bassist_lewis

4 minutes ago, Bernardo said:

I have started playing short scales recently - starting with a little Gretsch expanding since then into a U5, JMJ Mustang and an Acinonyx. Shallow I know but I Googled short scale red bass because for showbiz reasons I needed a red bass to match some stage outfits! What came top of the list was a refurbished Vox Starstream Artist 2S on the Vox website. Including gig bag it was £350. Given they were well north of a grand when they came out - and some people had paid that - I went for it. I took it to a gig and our sound engineer raved about it compared with my other basses. Ironically I don't enjoy playing it as much as the Mustang and the Acinonyx basically because they have flats on them which feel better to me - so my next quest is to find flats that sound brighter than a normal flat.

It's a weird looking thing and not everybody's cup of tea but it's nicely balanced and very light and with the right strings could be my go to bass - something I never would have predicted when I Googled red short scale. 

Dunlop flats are brighter than typical flats (think Labellas). They're more like a worn in set of rounds. You could also look out ground/half-wound or "super polished" strings. Essentially round wounds that have been made closer to flats in some way. As far as I know only LaBella do super polished short scales, and they're specifically for top loading mustang basses, but if you can cope with a bit less silk at the headstock... 

PS all of these options are either a bit pricey or very pricey!

Of the 5 basses I own, I use different basses on different gigs for different reasons. And all of them bar one are difficult but not impossible to replace, and they're insured outside the house and in unlocked cars.

Since I got my Wilcock Mullarkey its been my go-to for practice and my original/fun gigs (helps that its pink). However, for weddings I use my Serek Midwestern 5, as it does more conventional tones and I can get the low notes. My JMJ hasn't seen much action recently for no real reason other than I'm favouring the other two, but I have a couple of country gigs in August I've decided to use it for as it looks more the part. My Acinonyx is great but has such a unique sound I'm yet to find exactly where to use it.

My Callowhill MPB 5 is truly irreplaceable, as Tim passed away shortly after I got it. I keep it mainly for sentimental reasons, as it has been superseded by the Serek as my main 5.

I have some great basses and I enjoy playing them, so I find reasons to use them.

Kind of a niche of a niche but La Bella just dropped  5 new Mustang sets (through body only). The stainless steel flat set looks to be identical to their Deep Talkin' Bass set, but I'm curious about the Super Polished set. No UK dealers as yet though.

https://www.labella.com/?s=stang

12 minutes ago, MJJS said:

This time a personal attachment, I now own this beauty.

 

https://www.bassdirect.co.uk/product/jaydee-supernatural-mark-king-series-ii-cherry-red-1985-pre-owned/

 

I’ll do a NBD in due course…..

That'll be a rare one, no?! I'm curious to hear how much it feels like a short scale as the bridge is quite far into the body

14 hours ago, tauzero said:

Have you got any way of powering the QMX from a 9V battery? Just wondering if the power supply might be the problem.

I've switched out the output and the cable already but can power it with a True Tone onespot before I get in touch with GigRig.

I've isolated it to the QMX. When I disconnect it from the power the buzz disappears (it lets the audio signal pass through). I've tried changing the wire and the output it's connected to on the Distributer but it's still there. Might be one for GigRig to fix...

I just powered everything up with the bass plugged in and started unplugging power and audio and didn't notice any significant reduction in noise, even once all the pedals were unplugged and my chain was bass > QMX > amp, which implies its the switcher...?

Signal chain is as follows:

Bass > Walrus Audio Canvas Tuner (currently crappy mini tuner I can't remember the name of) > QMX (3 leaf Octabvre > 3 Leaf Doom 2 > Origin Effects Halcyon > Tru-fi ghost Vibe > Iron Ether Xerograph Deluxe > JPTR FX Jive) > Noble Preamp > amp

QMX is powered direct from the distributer as recommended by Gigrig (had a conversation with them a month or so ago), all connected with Evidence Audio solderless, so that might be the next round of testing.

Additional info:

- I use a Y-splitter to power the Generator and a Noble DI. I've tried powering them separately and the buzz is still there

- tried going straight from the switcher to the amp (i.e. cutting out the Noble). Buzz still there.

I've had a read around the internet and can't find this exact scenario, so putting it to you guys.

I'm getting a bit of buzz when I from my setup, which is as follows:

Bass (single coils) > pedalboard > amp.

When I roll the volume down the buzz disappears, which implies it's something going on with the pickups/wiring. HOWEVER, when I plug straight into the amp... silence. So it's the pedalboard, right? Well, I have a GigRig power supply, so fully isolated, all pedals correctly powered and every pedal is in its own isolated loop using a GigRig QMX. I even have a noise filter (!) I currently don't have a buffer first thing as my Canvas Tuner is away getting repaired (fairly sure the buzz was there before).

Hoping someone out there knows electronics better than the internet.

2 hours ago, admiralchew said:

I think today’s the logical day for showing this one. May the 4th be with you, and all that!

 

 

I’ve added a delay since last year and a more fully-featured drive pedal. The drone, a multi-chorus and a fuzz have made way. I’m happy with the functionality of what is essentially a novelty board though. In particular, the bass chorus and reverb both sound right up there with some of the best of that type of pedal.

Anyone see Beetronics' drop their Star Wars custom shop pedals? Some really cool designs there.

5 hours ago, Kev said:

Seems a bit of an odd thing, that Overlord function, is that what's new with this version?

 

Just feel like anyone looking to have that kind of tone will already have something separate for the fuzz (the Doom 2, for example!) that'll be much better and more usable.  Seemed to get lost with the clean blend as well?

 

Nice to hear it though, does sound good but it's a big price tag and hard to get compared to the many other octavers out there that sound very similar.  Worth the outlay?

The Overload isn't quite new. It used to be called the 'Tim' switch on pervious versions. It's been refined in this version, before it was a very subtle difference in the subs. Spencer explains in the instructions that part of the switch's function is because some people want their octaves to sound like one big sound (i.e. the Ampeg Sub Blaster or the DOD Meatbox) and some like to hear the sub octave as distinct from the dry (i.e. OC-2, MXR Octave deluxe).

Regarding the usability of the tone, that's very subjective and some will and some won't. I personally won't use it at its fuzziest, but I will be using the Overload switch when I want to use it with a filter.

Is it worth the price tag? Only you can answer that for yourself. There are absolutely other more accessible octavers out there that'll do the job just fine. I actually plugged in my old OC-2 today and it sounded so good I did wonder for a second why I bought the Octabvre 3.33 😂

9 hours ago, MrDinsdale said:

Recorded a little run through with the new 0xEAE Bass Driver along with some other favourites. There's no structure, just me faffing around. 

 

 

Really digging the Accountant, 0xEAE Bass Driver and Opus which are all new additions.

I was thinking this sounded amazing and that I might by it from Joe's Pedals but by the time I went back to it after watching videos it had gone! Its an impractical size anyway 😪

10 hours ago, Quatschmacher said:

I have the MKII, which is my favourite of all I’ve tried (original, Mini, MKII and MKIII). I really didn’t like the MKIII very much (at least with my basses).

I'm yet to try a mk.ii and everyone says it's their favourite. And I don't think I will for a reasonable price!

25 minutes ago, Quatschmacher said:

Really want to check this out. How does it compare to your mini?

The mini and the Mk.i are muddier by comparison, there's less separation between the dry and the octave. But you can get that All Sub sound if you want (I prefer to hear the the two as separate). Plus there's far more tonal variation when you start playing with the Overload switch and the tone knob.

I'm one of the lucky few who managed to type fast enough.

I expected it to just be an aesthetic update, but the circuit is an improvement over the original mk.iii. The way the tone knob and 'overload' (FKA the 'Tim' switch) interact in a much more musical and useful way, especially when stacking with filters, drives and fuzzes.

52 minutes ago, admiralchew said:

If a small plastic spatula is a system, then yes…

 

I’ve started cutting it in half lengthways to have thin strips on either side of a pedal. It seems to work. For the most part I’ve been able to peel off Dual Lock without too many issues (apart from blisters) but there seems to be a point where once it’s been on a while it becomes trickier to remove.

OK, not just me then! I tend to swap out my univibe for a chorus for conventional/wedding gigs, and I've put 1x1cm squares on instead. Seems to be easier to remove...

On the subject of Dual lock, has anyone got a method of unlocking it from itself? Currently I've been using a butter knife to pry them apart but it's squashing the little mushroom things.

7 hours ago, Chadu25 said:

After some gear culling, this is what I’m currently using at the moment. 

What are they even mounted on?? Wish I had such restraint 😂... and a Sushi box Neptunium

1 hour ago, Kev said:

What I find worse with Dual Lock is getting it off a pedal if you ever need to, selling it etc, the adhesive is wicked!

So far I've found the adhesive fails before the tape itself!

4 hours ago, jimbobothy said:

… with the 3M Dual Lock I tend to use a piece 1” x 1”, then cut that into 4 smaller squares. One of these smaller squares per pedal corner and it’s secure but reasonably easy to get off. Also stem density is 400 on one side and 250 on the other (well, highest density and medium density anyhow lol)!

I thought I'd be safe using 2x1cm strips, but even that is a b***ache to remove!

I've given my pedalboard a complete overhaul, taking all the velcro off everything and replacing it with 3M Dual Lock "pedalboard" tape, rewiring everything to go through a QMX 6, and mounting two pedals underneath. It's not quite as perfectionist as some you see online but its a lot cleaner looking than it was before. That 3M stuff makes the pedals a nightmare to remove though, so switching things around just got a lot harder 😂

Signal chain is: Canvas Tuner > (via QMX) Octabvre > Doom 2 > Halcyon > Ghost Vibe > Xerography > Jive > Noble.

On 29/03/2025 at 20:42, Bagman said:

I’m using the Beta V and Diamond Comp with my passive Warwick 5 (strung with Chromes). 
 

I like it 

How do you use the two filters?

Quite likely I'll put this on the credit card and it will conveniently show up after my wedding. So it'll look to the new Mrs Bassist as if I was being responsible with my money 👍

14 minutes ago, tayste_2000 said:

Yeah, exactly. Sure it’s expensive for a pedalboard but it’s cheaper and lighter than a Schmidt. Also love the video where they checked it in just in the bag for a flight.

 

i actually thought because the top riser is removable that I could

run that as a nano I can then clip into a larger board. Sure it’ll probably scratch some stages but they aren’t my stages so 🤷🏻‍♂️

I think their target audience is ppl who like Schmidt Array but aren't willing/able to part with that much cash. They certainly aren't cheap in the first place but they're a small company and they've never made affordability a priority over quality and functionality.

I did a little check on Pedal Playground and a MF would fit on top or underneath (if my maths is right). You'd sacrifice as much space as a PT Classic jnr.

Running the top tier as its own board is blowing my mind!

I'm with @tayste_2000 on the small, it would fit all the same pedals as my PT classic jnr in a smaller footprint. Plus the clearance underneath and the weight is better than the Schmidt Array. Though I don't think it'd fit my Moog MF 101.

I'd be a little concerned about how it carries in the bag as its a pretty chunky box all wrapped up.

On 28/02/2025 at 12:21, fretmeister said:

£375 for the small and another £180 for a bag?

 

Get. In. The. Sea.

Don't worry, it's actually only £114 for the small bag if you bundle them together 😂

44 minutes ago, pete.young said:

I've recently put this together to allow me to switch between double bass (using the EDB1) and bass guitar (the DHA VT1 Pro). The strange blue lump is a box with 3 momentary switches and one locking switch which I built for a Roland AC60. I'm using half of it to change channel and mute the amp, an EA Doubler. I really need to build a 2-switch box in a 1590A to get the size down a bit. I could use both amp channels, but I only want one tuner, compressor, and high pass filter. EDB1 runs on internal batteries since the power bank only has one 12V output, though I guess I could run the DHA at 9V.

 

 

 

Cables are a mess. What do people recommend for a more compact solution with the right lengths? I'm wary about the solderless ones because we have a guitarist who has no end of trouble with them, but maybe that's because he is a guitarist.

 

The Becos is an amazing compressor but I'm having a tough time finding a power cable with a long enough plug. Most are too short to work at all. I have a Maplin one but it falls out occasionally and I've taped it in place.

 

Also, if anyone has a flip-flop circuit to fit an LED to a momentary switch I'd be very glad of it.

 

I've been using Evidence Audio solderless for 3 or 4 years (much to all of my pedalboard loving friends' chagrin) but I've only had <5 break on me. I don't know if that's quality or luck! You can get patch cables with smaller jacks than you have from EBS and others, and in varying lengths. Alternatively, you could get a raised pedalboard so there is room underneath for power and cables. Even a pedaltrain Metro has enough clearance for cabling. They can be picked up secondhand for not very much.