RussFM

Thanks all. I really didn't expect the Effects section to tell me I'd be better off with the Headrush 😁 I guess cost is a big factor here. The Headrush does so much for it's price point, and does it very well. I'll keep the idea in mind though and if a suitable preamp does come along at the right price then maybe that will be my starting point, but I'll hold onto the Headrush for now. As for the tuner, my band plays songs in three different tunings, and not all together in the set list, so there's lots of changing!

Confession time. In 20 years of playing in bands, I never had a single pedal. I then bought a Zoom B3 a few years ago, just for practising at home. When I joined my current band, I actually started using it, but found it a bit limited for getting the sounds from a couple of their old songs. I upgraded to a Headrush Gigboard and I'm really happy with it. But it got me thinking, I probably use 10% of it's capabilities, I have one rig set up and I switch between three effects. So what if I built a pedalboard? Here's my set up: Compressor - EQ - Chorus - Octaver - Ampeg SVT - Markbass 212 IR. In parallel I then split off to a Tube Screamer, a high gain guitar amp (not sure what it's modelled after!) and another IR for my distorted tone. That's blended about 60/40. If I sold the Headrush I'd probably get around £350. So let's set that as the budget, but I'm happy to buy all used gear. I think I'd need: 1) A preamp. Must have DI out, plus headphone out and aux in for home practice. 2) A compressor. It could be in the preamp. 3) A distortion. It could also be in the preamp? But must have a blend control, so maybe something separate like the Soul Food? 4) An octaver. The one I use is based on a Boss OC2, but guessing I'd need something cheaper. 5) A chorus - I currently only use this in one song, so can be something really cheap. 6) A tuner! What's missing - a small board and a power supply? Is there anything else to consider? I have used my Headrush to record through it's USB interface. Are there any preamp pedals with that built in? What order would I put them on the board? If I wanted to use the board to practice through at home, the preamp would need to be last to use the headphone out after the effects, perhaps I'd switch that back when I'm playing live?

Thanks everyone! I hadn't had chance to play it again until last night. I sat down with my tools to give it a proper inspection and set up. I took the neck off and noticed it had a two small strips of sandpaper as a shim. Not sure how they were set in there as they fell out when I unscrewed the neck, but I put the neck back on without them and noticed mine too then had a significant forward bow. The truss rod was stiff, but a quarter turn sorted it out. My saddles are now very low, I could perhaps give the truss rod another slight turn and raise them up, but it's playing nicely as it is. Certainly no corroded frets or missing screws though, it's all put together very well, shame you got a poor example Martin!

I've been looking to replace my Spector Legend Custom (now sold to vmaxblues), with something more Fender flavoured as a backup to my Fender American Standard Jaguar. After lots of research I settled on a G&L Tribute, taking advantage of Andertons Black Friday/Cyber Monday/'well it's Christmas soon' £100 discount (still available!). I usually play my Jaguar with just the P pickup, in active mode with a little bass and treble boost, which gives it a really grindy tone that cuts through well in a one-guitar rock band. I'd never played a G&L, but the MFD pickups sounded like they'd give me the tone I was looking for. I was almost tempted by the £399 L2000, that seems like a lot of bass for the money, but wasn't sure I'd get on with that wide neck, so decided to go for the SB-2 at £349, with the more familiar 38mm neck. Available in Sonic Blue with a maple board, or Black Frost with Brazilian cherry, I decided on the black. When I opened the box, I was a little disappointed and wished I'd gone for the Sonic Blue. Despite being described as 'a classy gloss finish', it's more of a matte/satin finish, like the old Fender Highway 1s. It already had a slight mark on it, and is a fingerprint magnet. However, after a quick play, I realised it's very comfortable for my pick playing, and as my budget backup, I don't mind at all if it gets some early natural wear. It's a little more unique than the common black gloss basses too, it looks great. Construction and quality wise, it's far ahead of the Squiers I've played. Better than the most of the Fender Mexican Standards too, though perhaps a step below the Fender Deluxe Active Jazz I used to have (why did I sell that!?). The neck is very smooth - I'd describe as very well sanded as opposed to a satin finish like my Jaguar. The fretwork is perfect, on quite a thick fretboard compared to my Fender. The Brazilian cherry looks like it has a more coarse grain than rosewood, but certainly more attractive than the pau ferro other brands have been using. It's a light bass, definitely under 9lbs, I'll weigh it over the weekend, but it balances perfectly on a strap. The sound is exactly what I was looking for. It's a punchy, well defined tone, like a boosted active P. It doesn't have a tone control, just two volumes. Bringing in the Jazz pickup rounds things out a little, taking off that edge. Rolling back the volumes gives a more vintage tone. There's no noise at all. Having US-made pickups in these Indonesian-made basses should have them flying off the shelves quicker than the Squiers for similar money, especially with the Fender price rises this year, but perhaps they're missing the familiar shape and Fender name. With these current discounts I might be tempted to buy another! L-2000 or JB-2 next? 😄

Met up with Stuart to hand over a Spector Legend Custom, great to deal with, thanks!

For 10-15 years I went from a passive bass straight into amp, and used the amp EQ, but so many times the sound engineers took the DI before the amp, I didn't like not having that control. These days I always prefer to use a preamp of some kind, either in a DI box with an EQ or now using a Headrush Gigboard. Ar least I know what I'm sending to the desk is what I'm used to hearing at home/rehearsals.

I started playing fingers, but over the years I've preferred playing with a pick. .73 Dunlops for a long time, but recently switched to the .60 Ernie Balls. I play with a slightly lighter attack and can play a little faster with them. They sound great!

I didn't really get into Tool until Fear Inoculum, no idea why. Maybe because they weren't on streaming services for so long and that release made their back catalogue much more accessible. I was a 15 and mostly listening to pop-punk when Ænema came out.

New Found Glory / International Super Heroes of Hardcore. Singer and guitarist switched places to play comedy hardcore songs. The Draft was basically Hot Water Music without Chuck Ragan, but that was more because he wanted to spend more time with his family and do his solo thing, they reformed as HWM again a few years later.

Mark bought my Jaguar bass, great to deal with, good communication and prompt collection, thanks!

The Horse - A Wilhelm Scream (the only punk song I know of with tapping!) Jack of all Trades - Hot Water Music Want - Jawbreaker

Yes I think jrixn1 covered it, unusually for a multi-effect, you can't assign multiple effects to one button, each one is one effect, so you're limited to three per patch. I always had button 1 as my compressor, and the other two as effects. You would need the B3n if you wanted slots 1 and 2 to always be your compressor and preamp, with different effects switchable on the buttons.

The 'MEET THE NEW 2021 PRS PRODUCTS' page has a blue SE Kingfisher. I assume that means the Kestrel is now discontinued since that's only found on the 2019 page. https://www.prsguitars.com/index.php/electrics/model/se_kingfisher_2021 As far as I can see, the only difference to the previous model is the figured maple veneer, and new blue colour, which may now be the only available colour? I had a Kestrel and it was really well made, but I couldn't get on with the 7.5 fretboard radius, I need something flatter. If this new Kingfisher had that I'd consider one, but I doubt that's changed, it's not in the spec anyway. I heard people say the pickups sounded weak on these and had excessive hum. The new one gives the same 4B'H' name, so I doubt they've changed either. It's a shame, while PRS are constantly improving the SE guitar range, they haven't done the same for basses.

I've got the Headrush Gigboard. I was looking at the HX Stomp, but for one patch covering 90% of my sounds I needed four switches. And then the Headrush came up on Andertons for £350, ex-demo, so I thought I'd give it a try. It's so easy to use - it's got a big touch screen where you can tap on empty blocks, select what you want to go in, drag them around to change order, etc. Then there's one big knob (😐) to help with fine tuning where dragging your finger across the bar isn't giving enough control. Even when playing live, you can switch between modes, through patches, control the looper, etc, with the foot switches. Pros: Easy to use - you don't need to set it up patches on your computer, just plug in your bass and speaker/headphones and off you go. Quality of sounds. It's great - after coming from a Zoom B3 this sounds so much better. The octave tracks really well, the distortions sound aweome (I've split my sound to have a distorted guitar amp mixed with my bass amp), everything can be tweaked to what you're looking for. Well built Very customisable - one switch can control a single effect, or multiple effects & amps etc. Different signal paths options. USB audio interface - record direct, or record clean and re-amp later. Looper Ability to load IRs (the Markbass 212 sounds way better than the default cab sims to me) Exactly the same abilities as the big Headrush Pedalboard, just less switches and I/O. You can still add a separate expression pedal. Cons: Very guitar focused - Only a couple of bass specific amps (mostly Ampeg) and effects compared to 30+ for guitar. However, the ones it's got are all I need, and I've never not been able to find the tone I'm looking for via a combination of amp, EQ, cab or IR. Limited effects list compared to the B3 (though most of those I'd never use. All of the Headrush effects are usable and sound good). No DI out. At the price, and sound of the unit, I'd expect one. Maybe because it's guitar focused? Cost - this goes for all of the multi effects / amp modeller pedals, but I'd struggle to justify the £500-£1500 for these Helix, AxeFX, Headrush pedals for my limited use of a couple of tones, a few effects and something to practice and record through. For a cover band guitarist with patches for every song, I can absolutely see the value. At the £350 I paid, I'm very happy with it.

I've got the Vox, I never use it, I wouldn't recommend it!

Maybe I should give Reaper another go 🤔 😄

I've been using Cakewalk. I found it easier to use than Reaper, and it's completely free!

I started listening to this today and of the two I found Scott much easier to listen to. Too many interruptions from Jayme, let the man speak!