6 Best Bass Synth Pedals – Sonic Wonderland!

And technically it is, the fact this is a 4 voice stereo synth with dual filters, envelopes, sequencers, and LFOs, it’s obviously far too complicated to fully control in a small-format bass pedal.

This is where the Neuro Editor comes in, this software (available on both desktop PCs and Mobile devices) allows you to set up these complicated synthesizer tones which can then be programmed into the pedal itself and then easily recalled while you play.

I found that this, more than anything else, is what enables the Source Audio C4 to achieve tones with a degree of authenticity that no other pedal has been able to achieve. It’s a stunning piece of gear, but the learning curve is rather steep, and it’s very complicated to wield tone through an app.

I’m not the biggest fan of needing to fiddle about with my phone when playing music. Likewise, I’m running on a layman’s knowledge of sound design and synth programming knowledge.

Fortunately for me, I found countless presets available from the Source Audio team that instantly provided me with world-class synth tones. It’s the closest I’ve ever felt to the old “talent simulator pedal” joke coming true.

The best of this pedal is to be found in rich and evolving pads, complex step sequenced arpeggios, and accurate harmonized tones. It far exceeded anything I had experienced on a synth pedal before.

So if you’re interested in hyper-authentic synth sounds with complex routings and modulations, this pedal can do it. 

But those who value simplicity in their gear will find themselves frustrated at the steps required to get the most out of this pedal and may wish to opt for something a bit simpler.

While its array of controls offers tweaking capability for those more experienced with bass synths than me, I found the presets very handy when first plugging in. One I particularly enjoyed felt like instant 80s R & B radio: think classic Michael Jackson sounds at the touch of a button!

Tweaking from there took a little experimentation, but I got there in the end. This pedal confidently covers the spectrum of bass synth sounds, from radio friendly pop tones to harsh, terrifying industrial tones.

The multi-function knobs did feel a little intimidating at first, but time with the included manual helped tremendously with that.

Particularly satisfying was this synth’s ability to continuously track between sliding or bent notes. I experienced no signal loss when deploying rapid legato or glissando techniques, and had great fun doing so.

While some higher-tech synth pedals integrate, and almost require, the use of a mobile app, I am happy to report that this bass synth demands no such imposition. If, like me, you prefer to play without the distraction of a phone or tablet, it’s an awesome option.

There is a trade off here. Bass synth enthusiasts far more experienced and particular than me will lament this lack of deep software-based editing capability, but for the rest of us, this is just fine.

EHX loves putting usability at the forefront of design, and the Micro Synth is no exception.

The big benefit of this is that everything is available and easily accessible right on the front control panel using those classic slider controls just like you’d find on the original Korg Arp Odyssey.

The layout is very user friendly upon first glance: the panel is divided clearly into three sections, with the trigger sensitivity on the left, then a voice mix section where there are essentially 4 voices that can pass through the unit including your original guitar tone, then you also have what essentially equates to an ADSR control on the right.

Needless to say, without any in-built modulation effects, LFOs, arpeggiators, or sequencers, tonal diversity is not really the point of the EHX Bass Micro Synth Pedal. It simply provides 3 great synthesized voices which have a distinct, yet firmly placed sound.

There isn’t as much tweaking to be done here as with other synths I’ve played, and each of the preset voices doesn’t vary much beyond its sweet spot.

While I personally think the price is a little steep for something that technically has a smaller range of available tones compared to some other pedals on the market, what it does offer is a distinct and unique sound that many consider iconic or even quintessential to great synth bass tones.

In particular, I found it excelled at emulating the sound of bowed or more brassy blown instruments thanks to the resonance and decay (or as they call it, stop freq) controls.

If you value a no-frills and no-nonsense way of achieving fantastic bass synth tones then this is certainly one to consider!

The main thing I like about this pedal is how intuitive the layout is. It’s classic Boss: a couple of knobs and switches above a big, friendly switch.

There’s a range of typical synth tones on the right dial which contains everything from pads, strings, leads, and it even has a sequencer.

This sound can then be run through up to 11 variations per type, and you can blend the sound in with your original guitar tone using the mix knob on the left should you wish.

The ability to blend in the dry guitar tone really does help thicken and liven up the synth sounds on offer.

I will say that all the sounds are great, but without any real modulation or filtering capabilities, they may sound a little plain for anyone who’s used to more modern or complex synth sounds. There’s lots of fun to be had here, but the Boss synth lacks the depth of customization afforded by software-based synths.

One of my favorite features of the Boss SY-1 is the sound hold option. I found myself using it as an ad hoc sustainer, simply pressing and holding down the main switch to infinitely sustain whatever note, or poly chord I was holding.

This is also a great songwriting tool when figuring out how melodies work with particular chord voicings. I found myself coming up with some fairly left-field bass parts in doing so.

It was a lot of fun trying to sound like a set of bagpipes on the bass, too, using the hold feature to provide a drone to play over.

Overall this is a really solid pedal that’s housed in that signature Boss pedal design style, it deserves a spot on any bassists pedalboard.

However, I found that this concept of honing in on the sound of classic and iconic synth models is a bit of a double-edged sword. Yes, you have access to those specific tones, but the individual tonal controls over that sound are somewhat limited, which means I didn’t have full access to 9 of the most iconic synthesizers of all time for a few hundred bucks. It’s not that simple.

What this pedal really offers is 1 tone, or 1 snapshot of each of these synths, which can then be blended with the dry signal from there.

There are some nice routing options available where you can run your dry guitar and the synth output separately should you wish, which makes the EHX SYNTH9 ideal for things like stereo setups or dual amp rigs.

I experimented with this, and quite enjoyed the feeling of playing two instruments at once. The resulting sound is very Deep Purple-esque: two instruments playing in perfect unison. It’s a very cool option for those who want it, especially for two-piece bass-and-drum acts.

There are also 2 controls for each preset, but rather uniquely their functions change based on which of the 9 presets you have selected. On one tone they may control the filter or depth, on another, they may be controlling voicing intervals.

This is a very desirable pedal for anyone who’s a fan of and understands why those classic synths are so great, just be prepared for a lack of control over those individual sounds.

Like my parents used to say, you get what you get, and you don’t get upset. With sounds as good as these, it’s hard to get upset anyway!

However, unlike the C4 which has handy software to accompany it with an intuitive UI, this pedal is programmed entirely using the limited controls on the panel or using a less sophisticated PC/Mac software, although it has improved quite a bit from the earlier versions of this pedal. 

So while the tonal diversity is certainly there, allowing you to achieve everything from Roland TB03 acid sounds to huge stereo strings, getting to that destination requires some extra work and patience.

Not one to be deterred by the prospect of extra work, I dug in, but I can see this alienating many players. I prefer a plug and play approach, but there’s value in going deep on tone chasing.

This makes the Panda Audio Future Impact v4 a little hit or miss depending on what kind of player you are. There are plenty of parameters to play with, and programming each of them in order to hone in your desired tone can be a lot of fun, if you're into that stuff.

However, if you’re not a tone tweaker then you’ll no doubt be left frustrated at how long it takes you to arrive at your destination using the limited available knobs.

Despite these small usability gripes, there’s no denying all the power is there. This pedal packs a whopping 4 oscillators with full filter and ADSR controls. Despite it all being digital emulation of analog sounds, the sound engine itself sounds like the way I like warm, vintage analog synths to sound.

Then as an added bonus, there’s an optional midi in/out feature to feed in patch changing information externally, which is a handy feature sadly lacking in many other synth pedals.