ianrossbass's Reviews
3 reviews Back to ianrossbass's Equipboard
78
A lesson in phase
The newer EBS Billy Sheehan Deluxe seems to have added a switch to correct the massive, jaw-dropping, "How did anyone with ears possibly let this out of the factory?" problem with this original unit: The distortion and clean channels phase-cancel one another when blended. Placing a pedal that reverses phase in one of the loops will alleviate the problem. Or, you could simply not use this pedal. Mine was gigged once before being unceremoniously dumped in my drive and distortion drawer. Practical and flexible design, great marketing, bizarre oversight. At least this is one case in which the sequel should have no trouble surpassing the original!
78
Solid concept, subpar execution
I see the MS-60B crop up on professional boards relatively frequently, thanks to this small unit's ability to cover a lot of auxiliary effects ground while taking up little space. It's worth noting that almost without exception, these users place the MS-60B in a loop. While there are a lot of sounds on offer here, none of them are as good as the sound you initially run into it. The amp models, mods, delays, envelopes, and reverbs will help you achieve a desired result, but are difficult enough to program you'll prefer to plan them for a pre-structured live set rather than try to create or tweak them on the fly in a session or at a rehearsal. The synths and distortion emulations will hurt your ears and make your pets or studio engineer sad. Digital effects can be great. This... well, it was an admirable effort.
78
Fantastic pedal, if you can keep it alive!
The discontinued Markbass Super Booster combined a footswitchable clean boost and EQ section featuring the popular VLE and VPF controls familiar to Markbass amplifier users in a handy DI format. I bought mine used when it had already been removed from production, and used it for two or so years of studio and touring work before it toasted itself live at the Token Lounge with John 5 in early 2018. Video of this incident can be found on YouTube, much to my dismay! I valued the Super Booster for its ability to send a different VLE setting to the house engineer than the one I would run from my amp and to my in-ears, and the ease of using the VLE as a simple but effective cab sim when recording direct with distortion.