Boss SYB3 BassSynth Pedal DIY?
this is an interesting .... gadget !
you can trigger it from a drum machine and make nonsense acidy sounds.
(or play it as intended via a guitar, but you have to apply a technique, it is
a bit hit and miss, still figuring it out)
so it's roland VA with a few presets and basic decay envelope, triggered
for pitch and gate from the audio input. the rest is dsp, i guess, on to
the output. opened it up, it looks pretty unencouraging, so i closed it
again.
any thoughts/ideas? not overly bothered about changing anything, it's
fun as it is.(need to give it a chance in an fx chain etc.)
Boss SYB3 BassSynth Pedal DIY?
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- KVRAF
- 15513 posts since 13 Oct, 2009
I have one. I used it extensively in my live sets in the late 90s. I triggered it either from a drum machine or another synth, never with a guitar. They sound good enough for what they are, but, VA technology has pretty much eclipsed them by now. It's a simple monophonic pitch detector and envelope follower. Extract gate and pitch from that and apply to whatever synth you want to trigger.
For nonsense acid, they work fine and they're fun. I played one small set with just 909, SYB, and some effects.
For nonsense acid, they work fine and they're fun. I played one small set with just 909, SYB, and some effects.
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- KVRAF
- 5132 posts since 22 Jul, 2006 from Tasmania, Australia
Hey man,
I have this pedal.
I love the sound of the synth.
I have never opened it,
however as you say it probably uses IC s for all the juicy bits.
The trick to get it cleaner is to stick a cloth/pad under the strings
on the nut side of the first fret.
Sympathetic resonance is a major problem,
it needs a really monophonic signal.
I want to get 6 to play with a hex guitar.
Enjoy it's filtery goodness
I have this pedal.
I love the sound of the synth.
I have never opened it,
however as you say it probably uses IC s for all the juicy bits.
The trick to get it cleaner is to stick a cloth/pad under the strings
on the nut side of the first fret.
Sympathetic resonance is a major problem,
it needs a really monophonic signal.
I want to get 6 to play with a hex guitar.
Enjoy it's filtery goodness
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 3166 posts since 13 Jun, 2004
sort of regretting not taking a MIDI pickup from the free ads last year
now: i have a casio vz8m which has a guitar mode where you assign
one MIDI ch per string, could be fun.
i took the back off the syb3 and thought woah, no thanks.
spose it must be related to the MC-09 engine.
"It's a simple monophonic pitch detector and envelope follower.
Extract gate and pitch from that and apply to whatever synth you
want to trigger."
> so you think that could be done? what about bypassing the detection,
to find cv+gate in points? and then hanging it off the back of a x0x or
other cv+gate generating device...? i need to try it more on simple
monophonic input, as intended, maybe it will work a bit more predictably
now: i have a casio vz8m which has a guitar mode where you assign
one MIDI ch per string, could be fun.
i took the back off the syb3 and thought woah, no thanks.
spose it must be related to the MC-09 engine.
"It's a simple monophonic pitch detector and envelope follower.
Extract gate and pitch from that and apply to whatever synth you
want to trigger."
> so you think that could be done? what about bypassing the detection,
to find cv+gate in points? and then hanging it off the back of a x0x or
other cv+gate generating device...? i need to try it more on simple
monophonic input, as intended, maybe it will work a bit more predictably
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- KVRAF
- 9576 posts since 16 Dec, 2002
The Behringer clone is better and way cheaper
Amazon: why not use an alternative
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- KVRAF
- 15513 posts since 13 Oct, 2009
No, almost certainly not. Without a doubt the pitch detection is done in the digital domain.mztk wrote:sort of regretting not taking a MIDI pickup from the free ads last year
now: i have a casio vz8m which has a guitar mode where you assign
one MIDI ch per string, could be fun.
i took the back off the syb3 and thought woah, no thanks.
spose it must be related to the MC-09 engine.
"It's a simple monophonic pitch detector and envelope follower.
Extract gate and pitch from that and apply to whatever synth you
want to trigger."
> so you think that could be done? what about bypassing the detection,
to find cv+gate in points? and then hanging it off the back of a x0x or
other cv+gate generating device...? i need to try it more on simple
monophonic input, as intended, maybe it will work a bit more predictably
The AK5345 chip that you see in the center is the A/D converter. The stuff to the left is almost certainly just op amps and input processing.
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 3166 posts since 13 Jun, 2004
huh, so that's all that's in there?(mm wonder what happens if
you start shorting pins etc. chaos, probably)
ok so i ran the volca bass through it, and that was good in parts:
some of its preset voices don't want to follow accurately, but
others work really quite well. there is a tb-ish sound or two..
input cutoff and resonance don't have the desired effect at all,
of course, you just use the controls on the pedal.
i wouldn't say 'yeah grab one' because the (2nd hand)price isn't
great for what it is - i was more curious about what a synth pedal
would deliver, so that's answered that. shame it isn't analogue
and extendable - but there are no doubt plenty of circuits online
for building one of those.
you start shorting pins etc. chaos, probably)
ok so i ran the volca bass through it, and that was good in parts:
some of its preset voices don't want to follow accurately, but
others work really quite well. there is a tb-ish sound or two..
input cutoff and resonance don't have the desired effect at all,
of course, you just use the controls on the pedal.
i wouldn't say 'yeah grab one' because the (2nd hand)price isn't
great for what it is - i was more curious about what a synth pedal
would deliver, so that's answered that. shame it isn't analogue
and extendable - but there are no doubt plenty of circuits online
for building one of those.
