Vigier with a V-bass!

[ped]

As you may have read in the 'Effects' forum I recently added a Roland V-Bass system to my #1 bass. It installed really nicely and sounds incredible. I may go for the internal installation kit at some point but to be honest it is great as it is, the 'brain' is neat and out of the way and the whole thing looks very neat and tidy. Here are a couple of snaps, I will upload some grooves ASAP too.

It is brilliant to have a perfect sounding Jazz, Precision and Musicman sound all on my #1 bass (I could never find these sounds in basses that play as nicely as my #1). I am going to spend the evening setting up some FX and a Ken Smith sound.

For those who don't know, the V-bass lets you move 'virtual pickups' around the bass, letting you create basically anything. I really truthfully have made the best sounding Jazz bass I have heard with this thing, and I have a lot to learn with it!

Here are a few snaps:

This is the 'brain' at the back - you can use two buttons on it to bypass the unit entirely and use your magnetic pickups in the bass, or a mixture of both, or the V-bass pickup.

Cheers
ped

 

[grace & groove]

Awesome stuff Ped, and once again awesome bass!

 

[KeithPas]

Cool!! I would love to hear some clips of that Vigier V-bass.
BTW, that Vigier is no slouch on its own.

 

[waseok]

waah we demand sound clips!

 

[ped]

Thanks for the comments... I will do some sound clips when I have worked out how to use my software again, hopefully tomorrow evening.

Installing the V-bass on a bass which is fantastic anyway works really well because you get the most out of the unit.

Cheers
ped

 

[ped]

I have done a quick recording to show the Jazz and Musicman models - Thing is the volume is really low and I think there is something going on with my computer because I could hear some loud buzzing as I was playing which put me off a bit.. I think it is my USB adapter again, but alas..

The clips are pre eq and everything so they sound a bit bassy through here on my computer but all of course is adjustable etc (plus I am sure in a proper studio it would sound perfect as opposed to my dodgy effort)

Anyway - have a listed and tell me if you would guess these were the same bass!! part one is my Vigier with the standard magnetic pickups, clip 2 is the Jazz and clip 3 the Musicman.

Let me know what you think... I think you will agree that they are fantastic! Of course they can be adjusted to taste even more than the actual instruments, so account for taste too!!

ped

Clip here: Invalid Link Removed

 

[ped]

Here are some more snaps. I love this thing.

I have a DVD full of drum loops so hopefully there will be more recordings later this weekend. I have improved my settings no end since last time.

Cheers
ped

 

[WarriorJoe7]

I can't play the clip at the other site. Can you post it here?

 

[gre107]

Same problem for me too.

 

[ped]

Oops of course - I have uploaded the clip so you can hear it here: Link Removed

Once again I have improved these settings no end, but this gives a good impression of just how great the sounds are.

Cheers
ped

 

[Akito]

Very cool! Is the sound file 100 percent V bass or is some of the mag sound in there? For some reason it reminds me of an old school steinberger sound.

 

[WarriorJoe7]

Cool. Can you post a clip of some other sounds prefereable way different than a regular bass.

 

[ped]

Thanks guys - the first clip is the mag pickups, the second and third are all V-bass. I will do some more recordings tonight because I have vastly improved them and have also programmed a couple of fat synths which should tickle Warriorjoe's fancy ;0)

Cheers
ped

 

[McSpunckle]

Wow that thing sounds good.

 

[ped]

Thanks guys - I have uploaded newer samples here:

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I am still working on a couple of amazing synth patches for you WarriorJoe7 so hang in there!

Cheers
ped

 

[WarriorJoe7]

Those are pretty cool!

 

[ped]

I am trying to get all my gear cased up at the moment. I need a 6u rack to house my pod, a drawer, a tuner and a mixer with a bit of room to spare, and the Vbass. The problem is the Vbass unit is 2cm wider than the rack ears on a unit, so I have come up with a design which is being made for me by a local flight case company. It will not be made with heavy duty material (I do after all have a semi broken back, seriously) but will be made of either foam filled plastic or aluminium.

It is going to be called 'The Barbeque'

Cheers
ped

P.s more samples on their way, I am in the studio as we speak!

 

[ogar]

Hey Ped,
amazing stuff! I have V-Bass on a way to me and the quality of your recordings gets me really excited. So you have created your own Jazz and MM patches instead of default ones? What about other models? Have you tried P-bass or Ken Smith (though I suppose your Vigier should sound similar to it)? I can't wait to hear your new recordings too.
Keep us posted!

Ales

 

[ped]

Hi ogar,

Thanks for the comments. The patches were based on the presets for the jazz and musicman but tweaked somewhat to suit my playing style. I have actually since removed the pod XT from my signal chain and now I just use the vbass by itself. I didn't know what I was missing by not hooking the vbass up in stereo! With the fretless for example you can pan each string a tiny bit which with a dab of stereo chorus and reverb just sounds beautiful, almost enough to make me want to sell my ACTUAL fretless!

I have almost nailed the Smith sound by creating my 'own' bass with two pickups spaced the same from the bridge as my friends bass. The jazz and MM patches sound better now too as before they were passed to the XT pro for cabinet modelling but now I use those inside the vbass which seem a little more '3D' and just perfect to my ears - the jazz bass for example has a bit more body behind an open popped note.

What kind of bass will you be installing the Vbass on? I am still toying with the internal kit but stalling because the external is very neat and out of the way, the only reason I might get the internal is so I can have an extra knob to assign to each patch to control any parameter I want - there is one on the current external unit but being round the back of the bass I have disabled it in case it gets moved.

Worth mentioning that the compressor and limiter in the Vbass is superb. Took me some time to get used to as I really rate the comp in the XT pro but it is brill... the only real improvement I could suggest would be a full graphic eq as opposed to the 4 band parametric but not a big deal.

Cheers
ped

 

[fightthepower]

Keep 'em coming! I've been very interested in the Vbass system, and your clips (especially any fun synthy stuff you might post ) have been very helpful. Thanks, nice moves!