Fender B-DEC 30 - Manual (Page 3)

B-DEC 3O

f e n d e r . c o m
Congratulations on your purchase of the B-DEC™ 30. This
revolutionary product has been designed to help you become
a great bass player. No matter what level you play at today, you
will quickly find yourself heading in new musical directions
and generally having a great time while you improve your
internal metronome and develop new musical instincts.
The “job” of a bass player is to be the glue that holds a band
together. As the link between rhythm and harmony, the
bass guitar is a powerful instrument in a supportive role.
Unfortunately, developing the skill and instinct needed to be
a great bass player usually only happens while supporting a
band. The B-DEC 30 gives you the opportunity to rehearse
with a full band any time in any key at any tempo for as long
as you want.
TheB-DEC0hastwokindsofloops:
Performance Loops: These are song examples that outline
various styles. Each loop has an “A” section and a “B” section.
The idea is to refine your instincts not only of what notes to
play, but how to feel or anticipate the change from one section
to the next. This is one of the most important attributes of a
great bass player. These loops also provide a tone that should
inspire you in the direction of the music style being played.
Teacher Loops: These are virtual lessons utilizing a bass track
and a drum track to illustrate things like warm up exercises,
scales, arpeggios, slap lick ideas and rhythmic drills.
Follow along with your method book!
The B-DEC 30 comes complete with a method book containing
lead sheets for every loop. These musical charts indicate the
chords being played along with notation and tablature of the
pre-recorded bass line. One approach is to learn the existing
bass line note for note. This will help you develop ideas you
may not have considered. Another approach is to mute the
bass and create your own part to support the song (this will
help to develop your musicianship).
Whataboutthebasstrack?
Each loop has individual control over the bass, drums and
other instruments. Push the "DRUMS" button to bring up the
drum menu. The first item in the menu is "Bass Track On/Off."
Turning the large Data Wheel will toggle the bass track on and
off. With the bass track off (muted), you can fill out the space
with your own bass lines.
The bass track also has three different modes, indicated as
"B TRK Mode" in the "DRUMS" menu. The factory default
alternates the bass track on/off each time the loop repeats.
The bass track can also be set to play continuously or play
once through, then mute.
Since you can turn any of the tracks on or off, another great
practice tool is to turn down the volume of every track except
the drums. This will give you a “digital drummer” complete
with a changing feel (“A” section to “B” section) and drum fills
to play off of.
You can also develop bass solos while the B-DEC 30 covers the
written bass parts. As bass players, we don’t get many solos,
but a good one goes a long way…
Whatelsedoesitdo?
Bass Amp Types: Sometimes the right tone makes all the
difference. With the B-DEC 30, you get several amp types that
represent many popular bass sounds.
Effects: Used sometimes for taste and sometimes for fun, there
are plenty of cool and inspiring onboard effects that really add
to your sound, including overdrive, fuzz, compression, chorus,
flanging, phasing, envelope filter, reverb, delay, and more.
Auto-Key: So that there's no place on your bass's neck that
you're unfamiliar with, this feature automatically transposes
a loop by a chosen interval, letting you play the exercise in
multiple keys without stopping.
Tempo-Creep: Automatically increases the tempo at a
selectable rate from 1 to 10 BPM, letting you take musical
exercises from slower tempos to faster ones without
stopping.
Song Mode: A virtual hard drive onto which you can save your
favorite MIDI files, so they're available to jam along with at any
time and any place.
Phrase Sampler: Lets you to record what you're playing so
you can listen to your performance with a critical ear. A great
way to quickly improve your playing.
Read this manual and the accompanying method book to
learn just how cool this amp is!
Introduction