• 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.

WHOA...Digitech The Drop

#141
MultiScaleMale said:
I have a Morpheus that I picked up at GC on blow out for $29 and that's going back. The Drop is way better in terms of latency, tone and accuracy.
Click to expand...

I forget who has said what, so I'm risking repeating myself for the billionth time, but just to be clear: this is a guitar or a bass comparison?
 
#143
The Drop has dropped! Been messing with it since I got home from work.

My honest first inital impression of it was....huge disappointment. I basically want it just to go a half step down, but when it does it like getting a free delay and chorus pedal as a bonus! It also does not track as well as I had hoped. But it does detune all the way down nicely, and even though I do not like the latency, chorus, and delay those things to not get any worse no matter what tuning you choose. At least it does stay consistent. I just wish it didn't sound so warbly. Oddly enough, the octave+dry tracks much better than my Aguilar Octamizer and it sounds fanstastic. I really like this setting. You want to play 'Jeremy' by Pearl Jam? Get this pedal.

I've only had it a few hours so I need more time with it. Just not sure how this will work in a band setting. I just hate that when you hit a string and expect to hear 'BAM' you instead hear 'BA BAM'.

Here's a couple of very raw clips.
Clean, then 1 step down, then stepping down through all the tunings.

With my Roscoe, which seems to work best with this pedal:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
The end of this track is the octave+dry, along with some fun knob twiddling :)

Sadly does not work nearly as well with my Lakland 44-02:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
#144
mmbongo said:
The Drop has dropped! Been messing with it since I got home from work.

My honest first inital impression of it was....huge disappointment. I basically want it just to go a half step down, but when it does it like getting a free delay and chorus pedal as a bonus! It also does not track as well as I had hoped. But it does detune all the way down nicely, and even though I do not like the latency, chorus, and delay those things to not get any worse no matter what tuning you choose. At least it does stay consistent. I just wish it didn't sound so warbly. Oddly enough, the octave+dry tracks much better than my Aguilar Octamizer and it sounds fanstastic. I really like this setting. You want to play 'Jeremy' by Pearl Jam? Get this pedal.

I've only had it a few hours so I need more time with it. Just not sure how this will work in a band setting. I just hate that when you hit a string and expect to hear 'BAM' you instead hear 'BA BAM'.

Here's a couple of very raw clips.
Clean, then 1 step down, then stepping down through all the tunings.

With my Roscoe, which seems to work best with this pedal:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
The end of this track is the octave+dry, along with some fun knob twiddling :)

Sadly does not work nearly as well with my Lakland 44-02:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Click to expand...

That answers my question, sadly. I was considering this for a project I gig with a couple times a month that tunes down a half step. I hate having to switch strings and reintonate to accommodate the feel and tone I like every time I play with them. I've been following this thread in hopes I wouldn't see a post like this, but I figured it was probably too good to be true. Still looking to try one out myself though.

Did you happen to run a compressor before the Drop to see if it reigned in some of the tracking issue?
 
#145
MMBongo- Dead-on- I have to agree- I will not be keeping mine. Just too much tone suck, weird warbling sounds, and weird artifacts.

Such a great idea, but obviously the technology isn't there yet. I'll just keep one of my basses tuned down a half step.
 
Last edited:
#146
petrus61 said:
That answers my question, sadly. I was considering this for a project I gig with a couple times a month that tunes down a half step. I hate having to switch strings and reintonate to accommodate the feel and tone I like every time I play with them. I've been following this thread in hopes I wouldn't see a post like this, but I figured it was probably too good to be true. Still looking to try one out myself though.

Did you happen to run a compressor before the Drop to see if it reigned in some of the tracking issue?
Click to expand...

Yeah, my EBS MultiComp is before the Drop on those tracks. I have not turned it off to see if that would make a difference.
 
#147
obimark said:
MMBongo- Dead-on- I have to agree- I will not be keeping mine. Just too much tone suck, weird warbling sounds, and weird artifacts. My beautiful tone, just gone anytime I kick this on.

Such a great idea, but obviously the technology isn't there yet. I'll just keep one of my basses tuned down a half step.
Click to expand...

Yeah you can really hear the tone suck in my Roscoe track. That bass is the tone I've strived for all these years, then the Drop just kills it. But on the other hand, I also keep another bass tuned down half a step and it does not sound the same either so I'm just not sure which way I want to go. I think hearing the Drop in a band setting will help my decision.
 
#148
mmbongo said:
Yeah you can really hear the tone suck in my Roscoe track. That bass is the tone I've strived for all these years, then the Drop just kills it. But on the other hand, I also keep another bass tuned down half a step and it does not sound the same either so I'm just not sure which way I want to go. I think hearing the Drop in a band setting will help my decision.
Click to expand...

Looking forward to hearing about it in that context. I was hoping it would be a temporary band aid to my lonely, only bass until I added another in January so I wouldn't have to jerk the neck around on my favorite ax, but at that price I might as well get a cheapo bass in the meantime for that particular project.
 
#149
Just a quick update...running a compressor before the Drop seems to completely confuse it, causing the warbling and other odd noises I was hearing. Turning off the compressor cleared it up a a lot so now I've got to move things around and try again.
 
#150
mmbongo said:
Just a quick update...running a compressor before the Drop seems to completely confuse it, causing the warbling and other odd noises I was hearing. Turning off the compressor cleared it up a a lot so now I've got to move things around and try again.
Click to expand...
I ran mine clean with no compressor, but it still sucked tone.
And the latency is not great- it throws my groove off.
I hit the note and instead of a clean, instant attack- there is an echo thump an instant later.
 
#151
Interesting variance in opinions to be sure. I wonder if this is variation in user ears, a QC issue, or rig variations?

To mmbongo's point---I haven't done a lot of experimenting with effect order on my Morpheus but the manual claims it likes to be first, which makes sense to me. I was absolutely planning to put test the Drop in the same position.
 
#152
obimark said:
I ran mine clean with no compressor, but it still sucked tone.
And the latency is not great- it throws my groove off.
I hit the note and instead of a clean, instant attack- there is an echo thump an instant later.
Click to expand...

Oh definitely still agree with all that. Tone suck and latency are still there. The compressor was just causing broken notes and thinner sound. Also clicked my Tone Job EQ on after it, cut the mids, added bass and treble, and it's at least useable for me now. It really needs a bass boost. This dang pedal will cause me to redo my entire board if I decide to keep it, thanks to the 300ma power requirement the need to be first in the chain. Not sure if it's worth it yet.
 
  • Like
Reactions: obimark
#153
mmbongo said:
Just a quick update...running a compressor before the Drop seems to completely confuse it, causing the warbling and other odd noises I was hearing. Turning off the compressor cleared it up a a lot so now I've got to move things around and try again.
Click to expand...

Hmm...do you run the EBS on the "Tube"setting? I would think a decent comp would send the Drop a more level signal (similar to the way some run a comp before filter/octave) but I'm not sure exactly what the "Tube" sim might do to the actual EQ preceding the Drop. Interesting.
 
#154
petrus61 said:
Hmm...do you run the EBS on the "Tube"setting? I would think a decent comp would send the Drop a more level signal (similar to the way some run a comp before filter/octave) but I'm not sure exactly what the "Tube" sim might do to the actual EQ preceding the Drop. Interesting.
Click to expand...

I tried all three settings, MB mode is my normal setting though. I think it probably is sending it a more level signal, but The Drop needs an uncompressed signal to be able to process things properly is my guess.
 
#156
Ordered a Drop today so will get a chance to check it out next week. I need a -3 for two songs and a -1 for one. Been using my M5 for this with good success, but was hoping to replace it with a smaller pedal that I can put on my board in front of my drives/fuzzes - my M5 I keep in my rack behind all my other effects (mostly for delays / volume / EQ stuff). Will report back.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Adamixoye
#157
johnbegone said:
Ordered a Drop today so will get a chance to check it out next week. I need a -3 for two songs and a -1 for one. Been using my M5 for this with good success, but was hoping to replace it with a smaller pedal that I can put on my board in front of my drives/fuzzes - my M5 I keep in my rack behind all my other effects (mostly for delays / volume / EQ stuff). Will report back.
Click to expand...
I actually used to own the M5 and used it for a drop tune effect as well, but the thing was hard getting to the settings you wanted. I used it to drop my bass to C# when my band did Pour Some Sugar on Me.
 
#158
obimark said:
I actually used to own the M5 and used it for a drop tune effect as well, but the thing was hard getting to the settings you wanted. I used it to drop my bass to C# when my band did Pour Some Sugar on Me.
Click to expand...

Tone/tracking/latency pluses and minuses aside, IME, getting the right interval is nearly impossible without using an expression pedal on the M5.
 
#160
johnbegone said:
Are you talking about the setting on the knob of the M5? I think you hold the right foot switch while turning the knob to slow down the throw of that knob. So get close, then hold down the switch to get exact. I have presets for -1 and -3
Click to expand...

Well that's a trick that would certainly help! Maybe I came across that at some point, but I didn't remember it.

I find it odd that for the pitch shifter effect in particular, the knob seems to favor non-integer values. For example it likes to skip from -0.7 to -0.9 to -1.1.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back