uk_lefty

Does anyone else find the tuner doesn't recognise anything lower than E? Really annoying when I have to play in drop D quite a lot, or tune my 5 string bass.

I had an RM500 for a long time and loved it. I only went for an ABM600 because I got an offer I couldn't refuse. 

I loved the RM500 for its ease of use, being able to bypass the EQ when using a modelling pedal, and it just generally being small and light enough to transport easily in a laptop bag. If there was one criticism from me it would be that the onboard drive and compressor are things I'd not use much at all but I still had a few gigs going straight into the amp and using the onboard effects with no issue.

4 minutes ago, Happy Jack said:

OK, I have to admit that using one of these pedals with a trumpet was just not on my radar.

Keep up, Jack! 😂

I'm partial to a pointy headstock. As much as I like the idea of something pointy all over I've not really played a type of music that suits it.

I do a bit of BV in my bands and I've experimented with some of these pedals. They are really, really useful! I really liked the Boss VE-20 for some of its effects: harmoniser, megaphone effect, reverb... It did the lot. The problem for me came when the soundman just doesn't want to know: "woah woah woah it sounds like you've already got reverb and compression on your mic, No no no can't do that". I know, most musos would say the sound guy should just deal with what they're given, but I guess he had been bitten far too many times by weird kit turning up and misbehaving on stage. It made me really reticent to keep using it live, even though it added a great effect for certain songs and generally gave me more confidence in my BV. 

So, if you go down this route of vocal effects pedals be prepared to tweak it so you can remove certain effects and give the sound guy the signal they want to make you sound good, or just bypass it and accept there isn't time or willingness on the part of the sound guy. If you are the sound guy, however, make sure you know the kit.

Some great advice on this thread. I'm now building my patches with a divider sending half the signal to a bass amp and the other half through a guitar amp and blending them. 

The more I use it to build patches the better it's getting. There's still some oddities, like there's one patch where no matter what I do I can't switch the overdrive on and off using a pedal assign... So I just don't use that anymore and rebuilt the patch elsewhere.

Boss need to get the UI from Headrush, it's so much more intuitive. The bass presets are pretty shocking too, they need to recreate all the bass presets off the GT-10B for the modern pedals, they were largely excellent and usable. 

58 minutes ago, Silvia Bluejay said:

Well, it's either that photo (apologies for the quality, crappy cheap mobile photo) or The Zodiac Shot below, in which drummer Dave manages to rock both the leopard print and the classic car vibe. 

 

This is a great photo 👍👍👍

3 hours ago, JohnR said:

If I hadn't already bought two basses this month I would have snapped this up. 

Don't stop short of a hattrick

I am left handed with my wedding ring on my left hand, it just doesn't bother me at all. The guitarists are both right handed and they take off their rings because they find it interfering. 

So after a few weeks this is where I am... Got a great preset where I split the signal and gave half going through the fat bass amp and the other half going through the tweed guitar amp. Still finding it generally fiddly, here's some observations...

The bass overdrives sound too fizzy for me and lack warmth, need to investigate more.

Sometimes I tinker around adding and removing effects and then the pedal switching stops working... E.g I add the wah pedal but somehow it just doesn't work! Quite frustrating.

Still need to change the mode so I can use the individual buttons to switch different effects in and out.

Using the effects loop is great for my synth pedal.

Used this to DI for my last gig, no amp and in-ears. Good sound out the PA sub but again the fizzy overdrive just got annoying after a while. No idea if anyone else noticed but it bothered me a lot 

Love the pairing with the compact, lightweight cab!

I have listed this on Reverb at £850 and got some interest but would prefer a sale here. Make an offer of interested. 

Just putting out a feeler because new kitchens are more expensive than you think... 

I recently got this bass with the intent to use it in my 80s band. It's brilliant and it's rare and it's been made even better! It's a factory fretless, I've added a Nordstrand MM pup and a Retrovibe Stinger pre, as well as having a new nut fitted. It's wearing flat wounds and it's had a very recent full setup. 

Realistically I just don't need a second fretless, I barely play the first one and that is staying with me forever. 

If anyone is interested please drop me a line. Price is negotiable, just had to put a number in there.

The pics are from before the upgrade, so on the plate there's now one less knob and a jack socket.

I genuinely feel a bit sorry for these kind of people. They're desperate to show off their "knowledge" and be seen as some kind of authority, but he's just shouting into a void. If you liked your tone and amp, effects choices then it's perfect. Because it's artistic expression, not precision engineering.

Offers around £100 will be accepted.

9 hours ago, joe_geezer said:

Hi guys,

 

Just recorded a video in 4k so you can really see the detail of the body with the glassy finish... yep still in good condition after all these years!

 

 

Even through my phone speaker that tone is gorgeous! Awesome playing too.

Here I go again...

Got rid of my Headrush MX5 and Boss ME-90B. Wanted to go compact and the MX5 got me really keen on touch screen effects. 

So it's a Boss GX10 with an EHX Bass Mono Synth and a wireless. Just want to add a page turner pedal and then that should be my gig setup. 

That's a lovely bass, don't think I'd ever see a blue bodied Aria before, though I have seen a red one with a blue headstock... Replacement neck maybe?  Anyways, gorgeous bass, hope you get it back to gigging condition.

On 24/01/2026 at 23:59, Gasman said:

Was I being unreasonable?

Absolutely not unreasonable. Some people like to have an idea in their head that is probably more suited to recording than playing live. In my 80s band we have a sax player who also plays keys. Even if he didn't play keys I'd want more sax all the time!!! You don't see many bands of our ilk with a sax player, and when the sax player is good you should make them the star of the show IMO.

Need to move this on, offers welcome.

There are some intros and endings we simplify or remove entirely because they might rely on a piano riff or something studio trickery but none of the shenanigans you mention in the op. That does seem quite odd and energy that could be spent on learning whole new songs.

Good luck 🤞 

2 hours ago, Cato said:

There's a few more brands operating in that 'cheap but decent' price bracket these days, so I suppose if the new tariffs are forcing Harley Benton prices above those of it's direct rivals in the US it probably makes sense for Thomann to withdraw & concentrate on markets where they can still be competitive.

I see your point, but while I'm far from an expert in such things, I doubt anything in that price bracket is built in the US using parts built in the US. So "cheap but decent" just won't be a thing for US consumers any more. Will those of us in Europe face rising costs from Harley Benton to make up for the hole in their finances from losing US trade...? Who knows. I don't think anybody wins in this, sadly. 

Now upgraded with the Retrovibe Stinger preamp and a Nordstrand pickup. I also had a new nut fitted because the old one was worn to bits.  I've currently got flats on this but I'm thinking to go for some tapewounds to get a bit more brightness out of the sound and still keep the fretboard intact. 

I've learned that this was factory made as a lined fretless. The board is really thick, feels like ebony or a cheaper version of ebony with a weird name... Either way it feels gorgeous and can draw out a lot of richness in the sound. The back of the neck feels really good too. I'm still experimenting with the preamp but I should get there soon. Too many new things going on at once and I need to properly sit down with this working on the right songs to get it where I want it. 

Well, well, well!!! Took it to band practice last night. My word this thing LOVES a distortion pedal and being played with a pick! Who'd have thought it?!?!

The rehearsal room had a lovely Trace Elliot head and 4x10 last night and the combination was pretty glorious.