Silent Fly

Grat stuff! Thanks Al

[quote name='andrewrx7' post='403029' date='Feb 7 2009, 08:26 PM']Can anyone recomend a signal splitter? I wish to take the bass signal and split into two lines to go to two seperate amp heads. Thanks![/quote] If you don't need separate volume controls before the amps, you can use a [url="http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=31562"]Y-cable[/url]. If the amps have a low imput impedance and you use a passive bass you may have a small tone loss. To avoid this you can connect a non-true-bypass pedal before the Y-cable. I hope this helps, Silent Fly

[quote name='dannybuoy' post='396366' date='Jan 31 2009, 07:46 PM']Does anyone know where I can get hold of some tiny enclosures such as those used by Catalinbread? I want to build a little bypass loop box out of one. These are the kind I'm talking about: [...][/quote] They are Hammond 1590A. You can also use Eddystone 27969PSLA they are the same size but with slightly sharper corners and I think the alloy is also slightly different but nothing substantial. [url="http://www.maplin.co.uk"]www.maplin.co.uk[/url] (code N88BQ, £2.89) [url="http://www.banzaieffects.com"]www.banzaieffects.com[/url] [url="http://uk.farnell.com"]uk.farnell.com[/url]

[quote name='Al Heeley' post='387436' date='Jan 21 2009, 12:58 PM'](...)I think the 'bake in oven' step is divorce-territory.(...)[/quote] Unless you use a dedicated oven for just non-food purposes, it is also step in the danger-zone. Some of the chemicals used in varnishes stick inside the oven. When the oven is heated again they are released.

[quote name='benwhiteuk' post='386466' date='Jan 20 2009, 05:44 PM']My pedalboard is a bit noisy. Today is the first day that I’ve put my pedals together in 1 whole chain (I only use 5 at the moment) and there’s a bit of noise that I’d like to reduce/eliminate. I usually use a Pod XT Live with 2 other pedals in a chain and I’ve not experienced this noise before. I’ve got a noiseless power supply so it’s not that. I’ve got cheap patch leads so it could be them, but then I’ve used the same type for years and I’ve never had a problem with them. Could the order of the pedals affect the ‘dry’ signal? – could rearranging the pedals and putting them in a specific order reduce the noise? Any advice would be appreciated.[/quote] Could you describe the noise/noises? Is it hum, hiss, clicking...? Silent Fly

[quote name='timloudon' post='384104' date='Jan 18 2009, 04:08 PM']I'm a bit of a noob when it comes to the complex world of electronics, and I have a question for those in the know. I know that pre-amps amplify the low level signal to line level, with the added benefit of some tone shaping in the form of EQ. If I'm doing some home or even studio recording, what's the real difference between a pre-amp and a DI box (apart from the obvious EQ)? I was interested in getting the old Sadowsky pre-amp pedal, because I've heard good things about it, but I don't really understand what it will do for me.[/quote] A preamplifier is a device that, in general, amplifies a low-level signal to line-level. A DI is a device that converts a high impedance line level signal (usually received via an unbalanced jack connection) to a low impedance balanced signal (usually via a XLR connector). Both devices may include an equalizer or other frequency-related functions but these functions are not necessary to qualify the device as preamplifier or DI. There are devices that can deliver both functionalities. Some preamplifiers have a XLR-balanced output (in other words they are also DIs). Some DIs can also operate as a preamplifier if they amplify the signal to line level (e.g. the Avalon U5).

[quote name='fifeq' post='379831' date='Jan 13 2009, 11:25 PM']anyone know if and how canI record something in reason and put it as a loop to my jamman?[/quote] Yes, you can. In Reason, select the loop begin-end then use "File/Export Loop as Audio File...". The instructions in the JamMan Owner's Manual should tell you how to load the loop you just saved in the memory card. I suspect the loop needs to be converted to mono first. Before exporting to loop to audio file, you may want to write down on a piece of paper the bpm ("tempo" in Reason) and the time signature. I think it is an information that the JamMan needs in one of the files in the memory card. I hope this helps. Silent Fly

[quote name='Hit&Run' post='378052' date='Jan 12 2009, 06:15 PM']I've got an aphex bass xciter, and was wondering if the signal from it should go into the active or passive input on my amp?[...][/quote] I would use the active input.

[quote name='jango' post='377102' date='Jan 11 2009, 08:13 PM']Cheers for the responses, the reviews of both pedals on You-tube were interesting, but not decisive. I don't particularly need to change the tone of my bass into a clone of another model, just need more cut and maybe a slight boost, would the Knockout do this?[/quote] If by "cut" you mean "cut through the mix", an EQ and a compressor should do the trick. I live in London SW18, you are welcome to try my KO if you want. Silent Fly

[quote name='jango' post='376843' date='Jan 11 2009, 03:35 PM']I can't decide which to buy basically. I need a different sound, ie more bite and attack for a couple of songs live, but I don't have time to fiddle with my amp between numbers . I was thinking one of these pedals might fit the bill. Ok, I know there will be people that say 'just use your EQ on the bass' but what I'm after really is a quite a drastic tone change to cut through two guitars. I use a Ricky copy through Peavey or Ashdown amps. I'm leaning towards the Steel Leather, but the Knockout looks more versatile. I don't live close enough to any decent Music shops to try these out unfortunately. Anyone tried these?[/quote] They are quite different effects. I wrote a [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=14480&view=findpost&p=152485"]short review on the Knockout[/url] a while ago. You may find it interesting.

[quote name='Boneless' post='370947' date='Jan 5 2009, 02:36 PM']The only thing about the Bad Monkey is that it might be a bit prone to failing. I have a Bad Monkey, right beside me, I've had a couple of issues with it I must say, and at the last rehearsals it started coughing out static but I didn't hear anything wrong from others, though, so it might just be me unlucky [/quote] I am surprised, they are quite reliable pedals. It could be the environment. Sometimes rehearsal rooms don't use antistatic carpet so some pedals get nasty electrostatic charges that fry transistors and/or ICs. I managed to fry the input stage of a studio channel strip this way Some ZVex pedals (e.g. the SHO) suffered from the same weakness until they added a simple protection to the circuit. In general all pedals can be protected against electrostatic charges but I haven’t seen many builders doing it unless they really have to. I do it in the majority of my pedals but you will struggle to find the same type of protection in other pedals. An alternative is use an in/out box that acts as an interface between the pedalboard and the outside world. The box contains antistatic protection that protects the entire pedalboard. I built one for a customer that fried a pedal. His unit also contains power supply overvoltage/reverse protection, RFI filtering and mute switch. Below a diagram that shows how it works. [attachment=18147:diagram.jpg]

[quote name='chenzo_1' post='370863' date='Jan 5 2009, 01:21 PM']I'm after a Bass OD/Distortion pedal, not looking a heavily distorted or fuzzy sound, after a pedal to just dirty up my signal and give me a bit of ummpph (without losing any bottom end) for certain parts of my bands music. I've already got a zoom Ultra fuzz which i use and i've tried a big muff and digitech bass driver in the past but didn't get on with them. I play a musicman stingray. Anyone got any ideas? Cheers Vince[/quote] I recommend you the Digitech Bad Monkey. If pushed it can produce distorted sounds but at lower settings it just adds a little bit of saturation. It is a guitar pedal that works ok with bass. It can be modified to be 100% bass friendly. Drop me a PM if you are interested in one.

[quote name='Bassmanc' post='370101' date='Jan 4 2009, 05:12 PM'][...]Can you tell me if the bass expansion pack effectively turns the Podxt Pro into the Bass Pod xt pro?[...][/quote] I did not have the XT pro version. Only the standard PODxt but I don't think the same applies. It is what bass expansion pack does. It adds a [i]Bass PODxt[/i] to a standard PODxt. As far as I can recall, the only difference is the fact the PODxt+bass_expansion_pack is stereo and the PODxt Bass is mono/bi-amp. [quote name='Bassmanc' post='370101' date='Jan 4 2009, 05:12 PM'][...] ie can it mimic all the controls and settings?[...][/quote] Yes - it can. [quote name='Bassmanc' post='370101' date='Jan 4 2009, 05:12 PM'][...]I have a mate with a a Bass Pod and he has loads of patches. Could I copy them and upload them onto the guiotar version if I have this bass expansion pack?[/quote] I'm not 100% sure about it but I would be very surprised if it wouldn't be possible.

[quote name='Jamesemt' post='368891' date='Jan 2 2009, 09:58 PM']Is the bass pack worth buying? Can you find out what your mates think to it?[/quote] I used to have a PODxt + bass pack. In my opinion is an interesting upgrade. In practice, it adds a PODxt-bass to the PODxt. I prefer the PODxt+bass pack to the PODxt-bass. With the PODxt+bass pack you get true stereo and it sounds great with guitar as well.

[quote name='Jamesemt' post='368893' date='Jan 2 2009, 10:00 PM']Right so if I have a mono sound I can send the signal to two different amps?? Guess that's pretty similar.[/quote] It operates differently. With bi-amp, sound above a certain frequency are send to the "high-freq." output, below the same frequency to the "low-freq." output. This is used to amplify separately two speakers (or speaker systems). In stereo, usually, the two outputs contain, as an average, the same frequency distribution but different content (e.g. chorus effects).

[quote name='Jamesemt' post='341628' date='Dec 1 2008, 07:46 AM']I've got a guitar pod XT and was wondering if I'd be better off with the bass version. Are there many differences? I've seen that I can buy the bass expansion pack for my guitar version, is it worth buying?[/quote] The guitar version is stereo and it can be upgraded with expansion packs. If I remember correctly, the bass version splits the signal for bi-amp but it cannot operate in stereo.

[quote name='Boneless' post='363553' date='Dec 26 2008, 11:10 AM']Hi everyone, this is my first topic I have a problem with distortions: I can't ever seem to achieve what I really want [...] I was looking at the MXR Blowtorch, which looks exactly what I'm looking for, having EQ control for the mids as well, but I don't know if it sounds aggressive as well or just "thick", if you get what I mean. Is there something else I should look at? Not too expensive, maybe (not more than, let's say, €150, which is about £120, but still, I could consider more expensive stuff, if it's really worth it). [...][/quote] As has been said, the Blowtorch is more a fuzz than a distortion pedal. You can probably get some interesting distorted sounds but I wouldn’t call it distortion. I while ago I tried the MXR M-80. It is a nice unit but I wasn’t convinced by the distortion. A little bit too much on the fuzz side for me. If you look for a nice set of distorted sounds I recommend you the Digitech Bad Monkey. It is an overdrive but with the gain pushed to high levels it generates very nice distorted sounds that do not lose focus and solidity. It is a guitar pedal but it can be modified for bass guitar. Drop me a message if you are interested in one. Some people are pretty happy with the Boss MT-2. It is something you may want to consider. I have one that I don’t need anymore and that I would be happy to sell. Distortion is a very much a matter of personal preference. It might be useful if you could post youtube videos or any other reference with the sound you are looking for.

[quote name='Huge Hands' post='362092' date='Dec 23 2008, 03:58 PM'][...] Some guys will try to sell you the "gold plated super duper DI box for £150, but you may get just as good results for what you need using the XLR socket on your cab or a £20 DI from Maplins.[...][/quote] Although I agree that price is not the only way to determine the quality of a device, I wouldn’t recommend a £29.99 Maplin DI (order code: DU93B) as a solid investment. I haven’t tried this Maplin DI but I would be surprised if it performs (at least mechanically) as well as a professional DI. I have nothing against low-cost devices – if people are happy with them I am equally happy for them. I still haven’t found a Maplin or a Behringer DI that performs like an Avalon U5 though. I spent the last few months studying DI design and I can assure you that there can be some significant differences between DIs. Some differences can be, not only heard, but also measured. ...but again, it depends what the DI is for. I wouldn’t use a Behringer for a recording but to go in a cheap PA it [i]might[/i] be the right choice.

I think a lot depends on what you want to achieve. In a live situation, if you need a balanced out for the PA, the XLR out of your amp should be ok. If you need it for recording, where sounds are more clean and defined, you may need a separate DI. Alternatively, you could record on 2 channels, one from a DI and another from a mic positioned in front of the cab. It does depend on the quality of equipment but also how equipment are used and the result you need.

[quote name='bobbass4k' post='358609' date='Dec 19 2008, 10:23 AM']Hey people, just took the plunge and bought [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=130275905854"]this[/url], thanks for the advice people![/quote] It looks an interesting pedal. I am tempted to buy one and do some mods...

[quote name='umph' post='357934' date='Dec 18 2008, 02:16 PM']you do lose some treble bleeding signal to the ground but thats about it[/quote] Good point - but this happens only if the source is a passive bass. If the bass is active like in this case, the pedal will not affect the sound.

[quote name='redzombie' post='356982' date='Dec 17 2008, 02:27 PM']Sorry for the dumb question, but if I put one of these at the beginning of my effects chain, will it effectively make my passive bass an EQ-less active? I'm thinking of getting one, so I can keep volume levels the same when I change basses. Since it can increase volume, it made me wonder. [...][/quote] I think this might be exactly what you’re looking for but you need to make it work in "reverse". If you have two basses (e.g. #1 active-hot output, #2 passive), you need to keep the pedal on when you use bass #1 and off when you use bass #2. Compared to other solutions, this pedal, thanks to its simplicity, does not alter the sound in any way. As far as I can understand, the signal goes only through a passive attenuator, without any transistor-based circuit/component. In a nutshell, apart from a different volume level, the pedal shouldn’t affect the signal or add any noise. I have been building similar pedals (in a smaller size) and users always find them very effective. I hope the above helps.

[quote name='rmorris' post='342549' date='Dec 1 2008, 11:59 PM']has anyone on this thread tried changing the stock valve that it comes with for another valve ? Seems a fairly popular thing to do with other ART units judging by some other recording forums.[/quote] Very interesting... thanks for the suggestion rmorris. Could you post some links? Thanks, SF

[quote name='silverfoxnik' post='342526' date='Dec 1 2008, 11:30 PM']OK, thanks.. Sounds like it'd be worth hearing one first then if I can?[/quote] I think it would be a good idea. You are welcome to try mine if you are in the SW18 area.