BOSS SYB-5 Bass Synthesizer Demo (with bassplaying)

[MORGAN1992FREEM4N]

and ive just bought this ;)

[nobrakesba]

Hi, whats your metronome?

[Gizuco]

@nobrakesba it's a guitar tuner/metronome almost low cost Arion UM-70, but full of features, I like it

[2009HardRock]

Great playing, although u already sold this pedal.. if anyone of you want the drum track you can send me a message with your email address and i will send it to ya; feel free to do it

[BassmrDK]

Great pedal, but no offense the riffs you played sounded like sh*t

[darktop1]

where do the drum sounds come from?

[Gizuco]

@darktop1 it's just some basic patterns from Garageband from iLife on MacOs

[korfofountas]

what bass is this?

[Gizuco]

@korfofountas it's a sort of custom made, I've bought it in the USA, it's called Jay Turser JTB-1004

[MikeBPro]

@Gizuco I have same bass.. a jay turser custom.. but bought it in quebec.. and I like the synth you made way to go

[blackflagsarebetter]

I think this thing is awesome! Its next on my list of toys to buy.

[drledsabbath]

Now that I define as epic, and what do you think would happen if I ever bought one of these and plugged it in to my guitar?

[Gizuco]

@drledsabbath this model seems to catch better notes in lower frequencies, so E and B strings are hard to play. Consider it as a "analog to midi" conversion in realtime and sometimes is not so precise.

[drledsabbath]

@Gizuco Alright, thanks.

[sextorx]

if anyone out there has tried this pedal with a guitar please inbox me and let me know as a effect freak i need to know if even thou this pedal it's design for bass it's good for guitar too

[DiederikYBaan]

You're better of buying a proper synth with line-in possibilities. MIcrokorgs gets you a long way!

[Ankamaandre]

supermassive black hole like :D

[fullmetalgeass]

it sounds like you're playing supermassive black hole by muse

[Spindles15]

Marilyn Manson?

[jughfreind]

once you have the pedal effects it doesn't matter which bass you use, don't you?

[XenotechStudios]

Sounds like Luigi's Mansion. Also, why don't they make a guitar version of one of these?

[Raqubor]

@XenotechStudios You CAN plug a guitar in it you know...

[XenotechStudios]

@Raqubor oh,.... well thanks

[BassDude50000]

thats fucking awesome

[renzolikescheez]

it would be good for NIN-like stuff.

[perfectdisasterband]

is ur bass an aria or alembic or sumthing else pllz reply i really wanna know

[Gizuco]

@perfectdisasterband no it's a Jay Turser custom JTB-1004 bass, really like it

[MPS1362]

Vendo um Pedal syb-5 bass synthesizer zerado...interesso em trocar tbm numa pedaleira para guitarra quem se interessar meu E-mail é marcos_mg2006@hotmail.com

[BadResistors]

First, you probably use active pickups, therefore bad tracking. They're no good, actives. These pedals are for passive picks (though Boss never state that).

Second, you need an expression pedal or an autofilter to complement your playing.

It is actually a very powerful pedal, though bassists rarely have an electronic music\programming skills to discover that.

You gotta understand synths to make it work.

[Kubino21]

@BadResistors Exactly my words. A lot of bassists buying synth pedals probably donˇt have basic understanding of how actual synths are working. And lot of them, as you said rarely have an electronic music/programming skills or real interest in dance music. As everything, SYB-5 is a tool. I agree that there are better synth pedals, but when you know how to use a tool you are working with, you make it work for you.

[DiscoTetak]

@BadResistors - Sorry, bit I must disagree with your statement about active pickups. I have played through SYB-5 with various basses and, besides clean technique, only one thing helps better tracking, and that is HIGH OUTPUT! My G&L L2000 and Aria Precise II jazz copy with active EMGs both work really well with SYB-5. Actually, I think that EMG equipped one works a little better.

[dehco83]

oh, and nice riffs by the way... second effect sounds great, makes me feel high!

[dehco83]

what equipament to generate the drums you use?

[Gizuco]

@dehco83 They're from GarageBand on Mac Os

[destChaos]

@Gizuco What's wrong with Logic goddamnit?!

[Gizuco]

@destChaos it doesn't come for free with your mac :D :D :D

[renzolikescheez]

perfect if you are inspired by NIN

[MrGleboPedo]

cool thing, i want the same, just for fun

[OJMAH]

oh, it is about 110usd second hand in good condition in Thailand. But I watch many reviews about this syb, it sounds crap even a great reviewer plays with it.

Is it just a toy or a professional stuff?

Does it hold a great potential?

[Gizuco]

@OJMAH Feels more a toy than an usable effect, BUT maybe connecting its optional expression pedal and using the guitar as a signal generator, palying with envelopes of a plain signal MAYBE could be useful...

[sidlindsay]

i bought this thing and also am not keeping it. you have to play to the pedal too much. it'll always make noises you don't want it to and never sounds the same twice with the same lick. tried it on guitar to answer your question and it only really works on the low end the filter ignores the high half of the guitar. so you're only gonna be able to use the low strings for a synth effect. inmho thumbs down on this pedal.

[Gizuco]

@sidlindsay and @pearljaime2 yes, correct, totally unusable on a guitar and almost unusable with bass!

The fact is that you have to feed this thing with single notes, with no harmonics at all, and really really slowly to get a clean sound. Terrible.

Actually I bought a used MXR 103 to get a similar sound on guitar and even if it's not poliphonic it's still far better than this!

[FortySixAndTwo86]

if you don't have the money for a moog synth

use a line 6 FM4 with a right combination of dry and synth signal,ehx big muff,phase shifter and a lil bit of mxr octaver and you'll get a badass synth tone.

synths are strange anyway,you have to spend hours to understand these pedals

[Gizuco]

@FortySixAndTwo86 you're right after all, but for me was SO bad the tracking issue preventing me to experimenting more.

Talking about another "nonsense" pedal like the MXR Blue Box, is so erratic and so unpredictable, but I really LOVE it and it's part of my chain of effects.

[pearljaime2]

have you tried this pedal on the guitar too?

[natrockskate]

the behringer is the same but cost sonly 50euros

[godfreyjones25]

sounds like an excretion.

[anim8orjoey]

this pedal with expression pedal... good for dubstep wobble bass???!

[griefman]

i have this. horrible tracking.

[ypelyk]

Ew... flat wounds on a fretted bass.

[EmantheBassist]

Are you using flatwound strings?

[Gizuco]

@EmantheBassist yesssss.. another of my experiments :D

sounds great in some passages... but really thinner than standard strings

[somebodysomeone99999]

wat is better this or a digitech wah???? help

[DanLucasta]

digitech wah is crap I don't want it even for free

[satriageta]

sounds good for playing gorillaz songs or techno songs

[Hgaara]

For someone who doesn't have a whole lot of money, what do you think would be a cheap alternative?

What do you think of the Beheringer Bass Synthesizer synth SYB600

[Gizuco]

@Hgaara IMHO something cheaper will be moreover less precise... I think it's better for you first to think to the sound you want to get, then go into a shop and try it..

[doohdoohhead]

@Hgaara I really wouldnt recommend it. I went in to the store asking for the Behringer and the guy told me that it was so cheap I would end up returning it. He said to at least spend the extra 25 bux and get the Ibanez and if I really wanted the right sound to go for the boss. I took the Ibanez home but returned it promptly the next morning. I'm just gonna save money and buy the boss (almost 200 bux vs Ibanez 75 vs beringer 50)

[Hgaara]

Can you send me the tabs for the first thing you are doing on the bass, and also the effect settings?

[Gizuco]

@Hgaara well.. for the settings look at 00:20, in the first part I was using only the SYB.

The rest should be:

E E G E A Bb E E G E D E - E E G E A Bb E E G E E D

[theblackhalo]

@Hgaara is it really that hard to figure out yourself? I mean the fret board is right there!

[ColBassonic]

Hey, it's not that pointless after all.

Check my vids for what can be done with it and the bass

[Synplicity]

Just got one of these today. Totally pointless hahah i just spent an hour making strange noises with it. Mode 6 is my favorite.

Just need to get a drum machine so i can make some drum and bass tracks.

[Gizuco]

ahahahahaahhahahahaha absolutely true :D Yes Mode 6 was funny but I preferred 8, less prone to sync errors..

Anyway the only pedal I kept less than a mounth with me :D

[LaboratorioDexter182]

Good video,,,

and nice playing...

[NickLaim]

hey, great vid! can u tell me, what is difference between SYB-5 fnd SYB-3? Thanks!

[Gizuco]

well first of all SYB-3 should be really analog and syb-5 digital, syb-5 has also an expression pedal control. After that you can find a lot of different opinions about which one sounds better..

[morganchavis]

can you get a sound that's not so harsh? It always seems to drown out the actual bass which is pretty annoying; can that be fixed?

[andrijaVIII2]

cool sound at 1:59

[ferhatonk]

if you want criss' sound you have to spend money.. sorry

[BRAIN2EXCURSION]

anyone know a cheap-ish pedal that'll get you chris from muses bass sounds? well preferably the thick saw synth type one from time is running out?

[stargazer42593]

chris from muse at time is running out uses a FUZZ pedal like big muff for bass with the tone note at 12

[ferhatonk]

@BRAIN2EXCURSION this pedal doesn't provide your needs.. I bought some pedal for muse tones.. MXR blow torch : Supper massive blackhole, starlight, uprising, time is running out (intro) hysteria live perform ( rock am ring 2004) citizen erased etc....

Boss ODB-3: Uno, hyper music, sunburn etc...

E.H Big Muff : New born, bliss, plug in baby, tsp, muscle museum etc.. also you need DI+ (kind of mxr m80) and EQ ... have fun buddy =)

[ferhatonk]

@BRAIN2EXCURSION ouw, I forgot that.. chris uses this pedal or another one just, who is on the stage and play sun burn...

[Chainsaw20x7]

Zoom B series, are realitively cheap multieffect pedals, the $120 version has about 40 effects, including a decent sawtooth. Thats probally the closest you'll get for any kind of cheap.

[quetzacle]

try with a bass overdrive + a limiter\enhancer.. i obtained good results with it

[Prettyflyforabassguy]

Uhmm, yeh he uses Big Muff, but in addition he uses a very rare synth pedal which they don't make anymore, but I reckon a boss SYB or a digitech synth will do the trick

[trocker92]

bass players seem to sell these alot

[ubuntubwoy]

1:41 Very clever trick - essential for a mono analog line level synth.

The cloth dampens any open strings allowing the player to play single notes cleanly without synth mis-triggers.

Excellent!

[Metal4ever2304666]

would this also work for e-guitar?

[ApeX2411]

HOw have you got that sound at 1:30?

[Gizuco]

Well you see... effect trimmer at 8, the other cursors are clear, a little echo from an Alesis Quadraverb and just tapping on the bass strings :D :D :D

[Megatrousers]

ANGRY CHAIR!

[iglitchhalo2]

I want one! would be great for daft punk covers!

[OnlyByFishStandards]

1:34 got me sold

[MCMagoo]

not a good demonstration of this pedal. not that you arent a good bassist, just this pedal is actually really versatile if you know how to play it. i take alot of influence from electronic music (dubstep, house, drum n bass) and combining this pedal on the right setting with a sick drummer, you can make some really interesting electro music with real instruments, it doesnt always sound this funny.

[Gizuco]

I fully believe you!

But I think there are anyway more versatile pedals with anyway a good "personality" and still interesting sound, IMHO

[MCMagoo]

You should try the EBS triple envelope filter, its the best pedal ive ever purchased, great for funk music especially with slap bass.

[opethfan02]

wow !

[rikinoki]

excellent

can you use this pedal on a guitar?

[panikattak14]

you COULD but it wouldnt sound as good. this pedal is made for low frequencies, so the higher frq of a guitar would prolly make it loose some definition.

[ApeX2411]

hiw did you get the sound @ 1:30?

[iLikechevelle]

lets here some tom sawyer

[tommasosciotto]

supahmassive black hoal

[sukkyatlife]

would be more usable with an expression pedal

[yoghmoob232]

sounds a bit like a flanger... and you've got a beat maker?

[Gizuco]

No, I was jusy playing with Garageband on a Mac :)

[theandyconn]

i bet it'd sound pretty funny with a delay pedal

[HLGGanoth]

The pedal sounds like it has bowel problems...<.<

[Teutonic1250]

i want a bass REElY badly...=(

[skylandmountain]

Sorry for multiple reply ifyousayso666 - gremlins in my browser - or my brain - something is goin wrong here!

[skylandmountain]

Already ordered a QTX 10 output powerbank looks ok - the 1spot looks ok but I hear there ar power distibution issues which I presuem causes interference (Thus you said yours is pretty quiet - possibly for that reason?). that Voodoo lab power supply is way too pricy. The syb is probably best with direct on full & the effect mix opposite to about 11 o'C. It's basically a fart machine or vurt box

[Ifyousayso666]

is it worth the outrageous price tag?

[Gizuco]

only if you are a rich boy and want some nasty sound (useless IMHO for the most of the times).

I mean, maybe you can build one or two songs around this effect, another pedal like a Muff could be used on 50% of the songs you're playing :D

[castleshade13]

i got one of these, £110 new, as i love techno dance etc like Daft punk, This pedal got me and my drummer mate andrew a Saturday night job at a club =D has earned me £1000 in 4 months, will be ace until the styles change.... lol

[steeliedude]

better than a DJ

[skylandmountain]

Not really - cant get much out of mine - but that might change when I get my pedal board together with a proper power supply so I can use more then 1 pedal at a time which is pretty uninspiring.

[Ifyousayso666]

u should look into the visual sound 1spot, i have it and loveit! definately worth the money, dead silent too

[tymol777]

awesome!

[wedge90]

yamaha bass?

[Gizuco]

No, it's a Jay Turser JTB 1004 Active bass

[rippinrogers]

Great demo

[masterofpuppets186]

is that a real song that youre playing from 1:45 to 3:40, or are you just messing around? Sounds awesome

[Gizuco]

Thank you :D I'm sorry but I was just playing notes around an idea..

[ColBassonic]

Hey, man! Without the expression pedal you're not using the full potential of this baby!

Check my video responce!

[castleshade13]

i know you've gotten rid of (right?)

but i love the sounds but how is it when played fast could you use to play lead in a daft punk style group? and how is it on the higher notes as have a six string bass

[Gizuco]

:D You're quite right :D :D :D

Anyway, played faster you must be ULTRA clean to get the effect on every note, but I think it's not the right pedal to play very fast.

To make you understand the point, in almost all the configurations, it behaves like a synth keyboard driven through MIDI by a low quality guitar midi pickup.

So, slow picking is ok, higher rates simply makes it loosing notes, sometimes is ok for what you are playing, others not.

I think on a six string bass you can anyway drive it.

[castleshade13]

Yay! thanks alot!

I think i'll get one just to record with, what bass are you using in this? its nice! =D

my set ups are alays simple it would be Bass>SYB-5>Amp my bass has Humbuckers but would that be a problem?

(yes i'm clueless with pedals lol!)

Thanks!

[Gizuco]

It's an "old" Jay Turser JTB-1004 active bass, I bought it on a deal out of stock, loved the shape :D :D :D.

It has Humbuckers and had no problem, even in active or passive mode.

[Gizuco]

yess.. maybe connecting the expression pedal and playing live with the envelopes :D

[BrutalEpicMetal]

Haha if you used that live it would be sort of embarasing, sounds fun to just take and mess around with though.

[HarpyTV]

woah, i just discovered these pedals and they're so trippy. Can they be used on a standard guitar?

[Gizuco]

depends, if your pickup has a real "thin" sound (i.e. single coil in bridge position) there are some problems catching the higher notes...

[HarpyTV]

Well i'm hoping to get some active humbuckers for my next guitar and use that in conjunction with Boss' ML2 metal core. I like alot of bass in the eq

[QuinnyGoth]

Sweet sounds

You say there's tracking problems on it...

Would I be able to play 8ths with out it getting all muddled?

Cheers

[EtcEtcAndEtc]

very very very slow 8ths!

I have had the older syb3 for almost ten years. In short, the only useful features for bass guitar are the auto wah, which is one of the most controllable out there - res, cutoff, enevelope, sweep up/down, and a dry/wet control. one of the best for autowah.

unfortunately the synth tracking is terrible. I have NEVER used the synth part live for anything serious - it misses notes,refuses to retrigger, sticks on notes etc. it does sound amazing if you run drums through it!

[deafpenguin]

kinda a cool to be able to do that with bass guitar :D

[guido764]

just so you know i am stealing this riff you are playing in the second half of this video :D dont sue me please! jk... kinda. ill make it my own some how. it kinda sounds like it has funeral march mixed in. i want this pedal! its $159 here

[Gizuco]

:D :D :D Ok Guido, take it as a GPL Riff like a Linux license, you can use it if you tell my name in your song's credits :D :D :D :D

I suggest you also to have a look on Ebay, maybe you can find some second hand model, pay attention to the exact release, the SYB-3 was even less sensible than this one.

[guido764]

if i do use it, i'll definately let you know, and i'll send you the song!

[Quicksilv3r4]

hey man, like how slow would you say the tracking is? like would i be able to play house/club on my bass could i do that with this pedal? and if not do you know a pedal i could use?

[Gizuco]

Actually I sold this pedal, I think you can add some bpm but nothing more to the speed you are listening in this video,,,

[Kadadj]

Do you think this would be cool on a guitar??

[Gizuco]

I tried it but it had some troubles on higher notes...cannot lock/play them

[Kadadj]

ohh, a friend of mine got this, cant wait to try it on my guitar.

[Rhii]

Oh man I want this

[hawklord2112]

whoa.... 1:37 - is that just a bit of cloth under your strings to mute them?

awesome sound ^^

[Gizuco]

Yes really it is.. Stopping all the harmonics makes it work better in that configuration. :D

[bunnance]

ok, mr italiano.

i'm not going to read all 500 comments .did you use your FS100 on this?

[Gizuco]

Yesss, Mr. America :D

[castleshade13]

what ryhtem/drum machine is that?

[Gizuco]

Garageband for Mac with a simple drum pattern..:)

[zombieturd7]

this or the ibanez pedal

[oleold]

Damn I wish I would have got this instead of the digi bass synth

[Shnooks]

yeah it's cool at times but then others it gets really annoying. i didn't buy it because i bitched out and didn't wanna waste my money...i am super picky when it comes to pedals, although i'd like to have them all.

[sextorx]

any guitarist that tried the pedal with the guitar

[spacemanvector32]

I tried it with guitar. Maybe even more so than bass, you need to tweek it for usable sounds. Some of what comes out of it can be quite awful, some really cool. High notes get wack, i don't think it was voiced to handle the upper guitar register. But single lower notes have a sort of cool effect. On guitar, it seemed to be a one, maybe two trick pony.

[DoItLikeMiles]

sexy sounds:D

[stexnookie]

this effect is a little over the top for bass

[Gizuco]

:D Try it before buying, It has a GREAT sound, but is very tricky to play. You must be VERY clean and not too fast, or it will not catch the notes.

It's a Synthesizer, not a "simple" audio effect.

[Hondengans]

This and a good distortion seems the perfect combo for a muse bass sound, gotta find one..

[GrantRamone]

I love the second sound you get on this video, but would you say that it's the only useable and cool effect you managed to get with this pedal?

I'm toying with the idea of getting one and having watched the response video, I'm wondering if a simple phase shifter might be a better investment.

[Gizuco]

I think you could play with a Fuzz and a Phase shifter, getting good results too.

Have a look to my video reply to this same video.

[TheSexMess]

Wow this sounds extremely good, I didn't know what to choose between the electro harmonix microsynth and that one and I'll think that I'll take this one now! (Worth for the price, and a lot cheaper than the ehx stuff)

But do you use any extra delay or effects or is it just what the pedal does?

[Gizuco]

My only suggestion is to test both in a good music shop.

Note tracking is the worst part of these pedals.

I added some reverb and delay with a Quadraverb Gt.

[TheSexMess]

I'm sorry but I'm not english, I really don't get what note tracking means and can't find a translation anywhere, could you explain what it means?

[Gizuco]

Nor I am :D

Listen, this kind of effect, like also the Octaver, needs to "understand" the note you're playing to create the syntesized one.

Like a note-to-midi translation.

The fact is that sometimes it's not so able to understand what you are playing and the resulting note or effect is different from what you expected.

That's why I put that red piece of cloth under the cords to eliminate all the harmonics.

So the disadvantages are that it's not so fast and precise to ..'track the notes'

[TheSexMess]

Hmmmm ok!

Yeah kind of like with a whammy effect.

So I guess playing two strings at the same time is not thinkable ^^'

And thanks for the piece of cloth trick by the way, I'll try it =)

[Gizuco]

Exactly, You got the point! :)

Anyway you can emulate that sound playing with a phase shifter.. maybe later I'll try to record something. :)

[Gizuco]

Hi, have a look at the reply video I added, about the phase shifter.

[horrorshowbeau]

i really want to get one of these again

as i leant one to my friend and he used a horribly strong power supply and burned out a two of the chips inside it

please someone message me if theyre selling one cheap and you live in the uk

[basslinger]

thanks for the video, useful for the purpose of seeing what the hell this thing does...

[youknowyourrite1]

dude the second setting you put it on sounds sick.

[commonpleases]

with that pedal, is it possible to get a smooth sound where the transition between notes kind of melts together?

[Gizuco]

If you mean a note transient I think that position 3 or 6 will do the job, but note tracking will work on only one note played per time, no chords or fast picking.

Anyway recently I sold that pedal and bought a Bass Big Muff Pi that's closer to the sounds I need.

[commonpleases]

ok, thanks

[erixoff]

Nice demo !

I have a SYB-5 too, but you use it in a very nice creative way on the second part of the demo; cool synth sound, do you use a phaser on it ?

[Gizuco]

Thank you, it went trhough an Alesis Quadraverb GT with some delay, reverb and chorus, the little phase-shift-like component was from the SYB.

[axxeman666]

would it matter if i used this through an electric guitar? Most guitar synth pedals suck/are too expensive.

[Gizuco]

I played it a bit also on guitar, it has some limits on the higher strings on locking on the notes...

[ejcAsUalTieSxD]

sounds a bitt Middle eatern, not the first part but yeah, nice pedal... fuck i gonna buy it!!

[omnipitantlyoriginal]

Actually I quite like it. I could use it in my band. Around how much do they cost man?

[warjockey]

It's probably hard to fit this in the rock context but it would be great for dance tunes like beautiful life and similar to that genre. I wouldn't consider it for a rock band.

[racingmantis100]

What drum machine are you using?

[marito18244]

can i get something NIN'ish with this ?

[stagfromTOS]

*Cough* I'm looking for someone who's NOT looking for "something muse"

[Elm16u3lwrc]

SYB and Delay? It Sound very good

[bigdaygroup2]

Thanks