Fat Synth sounds

[ak33]

My friend and I are making EBM/Industrial music and I want to use my guitar to mix it up a bit. I've been looking at the Roland GR-20 guitar synth and I like the strings effect it has but I want something more aggressive/ fatter sounding. I like strings effects so I wonder if there's anything else out there.... I wonder if I could run my distortion pedal through it?

I also took a look at the Digitech Synth wah but the sounds seem kinda flat.

I also thought about a synth guitar but the price is a little high and do any companies make lefty's?

Any ideas on how I can get fat synth sounds?

 

[Daemoniac]

With a guitar: Use the Synth Wah with some distortion on top, really really fat. (i've been trying a similar thing for years...)

Other than that, theres really not THAT much you can do with a guitar. You're better off paying the money for the Roland SH-201 (an actual synth). Whilst not perfect, it definitely gets WAAAAAY fatter sounds than any guitar fx.

 

[yingmin]

If you're going to buy a guitar synth, don't get the GR-20. Either hunt around for one of the older models, like a GR-33, or get the VG-99, or go for Axon because fuck Roland. On a different (much cheaper) route, have you considered something like this?

edit: a while ago, I actually had the idea to hardwire one of those synth pedals into a guitar, so that all the sliders and everything were right there in your pickguard, and you had a permanent "synth" guitar for only a couple hundred bucks. I haven't done it, mostly because I already have a real guitar synth, and don't own any guitars I'd want to deface like that, but still think it would be a cool experiment.

 

[Daemoniac]

I mean, theres a host of other pedals: Line 6 MM4(?), Digitech Synth Wah, there's a couple of Ibanez pedals too, a couple of the Moogerfooger pedals and some others. I'll try and find em for you, but honestly i found that none of them reeeeally did what i wanted.

 

[Variant]

Try plugging your bass into your synth, or oct'ing the guitar down. I use two Korg G5 which are great but hard to find...

The other route is to get a good analog/analog-modeling snyth. Roland JP-8000's are great for doing hi-fi interpretations of old style synth sounds.

 

[74n4LL0]

I get good synth-like sounds with my multiwave distortion with octave and foldback on...

 

[Daemoniac]

I think the issue is that you want to get synth sounds out of a guitar... most "Synth" pedals will get you "synth-like" sounds, but nothing NEAR industrial/EBM aggression.

 

[vontetzianos]

There's the Pigtronix mothership synth pedal. Downside is its not cheap and I don't really know if it will do what you are looking for.

Pigtronix Products - Mothership Analog Synthesizer

A cool combination I've heard is using a Moogerfooger freqbox with the sync on, and controlling one or more of the parameters with an expression pedal to get that kind of raspy, filter sweep sound. Combine that with delay and its a cool combo. You can also switch between various wave forms, or just have the oscillator create a signal for tweaking.

Industrial EBM for me was the syle that was generated with a ton of gear or at least a real synthesizer. I don't think you'll have a whole lot of success in achieving those kind of tones with a guitar. Maybe you could try and program a regular synthesizer using a computer instead of playing it. I've seen a few guys do that.

 

[vontetzianos]

There's the Pigtronix mothership synth pedal. Downside is its not cheap and I don't really know if it will do what you are looking for.

Pigtronix Products - Mothership Analog Synthesizer

A cool combination I've heard is using a Moogerfooger freqbox with the sync on, and controlling one or more of the parameters with an expression pedal to get that kind of raspy, filter sweep sound. Combine that with delay and its a cool combo. You can also switch between various wave forms, or just have the oscillator create a signal for tweaking. Here's a small clip from youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XG_HcX35_-M

Industrial EBM for me was the syle that was generated with a ton of gear or at least a real synthesizer. I don't think you'll have a whole lot of success in achieving those kind of tones with a guitar. Maybe you could try and program a regular synthesizer using a computer instead of playing it. I've seen a few guys do that.

^double post. check out the clip and see if its what you're lookig for.

 

[ak33]

There's the Pigtronix mothership synth pedal. Downside is its not cheap and I don't really know if it will do what you are looking for.

Pigtronix Products - Mothership Analog Synthesizer

A cool combination I've heard is using a Moogerfooger freqbox with the sync on, and controlling one or more of the parameters with an expression pedal to get that kind of raspy, filter sweep sound. Combine that with delay and its a cool combo. You can also switch between various wave forms, or just have the oscillator create a signal for tweaking. Here's a small clip from youtube:



Industrial EBM for me was the syle that was generated with a ton of gear or at least a real synthesizer. I don't think you'll have a whole lot of success in achieving those kind of tones with a guitar. Maybe you could try and program a regular synthesizer using a computer instead of playing it. I've seen a few guys do that.

^double post. check out the clip and see if its what you're lookig for.

thanks for the links im gonna check them out

 

[Daemoniac]

Industrial EBM for me was the syle that was generated with a ton of gear or at least a real synthesizer. I don't think you'll have a whole lot of success in achieving those kind of tones with a guitar. Maybe you could try and program a regular synthesizer using a computer instead of playing it. I've seen a few guys do that.

This. Industrial is a hard style to get done properly with a guitar, especially those fuck-awesome huge synths. I can almost guarantee you that every sound you are thinking of in your head for synth was done on an actual keyboard/soft synth.

But anyway, here's some to check out, loosely organised from cheapest to most expensive:

- Roland SH-201
- Nord Lead 2 (the Lead 3 just isnt as 'big' sounding, and is more expensive)
- Waldorf Q
- Novation Supernova
- Alesis Andromeda A6
- Access Virus

If you can swing the $5000AUD for a Virus, do it. Its the single most intimidating and massive synth i have ever heard in my life, and when i have the cash, i will be getting one

A thing to remember with EBM; generally, there is a synth, and a bass, and the rest of the song (or even band) is worked around those two things.

 

[vontetzianos]

^Another cool device is the Jomox T-Resonator. Its able to produce a lot of industrial percussive sounds. It works really well if you're into powernoize. Here's a small clip:



http://www.jomox.com/product_details.php?lang=2&category=&product_id=3

I think you'll have to try and work around using a real synth and a couple of other devices because I have never heard ANYONE get synth sound that even comes close to what industrial guys use.

What I sometimes do when I want synth stuff (coz I can't play it...) is to write something fit for keyboards on the guitar and use my teacher's studio to just program the synth to do exactly what I want. Works quite well, but the closest thing I've heard is the Moogerfoogers with expression pedals.

Do what Demoniac said if you can drop 5k on a Virus. They are epic synths. I also like the Prophet 08 from Dave Smith Instruments or if you want a good analog synth that won't break the bank, maybe check out the Moog Little Phatty. Jordan Rudess does a whole 9 episode demo of the LP.

 

[yingmin]

Holy GodmotherFUCK I want a Freqbox now.

 

[vontetzianos]

^The freqbox is one of the cheapest Moogerfooger pedals. Its about $250 and the expression pedal is about $60, so it is quite a good deal for the amount of stuff you can do with it. That's the closest thing I've heard using a guitar to get an aggressive synth sound. You can even buy a pack of three Moogerfoogers so you save a bit compared to buying them individually.

Another really cool effect if the Moogerfooger Murf. It can produce some wonderful filter sweep effects- great for ambient or industrial. It isn't that cheap but its a diamond in the rough in the world effects. I'd love to hear it with the freqbox together.

Moogerfoogers®

 

[MrSoLowBLow]

have you tried using the digitech synth wah with the new boss sl-20 slicer, I tried it at guitar center it is like a techno effect pedal, but yeah try the boss sl-20 and try to hunt down a boss syb-3

btw the digitech synth wah was my first effect pedal and I liked it alot