Wolverinebass

Just to clarify, "thick" meant "meaty with an emphasis on the lower mids." You have to go to pretty extreme settings to get mud with the Darkglass.

When I said mid scoop, it can be overcome to my liking mainly by engaging the mid shift and virtually maxing out the mid dial. It works perfectly well in a band mix. The darkglass has a natural tendency to be slightly "thick," but it's just different architecture anyway.

So, I recently acquired a Darkglass X ultra for my studio. I'm using my Tech 21 Dug Pedal in one of my bands. I'm sure some people I'm sure will be interested in the comparison? I sat down the other day with my Rick 4003 and set to work. Firstly, both pedals are brilliant. There is no denying that. Now, let's get down to the meat. The Dug is obviously based on achieving his own tone. Now, not everyone wants that. I don't. However, despite it having a fixed crossover it's amazingly versatile and even at more extreme gain settings is still musical. Now for the downside. The mid scoop. It's there where the problem lies with this. Even with fiddling you can't get it back as the pedal eq just isn't voiced that way. Most of the time this isn't a problem though. The clean tone is a bit so-so and it's impossible to switch from clean to dirty with settings that are workable for either. This then brings me to the Darkglass. It has both a filter for the lows to keep them clean and one for how much frequency wise of the signal gets distorted. Sharp bite to brutal fuzz is possible. The 7 band eq is great as well, so a clean tone is easy enough to achieve. This brings me on to the distortion. It has a different character than the Dug. The only way I could describe it is "Darkglass." It's just what it is. So, can you get the same sounds out of each? Yes, but it takes some effort. At harsher settings the Darkglass fizzes a bit and at higher low end settings the bass turns a bit mushy in my view. However, unless you're mental, you're not going to do that. So which is better? Depends on your point of view. The Dug is £150 cheaper give or take. But it's less flexible. The Darkglass has more things to get used to, but is much more agile to change on the fly. Is that worth the price difference? Depends. On a personal note, I'd use the Dug live as I know it better. However, I feel that more can be wrung out of the X ultra if you choose to try to. The fact it has switchable cab emulation is another bonus. Maybe the inherent "Darkglassness" of it might put people off, but in many ways it's better than the Dug. Possibly, the Dug has a more musical distortion, but that is a very personal choice for the player. I'm a Tech 21 person for life, but always like trying new stuff. Take your pick. I doubt either would disappoint anyone.

Its funny that. I've always had a fondness for delays on bass and long before I ever heard Tool. Funnily enough, I did a solo album last year and one of my mates said I'd went a bit Tool with this song. The fact I'm playing a Wal with delay on it is in no way a problem.

Well, I'm running my studio full time now rather than part time. I came to the decision that if I didn't do it now I never would. That's my shameless plug for this thread now! I might try and get a covers gig for a laugh and see if I can do it. You're more than welcome to pop over if you want Bas. I'm doing 2 original bands at the moment so the variety of instruments is why I have them all. None of them sound like each other.

It's black Trevor and my mum watched High Chaparral when I was a kid. She likes westerns.

So, here we go for one more. I needed a backup bass as it seems quite likely that I'll be on tour next year I'd been casting my eye around for a backup which could also double as my active studio bass. Anyway, I got a backup (No 10) and it kills. Kind of like a Stingray on steroids and it only cost £240! 1. Fenix by Young Chang (short scale) 2. Alembic Stanley Clarke Signature Standard 3. Status Graphite John Entwistle Buzzard 4. Warmoth 8 string Explorer 5. Hamer Chapparal 12 string 6. Eko Florence acoustic 7. Wal Mark 2 8. Fender Classic 50s Precision 9. Rickenbacker 4003 10. Schecter Raiden - Custom

The 1975 are awful. I try to not listen to bands like that as it makes me feel sad that they've got a deal and someone, somewhere with better music didn't.

Blue, if you're going to leave your band, do so. If you don't know what you want from your playing by now (other than money), you never will. Look for new opportunities. It's what we all do and fair play. Enjoy the journey. I've found that by being more open to things and people in the last few years has resulted in some of the best musical experiences of my life.

Not at all Lozz. Just putting our potential customers at ease that we're not going to walk out the store with a huge bag of basmati rice grinning for the CCTV. Or worse still, fret wraps. We've got the organisation covered. No storing bounty in our own wardrobe waiting for a knock at the door. Alibis have already been procured from high ranking politicians who quite frankly will say anything for a cheap holiday and a kickback.

So, just to make sure we have pre-arranged roles here. @Frank Blankis in charge of wheels, I'll handle "the shootahs," @fleabag can arrange for a cash paid lockup to store and then fence the goods and @hiram.k.hackenbacker will be in charge of "fitting up" one of our rival firms in the aftermath to divert attention in case an unfortunate store assistant should be accidentally shot in the head for refusing to open the Dingwall and Fodera rack. We've got this covered peeps. DM us any orders of gear you want and we'll see what we can do in the 5 minutes after the alarm goes of and before the cops turn up. Relax. We're professionals. All basses will be delivered with filed off serial numbers. Untraceable. Okay, someone might have been kneecapped for your new NG2 Combustion and Darkglass Microtubes amp, but if you can look yourself in the mirror afterwards, we'll take your money.

REM were a band I never liked too much as I found them a bit boring and dare I say it too safe. That's not to say they don't have good songs, but most of them said nothing to me. They certainly hung around too long. Then again, most bands do. Not everyone quits at the top like The Jam. My theory is that The Rolling Stones are the model of what happens when you try to carry on forever especially after you're incredibly successful. U2's career has followed that pattern and if you compare the ages of the members between the two bands and the albums they released at similar ages there are some very interesting parallels. Not necessarily interesting music I hasten to add, but interesting "time of life" parallels of waning creative juices and the occasional good song.

Get an estate car. It'll come in useful for the ram raid as well.

Yeah, go on then. I'm up for it!

Tech 21 are brilliant. Like Lozz, I favour the para driver for its sweepable mids. I use the Dug pedal in one of my bands and it just kills. I quite like the GT2 as well. That's great. The Red Ripper is really good too. Plus, for my insane rack setup I use the PSA 1.1, which I consider to be the best preamp ever made due to its flexibility through midi control. Pity they've discontinued it. If the Dug amp had mid presets I'd have that, but it doesn't sadly. Bummer. I love their stuff and quite frankly they have very few "so-so" products, if any. Just ones that don't work for what I want (cough - give me an endorsement, cough).

I have been waiting for this pedal actually. We are now reaching the £400 mark for a distortion pedal. Which is getting mental. I wouldn't mind trying one though. I have an AO ultra for my studio and personally, I find it more suited to 5 string tuning. However, it's good for standard, just not as good as playing in drop A. It's not my sound so I'm not using it personally. The X7 ultra would be a good thing to compare against the Tech 21 DP-3X pedal. On paper, it should be better with the flexible crossovers and EQ, but I'd like to hear myself. If it's more fuzzy than sharp then it'd be no dice from me. Personally, I think Darkglass have played a blinder in marketing their products. In saying that for the price you can get a Helix Stomp for the money which I'd really like to have a play with. You could argue the Darkglass/Dingwall/Djent association is getting stale now. However, I wonder what they'll come out with next. They won't get anyone more high profile than Jon Stockman unless they got say Justin Chancellor which is never going to happen. Where do they go from here?

The joys of auto correct Russ. I went back and changed it. 😂

I have no idea. Do people buy Hartke because Billy Sheehan uses them? I wouldn't know either. Yeah Mark King can get loads of fanboys to buy stuff and Marcus as well. The main other I can think of is Nolly Getgood. How many 5 string Dingwalls and Darkglass pedals have been sold because of him? The guy practically defines a whole genre's bass sound.

Plus a truckload of cash from Hartke I believe. I guess the fact that Ampegs were somewhat unreliable at the time didn't help.

I'm pretty sure Markbass have offered the only support that would matter to Mark King. Support to his bank account. From the stories I've heard Ashdown are great for tour support.

Will be along. Don't know what I'm going to bring. Will think of something. Updated Attendance & Gear List:  01. Silverfoxnik - BC Rich Eagle, Ander van der End JB5, RBV5, Ampeg V4BH head and matching cabs. 02. Hamster - Tea, Coffee, Pastries, the Wife - might bring a bass! 03. @Frank Blank's Acoustic Corner - Rob Allen Mouse, Godin A4, FRFR setup (QSC K12.2 and Fishman preamp). 04. RodFunnell - '78 Stingray, Assorted Warwicks, Vanderkley Spartan, Mesa Prodigy 4:88, Barefaced Big Twin T and it's still a few months away so maybe more! 05. obbm - Sadowsky Metros, Handbox WB100,Bergantino cabs. 06. Cetera - Spector USA NS2, Spector USA NS2X 'Spectorbird', Spector Euro LT, Hamer Impact, Dingwall DBird Standard, Hagstrom Super Swede, Italia Imola GP, Fender FSR PJ, Fender FSR 70's Ash P, original Gallien Krueger 400RB, GenzBenz Neox 2x12 07. @NancyJohnson Lull JAXT4 & Lull JAX/NRT5, Darkglass A/O Head, 2xAguilar SL112s Barefaced Big One (the #000) 08. Rumblefish - Rumblefish bass,Wal Bass, MB Mpulse 600,Berg CN212 09. Steve Browning - SVL & Fender Precisions, Mesa Walkabout 15 10. @Stingray5 - MM and Tune basses, Trace Elliot or Eden combos, Boss GT-6B. 11. ChunkyMunky - Builds of mine (P5, J5 etc), SWR SM900, a Greenboy/Fearful build or two and some other assorted goodies.  12. samcrabtree00 - Warwick Streamer Stage II, USA MM Sub, Genzler Magallen 800, Barefaced BB2, Various effects 13. TrevorR - Wal Custom and Pro, Aria SB700, MarkBass LMII & Traveler 2x10 14. @Graemeross 4 Ps, 3 Js, 2 Aria SBs , Darkglass MT900, 2x Barefaced BB2, HX Effects with Line 6 G75 wireless. 15. prowla - Rics, Warwicks, Statii (whatever I chuck in the car!), Markbass EVO 1 & 1x12. Maybe a Minitaur & 12-step (if I've got 'round to figuring out the 12-step by then). 16. OrangeFriday - Third build - J bass - may contain LEDs... 17. Wolverinebass - haven't decided what to bring yet.

Am going on the Sunday if anyone fancies meeting up.

I didn't look. I remember it being £1199 on release.

It's quite simple really. The "Doom" knob only gave an overdrive towards a slight fuzz tone to my ears. You could get a much better sound with just an ABM and a pedal. Say something like a Wounded Paw Battering Ram EQ or a Cog Effects. So let's look at this objectively regardless of sound. Unless you're a Geezer Butler fan (I am as it happens), you'll probably not buy this due to several reasons. Weight being one. Cost being another when you could get say a Darkglass A/O head for about the same price at £1100. That's just one head with an overdrive built in!! That's before we list others and there are quite a few. Hence my comment of it not being worth the money. Dismiss my views all you like, that's your right and I'm not bothered. I should say that I was very interested in the Geezer head until I tried one and didn't really like it (especially for £1200). Just my opinion and all that. I have no particular axe to grind here on Ashdown at all. Some of your stuff is great, some not so much. Like quite a lot of bass amp manufacturers.

Maybe Mark King has confused endorsements with Pokemon. In that he's trying to get them all. Mesa, Ashdown, Trace Elliot, TC Electronic, Markbass. Not many more to get now is there? I'm waiting for the 10th model Kingbass from Status with baited breath as I'm sure that a whole bunch of middle aged Level 42 fans will lap it up before playing slap bass less than an inch under their chin then flogging it for a marginally different one 6 months later. I must admit I find that more funny than his constant endorsement round robin every 6-18 months. Every time he's on tour and plays something new the phones must ring off the hook at Status. This time it was the t-bass and everyone went out and got one of them. Is there anyone else who inspires this level of rig copying? Especially on the instrument level. Just bonkers.