jabenmusic's Reviews
5 reviews Back to jabenmusic's Equipboard
217
Unbelievably great 5 String
I never thought I would own a Charvel anything, but I couldn’t get this bass out of my head. I’ve had a few 5 Strings, and this is hands down my favorite one I’ve owned in 20 years of playing.
The neck is fast and smooth, the finish is so so striking, and it gives me the clarity, punch and power I suppose I’ve never had in a 5 before. The Low B never feels muddy and undefined, which is something I’ve always struggled with in a 5.
In the short time I’ve had it, I’ve done pop, rock, singer/songwriter and R&B/Hip Hop with it, and it ALWAYS finds its place. I can see this one as a main staple of my studio for a long time.
217
Attainable Synth History
Look, if I had an extra $35k lying around, I’d 100% have the Moog System 55 or iiic. Behringer does some stupid, edgelord-y things that you just can’t excuse, but the democratization of quality synthesizer accessibility is an undeniable win for musicians.
Being a working composer, I need tools that don’t have too much overlap, and some that break me out of the typical way we see music, so I love using it without a keyboard and seeing how I can make drones more interesting and musical. And since virtual orchestras take up so much RAM on my computer, it’s nice to not have to rely on plugins for synths to save the strain, and let your hands/ears do the work.
I’m looking forward to adding some FX modules to the bottom row.
217
One-stop modern bass
A lot of people sleep on this bass, and I suppose I can understand why. It’s not IMMEDIATELY eye catching, and Ibanez basses don’t typically have great resale value.
However, this is one of the most versatile basses I own.
70s Alembic tones a’la John Entwistle? Check
80s Aria tones a’la John Taylor? Check.
Tool? Victor Wooten? Lemmy? Gorillaz? I’ve done them all with it. Those curved Bartolinis and active EQ give you so many options, and the passive mode sounds incredible.
The neck is SUPER comfortable, the body is a perfect weight, and I’m in love with the thin oil finish.
Maybe it’s not everyone’s cuppa, but I love it.
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217
Desert Island Synth
If I could only have one, it would be the Summit. It covers practically every ground I need, and inspires an insane amount of creativity. The built in FX are top notch, and it does the CS80 sound better than any other hardware synth on the market.
41013
agreed, swiss army knife... however I would argue its CS80 isn't as strong as (obviously) the deckards dream (gotta finish building that) or even the Prologue (I know, hard to believe but it really does bang up bladerunner) and I have a prologue and summit to compare..
217
You definitely know your gear! You’re right about the Deckard. I should’ve said keyboard synth instead of hardware 😁
I had a Prologue, but didn’t find it nearly as useable as the Summit, and did love the Vangelis tones on the Summit a bit more. The Prologue blew my Rev2 out of the studio though 😉
41013
Maybe tis how you tweak 'em... I find the prologue with the distortion off and care full balancing of oscilator levels to be capable of a cleaner sound than the summit which has a very gritty cmos inverter based ladder fitler ala the wasp and oscar. Whereas a clean clean clean signal path is what i think of when I think CS series, though I've not played an 80, just 5s, 15s and a 60. Now its possible to drive the fitler of the prologue but if you pay attention you can avoid that and get some CS80 going and make up the gain in a submenu with the patch gain setting that ups the VCA level up to 6dbv ;-) Other blade runner sounds are really easy to accomplish with my vintage stuff because a lot of them were a prophet... but a VCO p5.... right now my vangelis arsenal is focused in on the prologue, a mopho x4 for certain things, prophet600, prologue, polysix (does that bad electric piano sound from blade runner PERFECTLY and can really do some great great early japanese string ensemble sounds) and now a juno6 which I don't think he used all of those vitnage guys but they do the business for certain signature parts. I'm rambling sorry. I need to play with my summit a bit more...
217
I think we’re in the wrong place of gear-rambling bugs us 😉
I did love the Prologue. The main reason I got rid of it was because I was getting the Summit and had the opportunity to pick up a Prophet 6, which I also love and was kind of a dream synth of mine.
41013
if the 6 sounds like an old 600 it actually does a prettymean blade runner brass... I haven't really had them side by side but the 6 sure has a lot more options!
217
I love the 6 for the bread and butter sounds. It does a pretty good BR Brass, but the FX can’t hold a candle to the Summit.
I’m a huge John Carpenter fan, so that’s where the P6 gets a lot of use 😁
41013
that's why I have a 600, Carpenter.... sounds very close to the 5 after the gli gli processor mod...
217
Useable Niche
You probably won’t use it 95% of the time, but for the 5%, there is nothing that beats it. It’s perfect for getting out of A minor ruts.