J-station guitar tones for bass?

[badassmak]

Is this something I should not do? I just found some of the amp models for the guitaar to sound kinda neat on bass. I guess I wanna know ahead of time if this is going to sound like total ass in the end, and so should I be sticking with the bass amps?

[Gidge]

only you can answer that......you know the tone you are after.....I rather the bass models........if the end result gives you what you want, the world is your oyster........

[Wide Awake]

Trust your ears. Maybe even try playing the various preset amp models without even looking at the J-Station, so that your mind isn't telling that that it is wrong to play a bass guitar through a Fender Blackface for instance.

[bongolation]

Get into J-Edit, turn off all effects, set controls at neutral with clean gain and just start combining amp and cabinet models.

It doesn't make the slightest difference whether they are guitar or bass models. I'd start with the bass heads and just go down the list of cabs. In J-Edit, you can do this really rapidly.

Then try some guitar heads and do the same thing.

You'll be surprised at the sort of sounds you can come up with and which combinations a sound best.

Once you find what sounds best with your bass, then add compression or other effects to taste.

J-Edit is essential, though.

[djc]

I love my "J"

[badassmak]

Originally posted by djc
I love my "J"

LOL...yea love is in the air. One of the most inspiring pieces of gear I have bought. Extremely flexible too as far as the J-edit thingie, and being able to use my footboard (well, we haven't quite figured how to program it yet ).

Thanks for all the input guys, I think it should be painfully obvious to me (and anyone lese who is watching), to just go with what sounds good.

[cstockdale]

hey Badass, you're using a FCB1010 aren't you? If you have any questions, PM me, or we could even keep it in this thread for other people to benefit from. I have been using the FCB1010 with my J for about 6 months now and have it pretty well dialled in to do whatever I like with it.

In general I have it set like so:

(numbers on the FCB1010): programmed so that when "00-09" are on the display in the 1010, I have switches 1,2,3 set to be patch changes, so that bank 0 switch 1 = J 01, bank 8, switch 2 = J preset 82.

off the top of my head, I don't recall exactly how to set this, but if you need help with it I can let you know tonight at home. In general, they are "Program change" messages, and the J is set to take PrpgChange messages as 01 = program 1, 10 = program 10, which corresponds to bank 3, patch 1 (the 10th program change).

You can then set each "program change switch" (ie switches 1-3) to send other messages at the same time, ie. turn delay on when hit once, turn delay off when hit a second time, or wah, or whatever you want it to do. The exp pedals are set so taht A is wah and B is volume.

I then set switch 4 to send a "effects on/off" message, so you can turn chorus or flange on and off with this button, at the same time that switch 4 is lit, I have the expression pedals set to control depth and speed of effect, so that I can alter the flange/trem/chorus etc with the pedals.

Switch 5 is set to do a tap-tempo with the delay, and the two expression pedals then control delay level and how many repeats you get (forgot the word for that),

switch 6 is set to turn on/off the compressor, and the exp pedals control threshold and ratio

Switch 7 turns reverb on/off, and the pedals set the decay and level

switch 8 I have set so that exp pedal A sets the type of reverb, and exp B sets the type of delay

switch 9 turns wah/on/off with pedal A for the wah, and pedal B is volume

switch 10 doesn't do any "switches" but is set so that pedal B is volume and pedal A is wah.

The reason that 10 is set that way, is if all I want to do is control volume without changing anything else, I just have a volume pedal there, and don't lose access to the wah.

Because if switches 4-8 are lit, the exp pedals have discrete functions and don't serve as volume/wah pedals.

There are a million ways to program this unit, but I have found that this is the most versatile setup I have found. In a few presets I have taken away the reverb switch (switch 7), and set it so that it accesses the gain level of whatever amp I am using, so that pedal A is the gain, and pedal B is volume (because when you crank your gain, you need to offset its volume), this way i can crank some distortion without having to change presets where you get that ugly delay between patches.


If you want programming tips to do this stuff let me know and I can write it out in more detail. This setup kicks serious ass, and you can alter your sound so extensively with your feet.

I have J presets 01-03 set for taking my acoustic guitar, 11-13 for bass, 21-73 for various amps/ specific setups for songs, and I leave 81-93 as DI setups for when I am connected to an amplifier and I want to bypass the J amp models (81-83 are without cabinet emulation, 91-93 have cabinet emulation). Sometimes I just play the J as my "amp" connected to a PA, or for recording direct, sometimes I just use the J-1010 combo as my effects unit for playing other amps (as I have three amps at home). I no longer use any other footswitches, and got rid of all my other boxes and don't miss any of them.

when

[badassmak]

for some reason this never showed up in my emails or user control panel that someone replied here...its a good thing I scour everything...

A fellow over at the j-station forum emailed me a very detailed explanation of how to set this unit up (because well yes, I am a little lost with all things MIDI). The first thing I need to do is update the pedal then go from there. I would post it here so you and anyone can see it, but I don't want to be taking liberties with someone elses work. If it is the same kind of setup as you are running, it'll probably eliminate the need for you to be excercising your fingers on anything other than playing the guitar . Anyhow, I'll know more about what the hell is going on after I try to update the footboard ...if it doesn't work I would definately appreciate the help man!

[cstockdale]

no problem. The best solution is just to get your hands on the full MIDI CC list for the J-station, (check the J-station forum at Johnson's website), download a .sysx file (there is one in the patch library at the Johnson site), and then you will be able to start deciphering how it works, and it will take a few months, but eventually you will see how it works, and decide which parts you do or don't like and be able to decode it yourself and program it any way you like. The 1010 is an amazing unit, that many switches and two pedals make its possibilities endless.

My next plan is to start figuring out how to also program the 1010 to act as a remote trigger for Sonar and to control soft synths.

[metalman]

If it sounds good...it is good. Like Gene Simmons once said "You can write a s**t song with a great guitar and a great song with a s**t guitar". I admire your sense of adventure. Run your results by a few honest friends and see what they say.

[hiwatt357]

I usually track my bass using a DigiTech Genesis I using the "Blackface" model and the 2 x 12 cabinet model. Doesn't sound bad at all...to me at least. Three of the four songs on my myspace music page use the Genesis I for the bass track. The other one is using one of the bass models on my Boss BR-532.

If it sounds good...use it.

[jeffree]

Originally Posted by djc

I love my "J"

me, too.

J.