Happy Jack

I do like Mooer stuff, and that would certainly be one possible solutions, but what are you missing? Well, the BigShots can work perfectly well in passive mode and can therefore be used anywhere on stage, without the need for power and/or a pedalboard. In fairness, that means that the LEDs won't work, of course! The BigShot is also available in two different flavours, the BigShot I/O and the BigShot ABY, allowing you to choose exactly the feature set you want for your needs. Both BigShots have a dedicated tuner out. A key difference between EUB and DB (for live use) is that a DB does not have a volume control. The BigShot I/O assumes that you will plug your DB through channel #1 and your bass guitar through channel #2, then use the DIM/BRIGHT controls to equalise the two signals without altering your bass's volume control and therefore its tone. It also has a Mute button (very handy for switching between instruments, especially when one is a big noisy feedback-prone thing which must either be laid on the floor or placed in an awkward stand). If you're playing EUB rather than DB then the BigShot ABY probably makes more sense, and of course it is a direct competitor for the Boss LS-2. As opposed to the Boss LS-2, the Mooer has a (reversible) 2 --> 1 plugging system whereas the Boss LS-2 has a far more flexible 1+2 --> 1+2 system. Equally important is that the LS-2 has separate Level controls for each of A & B. And whilst the LS-2 needs power, it runs very happily off a 9V battery. I think that's about it. Whether or not that makes the two BigShots worth £89 (each!) or the LS-2 worth £82 is obviously an individual thing. If I already owned neither a BigShot nor an LS-2 then I'd certainly look at the Mooer as a starter for ten - £25 is a good price. But you get what you pay for.

Making your debut by playing on Albatross is a tough act to follow ...

Excellent stuff Jensen ... I just wish I understood it all better. I assumed that I couldn't go far wrong by plugging my passive basses through good-quality DI boxes by Radial. It seems I misunderstood the situation.

Not so much 'more' as 'different'. I've had both, loved them both, but used them in different ways. The LS2 is a classic Swiss Army knife; there's no limit to the number of ways you can get your money's worth from it, just a pedal that every bass player should own because ... well ... just because. The BigShot is a dedicated tool for dealing with this one particular issue, and dealing with it really well. If you routinely swop between (say) electric and double bass during gigs then I would recommend the BigShot without hesitation, and I would advise you to practise always using it in the same configuration. If swopping is something you only do occasionally, then the LS2 makes more sense simply because it will spend less time sitting in a drawer and gathering dust - you'll find other uses for it as well.

Covering the entire fingerboard of a cheap double bass with epoxy, and then sanding/filing the whole thing back to a useable finish, would probably rank right up there on my list of things never to waste my life doing!

I'm guessing you don't have two Boss tuners ...

Mind you, there's a reason ... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Resonet-Arco-Stand-up-Bass/153047838486?hash=item23a25caf16:g:T8sAAOSw0LhbFAl-

I'm liking that TKO a lot ... everything you need, nothing you don't.

The only place I use Pledge is on my skull!

Sounds like a great gig, but watch for the band politics - you'll still be the new boy in that band in five years' time ...

Agreed. Don't know about you but I genuinely enjoy learning new material, especially stuff I would never normally have tackled. The most fun I've had in the last month was learning Happy by Pharrell Williams, and learning it properly so that I could absolutely nail it. The band loved my performance at the audition for "first-choice dep bass player". So much so that they decided they needed a better full-time bass player. But because I play in other bands they also decided not to offer the role to me ... Bwahahahaha!!! Bands, don't you just love 'em?

The bass that makes me feel my best, play my best, sound my best is my Mike Lull T5. It cost me nearly £3k and they now cost about £4.5k new, but I play that bass at every gig. If I had a £200 Encore that worked as well for me, then I'd play that instead. It's not about the money ...

This isn't going to end well ...

What is this "upper register" of which you speak?

I have to tell you that on my screen this abbreviated to: Drummer needed for wedding Which is one of the best thread titles I have seen in ages.

The thing about all these really wonderful warm-up-your-sound get-that-vintage-tone persuade-people-that-you're-Jamerson DI boxes (and believe me, I'd be happy own each and every one of them) is that a far more economical approach would be to buy a top-quality vintage combo and stick a mic in front of it ...

Thanks. Astonishing tone, but only with the right strings. My kneejerk reaction to buying a bass is "just stick flats on it" and that invariably improves the tone hugely ... well, to my ears anyway. This is the first bass I've owned (of well over 100 of the buggers) where the opposite is true. Fitting LaBella FLs (one of my go-to string sets) simply deadened the tone and closed the sound down. It was still a great-sounding bass, of course, but the magic had gone. The second I put the D'Addario rounds on, there it was again ...

http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/h4ppyjack/library/Basses CURRENT/Ovation Magnum III 1980 CURRENT

Was this really four years ago? https://silviabluejay.blog/2014/08/05/visit-to-foderas-workshop-brooklyn/

My best guess would be that, whatever DI box you use, the personality will be Markbass!

And the winner is ... D'ADDARIO!

Outstanding!

The Jesus Plank?