The Submarine folks should pay you, as this is the best example of their product that I have watched/heard yet...and I've gone down the rabbit hole on their stuff.
There really isn't enough out there on this thing, is there? I don't know if it's because you have to order it from them in England and it's not in shops, or whatever, but I'm surprised there isn't more out there about it.
I’m glad the submarine pick up has worked out for you, and agree that the bass sound you’re getting now is way better than what you were getting with the OC-3/5 pedals. You’re right...that produces more of a pad sound than anything resembling an actual bass guitar. I guess your quest is pretty much done now..... however there is the “A little thunder” pick up, but that means swapping out a pick up.... and it’s not cheap!! Me... I’m still happy with my modded acoustic sound hole pick up at the moment which is kind of doing what the submarine does for the lowest 3 strings... running it though the OC-5 I’m getting the low note priority which means that I don’t have to change my playing style in any way and I’m happy with the pad sound I’m getting... it’s ok for my needs. It’s a shame that someone out there doesn’t REALLY nail the low note priority thing and put it into a pedal like the pitchfork that produces a more authentic and pleasing bass note. For the solo acoustic (or I guess electric) player, I think this is still a gap in the market that hasn’t really been properly filled. Anyway... thanks for posting the update, like you I’m interested in this idea and would love to see one of the “big boys” in the pedal world step up to the plate and deliver the ultimate solution.
Absolutely agree. As over saturated as some parts of the pedal world are (‘here’s our take on a tube screamer’ / ‘here’s yet another fuzz’) it’s wild to me that someone can’t combine the tech from the OC-5 and the sound from a Micro POG, or something. There’s no shortage of people doing a fake bass thing, either for acoustic gigs or busking or just demoing bass lines at home. Definitely a gap in the market.
I cannot thank you enough for this video. I've been thinking about this and exact idea for about 2 years but didn't want to buy all the shit required to test it and have it not work. Thank you so much man. It sounds fucking dank as fuck.
Cool! I basically split my acoustic signal and use the OC-3 set for the bottom strings, then run that into a separate channel with the EQ bass heavy. Works really well in the drum/guitar duo I use it for.
I wonder how effective it would be to use the submarine pickup with the boss of-5 set to the lowest note function. I bet only having input for the E and the A string the boss would work pretty well.
Thanks! It's a pretty cool thing, if this is a situation you find yourself in. I've tried at least three other solutions to do this and didn't like them much so I was pleasantly surprised by this pickup.
Sounds great! Have you tried in a live situation with 2 amps? Or just through a DAW? And what’s the tune at 12:39? Thanks (and what’s the preference: pitch fork or drop pedal?)
I've done it live on acoustic guitar, but haven't tried it on electric. Acoustic I would run the Submarine into a bass preamp and then the direct acoustic signal into a DI box. It sounds pretty great on acoustic, I think the thicker strings help with the 'bass' signal. I much prefer the sound of the Drop, although mine is currently broken and I've been trying to get it fixed all year so it's a little hard for me to recommend them at this particular moment. 😬 And the riff at 12:39 is from "Hunters", a song by my indie rock band: ua-cam.com/video/Pfl77gmj9dE/v-deo.htmlsi=iCpSAquztWTnLf2d
Matt this is awesome, thanks for putting the word out on this pickup! My church has been struggling with a shrinking worship team this past year and I've had to use my Boss OC-5 secondary output into a sansamp to cover the low end more times than I can count. It sounds fine in a mix but the low octave on the oc-5 just sounds weird and fake. I'm curious how realistic this submarine pickup would sound with a full ehx pog2 since you could do both -1 and -2 octaves
I've actually never used a POG2, I bet it'd be good. I was very impressed with the Submarine, but I do wonder how it'd sound through a Micro POG or that newer Bass9 thing they make. I definitely feel you on the worship team thing... I've spent about half my church career having enough musicians and about half of it just scrambling. We're online-only right now but when we resume meeting there are gonna be three or four of us at most, so I'm taking notes right now on stuff like this.
Matt LeFevers late reply to this, but to answer your question on using this with a POG, the artist Jamie Lenman has for a few years now used the submarine pickup set up purely on their lowest string, going through I believe a microPOG, into a bass amp as a ‘fake bassist’ for live shows. There’s a few examples of that sound if you look up his live shows as a two piece.
I know this is old but for anyone watching… there is a 3 way selector switch on top of the pickup… 1 is for both strings at the same time, 2 is for just the top string, and 3 is used to hook up a stereo cable… if you just wanted the A string for whatever reason you can use a stereo cable and just hook up just one aux cable into it… Just wanted to mention this as in the video you couldn’t figure out how to use the just one string
Thanks! I don’t think there’s any circumstance where I only want the A string but that’s definitely good info. I never did quite get a handle on what that selector switch did.
@@LeFeversAudio hey will if you need to use it... maybe your bass player misses a show... you've got a backup plan as for using a stereo cable and the A string only... only time i could see it being useful is if you were a madman at footwork, and could switch between them with pedals mid-song, to get different bass notes... but that definitely seems like a stretch to actually use i do plan on getting a guitarist to use this live myself, i play bass but i do a lot of solos, and having some low end in the rhythm section while im shredding would be helpful
I am trying to do exactly the opposite... I play a 6 string bass and want to have just my high g & c sent to an octave up through fuzz and a flanger... Do you think the spacing of the 2 pickups could read it clearly at the wider bass string spacing, or would I have to create an awkward tighter adjustment on those strings?
Interesting 🤔 I’m not sure… there are lines on the Submarine to indicate where the strings need to go above it, but I’m not sure how exact that needs to be or if there’s some room for wider spacing. I definitely want to hear that, though, if someone gets it working!
The noise from the drop sounds like a signal feed your getting from something usually due to high gain my darkglass vintage deluxe v3 does it when the gains too high
Hey Matt, really great video, subscribed! My submarine is on the way. So just so I'm clear, if I want to mainly strum, would you recommend the Pitch Fork and a pre-amp/boost pedal to increase the signal? I plan to use it in my acoustic/drumkit duo to fill out our sound. Cheers!
Thanks! I’m very interested in the possibilities for this pickup on acoustic, that’s another video I want to make in the future. When I start gigging again I foresee a lot of acoustic duo stuff for me too. As far as the signal chain, any octave pedal with a realistic sound would be fine - Pitch Fork, any of the POGs, the Digitech Drop, have all treated me well. Just stay away from the Boss OC series and maybe the Sub N Up, those are muddier and more artificial. And then yeah a bass preamp of some kind is a great idea, something to thicken the signal and maybe give you some EQ and shaping options. I think that’d be all you need, at least to run direct.
No, I think they state that nylon strings are the only kind it won’t work with - since magnetic pickups are reacting to the metal of the strings. Sorry!
Oh man, such a better solution. I just did an OC-5 video a few weeks ago so it’s very fresh in my mind, and this was easier to play and a thousand times better sounding. The lowest note mode is clever but I hate the actual *sound* of the Boss OC pedals, very dull and synth-like and weird. The Submarine sounds natural and kind of does the lowest note thing anyway, since it’s only grabbing two strings.
I wanna see it set up so the sub pup has a SLIGHTLY offset timing from the guitar's signal so it sounds like a separate instrument. Guess I'd have to purchase one myself and try it out. Cool concept lol
Oh dang, that’s a good idea. I’ve seen bands widen their guitar signal by inserting a DD-3 delay on one side (or some other delay that can go down to the microseconds), something like that would work.
Matt, could you verify whether the submarine pickup has hum canceling? I know 99% of guitar players don't care, but 60 cycle hum drives me absolutely crazy lol
I doubt it; it definitely seems like a single coil to me. I don’t recall having too bad of a time with hum on it but I was recording in the least noisy room in the house.
@@LeFeversAudio so I just turned the dry signal down on my oc-5 so I could hear the low octave on its own....my goodness its horrible. The terrible sound is only surpassed by the terrible tracking. Have you ever tried the MXR or Aguilar bass octavers?
Yeah the OC series sounds awful, I don’t understand why they made them like that. I haven’t used the MXR or Aguilar... my experience has mostly been with the EHX stuff and now the Digitech Drop. Does MXR make one that’s not distorted? I think I skipped some of theirs back in the day because they added fuzz as well as octave.
@@LeFeversAudio MXR makes a mini sized "vintage bass octave" that just has three knobs for your dry signal, 1 octave down, and 2 octaves down. It's very difficult finding good demos of octave pedals tho because most UA-camrs think people want to hear 90s bowling alley music with them.
I genuinely cannot thank you enough for this video. This is absolutely mind blowing and has been such a massive help
Thank you! It's a weird thing but it's something I've been interested in for decades, hah.
The Submarine folks should pay you, as this is the best example of their product that I have watched/heard yet...and I've gone down the rabbit hole on their stuff.
There really isn't enough out there on this thing, is there? I don't know if it's because you have to order it from them in England and it's not in shops, or whatever, but I'm surprised there isn't more out there about it.
I’m glad the submarine pick up has worked out for you, and agree that the bass sound you’re getting now is way better than what you were getting with the OC-3/5 pedals. You’re right...that produces more of a pad sound than anything resembling an actual bass guitar. I guess your quest is pretty much done now..... however there is the “A little thunder” pick up, but that means swapping out a pick up.... and it’s not cheap!! Me... I’m still happy with my modded acoustic sound hole pick up at the moment which is kind of doing what the submarine does for the lowest 3 strings... running it though the OC-5 I’m getting the low note priority which means that I don’t have to change my playing style in any way and I’m happy with the pad sound I’m getting... it’s ok for my needs. It’s a shame that someone out there doesn’t REALLY nail the low note priority thing and put it into a pedal like the pitchfork that produces a more authentic and pleasing bass note. For the solo acoustic (or I guess electric) player, I think this is still a gap in the market that hasn’t really been properly filled. Anyway... thanks for posting the update, like you I’m interested in this idea and would love to see one of the “big boys” in the pedal world step up to the plate and deliver the ultimate solution.
Absolutely agree. As over saturated as some parts of the pedal world are (‘here’s our take on a tube screamer’ / ‘here’s yet another fuzz’) it’s wild to me that someone can’t combine the tech from the OC-5 and the sound from a Micro POG, or something. There’s no shortage of people doing a fake bass thing, either for acoustic gigs or busking or just demoing bass lines at home. Definitely a gap in the market.
I cannot thank you enough for this video. I've been thinking about this and exact idea for about 2 years but didn't want to buy all the shit required to test it and have it not work. Thank you so much man. It sounds fucking dank as fuck.
😂 Glad it helped! Yeah I'm in the same boat, I've been eyeing this sort of thing for years.
@@LeFeversAudio you have done the community a service.
Cool! I basically split my acoustic signal and use the OC-3 set for the bottom strings, then run that into a separate channel with the EQ bass heavy. Works really well in the drum/guitar duo I use it for.
I wonder how effective it would be to use the submarine pickup with the boss of-5 set to the lowest note function. I bet only having input for the E and the A string the boss would work pretty well.
Thanks for this video!
Appreciate the Local H tunes
Sounds awesome!! I'm definitely going to think about buying it
Thanks! It's a pretty cool thing, if this is a situation you find yourself in. I've tried at least three other solutions to do this and didn't like them much so I was pleasantly surprised by this pickup.
Sounds great! Have you tried in a live situation with 2 amps? Or just through a DAW? And what’s the tune at 12:39? Thanks (and what’s the preference: pitch fork or drop pedal?)
I've done it live on acoustic guitar, but haven't tried it on electric. Acoustic I would run the Submarine into a bass preamp and then the direct acoustic signal into a DI box. It sounds pretty great on acoustic, I think the thicker strings help with the 'bass' signal.
I much prefer the sound of the Drop, although mine is currently broken and I've been trying to get it fixed all year so it's a little hard for me to recommend them at this particular moment. 😬
And the riff at 12:39 is from "Hunters", a song by my indie rock band: ua-cam.com/video/Pfl77gmj9dE/v-deo.htmlsi=iCpSAquztWTnLf2d
Sounds great. How does this compare to the Little Thunder pickup? Granted you have to permanently fix the Thunder
I never managed to track down one of those to try, but I assume they’re pretty direct competitors to each other.
@@LeFeversAudio thanks 🙏
I really like the idea of this for fingerstyle acoustic
Matt this is awesome, thanks for putting the word out on this pickup! My church has been struggling with a shrinking worship team this past year and I've had to use my Boss OC-5 secondary output into a sansamp to cover the low end more times than I can count. It sounds fine in a mix but the low octave on the oc-5 just sounds weird and fake. I'm curious how realistic this submarine pickup would sound with a full ehx pog2 since you could do both -1 and -2 octaves
I've actually never used a POG2, I bet it'd be good. I was very impressed with the Submarine, but I do wonder how it'd sound through a Micro POG or that newer Bass9 thing they make.
I definitely feel you on the worship team thing... I've spent about half my church career having enough musicians and about half of it just scrambling. We're online-only right now but when we resume meeting there are gonna be three or four of us at most, so I'm taking notes right now on stuff like this.
Matt LeFevers late reply to this, but to answer your question on using this with a POG, the artist Jamie Lenman has for a few years now used the submarine pickup set up purely on their lowest string, going through I believe a microPOG, into a bass amp as a ‘fake bassist’ for live shows. There’s a few examples of that sound if you look up his live shows as a two piece.
Loved the Jimmy Eat World riff! That alone might convince me to get this
They’re my favorite band 😅
@@LeFeversAudio they are the best
Ever try the EH Bass 9 in 'split bass' mode, it apparently cuts off notes higher than F# on the D string.
I think that's the only one I haven't tried, actually. I'm definitely curious about it.
I know this is old but for anyone watching… there is a 3 way selector switch on top of the pickup… 1 is for both strings at the same time, 2 is for just the top string, and 3 is used to hook up a stereo cable…
if you just wanted the A string for whatever reason you can use a stereo cable and just hook up just one aux cable into it…
Just wanted to mention this as in the video you couldn’t figure out how to use the just one string
Thanks! I don’t think there’s any circumstance where I only want the A string but that’s definitely good info. I never did quite get a handle on what that selector switch did.
@@LeFeversAudio hey will if you need to use it... maybe your bass player misses a show... you've got a backup plan
as for using a stereo cable and the A string only... only time i could see it being useful is if you were a madman at footwork, and could switch between them with pedals mid-song, to get different bass notes... but that definitely seems like a stretch to actually use
i do plan on getting a guitarist to use this live myself, i play bass but i do a lot of solos, and having some low end in the rhythm section while im shredding would be helpful
I am trying to do exactly the opposite... I play a 6 string bass and want to have just my high g & c sent to an octave up through fuzz and a flanger... Do you think the spacing of the 2 pickups could read it clearly at the wider bass string spacing, or would I have to create an awkward tighter adjustment on those strings?
Interesting 🤔 I’m not sure… there are lines on the Submarine to indicate where the strings need to go above it, but I’m not sure how exact that needs to be or if there’s some room for wider spacing. I definitely want to hear that, though, if someone gets it working!
The noise from the drop sounds like a signal feed your getting from something usually due to high gain my darkglass vintage deluxe v3 does it when the gains too high
Hey Matt, really great video, subscribed! My submarine is on the way. So just so I'm clear, if I want to mainly strum, would you recommend the Pitch Fork and a pre-amp/boost pedal to increase the signal? I plan to use it in my acoustic/drumkit duo to fill out our sound. Cheers!
Thanks! I’m very interested in the possibilities for this pickup on acoustic, that’s another video I want to make in the future. When I start gigging again I foresee a lot of acoustic duo stuff for me too.
As far as the signal chain, any octave pedal with a realistic sound would be fine - Pitch Fork, any of the POGs, the Digitech Drop, have all treated me well. Just stay away from the Boss OC series and maybe the Sub N Up, those are muddier and more artificial. And then yeah a bass preamp of some kind is a great idea, something to thicken the signal and maybe give you some EQ and shaping options. I think that’d be all you need, at least to run direct.
Hey, great video. Does it works well with nylon acoustic guitar?
No, I think they state that nylon strings are the only kind it won’t work with - since magnetic pickups are reacting to the metal of the strings. Sorry!
Great playin
Is this a better solution than the "lowest" mode of the OC-5?
Oh man, such a better solution. I just did an OC-5 video a few weeks ago so it’s very fresh in my mind, and this was easier to play and a thousand times better sounding. The lowest note mode is clever but I hate the actual *sound* of the Boss OC pedals, very dull and synth-like and weird. The Submarine sounds natural and kind of does the lowest note thing anyway, since it’s only grabbing two strings.
Nice shirt!
I wanna see it set up so the sub pup has a SLIGHTLY offset timing from the guitar's signal so it sounds like a separate instrument. Guess I'd have to purchase one myself and try it out. Cool concept lol
Oh dang, that’s a good idea. I’ve seen bands widen their guitar signal by inserting a DD-3 delay on one side (or some other delay that can go down to the microseconds), something like that would work.
Could run it through something like the TC Mimiq pedal perhaps to get some of that delay/variation in there!
Nice man! What guitar?
Thanks! It’s a Fender JA-90
Matt, could you verify whether the submarine pickup has hum canceling? I know 99% of guitar players don't care, but 60 cycle hum drives me absolutely crazy lol
I doubt it; it definitely seems like a single coil to me. I don’t recall having too bad of a time with hum on it but I was recording in the least noisy room in the house.
@@LeFeversAudio so I just turned the dry signal down on my oc-5 so I could hear the low octave on its own....my goodness its horrible. The terrible sound is only surpassed by the terrible tracking. Have you ever tried the MXR or Aguilar bass octavers?
Yeah the OC series sounds awful, I don’t understand why they made them like that. I haven’t used the MXR or Aguilar... my experience has mostly been with the EHX stuff and now the Digitech Drop. Does MXR make one that’s not distorted? I think I skipped some of theirs back in the day because they added fuzz as well as octave.
@@LeFeversAudio MXR makes a mini sized "vintage bass octave" that just has three knobs for your dry signal, 1 octave down, and 2 octaves down. It's very difficult finding good demos of octave pedals tho because most UA-camrs think people want to hear 90s bowling alley music with them.
I really appreciate your videos btw.
Interesting
NANOMACHINES, SON!