Dood

[quote name='The Hat' timestamp='1365362570' post='2038612'] The £40 an hour guy just used a back room in his house. Nothing special, he went through 4 popular bass riffs that he'd hand written on tab, talked a bit and that was it. £40 my arse ! [/quote] Really naughty! - Most of my students, if I have time get the 'hang out, reflect and chill' session afterwards, not whilst I am supposed to be teaching them!

Teachers charging low is another discussion altogether.

I would hope that the teacher doing lessons for £40 per hour was highly skilled, had a dedicated teaching studio, a proven track record and a 'well known name' in teaching. There's the desirability factor of being taught by someone who is a 'name' too I guess. Funnily, and I may be doing myself no favours - I make a point of telling all my students that although I work VERY hard to ensure they get the best lessons I can give, I offer them one piece of advice. Ultimately, we might not work well together. As a student, you might find that you get on well with another teacher better no matter what level they are on. I tell them I am HAPPY if they want to try out other teachers. I never tell new students about my own C.V and it is a cardinal sin to EVER show off in front of a student. Nothing annoys me more than a teacher massaging their ego. Lessons are not about the teacher, but enjoyment and a sense of fulfilment from the student. Incidentally, I don't charge anywhere near £40 an hour

Incidentally, I did try looping the MS with an LS-2 to get the dry loop as well, but as I expected - being as the pedal is DSP there is some phasing issues when the two signals are mixed. It's not actually horrible, but it does colour the sound. Naturally a DSP dry mix within the processing will not suffer that (For example as in the B3). I think when I have finished tearing the lil box to shreds, I will feedback my findings to Zoom along with any other suggestions on this thread too.

One more thought - naturally the distortion patches sound a lot better being plugged straight in to an amp rather than my studio monitors - BUT, running a distortion in to an amp sim, then out to my monitors, things sounded really good, very quickly!

I've tons of video footage done, but I look REALLY tired from last nights gig, so I'm going to do some more in the week.

Hi guys, I'm just roughing out my video review now actually! The pedal behaved really well last night at the gig - I used a couple of different patches for the set we were doing. There's a really cool function on the pedal where you can (as I mentioned on the Zoom facebook page,) set the pedal up as if it were a dual channel guitar amp. You can then select two or more patches to toggle between on one button as if they were channel changes. Last night for example I had one patch with a little EQ and compression and another patch with the amazing octave effect plus chorus. Setting up a toggle I could flip back and forth between the two when I wanted. Speaking of the Octaver 'bass pitch', I've just been testing with my Jazz Bass Special and it tracks very accurately with no warbling right down to the E open E string. I'll try it on my 6er later. So the things I've had to rethink: At the moment, nearly every effect on board has a dry/wet mix control that is very important. One thing I do miss is a global wet/dry mix per patch. This would be helpful if you wanted to heavily EQ a distortion effect and then noisegate it (3 effects in a chain) then add a clean bass signal to that total, rather than trying to feed a dry bass tone through each effect block, which won't achieve the same result. There isn't a global 'bypass' - you'd need to set up a separate patch with no effects in and toggle with it. Again, no biggy - there's already WAY more than you could ever want in a single pedal already! Like the B3 there isn't a master input gain control - my EMG circuit can clip both the B3 and MS60B. I've had to use an attenuator inline to control things a bit (actually my LS-2 with the level pulled down a little!) Other things I like - it sounds very good indeed. it's ridiculously well featured for the money. I think once you figure out where it's benefits are and that it is a little different in operation than say a normal multi-effects (with ten patch buttons to easily select), then you'll be happy with it. Cutting to the chase, this is a 100 quid box with several hundred pounds worth of individual effects in as well as some cool little additionally features. Even if you ONLY ever used the Octave effect, it's already cheaper than the a boutique pedal that might not track as well.

Right, as part of my 'testing' I am off out to a prog gig tonight with the MS60B - this will be part of my review feedback!

So! Winners should have had their strings for a bit of time now and forming opinions. We all look forward to reading your reviews! - Remember, best review wins an extra lil' prize from me! - It'll be a good prize! What do we think, how about a poll for you all to vote on? - I've also posted my thoughts about the BT set I've had on my Shuker recently elsewhere on the forum too. Look out for some more competitions coming up in the future!

I've been using a balanced set on my Shuker headless for a bit now - played some gigs, did a bit of recording and some private practice time. I've also just slapped another set of strings on my bass to compare to as well that are 'part worn' verses using a brand new set. I have to say that although subtle, it was mainly when I put a set on after taking the BTs off that I noticed the differences in string tensions. Now, I don't know - I have a feeling that I have been SO used to my standard gauges for years that I probably couldn't tell you for sure what is spot on even and what is not. I can definitely feel that the set I've just pulled out of my 'spares box' doesn't quite feel right. I'm already thinking about putting a nice new set of Pro Steels on right away (I would put BTs on, but I gave all of mine to you lovely people to review!!!!) So, as usual, I love the tone. They are still XL Nickels so last exactly the same time, so no differences there. In my head that E sounded a bit fuller and certainly using a pick across the strings seemed firmer across the board between strings. - Now, I reckon I'll be wanting some balanced Pro Steels next then D'Addario. I can't fault the strings - and, as thodrik has said above - it's not as if D'Addario are breaking the bank. Good stuff. I genuinely like 'em!

I know you wanna see my pedal! http://www.facebook.com/zoomcorpuk?fref=ts

And I am back with answers! [b]You will be very pleased to hear that the RRP on the MS60B will be £99[/b]

I'll ask now.

[quote name='Mark_Bass' timestamp='1364736033' post='2030137'] What the hell is Parallel compression?! [/quote] To simplify, Parallel compression is a studio technique that is probably best known for use on drums. If you mix your compressed bass signal with a 'dry' uncompressed signal, that is basically parallel compression. As you already know I guess, compression not only limits your loud notes but also when set up well, can raise the volume of your quieter passages automatically too. Now, what if you don't want your punchy dynamics limited but want the quieter passages (usually fast lines) lifted in volume? Well, Parallel compression can help here. The dry signal lets your louder passages pass unhindered, but if you switch to say, a tapping line or a legato progression, the compressor will lift the level for you closer to the volume of your louder playing. - I also like using this method before a decent bass distortion to fatten up the grit a bit. - It allows you to turn the gain down a little but maintain a smoother level of drive all the time. Some compressor pedals, such as the JHS Lime Aid, TC Nova Dynamics and Xotic SP have an inbuilt blend knob for mixing said clean signal in - others you'll need extra devices, such as an LS-2 to gain the same effect. I've tried to explain as simply as possible! I hope it makes sense!

It does a great deal of the B3 in a single stompbox, with a few rather clever options. - I've been totally bogged down with a house move for the last week or so have been unable to give it the beans. I can already confirm that this will be a keeper along with my B3.

You should see what's currently sat on my studio desk! - OH!!! You will once I've done the videos. I bloody love it. The very first ones in the UK

Did you see the Blog competition for Balanced Sets? - The closing date has passed now, but we'll have three reviews coming up from the lucky string winners soon! http://blog.basschat.co.uk/competition-daddario-introduce-new-balanced-tension-sets-for-guitar-and-bass/

[quote name='kristo' timestamp='1363975896' post='2020483'] Cheers Dood. Good to know there's a teacher nearby too. [/quote] Thank you! Yes, I teach too! See you on the forum!

Fionn, what a great post! Yup, I have to totally agree. I've spent time on many other forums and this is the one I always keep coming back to. So much so that eventually *they* decided I can't leave and gave me a job to do! Well over ten years now, in fact since being a founder member of the original Bassworld forum I've been involved with this community - it's brilliant, free, accessible and friendly. Feels like a great local pub where everyone just wants to hang out and have a drink together. For that, it's why I've been 'working behind the bar for free' for so long. You just can't buy this kinda awesomeness!

p.s., I'm just north of the border! - I have this sleepy facebook page for us too: http://www.facebook.com/EastAnglianBassPlayers

What a superb and bassy heartwarming story! That's very cool! Welcome aboard a superb and vibrant community of awesome people!

Funnily you should ask about sound treatment. A couple of people I know are manufacturing custom panels. I've a few coming myself and was thinking about doing a little review here. They'd asked if they can advertise offering BassChat a discount in the Affiliates Marketplace. I'll be sure to arrange that as I know that many of us want to treat studio / teaching and rehearsal spaces without breaking the bank.

Congratulations to the following, you will be receiving the bass string sets for review in the post over the next few days or so. Dean P Nutt (Dean P Nutt) will be reviewing at the EXL170BT set (Machines) will be reviewing at the EXL220BT Gregg Mudd (fivestring.co.uk) will be reviewing the EXL160BT

[quote name='thodrik' timestamp='1363619790' post='2014822'] I find the 'light/super light/medium' descriptions of strings to be essentially useless. Just tell me the gauge and let me decide on whether its light etc. [/quote] Yup, there's more important things in life to worry about! Whilst I have 5 minutes spare in between 'jobs', I can tell you that the EXL170BT set performed really well at the weekend. I've really nothing negative to say, though my own performance was hampered due to cutting the tip of my finger off accidentally whilst moving house on the day of the gig. I spent more time trying not to keep re-opening the wound throughout the 2 hour sesh! I'd actually changed sets from Steels to the BT Nickels, so the feel this time round was a more noticeable difference as D'addario Nickels tend to have a firmer feel due to the higher tension.

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1363357281' post='2011749'] If the .105 set now has a .107 gauge E string, shouldn't it be called a .107 set now? [/quote] The set is known as EXL170BT although 45-107 or, 'Regular Light' would probably suffice in the absence of the former.