Boss SYB-5 Bass Synthesizer
Experimenters and tone aficionados alike liked the BOSS SYB-3, which was the world’s first bass synthesizer to be housed in a tiny pedal. The SYB-5 is the latest model of bass-synth pedals. The SYB-5 delivers the classic sound characteristics of analog synthesizers with added punch and power, thanks to its use of the latest DSP technology.
BOSS company repeatedly pleases its admirers by releasing to the world not just very interesting, but the most original and unexpectedly important and necessary sound processing devices. BOSS company presents to attention of all bass-guitarists the original floor-standing effects pedal BOSS SYB-5. This bass guitar pedal can incredibly expand the possibilities of your sound and the use of bass guitar in a variety of musical styles, including the most modern music. In its specification compact bass guitar pedal BOSS SYB-5 is a monophonic analog synthesizer, which is controlled directly from the bass guitar.
Bass players have been looking for something special for quite a long time, which would help the bass to fit into the most modern musical styles. Especially for this purpose and was created effects pedal BOSS SYB-5 BASS SYNTHESIZER, which is a truly versatile, fully analog synthesizer. Thanks to this compact synthesizer you can easily transform the sound of a bass guitar into a modern and original one, which is used in the most progressive and modern directions of music.
Applications Boss SYB-5
Bass players can confidently use this effects pedal in a wide variety of music and musical styles, ranging from all kinds of rock, up to modern industrial styles, alternative music and progressive trance. The scope of the effects of this pedal is limited only by the imagination and capabilities of the bassist! Sound features and easy of use pedal found an incredible mass of fans among professional bass players who are looking for opportunities for a new, original sound of his instrument. The effects pedal takes advantage of the latest in modern analog sound processing technology, allowing the SYB-5 pedal to deliver a fat, edgy sound that is incredibly clear in the sound of a classic, analog synthesizer.
Design Features
The presented BASS SYNTHESIZER effects pedal by BOSS has a traditional form of guitar and bass effects pedals in the traditional line of floor pedals of this manufacturer. The body of pedal is made of special metal, so the BOSS SAB-5 effects pedal is able to withstand different levels of stress during active use. Pedals dimensions also correspond to the traditional standards of BOSS pedals. They are represented by the following parameters – (D) 73 mm. x (H) 129 mm. x (W) 59 mm. The weight of the pedal is an impressive 4 grams, which is held in place by a special rubber base.
Boss SYB-5 Bass Synthesizer – Review
Every bass player needs a pedal to get some weird tones. The Boss SYB-5 Bass Synthesizer Pedal is a great tool for this. It takes some tweaking but you will find some usefull (weird) tones that remind you of the good old analog syths from the past. Not applicable in every song but every ones in a while you hit the pedal and then you wil get noticed on stage. Try one, you will like it!
While I have no problems with tracking and stability no matter how fast I play or how long I hold notes I have noticed a lot of users found this pedal less than optimal, like slow tracking on fast notes and instability on held notes. These are all problems associated with lack of understanding of how velocity controlled filters work. Here’s a few tips: keep your instrument volume dimed-turning your volume up and down changes the velocity feed to the pedal. Don’t run other pedals in front of it with the exception of a compressor. Sloppy execution of playing technique will immediately be revealed and you should work on that! You should be able to play lighting fast staccato licks with absolutely no tracking problems. This, of course, depends on how well you understand the critical resonance setting and it’s relationship with the frequency filter. The sensitivity is triggered by your pick attack and adjustment determines the res/freq sweep and it’s setting is a matter of feel between you and your playing technique. Learning this pedal will actually make you a better player and failure to ‘get it’ will most likely keep fretboard/finger tone relationship from advancing….keep at it and rock on!
This is a great pedal if you’re looking for a synth bass sound! I play in a band that plays a lot of new wave and modern synth-based/electronic music. This pedal easily allows me to achieve a lot of those sounds. One consideration though: I chose this pedal over others due to its combination of features, price point, and specifically the inclusion of an expression pedal. I think this pedal sounds great on its own, but think it sounds terrible with the expression pedal as part of the mix. The sound changes dramatically even if your expression pedal is plugged in and bypassed. My recommendation is definitely move on the pedal, but skip the expression pedal.
Conclusion
This is a really interesting pedal to pair with a synthesizer for adding some funky modulation to the mix. It tracks pitch changes surprisingly well and tracks amplitude very fast. I’m impressed with this pedal and really enjoy experimenting with it. The pedal can be a little tricky to dial in the desired sound, but easy enough to master with some experimentation. The -1OCT modes are particularly interesting for adding a fat modulated sound. It eats batteries fast and a power adapter is highly recommended.
