Unboxing / Build thread

[T_dub]

Here are two good YT vids on it with Bass @howard

Funny thing, I never watched any YT vids on this pedal, went by Amazon reviews and product descriptions. I always watch YT vids if I can before getting a pedal. This was just an obvious winner I guess.

I will make some sound waves as soon as I can, and with the Donnor Harmonizer just as son as I can.

And

It really is a bad ass pedal, and for $80 on Amazon. great pedal, low price. If you can’t stand the color, GC has an exclusive Black and white one, but you have to pay full price of $99
I could have a blast going Bass to Plumes to amp, it is that good.

[howard]

Interesting! It sounds a lot like an Ibanez Bass Tube Screamer to me. (that’s a compliment, the TS-9 is an iconic sound for sure)

If it’s a TS clone it should have some nice warm overdrive sounds as well.

For comparison:

[T_dub]

Yes @howard, it is based off the TS, but it has 3 clipping options, which really make it quite a bit more versatile. Plus, at $80, it’s a steal. The first video they do talk about it being a close TS copy, but go on to break down the extra clipping features, and the Tone shapes more then just lo to high. I don’t recall how exactly he put it, but he was saying it was different then the TS. The guitar guy did say his go to pedal is a TS.

This is the pedal I am thinking of picking up with the Nether. With the Plumes, Nether, harmonizer and this, I will be set for drive and octaves.

It sounds pretty freaking good, will probably scream with the Plumes, or the harmonizer or Nether. And it is below $50, so I am getting 2 pedals at GC, curbside pick up locally for just over $100. And if rusty fuzz sucks, it can go back, but it looks like one you could have fun with straight to the amp.

And 3 pedals are going back to amazon, along with some other things ordered that did not work, or was wrong item description.

[T_dub]

So, have not been back to this thread for a while.

I got a few pedals, but nothing to write home about, so never did anything on here about it, I sent or are sending them back.

I got the TC Electronics Rusty Fuzz from GC, it is an inexpensive pedal, and it sounds “OK” for bass, but since it’s not a bass specific pedal, it misses on the bottom end, and just does not have enuf grrrr. To it for me, so it’s going back.

About the same time, I al,most ordered the TC Electronics Nether octave pedal from GC, put then one showed up on “Let Go” for $30, which is 1/2 price of new, so I bought it.
It does a great job as a lower cost option for a sub octave pedal, 1 and 2 octaves below with control for each as well as a Wet / Dry blend dial.
If you need the option to go up, you don’t get that with this pedal, but I already have the option to go up/down/detune 1-2 or partial octaves with the Donner Harmonizer pedal, that has other dial options to get some synth sounds if you want. The two combined give lots of options f and together cost me roughly $65.
Unless you have space issues, this is a good option, however, it is cuz the used Nether I got, otherwise the two pedals together would run about $105, and you have other octave pedals as options, like the TC Electronics Sub-n-Up mini, or Boss OC-2 or OC-3, although one of those two may run closer to $125, along with the TC Electronics full size Sub-n-Up pedal.

Anyway, my combo works.
The Rusty Fuzz was ok with the Nether, and a little better with the Plumes OD, but still was just not all I was looking for.

That’s where this comes in. @howard turned me onto Source Audio, and I liked what I saw with the Aftershock Bass Distortion pedal. I researched, and love it’s options to upload different sounds and presets from SA and other people, much like TC Electronics TonePrint, but it’s way more, you have full control of the whole pedal from a connected phone, You can change what each dial does, you can EQ the heck out of it and more.

I was also looking at the older pedals. The soundblox2 Bass Micromodeler is basically the Aftershock out of the box, with all the controls on the pedal that you use the phone to access on the Aftershock.
I was going to get the Aftershock, and it is actually cheaper by $20. Aftershock is $149, and the OFD MicroModeler is $169.
But
Amazon had a used, like New, OFD Bass Micromodeler for $79.
So, I went ahead and got this one to play around with. If I love it so much, probably just keep it, but if I decide I want the other customizable/ upgradable features, I will return it and get the Aftershock.

Here it is unboxed.

Gonna play with it now, and come back and let you know if it’s any good or not.

[T_dub]

Ok, first, forgot something.

I also tried out SpectraComp compressor from TC Electronics with the TonePrint feature.
I liked it ok.
I loved the TonePrint part of it
But…
It ended up just not being what I want out of a compressor. 1 dial just to adjust how much of the compressor you want to compress your dry sound. Some of the TonePrint s were cool, but still too little customizable features. I want lots of options in a limiting type compressor.

Then I ended up with a great deal on the Zoom MS-60b, and it has all the compression I could ever want. And since I have a Zoom B1-four I can also dedicate to my pedalboard to use as Chorus or Reverb or delay, or a custom patch with combos of those, Tge MS-60b is my compressor. Well, it’s actually 5 compressors, I set up patches for each compressor available in the MS-60b.

There.

Back to the Source Audio OFD Bass Micromodeler.

WOW!

That’s all I can say as far as a review right now.

I am blown away at all the sounds you can get out of it, from clean to overdriven Mesa Boogie tube amps, to Big Muff, Swolen Pickle, The Rat, Fuzz Face, TS9000 ( which I have a tricked out version of n the Plumes pedal), Octavia, and several Source Audio Originals.

This is great, but I have only just tinkered with it.

I will say it is VERY USER FRIENDLY!!!

There is so much you can do, and it’s not hard to figure out. But since there is so much, I have only just begun to explore it.

I say this is for sure worth the &80 Used price, and it is even worth the $169 price.
But
Since the newer Aftershock pedal does everything this one does and more, AND IS $20 LESS. I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND THE AFTERSHOCK. Unless you can get a used one of these. There is so much it can do, it’s hard to imagine what the Aftershock could give me this can’t, but the Aftershock can.

Anyway, this is a great pedal, and the Aftershock has to be, so if you want to invest in ALL the OD, Fuzz and distortion pedals out there, built into one box,
This (or the Aftershock). Is for you.

Let it be known that Source Audio has 2 other OD and Fuzz pedals in the same line as the Aftershock. They are all interchangeable, so you can load the other pedals on the Aftershock.

So if you get that one, you have even more then just what comes out of the box.

[howard]

Yeah I almost bought an Aftershock. One of the rare digital distortions that I liked a lot.

I have no idea why Source Audio stopped the SoundBlox concept. It seemed like a cool direction to go. Maybe people were put off by the shapes.

I think @JoshFossgreen has their SynthBass pedal?

[T_dub]

Probably the Pedal look.
The Aftershock in the box is Identical to the Soundblox Bass Micromodeler.
Has the same exact selections and controls.
I can’t say for sure if it has a noise gate or not, but with the total control you have of the 1 series pedals (Aftershock). I don’t see why it wouldn’t be there.
Personally, I think the Soundblox is a better design because you have total control at the pedal, where you have the same, if not more control with Aftershock, but only with a phone connected.
I think this is probably why they are not as popular.
If they found a way to give more control at the pedal, while having all the phone features, they can take over.

Anyway, thanks @howard, it was you that turned me on to it.

[JoshFossgreen]

@howard

I think @JoshFossgreen has their SynthBass pedal?

You mean the C4? Nope, haven’t tried it yet, looks cool though. If you mean the SoundBlox2 pedals, I do have the small distortion pedal and the filter pedal… really don’t like either one! They’re in the “to get rid of” pile.

[TNKA36]

Hey @JoshFossgreen,
I have stuff in the “to get rid of” pile as well, only problem is I can never bring myself to the point of taking the plunge and offloading it?
Cheers Brian

[mmrunyan1]

Always hard to part with gear. Even if you don’t use it.

[howard]

Ahh, too bad! I like the concept they had going with those. But yeah, I’m usually not a fan of digital distortions either. Not sure how they scored with the Aftershock, it’s one of the few I liked.

[T_dub]

Yeah, I am same with @howard, not crazy about many distortion pedals. Like some drive sounds, some Fuzz, but not too many. I saw the distortion, and was not what I am looking for, but I like this one a lot, it, as I said is just like the Aftershock. In fact it is the base Aftershock, the Aftershock just took it to their new line with added features.

@JoshFossgreen. You say you have the Soundblox Envelope Filter? Called Mantra or something?
You say you don’t like it?
I was looking at a used SoundBlox Pro Env filter, but if you don’t like it, I will prob go a different direction

What Env filter do you guys use then? Or just going without?

[Gio]

@T_dub

What Env filter do you guys use then? Or just going without?

All hail the Moogerfooger!! I really really love it. Do I use it inappropriately in songs because I like it so much? Yes.
Have I been angrily yelled at to stop sound checking because I like listening to it so much? Yes.

It has the super smooth 70s vintage vibe dialed.

[howard]

Now that’s a simple, small set of pedals I can get behind. All of them are awesome. How do you like the MXR Octave fuzz? Plus a POG, you’ve got all kinds of pitch shiftability there.

Do you run a compressor somewhere else, like in a rack mount?

[Gio]

Thanks @howard.
I REALLY like the sub octave.
What I don’t like about it, is that you can’t get JUST octave on it. It’s distortion and then an option of with or without octave.
It’s a very aggressive pedal, so it sounds angry and big no matter what.
It tracks well, and the dry signal blend lets you keep your low end even when you’re adding distortion (my main beef with most distortion effects for bass).
The POG is great tracking, and gives an octave up or down, and sounds so much more mellow and smooth - so it gives a very different octave vibe.
The POG with it’s smooth tracking and more subtle octave effects can then be slammed with the Tube Screamer to get a much more mid-rangey and smooth version of the MXR angry-beast-mode distortion/octave.

I use the MXR with the moog to get my bass-synth sound. The envelope with the distorted octave is my Bass Final Form.
When I have built everything to where it can build no further… I do that. It’s so damn big sounding.

I don’t have a compressor in line yet. I tried a bunch and the only one I wanted to maybe use was the new Boss Bass Comp BC-1X But I tried it at a shop with such terrible, commissioned, hard-sell-never-leave-you-alone salespeople that I didn’t pull the trigger.
I’ll see if my lovely local shop will get one now that they’re open again… for me to maybe buy.
(I know I can order it online, but y’all know my feelings here )

BOSS - BC-1X | Bass Comp

[T_dub]

@Gio

the only one I wanted to maybe use was the new Boss Bass Comp BC-1X

I saw that yesterday at a REUSE (glorified pawn shop set up like a mini target), it was still $179 or something high, it did look new, but not the place I would buy an expensive pedal. Maybe if they had a used $30 pedal I wanted, maybe, but no otherwise. SLes final, no warranty, that type of thing.

I am set on compressors, but that does look like what I would want in a compressor.

That Mook is huge. Is it a vintage pedal? Something you would be lucky to find on EBay?

Thanks for the tip and other info.
I like the simple layout with many possibilities.

[T_dub]

@Gio

All hail the Moogerfooger!! I really really love it.

For $4000, you better love it.

Now @Gio, any realistic siggestions for an envelope filter???

[T_dub]

I do need to say something, I am liking my Zoom MS-60B more and more. Every time I use it, I just find new possibilities that are very useable.

I could see having a pedalboard with 3-5 of these.

The only problem is I don’t like the simulated pedal chains very much. I like setting up a one effect, sometimes with a noise gate and amp mod, but when I mix effects, they just don’t sound good, they start sounding too electronic and thin, or tweaked out.

I have set up the same chain, but each effect in a different device (MS-60B, B1four and B1xFour). And this way I get much more of what I want and expect. Idk, maybe I am bad at patch making, maybe I am just bad, or maybe the processing in the devices does a better job with single effects, and then linking the devices, with 3 brains, I get what I want.

But having this option, three physical devices, each with a myriad of choices s really helpful to learn sound creation.

The single unit does a great job getting , well me started, but where it left off, it picked back up with the extra devices.

Lastly, more MS-60b’s is more for my desire to use them in pedalboard, and leave the B1’s for headphone amps that are very portable. No plans to get more yet, but if one shows for cheap, I will snatch it.

Also, they have the Qtron, I think that is an Env filter. They may have others, I will play with them.

Maybe that’s an option? See , more Multi stomps in the future hahahahH

[Gio]

@T_dub

For $4000, you better love it.

Holy cats! If I could get 4K for it, I’d sell it tomorrow. Yesterday, probably.
That number was so big, it caught my eye and I had to look it up. I saw it up for 4-500 online. Dang. 4 Gs would have been sweet.
I used to work at a guitar shop, and I picked it up for around 300 when I worked there.

@T_dub

but when I mix effects, they just don’t sound good, they start sounding too electronic and thin, or tweaked out.

This is a big problem with smaller, lower fidelity multi-effect pedals. They are perfect for the practice room, and can be fun in small rehearsals, but they don’t have the fidelity for the studio or live.
The multieffect processers folks use live tend to be big-ol computer brains, or something much more focused on one family of effects. I know Tesseract (big prog/tech metal band I saw with NO LIVE AMPS) use this:

Kemper Amps

The price point seems to indicate processing power and features that aren’t feasible in smaller pedal units.
But that’s the processing power that it takes to get digital effects to sound good.

[T_dub]

@Gio

This is a big problem with smaller, lower fidelity multi-effect pedals. They are perfect for the practice room, and can be fun in small rehearsals, but they don’t have the fidelity for the studio or live.

I really thought this true, and I was saying it here, but was corrected by others stating the B1four is used in place of pedalboards by many for live performances, including some big names, iirc.

I find them great to set up LIKE THEY ARE SINGLE PEDALS. And use more of them, instead if making a chain in one.

Plus I looked, and the Zoom MS-60b. MODELS THE MOOG FOR AN ENVELOPE FILTER PATCH

That is enuf for me to get a second one to use as my envelope filter. The one I have now is my compressor. Actually I have 5 compressor patches set up, and I like them better then any of the other compressors I have tried and returned.

Btw, it was amazon that had one seller selling it, and it was for $4000