Source Audio Aftershock: replacing a Bass Big Muff Pi 2

[smeet]

I've been using a BBMP2 to create an awesome wall of sound to work the guitarist's power chords. Sounds amazing on the gig even though the sound seems kinda meh by itself. I get it, sometimes it do be like that.

Now I want to modernize my setup, using the AfterShock to produce that sound (and hopefully others) in a 100% repeatable manner. Starting with some of the user patches online, I created an AfterShock patch that (in isolation) sounds pretty similar to the Analog pedal settings. But in the band context it utterly fails. It's too bright or too thin or disappears it's too bassy or too distorted or…

So I'm inexperienced at creating analog fuzz tones, but I quickly got one on the BBMP2. But after a few tries, I can't get the same gravitas out of the AfterShock version of that sound. I know the analog pedal has controls optimized for its intended useage, and the AS is more generalized. But…

Am I just inexperienced, or is this a really difficult and subtle thing to so?

Here's the knob settings:

:

My AfterShock patch:



Recordings of each
Clean:

BBMMP2:

AfterShock:

 

[ItsmeSantiago]

I couldn't vibe with the aftershock. On the surface it's pretty cool but it seemed like every time I plugged it in it would sound different. I had a Gemini and liked it but the aftershock seemed finicky to my ear. People love them though so maybe someone in the SA thread can chime in for ya

 

[stubbsonic]

bump up the drive a little.

maybe lower the frequency of the bass band a little.

mess with the voice knob. might need to be lower.

 

[smeet]

The frequency centers on the eqs sound off to me. For example, when I boost at 1.3kHz with the highest Q, I hear lots of bass frequencies being boosted. After a while it feels like I'm randomly tweaking knobs because they don't seem to affect the sound as I expect.

 

[stubbsonic]

I can't explain why an EQ at 1.3kHz would boost lows. Try turning off the clean mix temporarily, while you adjust the EQ of your dirty. The Clean sound is post-EQ, so any dialing you do won't affect the clean.

Notice at the bottom of the editor, there's a knob called Clean High Cut. That's a LPF for the clean signal. Try dropping that "High Cut" way down to something like 100-200 Hz, (I'm totally just guessing). Then you can feel free to bump up the clean mix more. That'll give you solid clean lows to blend in with the distortion sound. Now you can fine-tune the EQ on the distortion so that the lows are of the quantity and quality you need/want. If it were me, I wouldn't try to get any lows from the distortion (EQ), and get it all from the clean mix with that LPF.

Might be a good idea to keep messing around with only one engine at a time for now, just to get to know how everything sounds/works. Then you can mess with putting two in series or parallel. When two engines are active (series or parallel), the EQ is separate but fully linked values. The Clean High Cut and Clean Mix are also separate but linked. Also, when you turn a knob on the unit, the values for both engines instantly link & match.

(Many of these fun facts were obtained through my own rigorous scientific study.) Horn-rimmed-glasses-emoji.

 

[peoplearegood]

I had and used the Kingmaker (same effects as the Aftershock) for a few years and rally liked it. But I ended up selling it because I would spend too much time tweaking and fine tuning presets that I realized I'd be better off with simpler, but limited, pedals.

 

[sunbeast]

I will preface by saying that I haven't owned or tried an Aftershock...

Clean blends can sometimes cause strange unexpected results because of inherent phase incoherencies between the two signals (personally I think full-frequency clean blends are over-rated and over-used in many "bass" pedals)- EQ itself tends to work via changing phase (either by directly flipping it or by time delay) at different frequencies. If boosting mids seems to raise bass, it may be because something in the signal path of the drive (filters, EQ or other parts of the circuit) is adjusting the phase of the midrange which is then actually causing some phase-cancellation in different frequency areas between the clean and driven signals. Low-passing the clean signal as suggested would be a good way to limit this interaction since you would be limiting the amount of frequencies shared between both signals.

Personally I've never bonded with drive sounds from a digital device- be they pedal-type sounds like fuzz or amp-sims like an SVT. For me there is almost always an inherent compression and lack of dynamics compared to the original that can't be tweaked out. But again, I haven't tried an Aftershock so take this with a grain of salt.

 

[HueyFreeman]

I've given up using my SA pedals live with the band.
While I give kudos to their engineers for squeezing a ton of features into a little box, the lack of tactile controls makes them really difficult and frustrating to dial in live.

 

[LowActionHero]

The Aftershock seems consistent to me, and very versatile.
I'd guess it's an EQ problem that would have to be adjusted in the band setting.

 

[waveman]

I love SA pedals, and they are great for a lot of things, but yeah that thing needs a lot of wrestling to get close to the real thing. Same experience with EQ, myself. I have learned a lot about that since then. Honestly, when comparing with other digital pedals like the Zoom MS-50Gand MS 60 B, the dirt in the Aftershock fell short of the Zoom pedals.

Having said that and know what I know about eq and high/low pass, need to use low pass to cut the highs and maybe a high pass to roll off a little bit of the lower lows, and boost low mids is what I would try.

 

[Stylee Mousse]

You have a good sound. Why chase a lesser version of it? Convenience?

 

[logdrum]

I just took mine off also. Got me an affordable mini Sonicake Fazzy Cream which is a Big Muff inspired. I do have an MXR vintage octave before it and also it's on a parallel loop, s my clean sund is unaffected

 

[stubbsonic]

I don't have some specific ideal target for sound/response, other than knowing what I like and don't like. I mainly enjoy exploring different textures & tones, if the general flavors are nice.

The Aftershock-- LA Lady, in my case (or any of the Dirty Trinity) are kind of ideal for me. I can create and load 6 presets (sort of), that behave like 6 different personally customized pedals. I created my basic template-- exploiting the features I wanted-- then into that I can load in different models, combos, and drive amounts, and viola.

A few more "fun facts":
The "Voice" and "Voice Freq" are a sweepable mid boost/cut INSIDE the distortion engine.

"Drive Balance"only vaguely described as adjusting some aspect of the drive's character which varies from model to model.

When you assign parameters to the two extra knobs, here's what's available: Level, Freq, and Q for all EQ bands, Clean Mix, Voice, and Voice Freq. There are bunches more parameters that can be adjusted via MIDI CC.

There's a Drive Max control which scales the range of drive for each engine. This way, I can use the same drive knob but have it affect both engines differently. E.g., one knob can have a low gain range for drive A, and a wider range for drive B. This helps remedy the fact that when you turn a physical knob, both values match & link.

@smeet, you might want to try narrowing (raising) the Q on the EQ band to see if it stays more in its lane. I usually try to use the EQ subtractively when possible.

 

[smeet]

You have a good sound. Why chase a lesser version of it? Convenience?

Very valid question. Until recently that was why I hadn't used SA pedals for a while. I like them, but they can be a pain to fine tune.

I'm in a funk band that does a pretty wide range of material, from Bon Jovi to Al Greeen to Parliament. We have a tight setlist with transitions between very different songs, but sometimes the next song is called in the last chorus of the previous song. So I need to be on my toes and be able to switch effects on a dime, with reliably repeatable results. And without interrupting the audience's dancing or givihg me a stroke.

I'm certainly considering keeping the analog pedal around for this one great sound that (currently) only gets used on one song. But I'm trying to get efficient with my pedalboard space. Any effects that can be assigned to a digital sim box helps save space on my board (especially if I don't use it much).

 

[smeet]

I don't have some specific ideal target for sound/response, other than knowing what I like and don't like. I mainly enjoy exploring different textures & tones, if the general flavors are nice.

The Aftershock-- LA Lady, in my case (or any of the Dirty Trinity) are kind of ideal for me. I can create and load 6 presets (sort of), that behave like 6 different personally customized pedals. I created my basic template-- exploiting the features I wanted-- then into that I can load in different models, combos, and drive amounts, and viola.

A few more "fun facts":
The "Voice" and "Voice Freq" are a sweepable mid boost/cut INSIDE the distortion engine.

"Drive Balance"only vaguely described as adjusting some aspect of the drive's character which varies from model to model.

When you assign parameters to the two extra knobs, here's what's available: Level, Freq, and Q for all EQ bands, Clean Mix, Voice, and Voice Freq. There are bunches more parameters that can be adjusted via MIDI CC.

There's a Drive Max control which scales the range of drive for each engine. This way, I can use the same drive knob but have it affect both engines differently. E.g., one knob can have a low gain range for drive A, and a wider range for drive B. This helps remedy the fact that when you turn a physical knob, both values match & link.

@smeet, you might want to try narrowing (raising) the Q on the EQ band to see if it stays more in its lane. I usually try to use the EQ subtractively when possible.

Good points. I have several suggestions to try out. But to some extent I have already tried them. I eliminated the clean blend to test the eq acting weird and it still boosted lows when trying to boost hi mids. I cranked the Q as high as it goes, same thing. Arg.

Your descriptions of what some of the controls actually do are helpful. Just tweaking by ear is not working so I'll try to get more analytical.

If that doesn't work, is there another small single-effect-at-a-time pedal that might be more amenable to getting this kind of sound? TC Plethora or Line 6 One maybe?

As mentioned, I can always keep the BBMP2 on the board if all else fails. I was hoping to live in the future...

 

[HueyFreeman]

was hoping to live in the future...

Well,.. today is the tomorrow you thought about yesterday, so I would consider you already here!

Do you use the Afteshock for other songs in your setlist?

 

[bassbrad]

@smeet
When I hear the BBMP2 it sounds like a cross between a Muff and Fuzz Face or Bender so you might try mixing those engines. I have created several hybrid patches that I use most often on the Aftershock.

 

[smeet]

Well,.. today is the tomorrow you thought about yesterday, so I would consider you already here!

Do you use the Afteshock for other songs in your setlist?

Not yet. This is my first attempt to create a sound with it.

 

[5stringedfrenzy]

Try the Input High-pass at a high setting (90hz on Neuro 2) along with setting the clean blend Low-pass at 90hz - 160hz. The high-pass only cuts low frequencies going to the drive engines so your clean blend will still have all the low-end of the original signal. You may need to adjust those crossover frequencies and/or eq some resonances where they overlap.

 

[smeet]

I'll try all these suggestions, thanks all!

On a separate note, Is the Tonex One bass edition a worthy competitor/companion to the AfterShock?