Victor Wooten's Pedal Board

[hs123]

 

[hs123]

I got a pic of his "FretTrax" MIDI thingy....

 

[joegrant413]

Thanks for the info and pix. I had never heard of Fret Trax before!
- Joe

 

[Veldar]

Woulen't the Fret Trax system just be a midi out from the bass into whatever midi device he wants to use (e.g. Abletone Live like Victor already has on his Macbook).

 

[hs123]

That sounds about right. Every time he played chords on his D and G string, it automatically played a chorused string patch.

 

[tfer]

The best thing about Victor's board: I showed the picture to my wife, and said "See, it can get worse...!"

 

[maisbass]

Woulen't the Fret Trax system just be a midi out from the bass into whatever midi device he wants to use (e.g. Abletone Live like Victor already has on his Macbook).

Yes, that is correct.

I just had the FretTrax system installed on my bass and should be receiving it some time next week. The developer, Lee Young, wires midi sensors into your neck under your fretboard. When you press down on a note, a midi message is sent to your midi synth module (Motif, Abelton, etc). You do not need to pluck the string to send a midi note message. All you need to do is press down on a note with your fret hand, just as you would on a midi keyboard. As of this writing, the system does not do pluck detection for velocity, therefore it does not trigger open strings. Lee will be adding it soon as a feature request. Velocity still can be controlled with an expression pedal sending out the appropriate midi cc. That is what I will be doing since I will have a volume midi cc knob on my bass to control the synth level.

There are many functions and control from the bass itself. By engaging a mode button and pressing the appropriate fret you can change programs, access different modes (such as midi only above 12th fret), etc. It is definitely a game changer. I saw Victor using it at the Blue Note in NYC in January and had asked him about it. The next day I called Lee at FretTraX up and placed my order. I corresponded with him via email several times and provided him with some new ideas which he has now developed into the code, some of which I believe Victor is using now. Good times!

Once I play with the bass a bit, I will be posting some info and perhaps some vids on a new thread, talking about the technology. I believe Lee has some info and vids up on his Facebook page as well (FretTraX). Stay tuned...

 

[Feral Feline]

Victor is not really hung up on gear. Except maybe for basses themselves, he likes having nice instruments. At his camp the last day he let us all check out his basses, even the career girl Fodera Ying-Yang. Pretty dang cool. During the camp he'd plug into any amp that was left and he wasn't too fussy about EQ and such either, he'd mostly fix it on his bass.

The big silver pedal looks like a very cool custom Rodenberg, judging from the style and bass clef graphics on it. I'd love to know more about that pedal! Other than that, lots of pitch-shifting, I suppose the H9's could provide delay/reverb/filter tones as well.

I think the Rodenberg might be the only thing that hasn't changed on his pedalboard, and if I'm not mistaken that is indeed the one that was gifted to him.
I've noticed most Rodenberg owners find the pedals to be a slow chilli-burn — at first it seems not too hot but you wait a little longer and the heat continues to build. I've no Rodenberg yet...

I wish I had the same experience you guys did. I've been waiting 10 years to see him perform. Saw him last Saturday. I'm not gonna say anything bad but I honestly wish he left his pedals at home. It was excessive on the octave and wah. Like half the night. 10 strait minutes of an intro to a Bela tune. Nothing but weird synthy sounds. It killed any enthusiasm his trio created prior to it. I've watched videos over the years that absolutely amazed me. I left the show feeling kinda empty.

I enjoyed seeing VW in HK, but came away feeling pretty much the same way. At least 1/3 of the "show" was just wankery and even the hardcore fans weren't digging it as much as when VW was grooving with the band. There was some good energy and then VW went into a 15-minute solo and did amazing stuff with amazing sounds and amazingly sucked all the life out of the room. Polite golf-claps at the end of that, and then it was a herculean effort for the band to get the energy level of the room back up.

I appreciate what VW does, what he's capable of, and yet perhaps the sonic explorations merely helped highlight how great his groove is — when he's got it going.

 

[Nephilymbass]

Woulen't the Fret Trax system just be a midi out from the bass into whatever midi device he wants to use (e.g. Abletone Live like Victor already has on his Macbook).

Here's some details on the midi stuff

 

[HolmeBass]

I think the Rodenberg might be the only thing that hasn't changed on his pedalboard, and if I'm not mistaken that is indeed the one that was gifted to him.
I've noticed most Rodenberg owners find the pedals to be a slow chilli-burn — at first it seems not too hot but you wait a little longer and the heat continues to build. I've no Rodenberg yet...

I am not quite sure about the chili analogy, but my Rodenberg continues to surprise and impress me. When I first got it I was very meh, especially b/c I didn't feel it could do low gain. I set up a mid-gain tone on it and solo still kinda meh, but every time I use it with the band it sounds really good. I am using it for more and more parts.

 

[Doner Designs]

That stage looks familiar. My son and I saw him last night at Valparaiso University. Smallish setting so we had amazing seats in the 7th row about 30 feet from him.

I had never been a huge VW fan in the past because (from what I recall) some of his earlier work tended to show off his amazing chops, but to me was not as musical or melodic compared to what he's doing now with the Victor Wooten Trio. He's still center stage, but gives plenty of solo time and credit to his very worthy companions on drums and sax and when he's not doing the super crazy solo stuff he blends with the band playing as only he could, but without overplaying.

Very nice and humble guy as well. We got to meet him afterwards and that was pretty cool mostly because of being there with my son. Music and guitar building have been the best father/son bonding thing that I could ever have hoped for.