What settings are using on the micro synth right at the start? Sounds like Boogie on reggae woman and I've got the pedal so I'd love to be able to recreate that sound.
Hello Ed. At some point when you demonstrate the "Overdrive" personality of the Bass Bloggers pedal, you explain that the volume knob is disabled in "overdrive" mode and that the pedal has true bypass by flipping the knob full counter-clockwise. Then, we hear the natural sound of your Lakland bass. That sound is amazing. Is that bass a Lakland Decade with chi-sonic pickups? They sound like "dirty" humbuckers. I mean "dirty" in the best possible way of course. ;-)
Pardon my ignorance, but I've heard a lot of times (in a ton of videos, by different players) the riff you play at the beggining of the demo of the Bass Blogger. From which song is it from ? I really want to learn it ! It is a killer riff !
Sorry for the mistakes, I'm french and i don't speak good english.
people...get yourselves a 2 octave VA synth with proper sounds instead of paying top dollar for a one trick pony with possible tracking problems. £100 will buy you a Novation Xio which sonically beats the crap out of deep impact. Honest truth
is tracking dependable on the bass synth? i am looking for a good synthy/fuzz sound for my bass, i am aiming between the micro bass synth and the zvex woolly mammoth. i feel the EHX pedal will be more of a bang for my buck
@ibanez0830 Tracking is total reliable ... with a caveat. The Suboctave voice only tracks decently to your A string and higher (220 hz or above). Below that, it gets garbled and indistinct. The other voices track well on or above the low E. As such, if you're a 5-string bass player, the B string won't get much love from this unit. With my unit, I tend to cut the guitar signal out, boost up the suboctave and just play an octave higher. Sounds good to me!
@ibanez0830 - I also threw up a demo of this on youtube yesterday. It should be in the list of videos for my channel.
In my video, I don't really get into how this thing tracks, and I wish I did. There is a bit of delay, but it's easily compensated for. Anyway, I describe one of the 'suboctave' sounds that I use a lot at 5:10.
but one question : there is a sound level difference with that effect?? because I tryed a Q tron one time and the difference of output level was very important between with or without effect
Dude, your the first cat Ive ever seen advertising bass pedals that can actually play the bass, this demo trashes the demos on elctro harmonix's web site, I wasn't going to buy the micro synth after thier demo, but now I think I will, nice one.
Good stuff, Ed. In your opinion, how does this pedal compare to the octave effects on the EHX Bass Microsynthesizer? Would it be redundant to have both? Thanks.
just how "synth" a sound can you get with this synth? i want somthing almost kind of daft punk , the BOSS SYB-5 has the perfect sound but has horrible tracking problems...
I don't know how "synth" you mean. Listen to the demo.... that's what it sounds like. I do a pretty complete run through of the sounds. Only you can determine if it's "synth" enough.
Well, as I said, I ran through a lot of the possible sounds with this box, so watch the video and judge for yourself. Better yet, try to find one to check out in person. I thought the EHX did a good job of tracking, and the effects integrated well.
I have them both... and also a bassballs-But I've always wanted to have one of this... just wondering if It would be more of the same or not much different.
But besides the square wave, the octave may have a different color. I will give it a try. Sure It's a lot of fun ;)
Similar, but the EHX also has a square wave generator that gives it some distortion. Then of course... you have to get the Q-Tron and OC-2 to cooperate with each other.
Well, I never reviewed the Fulltone. For distortion, I tend to like the EHX Bass Big Muff, though I didn't review that either... it has a nice blend for the clean signal. The Blogger is great too for overdrive. I don;t use this stuff much anyway, I don't play much rock, they're just fun to mess with.
Hey Ed, how come the volume goes down incredibly just when you turn the Drvie on the bass Blogger all the way up? I was really Xpecting that setting =S
And have one of these pedals and its great but I can never seem to hear the filter act on the signal. So I end up having to run it through my Q-tron+ to get that filtered synth sound that you hear in a lot of older funk stuff. I'm running a Spector Euro 4LX (active pre-amp and active pickups), could it be that the Spector is too hot for the pedal or should I play around with it more?
I doubt that it's too hot, just play with the input levels, and try to be a little more conscious of your touch. It responds well, you just have to learn how to make it "sing".
Yeah, as soon as I got home I started messing around with it and turned out that I had the idea for the Trigger and Rate completely backwards so the Trigger was around 2~3 and the rate was around 9. So I t would only act on the signal when I plucked really hard and then it would act so slowly it sounded like nothing was happening. I readjusted it and it's been awesome ever since. I dont have to use the Q-tron+ anymore to get the wah out of it but it sounds even better now when I choose to,
Well you have to remember that Herbie is doing that on the keys, there is an entirely separate bassline to Chameleon. Besides, there are some dramatic changes in that song about 3/4 of the way through.
There are, and Chameleon is an outstanding piece of Jazz Fusion from the master himself. Being a bassist myself though, I'd just like a little more variation, but the bass line even if it's a simple groove that repeats for most of the song, it sure provides a great rhythm with the drums. And you're right, the song does change dramatically about 3/4 of the way through, It gets even better than in the beginning.
Ed I'm looking for an overdrive pedal that gives me a warm tube-like overdrive, but some versatility would be nice. My options are a HomeBrew Hematoma, an EBS Multidrive, a TC Electronic Vintage Bass Distortion and a Fulltone Bass Drive. I can't try any of them because all the music stores where I've been don't have them in stock. Which one would you choose?
Well, did you check out the Bass Blogger in this review? I think that's pretty tubey. Out of the ones you mentioned, the only one I've tried is the Fulltone, and it's quite good.
I tried the Bass Blogger and it didn't really convince me, don't ask me why...I think I'll just go for the Fulltone. Thanks very much Ed, keep up the good work!
Have you tried a Hartke Bass Attack pedal? They come with an overdrive channel and an additional tube boost channel. I have one and it's very versatile for warm overdrive and just plain nasty bass distortion.
They are a little more hi-fi than Dark Stars, sort of a creamy version of an EMG... They have a silky top end, lots of punch, plenty of bottom - all very organic sounding. Me likey!
At around 8:30, when you demonstrate the clean sound through the blogger pedal, it still has a lot of dirtiness to it. Do the Chi-Sonics make it sound that way? In the clinic video it is alot more clean sounding.
It's a Lakland 4-94CS. It has the new Chi-Sonic pickups. It's a beautiful bass, and it sounds amazing - though this demo is so effect heavy... you're not really hearing it. Check out in my "Favorites" section, there's a live clinic video with the bass.
What settings are using on the micro synth right at the start? Sounds like Boogie on reggae woman and I've got the pedal so I'd love to be able to recreate that sound.
TheBarackAttack 3 months ago
Hello Ed. At some point when you demonstrate the "Overdrive" personality of the Bass Bloggers pedal, you explain that the volume knob is disabled in "overdrive" mode and that the pedal has true bypass by flipping the knob full counter-clockwise. Then, we hear the natural sound of your Lakland bass. That sound is amazing. Is that bass a Lakland Decade with chi-sonic pickups? They sound like "dirty" humbuckers. I mean "dirty" in the best possible way of course. ;-)
LudwigBeefoven 4 months ago
Pardon my ignorance, but I've heard a lot of times (in a ton of videos, by different players) the riff you play at the beggining of the demo of the Bass Blogger. From which song is it from ? I really want to learn it ! It is a killer riff !
Sorry for the mistakes, I'm french and i don't speak good english.
Chlor0s 6 months ago
@Chlor0s - I have no idea. I just made it up, but it could be from a song. It's pretty typical, it could be anything.
BassGuitarMag 6 months ago
Comment removed
Kjeff3000 4 months ago in playlist Bass Micro Synthesizer
@Chlor0s - It sounds a lot like "Boogie On Reggae Woman" from Stevie Wonder!
EricT43 4 months ago
Love the "Flashlight" line with that cocky tone.
FunkySkunk90 8 months ago
or EH.....
projuicer1 10 months ago
people...get yourselves a 2 octave VA synth with proper sounds instead of paying top dollar for a one trick pony with possible tracking problems. £100 will buy you a Novation Xio which sonically beats the crap out of deep impact. Honest truth
projuicer1 10 months ago
What kind of bass from the right?
The 5 string one
omrix2 10 months ago
@omrix2 - A Lakland 55-02 fretless.
BassGuitarMag 10 months ago
Some Herbie Hancock at 3:29
k0ekjebakker 1 year ago
damn how much i want this pedal
JonasGerman 1 year ago
Actually, it's a damn good pedal and $74 shipped via eBay! Much better than a plain boost.
yournotjohn 1 year ago
That microsytnth is by far and away imo the best bass synth pedal I have heard gotta get one
canvoodoo 1 year ago
is tracking dependable on the bass synth? i am looking for a good synthy/fuzz sound for my bass, i am aiming between the micro bass synth and the zvex woolly mammoth. i feel the EHX pedal will be more of a bang for my buck
ibanez0830 1 year ago
@ibanez0830 Tracking is total reliable ... with a caveat. The Suboctave voice only tracks decently to your A string and higher (220 hz or above). Below that, it gets garbled and indistinct. The other voices track well on or above the low E. As such, if you're a 5-string bass player, the B string won't get much love from this unit. With my unit, I tend to cut the guitar signal out, boost up the suboctave and just play an octave higher. Sounds good to me!
StereoEarth 1 year ago
@ibanez0830 - I also threw up a demo of this on youtube yesterday. It should be in the list of videos for my channel.
In my video, I don't really get into how this thing tracks, and I wish I did. There is a bit of delay, but it's easily compensated for. Anyway, I describe one of the 'suboctave' sounds that I use a lot at 5:10.
StereoEarth 1 year ago
hi.
nice pedal, but, Does it cut the low freqs ?!
thx!
harmonium777 1 year ago
@harmonium777 - not really.
BassGuitarMag 1 year ago
"The Bass Whisperer" - Really ?????
Nice, had a laugh then enjoyed the video.
IsItQik 1 year ago
you´re truly the master!! keep up the good work... nice reviews
Schwarzesmann 2 years ago
Ah, the reason I subscribed so long ago. Great reviews Ed and you really read our comments! That's nice from you (Y)
JosephGallagher 2 years ago 3
I read them alright, but can't always respond. Thanks.
BassGuitarMag 2 years ago
Too bad your audio constantly clips.
talledu 2 years ago 5
Marvelous review sir.
TheDriveMaster 2 years ago
pardon my french, but you are one funky motherfucker.
Doctor0ctagon 2 years ago 20
Merci beaucoups!
BassGuitarMag 2 years ago 3
hi, do you think bass blogger is real good as bass overdrive?
I'm trying to listen to most of overdrive I can, because I need to have one, but still don't know which.
amnesiac1975 2 years ago
I forgot: do you think it is good on low notes?
amnesiac1975 2 years ago
that's sound great...
but one question : there is a sound level difference with that effect?? because I tryed a Q tron one time and the difference of output level was very important between with or without effect
thx for that demo!!
MrFibou 2 years ago
you can crank the volume-knob until the output level is exactly the same in all three modes. hope you understand my basic school-english :)
JonasGerman 2 years ago
The first video where the bass blogger sounds cool!
hanneselefant 2 years ago 3
Ed,
What are the settings at the very beginning of this video when you're playing Boogie On Reggae Woman?
bullguit 2 years ago
Sorry, but it was so long ago, I don't remember....
BassGuitarMag 2 years ago
Dude, your the first cat Ive ever seen advertising bass pedals that can actually play the bass, this demo trashes the demos on elctro harmonix's web site, I wasn't going to buy the micro synth after thier demo, but now I think I will, nice one.
Rouke2001 2 years ago 2
Thanks.
BassGuitarMag 2 years ago
It's strange that this review does not show up as hit #1 when you search for bass blogger it is the best result by far
cosmic53 2 years ago 14
Good stuff, Ed. In your opinion, how does this pedal compare to the octave effects on the EHX Bass Microsynthesizer? Would it be redundant to have both? Thanks.
PDiddyDawg 2 years ago
Nice piece of Herbie Hancock at 3:29 Ed.
Chameleon Pt.1 is one of my favorite grooves.
Verminite 2 years ago
just how "synth" a sound can you get with this synth? i want somthing almost kind of daft punk , the BOSS SYB-5 has the perfect sound but has horrible tracking problems...
Thanks Adam
castleshade13 2 years ago
I don't know how "synth" you mean. Listen to the demo.... that's what it sounds like. I do a pretty complete run through of the sounds. Only you can determine if it's "synth" enough.
BassGuitarMag 2 years ago
sorry i was a bit vague...
i mean like techno sounding, "electronic sounding" ummmm daft punk-ish is an example i guess
sorry thats still pretty vague
castleshade13 2 years ago
Well, as I said, I ran through a lot of the possible sounds with this box, so watch the video and judge for yourself. Better yet, try to find one to check out in person. I thought the EHX did a good job of tracking, and the effects integrated well.
BassGuitarMag 2 years ago
Thank you;)
I have them both... and also a bassballs-But I've always wanted to have one of this... just wondering if It would be more of the same or not much different.
But besides the square wave, the octave may have a different color. I will give it a try. Sure It's a lot of fun ;)
orlan7 2 years ago
A question; if I have a boss OC-2 and a Q-tron, could I get those octave synth sounds?
Or they would be different in the bass micro synth?
Thanks!
orlan7 2 years ago
Similar, but the EHX also has a square wave generator that gives it some distortion. Then of course... you have to get the Q-Tron and OC-2 to cooperate with each other.
BassGuitarMag 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Sounds awful.
UncleBoko 2 years ago
Not sure if you realize who you are commenting on. This guys is a legend.
fingerboy18 2 years ago
I believe he's referring to the pedal...
pcpgorilla 2 years ago
Yeah, I'm not very fond of the effects depending on the situation. But damn, you gotta respect the man :)
fingerboy18 2 years ago
He's awesome. Groovin
pcpgorilla 2 years ago
hey ed ive watched a bunch of your videos and i was wondering out of the EHX the B:assmaster or the fulltone which do you prefer?
DuiWen 2 years ago
Well, I never reviewed the Fulltone. For distortion, I tend to like the EHX Bass Big Muff, though I didn't review that either... it has a nice blend for the clean signal. The Blogger is great too for overdrive. I don;t use this stuff much anyway, I don't play much rock, they're just fun to mess with.
BassGuitarMag 2 years ago
Hey Ed, how come the volume goes down incredibly just when you turn the Drvie on the bass Blogger all the way up? I was really Xpecting that setting =S
JosephGallagher 2 years ago
I had to make a volume adjustment at that point - the audio track was getting over saturated and digital distortion is never pleasant.
BassGuitarMag 2 years ago
Ed Friedland your demo is always so great
adrian480 2 years ago 3
Hey ed great demos. Just wondering what the song you play at 3:30 is?
Duarfunk 2 years ago
Herbie Hancock - Chameleon
barrabassman 2 years ago
Still waiting for EHX to come out with a bass synth with programmable presets....
limeyamos 2 years ago
Hi Ed ! The G&L tribute is awesome ! Now i know i can trust you, i may buy one micro synth for my bday :)
Thx a lot for the reviews :)
BYe
killupoo 3 years ago
And have one of these pedals and its great but I can never seem to hear the filter act on the signal. So I end up having to run it through my Q-tron+ to get that filtered synth sound that you hear in a lot of older funk stuff. I'm running a Spector Euro 4LX (active pre-amp and active pickups), could it be that the Spector is too hot for the pedal or should I play around with it more?
Thatguy301 3 years ago
I doubt that it's too hot, just play with the input levels, and try to be a little more conscious of your touch. It responds well, you just have to learn how to make it "sing".
BassGuitarMag 3 years ago
Yeah, as soon as I got home I started messing around with it and turned out that I had the idea for the Trigger and Rate completely backwards so the Trigger was around 2~3 and the rate was around 9. So I t would only act on the signal when I plucked really hard and then it would act so slowly it sounded like nothing was happening. I readjusted it and it's been awesome ever since. I dont have to use the Q-tron+ anymore to get the wah out of it but it sounds even better now when I choose to,
Thatguy301 3 years ago
Well, it might work on a 5th, but most of these sounds are too complex to work with chords.
BassGuitarMag 3 years ago
he forgot to mention if the bass synth works with chords or not?
moester101 3 years ago
im receiving mine in 5 days , I know it says its got true bypass , but ive read many complaints about that being false , what do you think ed?
mirkolu 3 years ago
Well, it didn't seem to effect the tone when I switched it out, but I'm not electronically wise enough to be able to open it and see for myself.
BassGuitarMag 3 years ago
3:29 to 3:35 is the bassline to Chameleon by Herbie Hancock. Same bassline for 15 minutes kinda sucks, but it's a great jazz tune all in all.
victorgtz 3 years ago
Well you have to remember that Herbie is doing that on the keys, there is an entirely separate bassline to Chameleon. Besides, there are some dramatic changes in that song about 3/4 of the way through.
3toes 3 years ago
There are, and Chameleon is an outstanding piece of Jazz Fusion from the master himself. Being a bassist myself though, I'd just like a little more variation, but the bass line even if it's a simple groove that repeats for most of the song, it sure provides a great rhythm with the drums. And you're right, the song does change dramatically about 3/4 of the way through, It gets even better than in the beginning.
victorgtz 3 years ago
love the lakland.
esperasoesperas123 3 years ago
Do you recommend running it through the effects loop or through the front end of amp with true by-pass?
spatemdim 3 years ago
Ed I'm looking for an overdrive pedal that gives me a warm tube-like overdrive, but some versatility would be nice. My options are a HomeBrew Hematoma, an EBS Multidrive, a TC Electronic Vintage Bass Distortion and a Fulltone Bass Drive. I can't try any of them because all the music stores where I've been don't have them in stock. Which one would you choose?
Gonzothekiller1582 3 years ago
Well, did you check out the Bass Blogger in this review? I think that's pretty tubey. Out of the ones you mentioned, the only one I've tried is the Fulltone, and it's quite good.
BassGuitarMag 3 years ago
I tried the Bass Blogger and it didn't really convince me, don't ask me why...I think I'll just go for the Fulltone. Thanks very much Ed, keep up the good work!
Gonzothekiller1582 3 years ago
Have you tried a Hartke Bass Attack pedal? They come with an overdrive channel and an additional tube boost channel. I have one and it's very versatile for warm overdrive and just plain nasty bass distortion.
4stringswing 3 years ago
They are a little more hi-fi than Dark Stars, sort of a creamy version of an EMG... They have a silky top end, lots of punch, plenty of bottom - all very organic sounding. Me likey!
BassGuitarMag 3 years ago
At around 8:30, when you demonstrate the clean sound through the blogger pedal, it still has a lot of dirtiness to it. Do the Chi-Sonics make it sound that way? In the clinic video it is alot more clean sounding.
RHCP250 3 years ago
Yes, you're still hearing the drive from the pedal, it's at the minimum, but it is still active.
BassGuitarMag 3 years ago
Ahh i see. Thanks a lot for the info!
RHCP250 3 years ago
Hey thats an awesome bass! Can you tell me what kind it is?
RHCP250 3 years ago
It's a Lakland 4-94CS. It has the new Chi-Sonic pickups. It's a beautiful bass, and it sounds amazing - though this demo is so effect heavy... you're not really hearing it. Check out in my "Favorites" section, there's a live clinic video with the bass.
BassGuitarMag 3 years ago
I used to own an ElecrtoHarmonix effect called Bassballs.... do they still make that?
RobLeepopart 3 years ago
yes they do
rushfan992 3 years ago
Uh... I dunno, check their website.
BassGuitarMag 3 years ago
I want one !!!
I also want to learn to play Boogie on Reggae Woman and play it with as much cool swagger as you do
RobLeepopart 3 years ago
Cool swagger? Well... I'm not sure that was my motivation... but I suppose you need some attitude when you hack to pieces a favorite bass line.
BassGuitarMag 3 years ago
Ed your awesome and i love how you sport the bass eye candy on the left when the video opens.
thefid89 3 years ago
Bass eye candy? Subliminal messages perhaps?
BassGuitarMag 3 years ago
Hey Ed i was wondering if you knew of any drum gear reviewers here on youtube?
NYtoPDX 3 years ago
Sorry, I don't.
BassGuitarMag 3 years ago
If you ever want to have a give a way for your subscribers let me know.
DeathBomb669 3 years ago
Man that attack delay on the micro synth is so awesome. Reminds me of castles made of sand haha.
BTW, I liked you superstitious line =).
Great stuff man, can't wait to see more reviews
DerekLowndes2 3 years ago
once again wishing I had more money.........
stanno34 3 years ago 2
nice review once again!
yellofury 3 years ago