dannybuoy

It really depends on what tones you’re after. A lot of studio bass recordings have a clean/compressed low end mixed with the same channel routed through a guitar amp, and parallel chains let you achieve that in a live setup. Im really digging my Tech21 YYZ and DP3X pedals and have found that I can get similar results from Helix Native so much so that I consider parallel routing an essential feature. But if you’re not into dirty/aggressive/growly bass tones, it won’t matter as much. E.g. I prefer a straight and simple single path when it comes to old school funk / blues / Motown etc. BTW there is a Stomp XL coming out so I would wait for that to be released. Even if you’re happy with the original Stomp size, when that comes out you can bet there will be plenty of users rushing to upgrade and hence plenty of used ones popping up!

I think you’re better off with a clean sounding regular amp with as transparent a preamp as possible. That way you have a further EQ to tweak your on stage sound without messing with the DI signal going to the desk.

If you have the full sized Helix then you'll have more blocks at your disposal to be able to use a guitar way effectively in a parallel chain... but even with the Helix Stomp, I believe the latest firmware increases the number of blocks available so you might be ok!

I've never found an amp that could deliver the tones in my head, so messed around with pedals instead until finding what I was after in the Tech21 stuff - I have the VTDI, YYZ and DP3X. I tried the VT500 amp which was great but felt a bit gutless in the power section, so am running one of those into an Orange Terror Bass set up for a fairly neutral sound. The DP3X is like a studio producer in a box - clean compressed lows mixed with piercing distorted high mids, and the mid-mids sucked out to make room for the guitars and vocals. About as heavily processed as you can get, but fits like a glove in a really heavy mix, it really shines when you hear it alongside everything else, you can hear the bass clear as a bell without the ear fatigue you get from too many instruments battling for the same frequency range. YYZ is more midrangey, basically a clean channel EQ'd to emphasise the lows and roll of the highs, mixed with a dirt channel that has the deep lows cut off to keep the drive tight, and the mid-EQ placed before the drive. When playing solo through an amp I prefer the sound of the YYZ, but the DP3X sounds better in a headphone/monitor mix. But I'm not playing with anyone at the moment so hanging onto both for now!

+1 on the Mojomojo. Far better choice than any of the Sansamp lineup for a Motown kind of sound. Better than anything else I've tried in fact, which is er, most pedals out there!

I've got the Hotone Bass Press. Great little wah pedal, much better sounding than the Dunlop 105Q in my opinion. Are any of the Helix wah models decent on bass? I've not tried them but I know there aren't any bass-specific ones. You could of course blend it with clean or have it on the high channel of a crossover if you had the blocks to spare. It does the job as an expression pedal, but the Dunlop DVP4 Mini outclasses it in every respect. Wider, smoother, more stable, more travel, built like it would last forever.

One of these hooked up to a hardware synth would be fun to play with then: https://www.keithmcmillen.com/products/12-step/

@owen sounds like you are describing the EHX Freeze pedal?

It’d be a total marketing fail if it had those fx and they just couldn’t be bothered to list them, I think what you see is what you get. Shame, as they had the Spectradrive out so they could’ve included some drive models, then all they had to do was put out a filter before getting to work on the multi!

From the product page: FX include Hall Of Fame 2 Reverb, Flashback 2 Delay, Sub n Up Octaver, Brainwaves Pitch Shifter, Corona Chorus, Hypergravity Compressor, Mimiq Doubler, Vortex Flanger, Pipeline Tap Tremolo, Quintessence Harmony, Sentry Noise Gate, Shaker Vibrato, Viscous Vibe, Helix Phaser, Tape Deck Looper Lack of drive and filter rules it out for me as a multi fx, they’re the most important effects to me. Even if you were happy to have those as separates, you would be forced to have them before or after everything in the Plethora.

I've still not even bothered with the editor! Although I might do just do bring down the volume a tad. When it comes to pedals, I generally hate multi-fx and app-driven pedals, and this is coming from a techie that works in IT that spends all day fiddling around with scripts and settings. Maybe that's why in my downtime I just prefer simplicity! Luckily the Spectracomp works just as well in that regard, with it having just one knob.

I liked the stock one the best after going through them. I don’t find the volume boost a problem as I leave it always on and I prefer the sound of my drive pedals with a bit of boost into them anyway. You can always adjust the master volume via the app.

Dunlop 105Q Mini.

I also had a hum issues caused by a dimmer, but only when combined with the flat EBS cables which didn't have great shielding! Maybe try a simple DI box into the interface as a means to isolate ground loops etc?

The pickups in the old ones are great, high output and aggressive, these look to be similar. I tried every Fender PJ in the shop one time and the 'Jazz' Bass Special was my favourite by far.