cheddatom

[quote name='lemoley' post='56904' date='Sep 7 2007, 12:03 PM']e.g im looking at my Digitech EX-7 expression pedal for guitar and the only moving part on it is the pedal, now if you get a wiring diagram for a Crybaby look how much sh*t is in there at the end of the day man i paid lots of money for my Crybaby and it was full of problems - kept breaking and the quality of wah it produced varied since then (and were talking years here) i have bought and used nothing but digital and how happy am i with there sound and quality? 100%[/quote] In your cry baby, the only moving part is the pot built into the pedal. If you get an "optical" wah, I think morley make them, they have an LED and an LDR and in between a bit of plastic that moves up and down when you move the pedal, changing resistance, letting you wah. If you get a digital wah, there will be a pedal, and either a built in pot that will break, or an optical system. This can be digital or analog. There is nothing else that will move. Maybe after 10 years or so you will get degredation of transistors etc, but there is no "digital is better than analog" rule. Your EX-7 has a pedal that has to change resistance somehow.

[quote name='lemoley' post='56884' date='Sep 7 2007, 11:35 AM']the reason i prefer Digital over Analogue is that imo the said effect sounds alot better and also you tend not to have any problems with them due to there being no moving parts that could potentially break or need replacing etc...[/quote] How could you have a wah with no moving parts? Unless instead of "digital" you're meaning "optical" in that some pedals use light/ldr type deal as opposed to a physical pot. Some other people have said above, but, there is nothing inherently better about digital products. You certainly couldn't generalise and say "digital wahs are better quality than analog". Has anyone else tried the wah probe on bass? I seriously think it's amazing, more people should try it!

I need a new amp. I can't afford it right now to be honest, but am looking to get it in the next 12 months. However, i've never seen an amp that has the specifications I want, let alone played one I loved enough. At the moment, I have a Peavey 1 x 15 combo, which I think puts out 220W at 2 or 4 ohms, not sure! This amp has nice "punch" and "bright" pre-amp curves which I like, and a decent E.Q. The feature I need is the crossover outputs, of which I use the Hi output to drive my Johnson 120w 2 x 12" guitar combo. This bi-amp set up sounds great, specially when I have my TE extension cab plugged in. It's not loud enough though, or at least there's not enough headroom. There's a little yellow danger light that comes on when the amp is too loud, and it's on most of the time when i'm at a gig without the TE cab. I would like another 1 x 15" combo, as I can't really fit the TE cab in the car for gigs (it's 1 x 18, 1 x 10, horn). So, a 1 x 15 combo, with crossover and extension cab outs and some E.Q. It doesn't sound that complicated now! Any suggestions?

[quote name='lemoley' post='56661' date='Sep 6 2007, 07:27 PM']you know guys i have just realised that the specifications that i want in a wah are just too much for any company to come up with... True Bypass - On/Off Digital Volume Amount of Wah Different types of wah on it also - Auto, Synth etc i think im gonna have to stick to my origianl idea and go custom[/quote] Why do you want it to be digital? XP-100 has some cool wahs and auto wahs, 6 memory patches and a bypass switch. You could probably mod it for tb, but maybe just buy a loop pedal? You'd need a blender to mix the wet and dry though.

You don't have to go for it any less, just attack the strings at a slightly different angle! If I could describe my subtle shift in picking technique, it would be very helpful. Sorry!

I have not tried them, so I am no help whatsoever and you shouldn't keep reading my post. However, the best wah I have tried (and i've tried a few - boss, guitar cry baby, some morley wah) is the Zvex Wah Probe!!!!!! You can't get funkier.

If you don't want to change your technique, you can get all sorts of wrist supports from the chemist and sports shops. I have to wear them sometimes to play due to a wrepetetive strain. I do find I get a clammy wrist though, which is very annoying, and I usually take them off and take the pain (or pain killers).

I use a thumb pick so that I can swap between fingers and pick without having to pick it up then put it down etc. I like to play chords and etc with a pick, I guess 'cos I'm used to the guitar, and it helps me pick out individual notes. I like to play "basslines" with my fingers. Now i've been playing for a while, I can pick as fast as I can finger and vice versa, so it's all just about tone and feeling now. I voted for "use both equally" but I really wouldn't know to be honest!

I used to get this when I started, going from acoustic guitar at home, to playing a crap squire 4 string with a pick at gigs. I think I just learned to pick differently. It comes from your wrist rubbing against the body, and it shouldn't really touch the body while you're picking the bass (I don't know about "proper" technique, just mine). It does look weird when you have blood on your white bass and come off stage and your wrist is bleeding.

[quote name='BassManKev' post='56126' date='Sep 5 2007, 06:10 PM']ye i love them [/quote] Heh, cool. You should hear the new songs, we haven't been able to get in the studio in 2 years! Soon though hopefully.

you should put the big muff after the q-tron, then use the rat, q-tron and muff all at the same time!

[quote name='Higgie' post='54809' date='Sep 3 2007, 04:22 PM']I always run gain into filter. Gives awesome synthy tones.[/quote] A dynamic filter though? You know what I mean by the q-tron being a pedal that reacts to the dynamics of your playing. And you know distortion/fuzz takes away your dynamics, so, you must have a pretty constant sound coming out of the q-tron? Still, I have got some nice sounds with fuzz before my bass balls, but, it's kind of insulting the bass balls, not letting it do what it was made to do!

[quote name='BassManKev' post='54612' date='Sep 3 2007, 10:23 AM']ye i second that, tis very weird its sometimes nice to have a very mild overdrive before a envelope though, gives it a nice bite[/quote] Yeh, I have a very small bit of grit before my bass balls, but, if I want proper drive or fuzz, it has to go after! Otherwise the bass balls is just boring.

[quote name='ahpook' post='53454' date='Aug 31 2007, 04:04 PM']so here'my setup - not on a pedalboard as such, but i plan to get my woodworking skills going soon as my current pedalbox isn't large enough !!! can you tell i like a bit of distortion? [attachment=2020:bc_pedals.jpg][/quote] It seems weird that you have the q-tron after distortion, as it wont have as much dynamics to react with.

I played guitar since I was 8, and I still love to play. I mainly write music/songs on guitar too. I play the bass 'cos it's what I wanted to do in a band situation. I feel I have much more control over the band's whole sound, and i'm very much into rythm, and percussion, which you can do quite nicely on an acoustic guitar, but gets lots in the mix of a band on electric. With the bass, you're always playing rythms and grooves, and I personally have a very percussive style. So, yeh, basically i'm another guitarist who's mate wanted them to play bass in a band and now i'm hooked!

I have the B2.1U I use the "distortion" patch I think, with very low gain setting for a nice OD sound. Then I copy this to most of my patches, and play with the phaser, wah, delay, and synth. Two particular patches I always use at gigs are OD>pedal wah>delay and OD>Phaser. Obviously, i'm not using the right names for the Zoom modules, but...... My main peice of advice would be to play with it yourself. You're obviously getting used to practicing with changing the sounds and making new ones, just keep doing that and you'll end up knowing the sound you're after, and knowing how to get that sound.

[quote name='john_the_bass' post='52797' date='Aug 30 2007, 02:20 PM']that's it - Hope Street. I remember one of the shops had a load of old pony in it, another shop had a couple of interesting bits, including 2 tele basses and one of them had the most bizarre selection of stuff in it I'd ever seen - I think that was Route 66. He even had some route 66 branded guitars that looked a bit mad and had presumably been sat in the shop for 20 years.[/quote] Heh, yeh, I think they're still there! He never has what you need, just everything else.

[quote name='john_the_bass' post='52736' date='Aug 30 2007, 12:39 PM']SC it is then - I was hoping there might be one or two little independents worth looking at. i'm out for the day and it's a bit dull when you're on your own i might go through stoke on the way and have a look at the shops in hanley (there are 4 or 5 on the same street, but i can't remember the street!) and then come back through the peak district and see if there is owt round there. I know there's somebody with a shop in Ashbourne anyway[/quote] Hah, Stoke! That's where i'm from :-/ There are a few shops on Hope street, but, they're not doing very well. Rythm House has some interesting basses and amps, but, it's a small place and does everything. The other shops on the same street are route 66 which may have a random beauty, but has probably gone bust since I was last there, and Kays music, which has a nice selection of bass amps upstairs. There was another couple of music shops in Hanley, but they're closed now. The sound control on the other side of Hanley is allright.

We supported Status Quo last year! :-/

[quote name='BassManKev' post='51802' date='Aug 28 2007, 04:08 PM']not actually tried it no, but i thought it had the same problem as the whammy 2 and bass whammy, that stupid input gain thing that most of the time made notes decay dissapointingly quickly?[/quote] I wouldn't know about that issue. Care to expand/give me a link? It's a bit dodgy is the way the gain pot reacts with my compressors. I can't quite understand it. Apart from that, it has a fatter tone, and tracks easily as well as the WH-4 I think. Only a very slight difference though.

[quote name='BassManKev' post='50901' date='Aug 26 2007, 01:55 PM']dont bother with the whammy 2 or the xp100, they arnt very good compared to the original and 4 iv had the original and 4th, the original was definaty better sounding, was alot warmer and tracked and sustained far far better. but if you dont use the harmonies much and you just want one to mess around with the whammy functions, then the 4 will do fine. i sold my 4 for £120, and my original for £300[/quote] Have you tried the XP-100? It sounds better than the WH-4 IMO.

[quote name='G-bitch' post='50147' date='Aug 24 2007, 01:55 PM']Tom - I'll check some of that no-logo stuff out when I'm back on a home connection! Sounds interesting.[/quote] Did you have a listen? I always welcome opinions/constructive criticism!

[quote name='G-bitch' post='50057' date='Aug 24 2007, 12:13 PM']Some seriously nice looking boards going on here. There are also some which appear to be practically unusable to my eyes; cheddatom, that all looks like you need to be crawling around on your knees to use it - is it work in progress? Also some without any kind of true bypass system in place - which is ok with a few high end pedals, but once you've a couple of boss buffers in the mix your clean sound is fooked![/quote] Heh, you should hear my clean sound, and then tell me it's fooked! It's always a work in progress. I neither have the money, time, nor motivation to stick all my pedals down. I have them set up at practice, then just squash the flightcase lid on there. When I get to a gig, I take the lid off and sort out whatever has moved, which is never much. I don't crawl around at all really, occasionally i'll bend down, to switch my dano pedal for example, which has a crap footswitch. I regularly gig with around 20 pedals, at least 16 of which are essential for my band's sound. It may look like chaos, but, listen to the music (no-logo.co.uk)! There is some order.

I'm not sure if this is particularly useful but...... I have a HH 2 x 12" guitar combo that is amazingly loud (don't know it's watt rating) and has a gorgeous "toppy" or "jazzy" sound for bass. If you could find one of them, it'd be perfect. You won't beleive the sheer volume you can get from one of these, and it has no problem keeping up with the low end either (including low A on the 6 string).