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Synth bass...what is the recipe?

Jerry J

Jerry J

Supporting Member
Mar 27, 2000
5,484
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P-town, OR
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#1
I've read several posts that indicated that you should be able to get a great synth bass tone with three pedals. An octive, a filter and some dirt.

Are there any suggestions on what three pedals have worked out well in the past? And what order should they be in?
 
#3
essentially the EHX Bass Micro Synth is those three pedals: a filter, an octave pedal and a distortion.

depending on the sound you want, and if you werent keen on the BMS, id say get the Qtron+ and put a Boss OC2 and the fuzz of your choice in the loop, i recommend the MXR bass blowtorch for synthy fuzz

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=6493362 - heres a clip i did with the blowtorch and a bass chorus in the loop of a qtron+
no octaver in there though
 
#5
What sort of synth tone are you looking for, specifically? Herbie Hancock's Chameleon, Stevie Wonder's left hand, etc.? Do you plan on using those other pedals on their own? If not, you might be as well buying a dedicated synth pedal like the Bass Micro Synth, financially and in terms of ease.
 
#6
DosiYanarchy said:
essentially the EHX Bass Micro Synth is those three pedals: a filter, an octave pedal and a distortion.

depending on the sound you want, and if you werent keen on the BMS, id say get the Qtron+ and put a Boss OC2 and the fuzz of your choice in the loop, i recommend the MXR bass blowtorch for synthy fuzz

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=6493362 - heres a clip i did with the blowtorch and a bass chorus in the loop of a qtron+
no octaver in there though
Click to expand...

Thanks for the replies! I currently have a Malekko Si-Assmaster/3Leaf Groove Regulator (and a Bottom Feeder) and several OC-2's. It just seemed with this setup the fuzz was very present even when turned way down. But I'm sure that the Blowtorch is even more over the top.

Oh I have a Korg G5(which incidently I love and is working for most of what I'm looking for, to do stuff like Let it Whip by the Dazz Band and Gap Band stuff).

Theo, thank you for the link to your sample. That was really bang on. What order did you run the pedals in? Did you use a compresser in the mix?
 
#7
the blowtorch IS pretty full on - at least the way i set it up - but its got alot of tonal options, but TBH i had a major crisis when I got a Si B:assmaster, as they both seem to have a really strong midrange synthy-like quality to them - the blowtorch is sort of cleaner - almost gated-sounding - while the B:Am sounded wetter and much more organic, i loved both but only needed one.
The clip i did was probably with the blowtorch THEN chorus (thats the way i usually do things)

<a href="http://s135.photobucket.com/albums/q143/dosiyanarchy/?action=view&current=pedalboardnew.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q143/dosiyanarchy/pedalboardnew.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

that was my board at the time, so id imagine it was probably going into the optocomp for some light compression, dont think i was using the BDDI for that clip though.

one thing i noticed with the qtron setup was that even with alot of tweaking, the whole setup seemed to disappear in a live mix very easily - the qtron+ itself can be pretty complicated (and doesnt have a volume control), and added to that the Blowtorch (3-band EQ, 3-position mid shift, torch button, blend) and a chorus then there were just too many controls to mess with and too many options - once i cottoned on to the fact that the cost of the blowtorch, Qtron+ and chorus were significantly more than i could get a Bass Micro Synth for i got rid of the q-tron all together. I've never looked back (although im still looking forward).

does the 3leaf have a loop? is that the meatball clone?

it could be that maybe a more 'standard' fuzz is in order - maybe the B:Am is too mid heavy and aggressive.


as a sidenote, although my band never really calls for synthy bass sounds, im currently having fun experimenting with these combinations:
OC2 -> prunes+Custard
Oc2 -> Blowtorch (and sometimes wah- using it more like a slow filter than a funky 'wah')
oc2 -> BMS
BMS -> prunes+Custard
Blowtorch -> Pigtronix Envelope Phaser
 
#9
..EHX POG into...

...(choose one)...Subdecay Noise Box, Chunk Systems Brown Dog, Retroman Hi Octone, Retroman Scram, Malekko B:assmaster, Death By Audio Octave Clang, Effector 13 Sprocket, Zvex Octane III, M.I. Audio Neo Fuzz, Subdecay Flying Tomato Mutant Fuzz 2.0...into...

...(choose one, or more)...Maxon AF-9, Moog Bass MuRF, Zvex Ooh Wah II, Subdecay Prometheus, Co-Pilot Gyroscope, EHX Bassballs...
 
#11
Besides using the EHX BMS, I use a POG with many combinations of pedals. The POG gives a quasi synthy sound when the sub octave is on full and the original bass signal below 50%, and maybe upto 50% on the Plus 1 octave and even less on the Plus 2 octave.

For dirty:
EHX POG (Sub-octave on full, no to half bass signal, 50% octave up) into Bassballs with distortion switched on.

For Clean:
EHX POG (settings similar to above) into flanger (currently MXR) into Phaser with Regen cranked (either HBE Psilocybe or Option 5 Phase)

I control swells with Boss FV-500 volume pedal.
 
#12
I've got synth pedals (Akai Deep Impact for one...) which don't get a look in these days. I dig the following:

EBS Oct into Hot Cake (Crowther Audio) - the Hot Cake has been modified for extended low freq response. It has a gritty OD sound, as opposed to a sloppy fuzz and works well after the EBS. I'm not really into the filter thing... depends what you're after.
 
#14
Jerry J said:
Thanks for the replies! I currently have a Malekko Si-Assmaster/3Leaf Groove Regulator (and a Bottom Feeder) and several OC-2's. It just seemed with this setup the fuzz was very present even when turned way down. But I'm sure that the Blowtorch is even more over the top.

Oh I have a Korg G5(which incidently I love and is working for most of what I'm looking for, to do stuff like Let it Whip by the Dazz Band and Gap Band stuff).
Click to expand...

your setup sounds great, just get a different fuzz. the assmaster doesn't play well with other pedals. the oc-2 and 3leaf should work well together with a Gated fuzz (subdecay flying tomato mutant fuzz, lovetone big cheese) to get you some nice synthy tones.

i've found the gating helps to give it that synth character by giving the notes more separation and giving the envelope time to open and close.

that g5 is a great unit too. i used to have one and loved it :)
 
#15
JohnDavisNYC said:
LOTS OF STUFF!!!

everyone is spot on with their own way to create synth sounds... just gotta find the way that works for you.

john
Click to expand...

... but John's a great guy to study for ideas :)

One of my faves is the Renegade bass: OC2 with no clean, full -1 and 3/4 -2 octave, jammed into a Boss CE-2b with all the dials on full for that crazy detuned sound. No filter or dirt at all, and absolutely authentic.

c-
 
#18
fightthepower said:
The G5 can do the same kind of sounds... but with not nearly the same amount of depth or warmth.
Click to expand...

This is true: in fact I've put in the Korg G5 TB Loop a BBE Sonic Stomp.

Besides that, the Korg G5 is programmable: to obtain 4 different types of synth-sound, if you don't have the G5 you need, i.e., 4 Q-Tron+, 4 Boss OC-2 and 4 MXR Bass BlowTorch. ;)

I suggest to buy a BBE sonic stomp (about 130$ brand new) and not to sell the G5 (that, as a pure bass synth processor, works greatly in terms both of warmth of sound and tracking).
 
#19
Supercollider into a Tonefactor 442 Filter is what I currently mess about with, and a Nocto Loco into a WMD Fatman will be my next thing to try (thanks to John the Gasmonger). The Fatman arrived today and the Nocto kit is incoming. The Fatman's lowpass does a great jungle bass sound, and frequency-dependent tremolo effect of the Nocto just slays and I've not heard anything else like it... I'm going to add an extra footswitch to turn the depth on and off if I can too.
 

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