DiMarco

Hi Bob,

I use a couple of different rigs.

If the venue is large enough I bring the SVT-4 pro with Barefaced Big Twin II.

When I need tiny footprint I stack up two Trace Elliot 2x8" cabs and use a TC RH750 instead. I love its flexibility and built in tuner but class D amps are not for me.

That amp sounding pretty sterile by itself made me begin shaping my tone on the pedalboard instead, adding some valve heft at will.

For this I use either a Two Notes Le Bass preamp (which can also blend in valve overdrive) or/and an EHX Black Finger compressor.

This makes the TC amp sounds just as hefty as my SVT-4 pro and I can switch the hefty valve bit off whenever I want a modern ultra clean and articulate sound.

Just saying... Maybe you can fix it using just one amp.

Cheers, Marco

1 minute ago, DiMarco said:

I owned two Zeus, that pedal sounds MASSIVE. Sadly both started failing within weeks. When switching it on it would sometimes do something, sometimes it would not. And there was a loud pop whenever touching any of the switches. For me, Redwitch = never again. Such poor quality. Ended up throwing them in the garbage can.

 

2 minutes ago, krispn said:

I had the pedal board out for my first gig back since lock down last Sunday. I have been using my HX Stomp with IEM for pub gigs but as this was an outdoor thing and there was an amp provided I thought I'd pull the PB out as it's recently had a new addition...

 

As ever the Basswitch is the brain of the board. I'm running the CAli 76TX in the series loop (always on) and the Fender Trapper drive (the golden coloured box) in the switchable mix loop with a 50/50 blend. I wasn't using the Redwitch Zeus for this gig, it's there for an 80's thing where I'm doing some octave down/synth type lines but I had the tuner in it's place in the Basswitch dedicated tuner out which keeps it out of the signal path. When the Zeus is on the board it goes in the mix loop and the drive pedal just gets slotted into the signal chain. The gain adds a bit of life to the octave sound

 

 

 

I owned two Zeus, that pedal sounds MASSIVE. Sadly both started failing within weeks. When switching it on it would sometimes do something, sometimes it would not. And there was a loud pop whenever touching any of the switches. For me, Redwitch = never again. Such poor quality.

I have tons of pedals. A lot of them boutique... But what I really need for the band is just this:

• Dirty compressor
• Dirty fuzz (and I mean RAUNCHY AF!)
• Dirty pre-amp

Always real valves. Nothing else comes close. Modelling is still not an option in 2021. Call me a snob.

The Black Finger is set to add a little tube breakup - just a hint of it. This makes the fuzz and OD on the Le Bass come out way stronger.

Giygas is used for Beastie Boys, Blur, Muse sorta tones. The OD on the Le Bass is for Foo Fighters, Fountains of Wayne, Presidents of the USA etc tube grit.

While I do have more exotic effects like envelope phasers, tremolo, octavers etc. I never actually use any of those on stage. Just stuff to make my sound more powerful and add organic tasting dirt.

These pedals right here are perfect for that particular job.

I'd say it was the Ox all along.

My "Jazz". I don't know how they did it but this thing is resonant and responsive like nothing else I have ever played.

Apparently tone woods do matter. A lot.

It gets worse. You will love your drive/preamp one week and dislike it the other, only to love it again later on etc.

If you're looking for one that is polyphonic, have a look at the EHX Pitchfork. It replaced my MXR and Digitech bass whammy.

It tracks like a beast and can handle octave up, down and some harmonics which I will never use.

When you say the words "we're looking for a guitarist" in the pub you will have found one within 5 minutes.

Been there done that. Everyone and their mum plays guitar. 😁

Holdon. I practice with a TC RH750 and two Trace Elliot 2x8 cabs.

Our guitarists use a 100w Marshall halfstack and a Dual Rectifier with 6x12" stack.

I can actually go way too loud with the 4x8 vertical stack. Guitarists turned down their volume because the vocals were getting swamped too much.

We now practice without earplugs at a social volume level and can hear our vocals much better. Bass guitar was never any problem.

Ask the guys to be sensible. Your stack should be more than enough in that situation.

In a shop? Never occurred. My basses are always better then the shop's - I buy second hand because I won't afford the basses I play @ new price.

I also like to sell perfectly good basses after some time to try out something new. There hasn't been a 'main' bass in a looong time until the Fodera NYC Empire came in. Amazing bass that one!

I must add that most local shops here mainly stock cheap stuff like lower end ibbies, sires and squiers. Dutchies (northern region specifically) generally don't like to spend money on quality.

A friend from the Warwick forum just had this made (well it took 2 years).

I collaborated with him to get a working 8 string "buzzard beak" style headstock and came up with the banjo tuners idea for the octave strings to make it work.

What do you think? I think it is stunning and I am not even a fan of the Buzzard model...

Turn down the amps on stage. That's the real problem.

Fun fact: the original photo depicts exactly what is wrong with this young man.

3 hours ago, Henrythe8 said:

@DiMarco hasn't showed up yet ? 🙂 

Thanks for the headsup! But not looking for a new six right now. The Thumb NT6 is a wonderous piece of gear!

I did deal with Ivyserpent before though, bought a five string from him. Sound lad!

The Warwick site is never clear about anything really... But ask them anything through e-mail and Hans Peter Wilfer will most likely personally answer. And usually pretty quick too.

My Zon Sonus 5 also hums when soloing either pickup. This is normal.

2 hours ago, E sharp said:

Yes that’ll stop the hum. But really should someone have to do this with a bass at this price point?

Of course it does. Especially since it has to be done as well on the basses I mentioned which are at 3 to 4x as much as this price point.

Single coils do hum. In any instrument. Musicman solves this by adding a dummy pickup in their HS models that does nothing but cancel out hum.

Shielding and grounding the cavities with self adhesive coppertape will fix the noisy pickups issue.

I did the same with a Fender USA Jazz and a Ric 4003. No more noise after that.

The theory of this is sound. For many players though putting it to practice is another thing.

When I started out I had the flappy pinky syndrome bigtime, which in turn made it harder to properly use the ringfinger.

Once you learn how to position your thumb correctly behind the neck (and this depends on where you are moving your fretting hand at that current time - thumb position does vary) the following things will happen:

• You won't overly lift your fingers anymore.
• The flapping pinky thing vanishes.
• You do grab your minor thirds on the same string where your root note sits.
• Playing a five or even six string bass becomes MUCH easier.

Speaking of flamenco technique, I do strum chords using fingers for downstrokes and my thumb for upstrokes much in a flamenco guitarist way. This works like a charm on bass! And considering I was always playing with a floating thumb (on a six string you kinda have to) swiching back and forth between that technique and regular fingerstyle or slapping is easy as 1-2-3.

Besides that Jaco is f**cking dead. He does not play anything. I'm so tired of fanbois bringing him up every chance they get to poison topics with that crap.

And the best bit: Those that do usually don't sound ANYTHING like Jaco whatever bass, amount of strings or effects they do or don't use. Just shove it.

Very sad to hear this. Hang in there crew. My condolences.

The full repertoire of my band.

It all depends on what it is you do not like about your sound.

If you are looking for just a more powerful version of your existing tone the Cali76cb compressor Steve mentioned will solve that. I never play without it. The attack is more spicy with it and the bass just sits more comfy in the mix of instruments.

The usefulness of any other effects you might want to try really depends on the style of music you play. I'm a rocker so besides the compressor I have a couple of dirtboxes, nothing more is needed in my case.

Dig newer tunes too?