MXR MB301 (01) PDF MANUAL

The MXR® Bass Synth requires a 9-volt (330 mA) center-negative power supply. It can be powered by the Dunlop ECB003 9-volt adapter or the MXR® Iso-Brick,™ the Iso-Brick™ Pro, and the Iso-Brick™ Mini Power Supplies. This pedal cannot be powered by a battery.

Scroll presets: Hold the footswitch. Tap the footswitch to advance through presets. To exit, hold the footswitch again or simply wait for the timeout.

Freeze current note: To configure freeze functionality, hold the footswitch down and rotate the RESONANCE knob to its max position. After configuring, holding the footswitch will hold or freeze the current synth note. To revert to preset scroll mode, hold the footswitch and rotate the RESONANCE knob to its minimum position.

Press and hold either the VOICE or SHAPE buttons while changing another control to access an alternate set of options. Parameters under the VOICE menu affect the sound of the synth patch and can be saved with a preset. Parameters under the SHAPE menu are more utility settings, some of which are global and affect all presets.

Press and hold the VOICE button while turning the following knobs to adjust these parameters:

Press and hold the SHAPE button while turning the following knobs to adjust these parameters:

The pedal features eight different presets (four green, four red) plus a live mode.

GREEN PRESETS

THRILLENGANES: Inspired by Greg Phillinganes’ amazing ARP 2600 work on Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” this timeless octave-down sound is equally suited to pumping out ’80s hits or contemporary bangers.

WONDERFUL: Based on Stevie Wonder’s incredible left hand work on the TONTO synth, this sound gives you that short, funky resonant drop up and down the neck.

LIZARD SYNTH: Modeled on Herbie Hancock’s use of the classic ARP Odyssey on his famous tune “Chameleon,” this sound cranks up the resonance and hits that funky ’70s sweet spot.

SYNTHADELIC: Based on Bernie Worrell’s incredible Minimoog tone on “Flashlight,” this octave-down sound is wide open and room filling.

RED PRESETS

SLEDGE: Inspired by Tony Levin’s incredible bass tone on Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer,” this sound gives you that classic analog octave sound with a generous helping of compression and chorus. Play with a pick for maximum effect.

ARMY OF SYNTH: Modeled after the iconic synth bass line on Bjork’s “Army of Me.” Use an expression pedal for added intensity.

NINE INCH SYNTH: Based on Trent Reznor’s incredible synth programming and tone on “Head Like a Hole,” this sound is equally at home in a rock or dance music context.

SYNTHMAU5: Inspired by the sidechaining technique used in electronic music production, this preset draws you into a dark atmospheric zone akin to that often used by producer deadmau5. Try playing right on the beat with a quarter note bass drum pulse, and feel the kick almost trigger your bass notes.

Live mode is indicated when all preset LEDs are off. Live mode represents current knob settings and automatically saves switch and secondary parameter states.

When a preset is changed from its saved state, its LED will softly flash.

You can scroll through presets using the onboard preset button, an external switch, or the built-in footswitch.

External Switch: When using an external switch connected via the CTR jack, a “press” will forward scroll, while a “hold” will reverse scroll.

Built-in Footswitch: Hold the switch until the main LED soft flashes. Now, the footswitch will scroll to the next preset when tapped. The SHAPE LED will flash to display the current preset. Hold the switch again to exit preset scrolling or wait for the scroll menu to timeout.

1. To save current settings into a preset, you must first copy the settings by holding down the preset button for 2 seconds. The preset LEDs will hard flash to confirm.

2. Next, navigate to the preset bank you would like to save the settings to.

3. Hold the preset button again for 2 seconds to save the copied settings to that bank. The preset LEDs will stop flashing.

To exit the copy/save menu without saving, simply alter the current preset. The menu will also eventually time out. Note: You cannot save a preset into live mode.

1. To reset a preset to its default setting, first navigate to the preset you would like to reset.

2. Then, hold the footswitch and preset button together for 5 seconds.

3. The preset LED will quickly hard flash to confirm reset. In live mode, all preset LEDs will flash green after a reset.

Hold both the VOICE and SHAPE buttons simultaneously for 5 seconds while powering the pedal to perform a factory reset. A successful factory reset is indicated by the Bypass LED flashing quickly several times.

Setting a Preset’s Expression Behavior:

1. Set all parameters at both the heel and toe positions to your desired settings.

2. Then, sweep the expression pedal to confirm desired behavior.

3. Once expression settings are verified, follow the steps under Saving a Preset. Note that the heel down state is also the preset’s state when no expression pedal is connected.

Expression in Live Mode:

In live mode, expression states are saved automatically and retained while the expression pedal is connected. If the pedal is powered on without an expression pedal connected, the next time expression is connected, the heel position will be set to the current state of live mode.

Note that every time you enter live mode, the current knob settings are represented until you sweep the expression pedal. Changes to the live mode expression state will not be registered until the expression pedal is physically swept after entering live mode.

Expression/Tap Input: Place the CTR side switch in the TAP/EXP position (towards the OUT jack) to use the CTR jack with an expression pedal via a TRS cable or external switch via a standard patch cable for preset scrolling.

Audio Output: Place the CTR side switch in the AUDIO position (towards the CTR jack) to use the CTR jack as output jack for the audio’s right channel. In this configuration, stereo output uses two TS cables at the OUT and CTR jacks instead of one TRS cable at the OUT jack.