stewblack

Hey guys, gals, experts, and fellow confused travellers. What if any are the benefits of the Thumpinator over this Zoom hack ?

Private party up in Twickenham. Went down a storm. Mandolin player and BL turned up sans mandolin and had to turn around and drive back to Oxford to get it. Our singer does the best photo bombing of anyone I know. Here she is ruining a picture of my rig.

Yes! I traded a Sub n up for the Valeton, People thought I was bonkers but it's perfect

I fingered one in PMT Bristol when they came out. I liked it a lot I must say.

Which joyo model is it you have Bruno?

What instrument, pedal, amp or any other piece of your kit has turned out to be an unexpected keeper? I was musing on this one at last night's gig after once again eschewing more prestigious amps, preferring instead to take my venerable Behringer BX4500H. This really has proved to be the hidden gem in my collection. The eq is hugely flexible, the 'shape' control in particular gives many usable options. Their undeserved reputation for unreliability is given the lie too. This beauty has run and run for decades now and outlasted other more famous brands I've owned. Another stick Behringer are beaten with is their wattage claims (let's not get into that here it's surely been done to death) but the 450w they claim on this amp sounds, if anything, quite conservative. It's a powerful beast. So, what unconsidered trifles do you want to champion? Zoom B1on better than your Helix? Harley Benton jazz knock your 72 Fender out of the park? Come on let's here it for the bargain basement, the rough diamonds, the secret love of your bass life.

Finally got round to following the above suggestions at Friday's gig. It's a real game changer. Used a humble B1on as an ersatz Thumpinator, a compressor and a smidge of distortion too. Utterly transformed where the bass sat it the mix. I was never loud, no trouser flapping bottom but I heard every note clearly. Lost a bit too much dynamic control which suggested to me that I was a little heavy handed with the compression, but the band sounded better, and I was heard. Result. The sound itself was quite pleasing, the distortion gave it a bit of character without sounding like rock or metal (not what I was after in this particular band) and it was nicely tight and controlled. Count me in the HPF/Comp Club.

Might be a bit of a big step as you're just starting out. I struggled with multiple pedals when I started (not very long ago) and I experimented an awful lot before finding what works for me, and even then I change it all regularly! Maybe start with a couple pedals, get a feel for them then add others in over time.

I love mine! But that does not answer your question. When pedals are in series each one affects the next one in the chain. This is sometimes desirable. I have pitch shifter I always use with a distortion for example. An octaver which benefits from a graphic eq - that kind if thing. However a parallel set up means each pedal is blended with the clean signal and nothing else (unless you place other pedals in a loop with it). So the synth, octave and fuzz for example will be running side by side and not affecting one another but producing the sound of three different bassists playing simultaneously through three different effects. It's massive Or subtle You get to mix each one how you want to.

Get a Tri Parallel Mixer rather than faffing with the little Boss thing. The order others are suggesting seems sensible to me i.e. fuzz before filter, tuner and comp before all, pitch near the start. But with the Tpm nothing is before or after anything else...

I couldn't possibly comment

I have two basses in the local 2nd hand store, plus amp and cab, effect pedal and a, um, well a 'tribute' to a famous type of bass for sale on Facebook.

This was Saturday's offering. I seem to be changing my board every time I play. No not seem to be - I am changing my board every week. Think I've finally grasped it. Don't buy hundreds of amps cabs and guitars - you'll not use more than a fraction of them. But buying, selling and trading pedals makes all sorts of sense. Comparitively inexpensive and you can use twenty at one gig (if you so desire of course). Anyhow I give you my modular system, the T-Bone: I actually prefer having two or three smaller boards over one giant one. I prefer making a few trips with lighter bags than one ungainly heavy case case. Makes loading a small car easier too. I have a cunning plan for making on stage assembly much quicker. A row of 1/4" sockets on the back edge of the top board with cables coming up through the board terminating in flat plugs. Ultimimately I'd rather like another TPM. Once you've gone parallel you never want to go back.

Possibly...but let's wait and see, have a few things up for sale but not much moving anywhere right now. Already taken some big hits, market very sluggish. But if I can shift just a couple of bits then my name is firmly on a kit.

Attach the cloth however seems best but staple the velcro. Having worked as an upholsterer I can tell you no adhesive will hold as strong as the velcro holds to itself.

Took me until this morning to get the jokes. Damn this virus has destroyed any remaining shreds of intelligence I may have possessed.

I have used mine both as 3 stand alone pedals and multiple pedals combined into patches. It kind of depends on the band. I'm in a fairly loose pub covers band and it's fun to have different effects and use them on the fly however I fancy. Depping in a more formal function band I will load up the entire set, each patch labelled with each song title in set order and just move through a patch at a time. If one song calls for something different under a solo or wotnot I will copy the main patch tweak it for whatever the change is save the tweaked patch adjacent to the original then just go up to it as and when the song calls for it. That way I don't have to think just keep pressing the button to call up the next patch as and when needed. Labelling patches is important as it ensures I know where I am if, say the box gets stomped accidentally. When I use it as 3 stand alone pedals I can of course choose another three, six, nine whatever, but six is my maximum for ease. 'Patch' A1 might have distortion, chorus, compressor , A2 flanger, synth, compressor. That way if just one song has synth on it I go back out of home into bank, up to A2, out of bank and back to home. I can keep my compressor on throughout the gig but have that synth and flanger ready for that one song. The change sounds fiddly but in reality doing it between songs takes less time than a guitarist uses to check themselves in the mirror.

Agreed. The money I spent on my lessons was worth so much more than if I'd bought another guitar. Just wish I'd kept it up.

Played a birthday party in a large function room of a pub. It was a timeless experience for a musician. How many have played to that exact crowd in that exact environment down through the years? Made me smile to reflect on this passion of ours, and made me realise how much I love it. Every part of it, from the hours of fiddling with effects at home, right through to the late night motorway drive back. Quite simply I'm where I should be.

Well my little clean up operation obviously worked. Gigged ťhe same amp/cab combination as last week with no problems at all. Dust blower and switch cleaner may not be the most hi tech tools but they did the job.

I must say the 9v output is genius, and the gain / tuner led array also. Any new amp not designed with tuner and 9v out is really missing a trick. Also I think bluetooth would be a good idea. Just pair with your phone and play away, no need for aux soxkets. Oh and a built in wireless receiver. Think I'll go have a lie down, enough geniusing for one day.

*cough* pictures *cough*

It's OK Al, Cat did say it happens but it shouldn't. I really didn't mean to open a can of worms.