indiegrungesound

[quote name='bonzodog' timestamp='1504299088' post='3364053'] I don't think they are as heavy as people make out. Unfortunately with the birth of class D amps everything else feels heavy. But the LH500 is not as heavy as others I've had. Only reason I moved them on was size rather than weight. [/quote] +1 to this! They are cumbersome and a little awkward in terms of their dimensions. Mine is more so due to the slightly oversized 3U Flightcase I have it housed in (It overlaps the front and back of my cabs. Though this does allow for the safe storage of the necessary plugs and speaker cables!). And yet it's still only a quarter of the weight of an Ampeg valve head or the like! :-)

[quote name='dudewheresmybass' timestamp='1504502584' post='3365223'] The new bass preamp box from ehx has a glove built in as its drive section- the only difference essentially being that they be added a blend to the circuit. Should help alleviate any low loss 😉 [/quote] If the pedal you mean is the EHX Battalion, then I DID seriously consider buying that one, as it too, looks awesome! However, I'm happy with how my setup is shaping up! I really like my clean bass tone! So it makes more aesthetic and sonic sense to both my preferences and my current band's live sound! It's just a shame I got the Glove before the Hot Wax and Russian Big Muff Nano got released! :@ Then again, I could still buy The Crayon and the Russian Big Muff later anyway! B-)

Ta for the feedback! I take your points about the low gain tone and the bass drop off. I do have to say that that last point isn't a problem for me with how I use it; as the pedal is pushing a guitar amp with all the bass EQ cut, set to "Crunch".

There's a LOT of good things and great features about the ME-50B! The Sansamp emulator ("Bass Driver") and Overdrive effects are great, particularly the Bass Driver. The Octave up and down features can be activated by the whammy/wah/expression pedal or by the first footswitch bank. The Modulation bank has a sweet Chorus + Delay effect! The onboard tuner and compressor/limiter are great to. I did have a problem with the power cutting out a couple of months back which was a bit worrying. Then again, I've had it for over 14 years, so they are well built and tough/rugged! Mine will have to go soon, Though it's more to do with a rig overhaul. My rig is, as I've mentioned multiple times on this page, is a Royal Blood/Slavesesque guitar and bass amp rig, so I'm only running drive and Distortion through a guitar amp, whilst keeping the bass tone clean! If you do get one though, you shouldn't be disappointed!:-)

Just curious if anyone uses one of these! I really like mine! I just wanted to know what anyone else thought of them.

[quote name='isteen' timestamp='1504179531' post='3363181'] The LH500 does not have Speakon connectors, or am I wrong? [/quote] Just to confirm, the LH500 does not have Speakon connectors. It has 1/4" jacks. If your EBS cabs have Speakon only connectors, then purchasing 1/4" to Speakon speaker cables shouldn't be too much of an extra expense. Not used mine for a while, as my TC Electronic BH500 is an easier carry and has better Mid boost features. The LH500's still a cracking amp, so if you want one, new or second hand, it shouldn't be too hard to get hold of one!

[quote name='interpol52' timestamp='1502715406' post='3353031'] Thanks!... My avatar and username are nods to two of my all time favourite bands. I love the Husker Du logo. [/quote] Excellent choices! I really like Interpol. And Hüsker Dü-just like Sugar or anything Bob Mould does now!-are awesome! The band's logo is the only thing I've ever considered getting a tattoo of! More importantly, I hope the rig, be it in it's current form or potential future expansion, keeps serving you well!

[quote name='interpol52' timestamp='1502488146' post='3351871'] I've got a really low budget Hartke set up. A HA2500 and a VX115. ... Sounds great! [/quote] Sounds like an awesome set up! I hope you can get a 2nd 15" or matching VX210 for a nice mini stack to get the full 4 ohms out of the HA2500! Excellent Avatar & Username btw! :-)

[quote name='casapete' timestamp='1502451219' post='3351535'] Love Hartke stuff, great bang for the buck. My favourite is the HA3500 - reliable great sounding amp. I replaced an SVT3pro with one and it blew the Ampeg away , and for around half the price too. Not had many Hartke cabs, for me not as strong as the amps though. [/quote] As an owner of an LH500 head and a former owner of a HA3500 head and a Transporter 4x10" cab, I second this. The cab was a bit underwhelming (Though they were the second string version of Hartke's top range XL cabs, which are now discontinued!), but the amps are brilliant!

Just got back from rehearsals with the band. It was a bit of a Red Letter day for my rig tonight! Not only did I use my recently purchased EHX OD Glove in a band setting for the first time; but I also had The Katana set on maximum 50 watt output. The last part was necessitated by the guitarist having the use of the same type of amp as his biggest amp, so I had the perfect opportunity to test it as live as possible amp wise! I also placed my Reverb pedal set to Shimmer, placed after the OD Glove.I also abandoned my Boss ME-50B entirely for the run-through! Everything worked very well! A good clean bass tone coupled with a crunchy/overdriven "rhythm guitar" signal sounds great! Watch this space for more!

[quote name='rOB' timestamp='1501369835' post='3344349'] Sounds like a lot of fun. Good luck with finding the perfect sounds. [/quote] Trust me. It is! :-) I think the acid test will be when my band plays it's next gig @ The Academy 3 in Manchester in September! Watch this space!

Just put the Katana through it's paces with the addition of the Electro Harmonix OD Glove today. The pedal was placed after my Rowin Ocean Verb pedal and just before the amp. The Crunch channel was switched on, whilst the onboard Drive effect was switched to the "Blues Drive" setting. The OD Glove performed exactly as-if not better than-I expected! It's a wonderfully dirty sounding drive pedal, with a nice break up in the clipping and sustain-if you want it-for days. It really lends itself the shoegaze style indie rock! I also got some nice surprizes when I switched the Drive dial over to Modulation, then selected the "Chorus" setting; whilst setting my reverb pedal to Shimmer mode! And all this was carried out with the Katana set to 0.5 watts output! I can only imagine how delightfully noisy it'll at higher volume and output! B-)

[quote name='bazztard' timestamp='1499746592' post='3333260'] Ditch the ME50b and buy individual pedals, COSM sounds aweful today.[/quote] I have considered that, but I do happen to like the sounds of the COSM effects. They also work in the context of the band mix too! There's also the fact that the ME-50B has a Combined Chorus/Reverb effect that sounds great and is integral to one of the songs in my band's set. I don't know if there's an equivalent and/or affordable alternative in a single stomp box readily available. I think Earthquaker Devices do one (The Dispatcher), and-if memory serves me correctly-Mooer do something similar. It'd just be a case of considering sourcing and cost! Ta for the feedback anyway!

In my experience, I would warn you against using the Rowin Octopus pedal. It's in the price range, but it doesn't hold up well compared to the better standard/dearer pedals. The one I briefly had Octaved up a tone/semitone out of key. It didn't sound right to my ears at all. Apologies if this doesn't help. I just wanted to give you a heads up!

I don't know if anyone else has had an issue like this with this pedal, but I thought I should ask! Whilst rehearsing today, the power went on my Boss ME-50B pedal. Basically, the lights started fluttering, the bass amp output started sputtering, the number/tuner display window flickered what looked like a "Db", then cut out completely. It did this twice in 10 minutes. The power also went from my reverb and line/amp selector pedal (Every was being powered by a Boss 9v adaptor plug, linked by a Stagg daisy chain extension.). After a lot of unplugging & plugging back in, I was able to get back up & running. I had my Boss ME-50B running off of the Boss 9v plug only, whilst I had my octave, reverb & line selector pedals daisy chained from my 2nd/back up 9v adaptor (An EHX branded one.). I think I might need to use a surge protected extension lead next time, whilst maybe getting & using some new & better grade of daisy chain leads, at the very least. Has anyone had issues like this with a Boss ME-50B? Or any other Multi effects bass pedals. I was a bit dismayed, as this the first time anything like this has happened with this pedal in the 13 or so years of owning & using the pedal!

Just got back from rehearsals with the band. I had the Katana up against half of my TC Electronic/Warwick stack for my bass. The Katana was set to Crunch with the "Blues Drive" boost and 25 watt output. I also plugged in the Mega Distortion pedal that the guitarist is no fan of. I only used the Mega Distortion a couple of times. It only had one good sound near the end of one of our songs. It didn't sound that good otherwise! However, the rest of the set up sounded great! It really does wonders for the band's sound! It can add the right amount of subtle texture to all out, "Wall of Sound" thickness! The next step will be getting the Channel switch pedal that Boss do for the Katana 50, with either a Distortion/OD pedal & maybe the EHX Pitch Fork. So far though, I'm very pleased indeed!

Ta for all the feedback so far folks!

Thanks for the feedback so far! Just to clarify, I actually already have a Nano POG, which is brilliant! The reason I think I should get the Pitch Fork-apart from the fact that I think Electro Harmonix's gear is awesome-is due to it's "add a 5th" feature. If the Youtube video I saw was correct, then it'll sound more rhythm guitar like than with purely the Nano POG. Also, the size and layout of the Pitch Fork looks more straightforward.

I've got a BH500, which is the older, "big" amplifier TC Electronic do/did that came out before the Blacksmith and the newer, TonePrint enabled BH amps. It's pretty much got the same EQ layout as the RH heads. Have you tried boosting the Spectracomp and Tubetone dials? It could be totally NOT what you want soundwise. Some people really hate the Spectracomp. However, I love it! I find that it at least gives me enough volume when playing live. Hope that helps!

Does anybody on here use one of these? I think that, after doing some Youtube research, it might just be THE pedal I need in my guitar amp signal chain for my two amp/two octave rig! Any thoughts would be much appreciated!

I'm very curious about this pedal too! I'm very tempted to put it into the octave up/guitar amp signal chain of my experimental 2 amp rig!

Just had a go with a practice amp level run through. This time, both the Dry and Effect Out outputs were used on the Nano POG. The Dry output went into my Peavey Microbass via my Boss ME-50B effects pedal. The Effect Out chain had my Behringer Line Selector pedal in this time as a killswitch for the Katana. The Katana's output was set @ 0.5 watts. The Microbass, which is actually a very loud practice amp, was kept at a low volume. The only other change I made was to use the "Distortion" setting instead of "Blues Drive" on the Boost dial. The amp mode was Crunch. This set up can make a hell of a lovely cacophony! I'm not sure if I'll need to use the Rowin Ocean Verb pedal all the time, but the "Room" setting works pretty well. I also need to decide what Overdrive or Distortion pedal would work best in conjunction with the amp. It could be a Tube Screamer type, a Fuzz. I had a go on an Electro Harmonix OD Glove last week, which sounded SO good on a Six string(I've no idea if it'll work on an octave up pedal bass signal though!). I'm also likely to borrow my guitarist's Boss Mega Distortion pedal at the next rehearsal. I'll be back with the results in due course!

Just wanted to quickly ask about. I haven't found any actual Ibanez Tube Screamer pedals in the local music stores in Manchester recently. However, I have found that, if I wanted, there are copy/clone/equivalent pedals available. The choice is either The Green Mile by Mooer or The East River Drive by EHX. Which one do you good people think would be best? Any and all opinions are welcome!

Just posting a quick update on the amp, as I've just had an hour's hit out with it. I plugged in my Ibanez SR300 via the EHX Nano POG & Rowin Ocean Verb pedals. Didn't use my line selector pedal this time. Cut the Katana's Bass EQ completely, backed off the Mids a bit and left the Treble at 12 o'clock. Used the onboard Blues Drive effect at just under halfway. To my ears, it sounds very "Royal Blood/Black Keys"esque, which is great fun! It can be a little synthy, but don't think that should be a problem in a full band setting! Also, when the reverb pedal was on, this set up has feedback sustain for days! B-) It should be good for coming up with some Shoegaze/Sonic Youth style noise too! The only tweaking in might consider is made putting a Tube Screamer type drive pedal in the effects chain for more guitary sounding dirt (Emily Kokal from Warpaint uses a Tube Screamer on all the time because her amp is a Roland Jazz Chorus.). I haven't seen an actual Tube Screamer in the local music shops, but I can get hold of a Mooer Green Mile or EHX East River Drive if required. The next update will come after the next band practice, so stay tuned!

[quote name='fretmeister' timestamp='1495194009' post='3302032'] I've had the HA3500 and the LH500 They sound a little different - but the LH500 is just a great reliable simple amp. It has massive headroom so you may well need a compressor to tame the peaks a bit - but you've got a Spectracomp so all is good! [/quote] I have a LH500 head. It's a great amp! It's been relegated to back up amp behind my TC Electronic BH500 mind, but it's still a great amp. If you can get a Spectracomp pedal, which the BH500 has built in, You'll be fine. If not, then just use the LH500's Limiter button. Oh, and the LH500 has an output of 350 watts @ 8 ohms, so you'll be fine using it with a 400 watt 8 ohm cab!