Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

Kiwi

Administrator
  • Posts

    10,787
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    3

Posts posted by Kiwi

  1. [quote name='ped' post='63757' date='Sep 21 2007, 07:15 PM']I will have to warm up the Spankatron! Line up you lot![/quote]
    We're gonna have the spankatron!
    We're gonna have the spankatron!
    We're gonna have the spankatron!
    Goody goody goody!

  2. [quote name='ped' post='63671' date='Sep 21 2007, 04:00 PM']P.s phatmonkey, sort this out now or you can hand in your resignation. I expect it on my virtual desk by the morrow[/quote]
    Strewth, look who really wears the trousers around here! :) :huh: :huh: :huh: :huh: :ph34r:

  3. Out of respect to Bill, its worth bearing in mind his arrangements over the licensing of these cab designs. If you want a set of cabs, you need to buy the plans from him regardless of whether you're doing the work yourself or not.

    If you want to use an "Approved Builder" that's up to you, but there's no monopoly on good workmanship as far as I'm aware and its perfectly acceptable for anyone to make them on your behalf so long as they're using the plans you've bought from Bill.

  4. I've found that buying is an awful lot easier than selling! :) It also helps to plan what you need and what you want so at least you keep a lid on impulse buying.

    I'm never going to realistically use more than three basses on stage. I can justify 4, or maybe now 5, in terms of my working instruments. All the rest are toys in a way.

    It doesn't stop the gas but its easier to rationalise the next purchase. Aside from the Shuker 6, the only bass I could probably justify is a black Celinder Update P... ...or maybe I'd get Jon Shuker to make versions of both...

    ...GAH! It doesn't end!!

  5. [quote name='Gwilym' post='63391' date='Sep 20 2007, 11:35 PM']frankly, after R5R5's problems, I'm amazed you didn't just use the Gallery :)[/quote]
    I'd sold 4 other basses with 2 of the sales going super smoothly and BC coughing up on time (or close to it) on a third. But the delay in getting the cheque for the other Modulus of 7 weeks was forgivable once. Barry coughed up quickly when Napper drew his attention to the bitchfest that was happening on Bassworld over R5R5's Smith.

    This time I didn't mention Bassworld, Basschat or anything because why should I expect different service to anyone else?

  6. well, I managed to speak to Barry this afternoon. As predicted, he was full of apologies and the only explanation he could offer was they'd been "disorganised". Disorganised as it took him 2 weeks to sign a bloody cheque. It took them over 4 weeks to implement back up procedures.

    I didn't let rip as I don't think it would have done any good, Barry would have just accused me of being unreasonable and its obvious to me that they're not going to change.

    Cheque is supposed to arrive tomorrow or Saturday but I am NOT going back to shop or sell there again. F*** 'em.

  7. [attachment=2414:DHA_VT_1...mpressor.jpg]

    [b]Dave Hall Amps VT-1 Bass Compressor[/b]

    [i]Features: 7 [/i]
    This pedal features the following:
    Controls: Compression threshold, Decay, Level control, plus impedance pad and boost level
    Switches: soft/hard compression ratio, boost on off, effect on-off

    The boost control wasn't necessary for my preferred settings because I got better results through not using it. But that doesn't necessarily mean another player might not find it useful. Hard/soft ratio is useful for helping to turn the pedal from a compressor to a limiter for use, say, after a synthbass pedal or similar source of potentially spiking audio signal.

    [i]Sound Quality: 7[/i]
    I tried my Smith BSR5-GN and Celinder Update 4 through a super clean sounding GK RB700 1x15 combo.

    OK, lets be honest, this pedal isn’t going to put Avalon out of business, but this pedal isn’t at an Avalon price either. :huh: Through my GK, its possible to generate noticable levels of hiss with extreme settings, but when used in moderation the pedal is perfectly acceptable for live use. Using good quality cables makes a [u]significant[/u] difference as well. Do NOT use cheap Maplins-type cables, they will act like antennae and you’ll end up sorry! :) I am also aware that my GK generates a significantly glassier tone than many other of the bassbash rigs I've tried. So its worth bearing that in mind when I comment on noise or hiss, it might well be that most members wouldn't notice much.

    The boost added an edge to the tone, in the same way as when the compressor was off. But it also increased hiss so generally I left it off. After mucking about a bit with extreme settings I settled on having the boost off, compression threshold at 9 oclock, decay at 1 oclock and level at 2 oclock.

    I ended up with a subtle compression which didn’t colour the sound too much, the noise levels were very low and the blue LED showed me that the effect was still happening. The general effect that was full, smooth and free of spiky edges :huh:. I also have to confess that knowing what the controls do is one thing but knowing how they interact is another entirely. There are many permutations of loudness to be had by varying the IP pad knob against the boost control and level. For the purpose of this review, I aimed for a sound I felt I could use every rehearsal.

    With the Smith, the VT-1 compressor evened things out a lot, and reduced some of the lower-midrange boom. On the Celinder, it fattened up the midrange very nicely and took away some of the brittleness of the Lindy single coils. I could transfer from slap to fingerstyle with very little loss in punch or volume yet the sound wasn’t coloured excessively either. There was plenty of snap coming through the amp when the compressor was engaged, and no distortion unless extreme settings were used.

    The one thing worth bearing in mind is that because this pedal is true bypass, you will get a loud pop, the first time you step on the on/off switch after power up. I recommend turning on the compressor before the amp or at least while the amp has a mute switch active.

    [i]Reliability: N/A[/i]
    I haven’t tested this pedal in anger yet, but I’ll see what other members think of it in due course.

    [i]Customer Support: 9[/i]
    Dave’s on BC all the time, and the pedal comes with a 12 month parts and labour warranty so long as you don’t subject the pedal to silly extremes he'll be there for you.

    [i]Overall Rating:[/i]
    I’m going to rate it a 7.5. Obviously it’s not as quiet as a studio valve compressor, but its not as bad as the Ibanez CL10 I once owned and certainly in the top quarter of all the pedal compressors I've tried. The Trace compressor is quieter but I think the VT-1 pedal is more subtle and that valve works a bit more magic on your tone. The key to using the pedal effectively is a little goes a long way. The LED which lights up when the set compression threshold is reached lets you know with certainty how much compression is happening and when its in effect so you can see for yourself when the pedal is doing its job.

    Try a little tenderness and it will reap dividends, I was very satisfied with the pedal and plan on making it a staple part of my live rig.

  8. These days people might ask 'why do you need a 4x10'?

    Build your own, everyone on this forum says great things about Bill Fitzmaurice's designs. They're more efficient than a standard bass reflex cab so you get more loudness and frequency response with less speakers.

    [url="http://www.billfitzmaurice.com/"]http://www.billfitzmaurice.com/[/url]

×
×
  • Create New...