BigRedX

It might be worth mentioning that many multi-effects units have a built-in audio interface so you don't need a separate device for recording. I do all my recording using the Line6 Helix which has options for outputting the processed and direct sound via separate channels. This allows me to monitor (and record if I want) the processed sound while also recording the direct sound which I can then process later using either the Helix Native plug-in or any other effects in my DAW. Then I can tweak the sound to fit better into the track without being stuck with the original sound or needing to re-record if I want a different sound.

I use either my Gus G3 or the Eastwood Hooky into my Helix with headphones. The choice of bass is down to which band I'm practicing for. I see no point in having a different bass and effects set-up for home use as the one I'll be using at gigs or in the rehearsal room. The use of headphones over my FRFR cab is simply down to noise considerations. I know the sound of the headphones well enough to know that what I program on the Helix will be very close to perfect when I get into the rehearsal room, and it's just a question of some final EQ and level tweaks. I also practice standing up as that's how I'll be playing at the gig.

When I was in The Terrortones, once a month we would put on a "Dick Venom Presents..." gig at a local venue. Mr Venom would pick a better known band in a compatible genre to us and we would play support. Very useful for building up our gig "CV" that let us claim we had shared the bill with numerous well-respected bands which would open doors for gigs elsewhere. It also gave us a low-pressure local gig where we could try out our newly written songs. This ran very successfully for a couple years, but eventually its success contributed to its downfall. It had got to the point where we were often attracting a bigger audience than the headliners. It was rather embarrassing to see a significant number of people leave after we had played and not stay to see the supposedly better-know main act who had often cost quite a bit of money to get to play. This in turn was the secondary problem where the venue was now too small for the event, but booking better-known bands and hiring a bigger venue was a massive step up in terms of the amount of money we would need to front to make it happen, and the financial side just got too risky.

Only for us old farts. Anyone born after 1979 has the possibility of buying something both usable and interesting for not a lot of money.

While there are one or two YOB (1960) basses that would be interesting to own, nothing exists that I would actually want to use, so it's all a bit pointless for me.

Probably because no-one on a mobile device wants to waste time and bandwidth downloading huge images that their screen is too small to display in full resolution anyway. If you really want to post enormous photos use an external image host.

Unfortunately @diskwave has previous form for joining topics mid-way through a reasonable discussion for what seems like the sole intention of posting something contentious and then flouncing off when challenged.

The next Hurtsfall gig is on Wednesday 10th April at the Chapel in the Angel Microbrewery in Nottingham, opening for Empathy Test and Black Nail Cabaret.

Everyone on the recording needs to be in tune with the same thing. What it is doesn't matter in the slightest.

It's already been on here several times in the past 5 years.

In the days before electronic tuners the practice would be for the rest of the musicians to tune to whatever instrument was the hardest to retune. Normally the the studio piano. However many recordings would have their speed (and pitch) altered in order to get a better feel, usually being sped up, so it is very common for the final released version to somewhere between a quarter and a semitone off standard pitch.

There are a couple of reasons why these synths are so cheap. One will be that with parameter access they will be difficult to program without a computer editor. The other is due to their age things will be starting to go wrong with them. The Roland keyboards from this era are notorious for glue failures on the key weights causing them to become detached, rendering the keyboard useless, and although fixable it takes a lot of time and effort. There are also likely to be problems with the battery backup of the user memories. Unless you are happy with the factory presets or there is a readily available selection of free decent 3rd party sounds that are easily loaded in, I personally would steer clear of all the synths that you have suggested. Also from what I recall of these synths, the sounds will now be quite dated. Unfortunately any decent synth with MIDI with close to one control per parameter will be more than your £200 budget, If you are determined to go with one of the synths you have suggested approach with caution and make sure everything is working as it should be before parting with your cash.

The iLok problem only affects M2 and M3 Macs running Sonoma version 14.4, previous versions were fine. And now the 14.4.1 update has fixed it.

Your problem is your budget of under £200. What have you seen that fits into this? Otherwise I'd be recommending the Behringer Deepmind 12.

What do you want the synth to do? Produce it's own sounds or just act as a controller for the Doepfer system? If you need it to produce sounds, what sort? What sort of music do you play?

I'd dob them in to the relevant authority.

I suppose in my case the Helix already does the vast majority of things that I want and it does them very well. All the "improvements" I am after should be possible with the existing hardware and all I need to do is to persuade Line6 to implement them in a future firmware update.

And what exactly could a newer chipset improve?

Ideally what you want to do is to be able to change the order of the pedals to suit the sound(s) you want to create. Now if only there was a device that did this....

What you really need is an envelope filter with two inputs - one for the signal that is being processed and one for the "trigger" signal. That way you can put the filter wherever you want in the signal chain and split off the trigger signal from elsewhere. Are there any devices like this?

Given the size of some people's pedal boards, almost anything up to and including a 100W all-valve head would fit if the space wasn't already taken up with pedals!

You don't even need amp and cab models, after all an amp is just something with a baked in sound and limited range EQ, and the basic function of a real amp is get your line level signal to a volume where you and the audience can hear it. If you're going through an FRFR/PA/IEMs then the amp and cab models are something that IMO gets in the way of your ideal sound. The right EQ and drive models will get you there much better. And if you are determined to use amp and cab models try them all even the "guitar" ones. The worst that can happen is that you won't like the sound, and then you can try another one. It's not as though you run the risk of damaging anything. Also plenty of "vintage" bass amps are guitar amps with a different name and maybe the EQ frequencies slightly adjusted. Of the few Presets where I do use amp/cab models one model is a guitar combo that would never be suitable for bass at gig volume in real life, and other was chosen because the distortion sound fits exactly in the context of the track, an is essential being used a drive pedal rather than an "amp".

Did you send that second photo to Truetone in the course of your email conversation? If so I would search them out on social media and tell them how poor your think their product and subsequent customer service is. Maybe that will spur them into action.

I would take the original broken device back to the shop where you bought it and tell them you want a replacement or your money back under trading standard regulations as it's clearly not fit for purpose.

IME angled pickup rings are for carved top guitars. Flat fronted guitars should use non-angled rings