so. Boot: 0.90, Firm: 1.02

 

[fokof]

My bets are on the cable

 

[johndough247]

My bets are on the cable

Ok tested it on a different cable, same thing. not the cable.

I even tried reducing my pickup gain settings just in case, but that did nothing for it either.

I've narrowed the issue down to the "body" parameter for the AC Bass...there's some latency to that particular sound which gets worse with playing faster at lower pitches (which sucks because the body parameter is a big part of getting the upright patches to sound convincing IMO). I will record an audio file later that shows how bad it is...but I played a repeating riff, first in the GK settings page to hear the naked pickup (sounds fine there), and then with the AC Bass patch (there is latency between the body and the direct AC Bass sound).

You don't hear this issue, fokof?

 

[fokof]

No , never had that issue.
And I used lots of upright patches.


I've posted an Upright patch back at VGuitar.com :
VB-99 - Upright
You have to be member to get these.

Try mine , see if it still does it.


This issue is only happening with "AC Bass" ?

 

[johndough247]

So I tried yours and for some reason your patch is more well behaved than any of mine ...don't know why, as your patch has "body" turned up as well. It did the stutter thing maybe once or twice, but WAYYYY less than my patches...no clue why. I'll do an in depth comparison tomorrow of the two and see what's different.

 

[fokof]

Resurrecting an old thread :

I had the opportunity to acquire a second VB99 , I can use both with the help of my fanout box : RMC Pickups: the FANOUT BOX
I can say that with 4 COSM engines , the synths sounds are as Fat as Yo'mama

Very nice