Stoner/Doom Bassists Thread, Part 90: Maxed Out

[kleinenenten]

I could go either way. I can’t drum either. Any time my hands and feet hand to work together - nope not happening. Never practiced much on either, but as for lack of practice, I once again defer to my toddler situation. He’s a great scapegoat for my lack of improvement as a bass player/musician!

Just got a bit of time with the Rubberneck. (He napped, thankfully!). It’s all through headphones, so not ideal, but this thing is amazing. It already sounds better than my Echo Puss, which has been my go-to for years (and which I prefer over the standard Carbon Copy). Now, I don’t know how many of the odd features of the Rubberneck I’ll use, but the 2 delay time option is pretty great, 3 if you count tap tempo. And the namesake feature isn’t pretty fun. Not to mention trails, and a tone knob. I’m a sucker for a delay with a tone knob for some reason... Plus rate/depth for mild chorusing. This thing is basically a more full-featured Echo-Puss. Which only leads me to wonder why I never tried the Supa Puss...

 

[br1qbat]

Yep. This is something that I think is often understated in how hard it is to get good vocals, like I can scream and growl but it doesn't fit with a lot of our music and I can't sing for s!ht... and our vocalist tends to get this danzig sort of vibe and that doesn't fit super well either, but getting him to back off from the edge with that and me doing more ambiance vocals/high harmonies tends to work a lot better.
It takes a ton to check the ego and make stuff that sounds good together...

110%. Always thought of vocals as being pretty easy. Until I started singing.

 

[kleinenenten]

Later review of the Rubberneck. It self-oscillates easily, and not terribly (unless you want it to), but I don’t like self-oscillation. Some may consider it a feature, but I consider it a liability since it is constant in the background at most settings. It does this at low levels even with mild settings. I like the other features, but for my everyday purposes, that kills it. If only my Echo Puss had trails...

That being said, if you want a strange delay, this is it. Can do all sorts of weirdness, and I love the feature set. But for everyday basic stuff, it ultimately fails. Might keep it for the sake of oddness.

 

[Novarocker]

Later review of the Rubberneck. It self-oscillates easily, and not terribly (unless you want it to), but I don’t like self-oscillation. Some may consider it a feature, but I consider it a liability since it is constant in the background at most settings. It does this at low levels even with mild settings. I like the other features, but for my everyday purposes, that kills it. If only my Echo Puss had trails...

That being said, if you want a strange delay, this is it. Can do all sorts of weirdness, and I love the feature set. But for everyday basic stuff, it ultimately fails. Might keep it for the sake of oddness.

I noticed that too and I think that's a common complaint, but then I stumbled on some work-arounds. Turning down the gain or tone a bit (or the gain all the way) does a lot to fight the self osc among other things. I don't mind having the gain all the way down for most uses and it did take a lot of trial and error to figure out what worked.

I admit that there are some sacrifices to get every sound I want, but then again I guess that's the shortcoming of an analog device. I wonder if gain wasn't adjustable then it wouldn't be a complaint for most. That's not common for delays right? I'm still new to actual delay usage.

Btw, I haven't tried it in a while, but there was this cool barely delayed attack fuzz setting I ran into when I killed the dry, min delay time, max repeats (I think) then max out the gain tone and level. Pretty wild.

@bassboysam I remember you saying that you were looking for delays with a master dry + wet volume right? So you can boost the overall output? Not sure if you've tried it or mentioned it already, but the Echo dream 2 has a master vol in addition to the delay vol.

 

[CaptRigaud]

Later review of the Rubberneck. It self-oscillates easily, and not terribly (unless you want it to), but I don’t like self-oscillation. Some may consider it a feature, but I consider it a liability since it is constant in the background at most settings. It does this at low levels even with mild settings. I like the other features, but for my everyday purposes, that kills it. If only my Echo Puss had trails...

That being said, if you want a strange delay, this is it. Can do all sorts of weirdness, and I love the feature set. But for everyday basic stuff, it ultimately fails. Might keep it for the sake of oddness.

Isn't this easily solved by placing something in the send/return?

Been looking at tap-able analog delays to replace my Moog on the road, the DOD kept coming up as an affordable alternative. Stil have to try it.

Any other ideas? Tap & modulation & bbd

 

[kleinenenten]

I noticed that too and I think that's a common complaint, but then I stumbled on some work-arounds. Turning down the gain or tone a bit (or the gain all the way) does a lot to fight the self osc among other things. I don't mind having the gain all the way down for most uses and it did take a lot of trial and error to figure out what worked.

I admit that there are some sacrifices to get every sound I want, but then again I guess that's the shortcoming of an analog device. I wonder if gain wasn't adjustable then it wouldn't be a complaint for most. That's not common for delays right? I'm still new to actual delay usage.

Btw, I haven't tried it in a while, but there was this cool barely delayed attack fuzz setting I ran into when I killed the dry, min delay time, max repeats (I think) then max out the gain tone and level. Pretty wild.

@bassboysam I remember you saying that you were looking for delays with a master dry + wet volume right? So you can boost the overall output? Not sure if you've tried it or mentioned it already, but the Echo dream 2 has a master vol in addition to the delay vol.

Isn't this easily solved by placing something in the send/return?

Been looking at tap-able analog delays to replace my Moog on the road, the DOD kept coming up as an affordable alternative. Stil have to try it.

Any other ideas? Tap & modulation & bbd

I’ll give those a shot, but I have the gain at zero already, and tone at 1:00. Literally the only knob that high. The manual states that higher settings make it oscillate, but most of my knobs are in the 9-10:30 range, so I wouldn’t say high. It’s not bad oscillation, and may go away with my amp being used since it’s in the loop of a Noise Clamp, but with headphones that’s not cool. I literally played, turned off the DOD (w/trails on) and heard the osc after stopping after a minute of playing. Doesn’t happen with trails off, but that’s a feature I like. Considering that would then get fed through my DI, I may need to put my DI after the noise clamp. Maybe there’s the thought? And I hadn’t thought of a gate or something in the loop of the RUbberneck I fix the issue. That would be nice so I could have it if I wanted to, but turn on the effect if I didn’t. What would you recommend? Or maybe taking DI out of the Noise Clamp loop will work?

 

[kleinenenten]

Also, cheap option for the Y cable (TRS) for the RUbberneck send/return? Never used one before. I have TRS cables, and a stereo/mono splitter, would that work to test?

 

[bassboysam]

I noticed that too and I think that's a common complaint, but then I stumbled on some work-arounds. Turning down the gain or tone a bit (or the gain all the way) does a lot to fight the self osc among other things. I don't mind having the gain all the way down for most uses and it did take a lot of trial and error to figure out what worked.

I admit that there are some sacrifices to get every sound I want, but then again I guess that's the shortcoming of an analog device. I wonder if gain wasn't adjustable then it wouldn't be a complaint for most. That's not common for delays right? I'm still new to actual delay usage.

Btw, I haven't tried it in a while, but there was this cool barely delayed attack fuzz setting I ran into when I killed the dry, min delay time, max repeats (I think) then max out the gain tone and level. Pretty wild.

@bassboysam I remember you saying that you were looking for delays with a master dry + wet volume right? So you can boost the overall output? Not sure if you've tried it or mentioned it already, but the Echo dream 2 has a master vol in addition to the delay vol.

yeah all my filters, phasers and delay must have a master volume. for delay i settled on a moog mf delay and an older Cusack tap-a-delay.

 

[kleinenenten]

Weird. The Rubberneck isn’t oscillating today... but the settings are the same... Back on top for now!

 

[Novarocker]

I remember you saying the Moog, didn't know about the Cusack. Did you every try the echo dream? I think I might give it a go when I get back to the real world.

Btw the last installment was great, was that an arpeggiator on the synth?

Never thought about the gate in the loop, good idea. I didn't realize you had the settings so low and that is really odd that it trailed on that long. I've never had it that bad unless I had the repeats past noon.

I'm no delay expert but I think I started getting a good 3-4 repeats by like 9 o'clock. Maybe I've never had it too high. Here's what I left it on the last time I played it, unless my kiddos were tweaking the knobs lol. Bad pic sorry

 

[NOLA Bass]

I've been juggling the pedal board around some. Still have the Korg Pitch-black tuner, which is great. Recently got the Keeley Bassist Limiter to replace my broken EBS MultiComp. From there, my trusty old Darkglass B3K, an Alexander F13 flanger, and an Electro Harmonix Bass Synth.

However, I just ordered this today!

 

[bassboysam]

I remember you saying the Moog, didn't know about the Cusack. Did you every try the echo dream? I think I might give it a go when I get back to the real world.

Btw the last installment was great, was that an arpeggiator on the synth?

Never thought about the gate in the loop, good idea. I didn't realize you had the settings so low and that is really odd that it trailed on that long. I've never had it that bad unless I had the repeats past noon.

I'm no delay expert but I think I started getting a good 3-4 repeats by like 9 o'clock. Maybe I've never had it too high. Here's what I left it on the last time I played it, unless my kiddos were tweaking the knobs lol. Bad pic sorry

View attachment 3797968

no not an arppegiator, i pogrammed the sequence in the DAW. and thanks! happy with how it turned out. starting a new one tonight, I've been listening to Cluster all day so I'm pretty sure which direction it is going.

 

[kleinenenten]

I remember you saying the Moog, didn't know about the Cusack. Did you every try the echo dream? I think I might give it a go when I get back to the real world.

Btw the last installment was great, was that an arpeggiator on the synth?

Never thought about the gate in the loop, good idea. I didn't realize you had the settings so low and that is really odd that it trailed on that long. I've never had it that bad unless I had the repeats past noon.

I'm no delay expert but I think I started getting a good 3-4 repeats by like 9 o'clock. Maybe I've never had it too high. Here's what I left it on the last time I played it, unless my kiddos were tweaking the knobs lol. Bad pic sorry

View attachment 3797968

Very close to my settings actually. Just a lot more on the time knob than me. I’m thinking maybe it was some sort of gremlin in there last night. Can’t replicate it today at all. Maybe I was swapping it too much with my Echo Puss and the chip didn’t “boot” (there!s mention of boot time in the manual) or I had just the right amount of effects turned on to starve it for power or something. Whatever it was, it’s not happening anymore, and I’m grateful. Love that thing already for its weirdness. I reorganized my board to make it easier to get to my lesser used (but switched on/off in the middle of songs) pedals. Figure my dirt is constant on a single song (usually) so if I have to change that I can focus on it better. I also put all of my effects into the front of the amp. Surprisingly, it worked well. Didn’t cut off my repeats like I had thought it would. Love it. Set the Noise Clamp as an on/off for dirt, and it’s a nice improvement.

 

[Grahams Groove]

I dig the selection of dirt. Have been interested in the Throat Locust since I heard about it, but haven't tried one. Anyway, that's a sweet board you can definitely have some weird fun with.

 

[Novarocker]

Yeah that's a great looking board, lots of good stacking available. Glad it's working well. I really dig how it can do nice simple, or wild n crazy and without needing a degree to figure out how to get to either.

If it had an expression out or even a master volume, I don't think I'd ever need another delay. Would definitely want others....just not need em

 

[kleinenenten]

I dig the selection of dirt. Have been interested in the Throat Locust since I heard about it, but haven't tried one. Anyway, that's a sweet board you can definitely have some weird fun with.

Throat Locust is by far my favorite of the HM-2 clones. I’ve had 7 I think? Only one I’ve ever gotten rid of was the LWA Left Hand Wrath. Just not worth it. Didn’t do anything that other clones couldn’t do easier, cheaper, with a better build, and usually less noise. I’d say don’t waste your time on that one - the reality doesn’t match the hype. It has an unbearable high pitch to the presence knob that just makes it piercing to me. Reducing it to fix that leaves it dull. I find the Throat Locust the opposite - I hear almost nothing about it, but it’s fantastic. Amazing on both guitar and bass, all tones within the HM-2 family, but also distinctive in its character due to the mid voicing option. And the second clipping option actually gives you a different tone (still an HM-2 of course!), unlike the “Modern” setting on the LWA. Earthbound Audio has slowly become my favorite dirt company - I have 3 of their circuits (and 2 Throat Locusts - 1 for guitar and 1 for bass)and they’re each top of the line. Supercollider ‘71 is the simplest fuzz I’ve ever had to dial in, and only slightly behind the Pharaoh Supreme in terms of tone. But MUCH easier to dial in. The Iron Pig beat out my Volt Thrower as my Rat. Just so versatile, with just the right tweaks to the circuit. And again, almost no hype on it at all.

Yeah that's a great looking board, lots of good stacking available. Glad it's working well. I really dig how it can do nice simple, or wild n crazy and without needing a degree to figure out how to get to either.

If it had an expression out or even a master volume, I don't think I'd ever need another delay. Would definitely want others....just not need em

You know, I don’t even really stack much. I’ll occasionally use the GK Rails as a dirty boost, but I have each pedal set up to sound great on its own. Other than that, just the obvious stuff. Octave and/or Envelope Filter on with dirt for synth, then the other stuff (Delay/flanger/chorus) for whatever I need. And you absolutely nailed my goal - all in one board that can do it all. Mild to wild, ready for anything. As for weirdness, I’ve also got a Gonkulator reissue, but that stretches my weirdness threshold. I like it, just can’t find a way to use it!

 

[kleinenenten]

Alright hivemind - problem solving time. I’ve been hunting a hum in one of my amps for months. Comes and goes. Tonight I think I figured it out, but don’t know what to do. I thought it was my DI, then my XLR cable to the DI, but it seems that it’s somehow the PA that is connected to the DI. The second I connect the XLR from the PA to my DI, the hum returns. I have 4 identical DIs. Every one is quiet on other rigs, and hums on this rig. Each XLR cable does the same, as does each of the 4 inputs on the PA. No amount of ground lift switches in any combo affects this. I’ve removed all other XLRs etc. from the PA, leaving only the DI and speakers connected. Basically, the second an XLR cable connects the DI to to the PA, hum is prevalent in my amp. So, thoughts? Is the location of my rig to the PA an issue? It’s the closest rig to the PA. Do I need to move my PA or rig? It’s driving me a bit crazy the last few months, and with all this time at home, I’d like to solve it once and for all. Pic of the rig and board in question attached. If it matters, there’s a Milk Box compressor, Smart Gate, FDeck HPF3 and the offending DOD Grey Box DI/Cabsim. Thanks.

 

[br1qbat]

no not an arppegiator, i pogrammed the sequence in the DAW. and thanks! happy with how it turned out. starting a new one tonight, I've been listening to Cluster all day so I'm pretty sure which direction it is going.

Cluster. Yes! Ever listen to Conrad Schnitzler?

 

[bassboysam]

Cluster. Yes! Ever listen to Conrad Schnitzler?

i don't think so. i'll check his stuff out.

 

[Novarocker]

@kleinenenten in the big board do you have some dirt before and some after the modulation? That's something I just started experimenting with, curious what your setup is. It's hard because some mods sound great before, some after and I'd rather not get a looper.

And I've had the same problem with my dicosimo 360 preamp. Luckily my amp has a di so I can get around that, but it would be nice to solve the problem. No idea on solutions.

I've been juggling the pedal board around some. Still have the Korg Pitch-black tuner, which is great. Recently got the Keeley Bassist Limiter to replace my broken EBS MultiComp. From there, my trusty old Darkglass B3K, an Alexander F13 flanger, and an Electro Harmonix Bass Synth.

However, I just ordered this today!

I was sold on the name and the bass Andy's playing! The video is so good, another pedal to add to the 'when I can afford it' list. hahaha!