Rethinking Guitar Review – The Audible Disease Synth Bomb

The following is a guest post by Kevin Ian. If you are interested in guest posting, please contact me!

Hello Kind Readers!

Today I thought I would combine my effects reviews and Rethinking Guitar. I’m going to look at The Audible Disease Synth Bomb. According to the website (http://www.effectpedals.us/product/synth_bomb_sb-1):

“The *Audible Disease Synth Bomb SB-1* is a simple yet fun to use hand-held monophonic synthesizer that produces an almost boundless array of sounds! Just plug it in and you’re ready to start making some severe noise. The SB-1 incorporates four square-wave oscillators running in parallel. The frequency of each oscillator can be controlled by how much light is hitting each of the four photo-eyes… the more light that hits the photo-eye the higher the frequency of that oscillator. Cover the photo-eyes with your fingers for a virtually endless palate of sound! Oh, did we mention that this thing is loud? Well, it is!”

This thing is a monster. The photo-sensitive eyes are the most sensitive I have ever come across–a sure sign of quality work! It adapts itself to ANY light source, and if you happen to be in a dark club, the LED is bright enough to activate the eyes itself. Yes, I have turned off all my lights in the middle of the night to test this! While this is mainly a hand-held device, you can still mount this on your board and use it with your guitar rig. I found a way that added a new dimension to my sound.

I talked to Bob at Audible Disease and he was able to tailor the Synth Bomb to my needs: 9V adapter capability and a volume knob to help tone down the signal. Aside from those mods, the Snyth Bomb is basically the same as you would get from his site.

I decided to ABY with my guitar and the Synth Bomb. To handle the extra hot signal, I use my custom EGO BOOST from Grumpy Toad FX (I reviewed his Pork Barrel Chorus earlier).

The video I have included is a small example of me experimenting with the sound possible. Mind you, I’ve only had it for about a week, I will write more if I uncover anything else useful! I will also include a video of Bob using the Synth Bomb as he has his own noise project: Xome

One thing I noticed when I use AB at the same time, my guitar volume controls the volume of the Synth Bomb as well. It’s very interesting when I do volume swells, because you can hear a ghostly note behind the noise!

At the heart of Rethinking Guitar is the idea that there are so many tools readily available to guitarists–whether by hardware or technique. It all comes down to whether or not you use it–your imagination is the only guideline! …well, that and the size of your board! 🙂

Kevin Ian is a multi-instrumentalist and internet radio DJ. He is currently vocalist/guitarist for The Common Men.

Video with me and my modified Synth Bomb:

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Performance by Xome which fully utilizes the Synth Bomb’s capabilities:

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