eude

And a headphone out and aux in!

If I had the money, I'd just buy a Helix, but I've gone from selling all my pedals, bar one, to buy a wee Zoom thing to stretching my budget a little in the hope of getting something with a little bit more for less than a real Helix... If it can match Zoom for sound quality I'll be delighted, and if it has solid build quality even better! I'm going to hold fire till all the NAMM announcements have been made, but I'm getting pretty close to pulling the trigger now. Eude

I've just received a response from HoTone about just how bass friendly the Ampero is, they said it has a dedicated library of effects and sims just for bass!!!

No bother mate. I'm very much in the market for something like this. I've been on the fence for ages, but I sat down with a bunch of my pedals yesterday for the first time in a VERY long time and ended up just getting frustrated with it how fiddly it all was. I don't use effects a lot, but I used to, so to have options on tap on something compact, user friendly, and well made would be ideal. I'm keeping Zoom's B3n as a back up plan, but I'm going to hang on and see how these, and potentially others pan out from NAMM. Our very own @Sibob is over there now, I've rather cheekily asked him to check out the HoTone if he gets time... Eude

Well, the HoTon Ampero has been officially announced and it's only £350 on Thomann! https://www.thomann.de/gb/hotone_ampero.htm?offid=1&affid=84 Bass is featured in the marketing info, which is a nice change >> http://www.hotoneaudio.com/products/Ampero/Ampero/2019/0123/307.html I like the way it looks like a mix of the full sized Helix and the Helix Stomp. Wonder if it's any good?.. Eude

Might be the GE200? I have heard from a couple of guitards I know through forums that the GE200 works surprisingly well, and they both know their gear, especially pedals! I wonder how the GE300 will compare... Eude

I'd agree with you up to a point about the Apple comparison, however I don't consider DG to be "evil" and they seem to be building stuff people want instead of telling people this is what they need and removing things that people really want/need. Price wise too, DG are expensive, but, not a patch on Apple's pricing strategies! In saying all that, I still use an Apple for work, I tried desperately to use Windows when I was freelance, but after 1.5 years, sitting back down in front of an iMac, I felt immediately at home again. I guess as long as someone else is paying for the Mac it doesn't matter. I still use Windows at home but slowly... The UV is nice, but yeah, it's too big to be useful in a pedal format, the whole classic look works really well on the amps, but not so much elsewhere. I think these pedal are about the size of the old Korg DT-10, which never struck me as being too big >> If they're any bigger, I think they might be in trouble... Eude

I feel sorry for Nokia, the Windows phones they produced before Microsoft bought them were wonderful, fantastic product design, great specs, up there with the best Android phones. If only they'd ditched Windows and jumped on the Android band wagon, I expect their story would've been very different...

I think the only way to break into pedals now is to make something completely new or do whatever you're doing way way better than anyone else. I'm not a huge fan of the DarkGlass sound, certainly not for my own playing, but man alive they got everything right, and nobody seems to mind that the pedals cost a lot either. Eude

Given that they'll be made in small batches, I expect they could discontinue them pretty damned quick if necessary.

There's another one on the block too. The Hotone Ampero >> http://www.hotoneaudio.com/news/297.html I'm moving on my pedals with a view to getting a good, but affordable multi-effects. Some kind of Helix would be lovely, but there's no chance I'd find one for under £300, which is my ceiling for this. Both of these "tributes" to the Helix have got my attention, I appreciate you don't need bass specific effects, but some bass amp sims would be nice. No mention that I can see of them anywhere... I agree with @BigRedX though, an external PSU makes them a bit less pro, more bedroom use. I won't be using mine live for some time, but a bit of future proofing can't hurt. What out there has an internal PSU? Eude

Wow, I didn't realise that! I thought at the end of the day, they can charge what they want, kind of similar business model to Fodera given the interest that's crept up, however if they're being made "overseas" and probably quite cheaply, I feel that the price tag is a bit nuts! On a side note, I'm not really convinced their guitar design translates well to a bigger instrument, looks a little off to me, and its a shame they didn't come up with something unique for their bass especially given how long this was in development. Personal taste of course, so please take it as such. Those out there who were mad keen on getting one, is that still the case now it's over £3k and made in Indonesia? I appreciate they're offering something pretty special if that's the flavour of special you like. Eude

I think that's a little unfair dude. Their RM range, the class D stuff replacing the old MAG stuff has been really well received, plenty of happy users out there and their valve stuff seems to get a lot of love too. They do bring out a lot of new gear, but frankly, I much prefer that, as even if a product doesn't stick, aspects of product development, manufacturing etcs, will always appear in other bits of gear here and there. Were they not they the first to commercially release a class D head in the Superfly many many moons ago? The head itself didn't stick, but class D certainly has, for better or worse. I appreciate these pedals are unlikely to sell that all well, but like I mentioned before, they've got very little to lose making them in small batches in here in the UK. They'll be high quality and I'm sure they'll tick the box for some out there. Eude

Another vote for ACG here 😎

If it comes to modding the neck, I guess anything you do could rather be conveniently hidden in the single cut neck neck joint

Things come full circle a lot quicker thanks to the internet. There's still not a lot of bolt-on single cut basses out there, compared the the more usual set-neck or neck-through anyway, and I believe that Shuker was the first Jon had made, and certainly one of the earliest ones here in the UK, so it's probably engrained into the search engines now. Eude

Well hello there! That bass used to be mine, and that's my photo! Small world @Andyjr1515! It's a Shuker Single Cut 6er, my first foray into the world of custom basses. I sold it, about 8 years ago I think to another member on here who doesn't seem to be around any more. It was a lovely lovely bass, but I hadn't quite figured out what I needed in a custom bass at that point, and things like nut width aren't exactly easy to change. Anyway, that would be a fine way to put together a bolt-on single cut, but I can appreciate how tricksy it will be to have the body follow the taper of the neck beyond the fender block. You could however try something like this super sexy ACG >> Just use the neck bolt pattern as it is, and then the rest of the single cut shape beyond that point is purely visual, rather than part of the joint itself? Just throwing it in there If anyone can figure this out it's you thought mate! Eude

It does look lovely, however I'd be tempted by a B/W/B one, just saying Eude

I MUCH prefer his tone there to his more recent sound too. Eude

Both my ACG headless basses fit nicely in a Fusion guitar sized case/bag >> https://www.fusion-bags.com/collections/guitar-gig-bags/products/urban-electric-guitar-gig-bag They're both 31.5", so a little longer than yours, but your basses should fit just fine. In fact, most guitar sized bags should do the trick. Eude

I'd be a little concerned about the lower horn not giving you enough purchase for it to balance well on the lap. Perhaps extend it a little to compensate for the big ol' headstock and 6 tuners?

Oooooh... Looking forward to seeing this come to life! I see you've got yourself 3 treats now, and yet nothing for me. Eude

That's really interesting. I used to do a lot of work with photographic companies and retailers, and one big camera company in particular who were my main client. We used to supply ads, banner campaigns etcs, every month to pretty much every single camera mag here in the UK and that didn't get you any favour when it came to how your reviews went, only the promise that they would actually review it. Eude

Nope. Yours is nicer dude, you can relax 😁

I know @rockdog was trying to sell my old ACG one a little while back, however his ad has gone... Here's my original ad >> It's a 31.5" scale, so maybe not short enough, but it's a lovely bass, and SO easy to play. I very much wish I hadn't had to sell it and that I could afford to have it back Eude