mcnach

Ah, it looks like the SA Tap-tempo switch can be used to toggle between 'channels'... so if you set up a preset using two different overdrive engines on each channel, in parallel, then you can select to alternate between them, or (I think) even rotate between one, the other, and both combined. Now that's worth a look

Received it on Friday. Looks pretty good in person. NOt sure about the bag. It's functional, but I'll probably end up getting one of those plastic light cases (Kinsman and the like) to offer a bit more protection in the future. I don't think I'll but the optional panel. It's a nice idea, but unnecessary. There's enough space below for a 4-way strip, which then allows multiple power supplies, as it may be required if using a few large draw pedals... so I think I'll just keep it as it is and find a way to fit a multiway underneath instead. Light and solid. Good call @cLepto-bass!!!

We used to play a version of "Ghostbusters" with Sea Bass Kid... the downsweep filter was perfect for it. Maybe we'll bring it back

Same here. I like the old SA BEF for all kinds of filter sounds... but you need to tweak to change sounds. The idea of having a couple of little cheap pedals, each with its own 'preset' is very attractive. The Donner is really cool on guitar. I like it more and more. I love those leads like at the beginning of that video, very smooth Satriani-esque in a way... and the Donner Dynamic Wah works very well for that, especially with a stratocaster, but my P90 Les Paul style guitar also sounds great. On bass is a bit limited compared to the BEF, but I like it a lot. It's not easy to get those long decayed dirty sticky sounds like in Sir Psycho Sexy (with an overdrive), but it produces good sounds nonetheless, and it keeps the bottom end, which many others lose, or boost the midrange crazily and just sounds too different from the non-effected signal. Let's see how the TC-61 works out. It's supposed to arrive in a week or so.

Played first gig with it last night. Well lit stage! Still... I did find it a lot nicer to use. Happy with it.

They didn't have them!!! Seriously, a warm yellow/orange with black markers... I would have at least bought a few to test. But I never found them. I saw some close, but with white markers which made them harder to see than the original knobs... Recently I replaced a set of black knobs on a black pedal with yellow chicken head knobs... it works, and the MB resemblance was pointed out

eBay shop: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pointer-Knobs-for-Instruments-Effects-Pedals-Amplifiers-Guitars-Projects-Knobs/263958159865?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&var=563457262971&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649 I chose the cream ones, as the white ones were a little too bright. You planning to do the same?

Having the limit light come on does not seem to indicate what it seems to indicate... if I got it right when reading about it on "the other" forum. There's a gigantic thread about all things Subway and the thing about the limit light comes on often. The designer of the amp is there so he tends to answer those questions. I'm afraid I have not listened well enough to give that answer here The MB800 was an amp I wanted to try before I got the D800+. I've heard nothing but good things... but I'm very happy with the D800+ plus Two10 cabs. It's certainly done every gig I needed without PA support without pushing it a little bit. But I don't play with Motorhead Re: loudness... before I had this, I borrowed a D800 for a bit and tested it side by side with a Streamliner 900 and a MarkBass LMIII (rated at 900 and 500W respectively), using up to 4 TKS S112 cabs together (I had a little series/parallel box to allow certain combinations). The Markbass did not seem a lot quieter than the D800... although the D800 seemed "bigger" somehow. I think that whether we see 500, 700 or 900... the differences are not going to be enormous, but the voicing probably has the largest effect.

If I make mistakes, I make them thoroughly

Aha! Indeed. Yes, if I had intentions to use other midi-capable pedals then fine, but it doesn't look like I am going that way. So... I'll just bend over and use the switches manually and/or get a second or even third Aftershock. Glad I realised this before I bought a Gecko. I had not even thought how they connect together I assumed USB.

Even if a cab is rated thermally for X, there are limits as to how much air a cab is going to move, and people will have the tendency to try to push harder just because they can. Boosting the low end is one way people try to push the limits you find when not having enough speakers. The cab may not get much louder after a certain point even if you put another 100-200W into it... and you keep pushing until... You're clearly safer with a higher rated cab, but not immune.

Sorry to derail this a bit more... but I've just realised something: How do you connect the Gecko to the Aftershock? You need the SA Neuro hub, right? If that's the case... that's getting too expensive and too many extra bits to add on the board... it would be simpler for me to buy a second Aftershock

I'm very surprised to hear that... I mean, it's possible that the MB800 is louder all other things being equal, I don't know... but I'm surprised it can be that much louder that you'd notice a big difference. Unlike a lot of amps out there... the Mesa keeps on giving, the volume knob continues to work. You may need to use it at 1 o'clock as opposed to 11 o'clock on another amp... but that means nothing: you can still turn it and get louder while the second amp will probably have nothing left once you reach the 1 o'clock position. The operation of the master volume on the Mesa is a lot more sensible than in many others out there, and clearly designed to be useful, not to impress people in the shop "look, I barely moved the knob and it's so loud, imagine how much louder it'll get when I turn it all the way!" Another thing is, it depends a lot how you use the adjustable HPF / voicing / bass controls. They have the ability together to make your bass go from Woody Allen to Dwayne Johnson... and everything in between. I used to use a pair of BB2 in the past too. They're good but they're not magic. If you think you're running flat out with a single one, I think you are simply reaching the limits of what a single BB2 can achieve (and be damn loud too), and you're probably treading dangerous territory where you must be close to damaging the speaker... the Mesa has enough power in store to obliterate a BB2 if the controls are not use carefully.

... yeah, still loving it, but I hadto do something. Black on black looks great, however it's not the best for visibility. So I did this. The look is growing on me, it's not my favourite, but at least I can now see the settings clearly and quickly

My issue disliking TE amps was that they were common on rehearsal rooms around here... but typically old, battered things, abused, with speakers in bad shape sometimes... When I've used TE rigs belonging to individuals who looked after them, they were good. The best two were the same combo, a 210 (I forget the actual model), one by itself as stage monitor, and another with an extension cab (a 115 or maybe another 210)... and I really enjoyed those.

As Beedster said, it's more to do with playing style... but the right strings also can help. Not all tapewounds are the same. The Rotosound TruBass are the most doublebassy strings out there, I think.

And I've just ordered the Eno TC-61, which can do up as well as down-sweep... watch this space.

Of course that the context is very important... but to say that you can't judge anything from listening to it alone is just not right. You can't tell *everything* from listening to a bass in isolation, but you do get a lot of information. Furthermore, with experience, you develop an ability to 'educatedly guess' how a certain bass sound would or would not work in a band situation. It's not a black or white thing.

£22 delivered, tiny, and it sounds pretty damn good. Downside? Not that versatile. But that's all. If you just need the occasional quacking from your bass and don't want to spend much, or take up too much space on your board, I think this is a pretty good one. On bass it works very well, it doesn't lose the low end or get extreme... it's very easy to get a good fast 'wah' out of this with bass. I haven't found a *good* demo online... but if you listen to RHCP's 21st Century, it's easy to get that kind of sound: On guitar... I love it for leads where it smoothens the attack. Like this: It's not going to replace my Soundblox BEF, but it's a pretty cool little pedal. A lot of the cheaper envelope filters get too honky or lose all low end... not this one! You don't get a lot of different sounds, you can't do down-sweeps, you can't make the sweep time change a lot... but what it does it does well.

I just wish you had left that beta/alpha BS out...

Not the best player, but I think it shows nicely the range of sounds that bass can make... It works, for me.

I get the general idea... but it's still not clear to me whether: 1) I can use it such that each footswitch is assigned to a single preset (I think it's called 'pedal mode' in some other controllers) and 2) if I can, and I select one preset... can I still use the knobs on the Aftershock for changes in real time? Not interested in saving those changes. All I really want is to move that tiny mini-switch to a footswitch form.

Actually... forget the 'red' or 'green' mode... as sometimes recalling full presets will be what I really want I guess what I'm really asking is... I don't want to use the Gecko (or whatever) to navigate around the presets available. I want to assign one preset to each footswitch, and I want 2-3 available to me. With the footswitch on the Aftershock itself as a ON/OFF button. Does the Gecko support operation like that? How many presets? 2? 3? Or is it strictly a "find the preset you want and select it"?

Yes, I know I can have 6 presets that way, however the 'red' mode seems to work as full presets, where each one has its own set of parameters (drive at 50 on preset "Tube", drive at 100 on "Heavy", etc...). I like the 'green' mode... where if I have the drive knob at, say, 50, with the switch on "Tube"... drive stays at 50 when I switch to "Heavy". I would like a footswitch to do what the mini-switch does on the 'green' mode... just allowing me to use my foot rather than bending over the pedal to do it with my hand. There must be something simple out there... ?

Hmm... I have no interest in getting into MIDI. I did it years ago with a big Behringer pedalboard and I haven't yet recovered from the experience. I use the Aftershock in 'green' mode, whatever it's called. The one where each position of the mini-switch selects one overdrive engine... and the position of the knobs represent the sound you're actually hearing. If I increase the drive, and move the miniswitch to another type of overdrive, then the gain has increased there too. I like that. What I'd really like is to have a *simple* way to select various overdrive types using a footswitch, rather than the mini-switch. I'm happy with a couple, but three would be ideal, using a pedal with dedicated foot-switches for each overdrive type, and where the position of the knobs on the pedal are represent what I hear. That Gecko pedal seems to allow me to navigate among presets, and perhaps each footswitch can be associated with a different overdrive... but will it operate as I describe? Not recalling a full preset, but taking the positions of the knobs as they are, in real time.