• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Synth bass...what is the recipe?

#21
I like having the G5 as it nails several of the tones(sounds) that I had been searching for in a single package. I really can't imagine the Deep Impact or the OS being much closer to what I was looking for. So to that end I am happy.

I think that I know where a Subdecay Flying Tomato is and will check that out today. I'll bet that there are a few places locally that have a Blowtorch in stock too.

I tried putting the Groove Reg. + OC2 + A-master last night and it just didn't seem to work out well at all. I also tried to get something close to what DosiYanarchy got on his clips by adding a chorus and taking out the fuzz. I couldn't get it to sound like his clips but I did get some very cool sounds. I have a Boss ce-2b coming in a few days to replace the ceb-3 I have. And hopefully I'll be able to chase down the Flying Tomato today, even if I have to drive over to the Subdecay factory.:D They are a local company.
 
#23
Spencer! said:
I've heard the Zvex Woolly Mammoth is a good fuzz for synthy sounds, but I've yet to try one. I'm really curious though, the sound clips are terrifying.
Click to expand...

I haven't tried it myself but from what I hear the WM doesn't like active basses. And although I have the option to go passive on my Sadowsky I don't have that option on my old Stingray.

I was going to go pickup a Flying Tomato today but read a review that lead me to think that it's not all it's cracked up to be. I might go check it out since I'm off tomorrow. But I'm thinking that maybe the Blowtorch might be the way to go. Hmm?
 
#24
Jerry J said:
I haven't tried it myself but from what I hear the WM doesn't like active basses.
Click to expand...

I've heard that too. I was thinking, though: If you had it in the loop, you could dial out the added harshness from the active bass with the intensity control. At least I think that would work, if I find a good deal on a Woolly Mammoth I can try it for myself.
 
#26
Spencer! said:
I've heard that too. I was thinking, though: If you had it in the loop, you could dial out the added harshness from the active bass with the intensity control. At least I think that would work, if I find a good deal on a Woolly Mammoth I can try it for myself.
Click to expand...

I don't know what the Mammoth would be like in the loop of say a Qtron or a 3Leaf Groove Regulator (;)) but I can say this: the Mammoth's poor interaction with actives is not overstated.

And having tried it with 3 different active basses, the hotter they are, the worse the Mammoth behaves. And I thought perhaps having it in the loop of my VB-jr would tame it a bit, but really it just makes it sound worse. It's still usable as a square wave, gated fuzz in front of a low pass filter like John Davis uses it for. In fact, it was great for me in that application, active or not. But if the cutoff is opened up all the way, the natural tone is pretty nasty sounding.
 
#27
DosiYanarchy said:
...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...

I just noticed this. You said "in the loop"? And I think that you asked somewhere if the 3leaf groove regulator has a loop. Yes it does. What is the difference from just running things in line?
 
#28
Spencer! said:
I've heard that too. I was thinking, though: If you had it in the loop, you could dial out the added harshness from the active bass with the intensity control. At least I think that would work, if I find a good deal on a Woolly Mammoth I can try it for myself.
Click to expand...

From what I understand, the problem with the WM (and many other fuzzes) with actives is not the signal level, it is the impedence. Actives have a much lower impedence than passive pickups, and that is what screws up the WM. Putting a WM in a loop will not fix that problem. As far as I know, the only way to fix that is to put a variable-impedence box right before the WM. I know that someone here on TB built one, and I know that Barge Concepts also makes one (the GLZ, I think).
 
#30
Well I bucked up and dragged (drug?) my OC-2, Groove Regulator, Bottom Feeder and my Sadowsky down to one of the local shops that stock Subdecay, Oohlala and Devi's pedals. They also carry quite a few other makers, too.

I started with the Flying Tomato (OC-2>fuzz>filter). It just didn't work out at all. It just seemed too bright or too dark and I just couldn't get a decent tone to save my life. I even messed with the bias. It seemed that I couldn't get either filter to open correctly unless I pegged it with lots of fuzz. Overall I found it to be a decent fuzz for what little time I spent with it.

I then tried Devi's "OK" and King of Fuzz(I think that's what it was called?) and they were just way over the top for this setup. No surprise there.

Then I tried the Oohlala Soda Meister. I really wanted that pedal to work out since it looks so cool. Plus the size factor was great. But again just a bit too hard to control for this setup. Then I tried the "The Beautiful Disaster". What caught my eye was the switch that said "GATE". Hmm. When I first turned it on it howled like crazy. I got everything turned off or down and then went to work. Everything was going good until I just cracked the fuzz a very small nudge. It just started spitting like crazy and there was no sound from my bass going into it. Then I tried the oscillator knob. Man it sounded kinda good. I kept nudging it and it just got better. The OC-2 was tracking nice and both of my filters sounded great. We are on to something here. Then I tried the fuzz knob again and very loud spits kept pegging the speaker. Then I got caught up in the loop and that eye thing. Well I thought that this pedal is cool if I disable the fuzz some way. I could see my speakers turning into confetti.

But the bucks were high(partially because of the paint job). So I thought that I would wait a bit so I passed. Good thing as I got layed off today. :atoz:
 
#33
Jerry J said:
Well I bucked up and dragged (drug?) my OC-2, Groove Regulator, Bottom Feeder and my Sadowsky down to one of the local shops that stock Subdecay, Oohlala and Devi's pedals. They also carry quite a few other makers, too.

I started with the Flying Tomato (OC-2>fuzz>filter). It just didn't work out at all. It just seemed too bright or too dark and I just couldn't get a decent tone to save my life. I even messed with the bias. It seemed that I couldn't get either filter to open correctly unless I pegged it with lots of fuzz. Overall I found it to be a decent fuzz for what little time I spent with it.

I then tried Devi's "OK" and King of Fuzz(I think that's what it was called?) and they were just way over the top for this setup. No surprise there.

Then I tried the Oohlala Soda Meister. I really wanted that pedal to work out since it looks so cool. Plus the size factor was great. But again just a bit too hard to control for this setup. Then I tried the "The Beautiful Disaster". What caught my eye was the switch that said "GATE". Hmm. When I first turned it on it howled like crazy. I got everything turned off or down and then went to work. Everything was going good until I just cracked the fuzz a very small nudge. It just started spitting like crazy and there was no sound from my bass going into it. Then I tried the oscillator knob. Man it sounded kinda good. I kept nudging it and it just got better. The OC-2 was tracking nice and both of my filters sounded great. We are on to something here. Then I tried the fuzz knob again and very loud spits kept pegging the speaker. Then I got caught up in the loop and that eye thing. Well I thought that this pedal is cool if I disable the fuzz some way. I could see my speakers turning into confetti.

But the bucks were high(partially because of the paint job). So I thought that I would wait a bit so I passed. Good thing as I got layed off today. :atoz:
Click to expand...


Thanks for that in-depth review.:)

I'm dying to try the Devi pedals and the Flying Tomato and Wolly Mammoth!
 
#35
Jerry J said:
Very cool clip Dave! Thank you for linking us up on that. Ok, so what was the fuzz and what was the phaser?
Click to expand...

That's an MXR El Grande Bass Fuzz and my EH Small Stone Nano Phase.

I have a love/hate relationship with the El Grande. The tone knob doesn't have a lot of range, so it won't get all the sounds I'm after, but on the plus side it has great low end and I love the subtle fuzz I get with the "fuzz" knob almost all the way off.

The Small Stone on the other hand isn't going anywhere! :bassist:
 
#36
ryker888 said:
What phaser are you using here, it sounds really nice
Click to expand...


I A/B'd an MXR phase 90 and a Small stone recently. I found that for long sweeps, the small stone with the color switch engaged is much more obvious then the MXR at the same sweep setting. Without the color switch, they were both pretty equal. It was nice, but I can see how it could get lost in a live band setting.

For short sweeps though, the MXR sounded much better. It was more liquid and funky!

In the end, I decided to go with the Small Stone since I'm more after long sweeps.
 
#38
DaveLS said:
That's an MXR El Grande Bass Fuzz and my EH Small Stone Nano Phase.

I have a love/hate relationship with the El Grande. The tone knob doesn't have a lot of range, so it won't get all the sounds I'm after, but on the plus side it has great low end and I love the subtle fuzz I get with the "fuzz" knob almost all the way off.

The Small Stone on the other hand isn't going anywhere! :bassist:
Click to expand...

Thank you for the info Dave. Did you run the fuzz first into the nano phase?
 
#39
I will probably get made fun of for this but I LOVE the behringer bass synth! The construction is **** but it sounds sooooo good. you can also hook up an expression pedal. I run this into a bass blowtorch then into a behringer echo machine set on tape. some time I will put up a sound clip
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back