thisisswanbon

Update/mini review(?)

I ended up getting the 3 leaf audio octabvre mini to replace my t16 as the tap dancing thing of boosting another pedal felt like it would get the better of me...

Gigged the octabvre mini last night, and massively impressed! It doesnt go quite as low sub wise as the T16 (which seems to go to pure sub bass) but when dialled into oc2 territory it has enough low end and headroom to shake the room comfortably whilst still giving that oc2 character.

For context, set up was:

Sandberg VT4 (neck pick up, passive) > Aguilar TH500 > Barefaced Big Twin II.

I mainly use this as solo octave setting for EDM tunes (prodigy, faithless etc)

I was worried with it not having the same lows as the T16 that it wouldn't have the same impact, but it sounded almost as if because it wasnt throwing SO much pure sub freq at the amp, the amp could better handle what it was given and in turn shook the room while retaining character. I struggled to get that balance with the T16, as it seemed to quickly go from pure sub to fuzzy with not much in the middle. Early days but possibly my favourite bass purchase to date! 

Edit: tracking was also FAR superior to the T16, going up to low G comfortably, and not bottoming out on certain notes (my T16 would go mega quiet on a high Bb or high F in particular)

Basstheworld.com did a review of these recently, but the whole thing seemed to be to make sure everyone knew they were inspired by Sandberg (or at least that's how it came across to me)... I think they seem great for the money! 

I've contacted Tom a few weeks ago about the clean knob issue but had no reply so assumed hes stowed off!

I'm not the best at pedalboard tap dancing, but DO have a spark mini on my board, so a boosted oc-10 may be a cheaper alternative to going for a new high end pedal! 

It's the T-16 v2 that I have... recently had to have a new clean pot fitted due to it catching a punter at a recent gig so not sure if that's caused it. As I found out last night though mid insomnia; when it doesnt want to play and you kick the pedal in full Oct down, and all you get is a filtered clean note

Does anyone know what the headroom is like on the oc-10? My cog T-16 looks like it's on its last legs, and it's really important to what we do. I need that big synth sub sound, but scared other pedals wont have the same headroom as the T-16 😬

Is this still available?

On 17/11/2018 at 12:33, Cuzzie said:

G&L ASAT silver flake, white binding, #6 neck (old school P bass dimensions) and the extender strap.

Bought from the guy who invented the extender and only about 10 made of them. That bass I believe is an unusual spec for it, and it’s next to a semi hollow I had which was an unusual spec, but prob not rare enough a model.

This one may be stretching it....

All Beauties! I was tempted by the silver asat on classicandcoolguitars.com recently that looked identical...  Does the strap peg in the upper fret area not get in the way though?

Truss rod wheel at the base of the neck always made more sense to me (not sure if possible on neck thru though)

Definitely agree with top loading bridges, they're an absolute godsend! 

Musicman/Sandberg et al style quick access battery boxes (without the flimsy battery clip and wires)

Evening all!

The TH500 seems to be a much praised head, and there are many many posts etc online talking about and alluding to the unique gain structure, control relationships and the learning curve etc... but there doesn't appear to be an idiot friendly guide to getting a loud, clean tone from it!

I recently asked for advice on the Aguilar owners Facebook page, and got far more help than anticipated, but mostly contradictory and not beneficial.

Dave Boonshoft of Aguilar even posted the following:

"Okay, well the input gain, master and tone controls are all before the power section, so you are controlling the amount of gain to the power section. EQ that is boosted is an actual increase in gain on those frequencies.  Use the input gain and the master to create the gain structure you like the sound of. There is no reason to turn one control all the way down or to turn one up to any pre-determined point. Generally turning the input gain down on the town Hammer will be cleaner unless you have created a lot of gain with the other controls-which could still cause clipping. 
The Power section is set for its full output. 

If your bass has a hot output you may like using the input pad. It works exactly the same as turning down the input gain pot; but may give you a bit more flexibility. 

I hope this helpful! Remember that everything is interactive- sensitivity of the cab, bass output, effects pedal. Also, one thing people don’t necessarily think about-playing style."

While really helpful, and massively above and beyond on the customer service front, I'm still struggling...

What I'm looking for is "gain+drive+Master = loud and clean" levels of simple, which doesn't seem to exist! Every time I've gigged this head I've had non stop clipping, and when I've kicked in the sub bass, fugettaboutit! No bottom end, unbearable clipping! I've tried lowering the gain, which dropped the volume, and when upping the master caused more clipping, I've tried upping the gain, which caused clipping, upping the drive, lowering the master etc etc...

I've heard that boosting the EQ causes clipping, but surely that's counter intuitive?! All I want is a nice big CLEAN tone that plays well with pedals at loud enough volume to compete with a hard hitting drummer, and synth obsessed keyboard player!

Anybody have, or care to make a quick idiots guide for idiots like me, who are finding the learning curve too steep?

Thanks!

I always get surprised how many people look to me for the bass 'solo' in Kasabian's Club Foot.  Yes, it's a bass heavy tune, but with the amount of drive piled on I always assumed the un-initiated would think it was guitar; yet every time, it's all eyes on me before I've hit the first note of it!

Pm'd

You'll undoubtedly have seen Scott Devine on the old youtoob, but I always all in love with precision basses when I hear him play one, then play one myself and fall out of love with them just as quick.

Spector Rebop 4MM owner here...  Probably not the purists definition of a spector with the pick up config etc... But I'm absolutely smitten with mine.  The neck is a little bit fatter than I'm used to, but hasn't taken much adjustment to get on with

Price Drop **£950** 

Been dithering on this, but my recent Spector purchase is the sound in my head, and this is too special to be relegated to a back up

Bought new last year, more than a handful of people have told me it's the nicest bass they've ever played... first to see will buy.

In as good condition as a hardcore relic'd bass can be, only wear is the delano logo has worn from the pick ups

features:
Active 2 band EQ incl active/passive switch and pick up blend 
Delano PJ pickups (awesome P sound)
Slim super comfortable neck
Low action and shallow neck heel for great access
Easy access battery compartment
Includes padded Sandberg gigbag

Prefer collection or drop off in vicinity of Tyne and wear.  Can look to ship at buyers expense

So after buying a sub n up to replace the T16... then buying a second sub n up because I loved the capabilities of the first one so much... I discovered there's an internal tone pump adjuster inside the body cavity! I dropped that 1/8th of a turn, and it'll now play nicely with my T16!

I now have 3 varients of sub octaves that I'm likely to never need, but hopefully this info will help someone else down the line, as I haven't found it anywhere else

Wow!

Just now, GisserD said:

 

The sub n up is digital.... 

I know, but due to the spector not playing well with analogue, the next best bet seems to be finding a digital pedal that can get near the sub tones needed for EDM et al...

10 hours ago, Quatschmacher said:

A Jazz would work just fine on the neck pickup. In fact, my former 75 reissue got even better results than my Precision, though I’m not sure if that was to do with the strings (Rotosound steel rounds), the single coil pickup or the ash (as opposed to alder) body. 

Been looking at the Sub n Up last night actually, I'd rather the issue be fixed at the pedal than having to buy other basses.  I'd have thought with the toneprint editor I'd be able to get close(-ish) enough to the big analogue sub settings on my T16. Any prolific Sub n Up users had any experience with MM bridge pick ups?

32 minutes ago, CameronJ said:

In all honesty, buying a cheap precision will give you the fastest, most consistent results. And you may even love the P bass enough to use it without the T16 too!

4 minutes ago, Quatschmacher said:

 

Thanks for the help and advice, gents :). Not the answers I was hoping for, but it is what it is

18 minutes ago, CameronJ said:

Probably not. It’s the inherent characteristics of that kind of pickup in that position which analogue octavers just don’t like very much. Digital octavers won’t mind it but as we all know they aren’t as juicy sounding!

The thought of going to a digital pedal gives me shudders... What about running a compressor before the T16? Could that maybe tame things enough? Failing that, I may have to buy a cheap precision to use on those tunes.

25 minutes ago, Quatschmacher said:

Try backing off the volume a lot. Also, I found that bumping the mids (or backing off the bass and treble) helped. (The best solution is just to use a passive front pickup Bass such as a jazz or precision.) Does your bass have the ability to be run in passive mode?

It doesn't unfortunately, and it's a boost only 2 band eq! 😬

Would the T47 running at 18v not handle it a bit better perhaps?

27 minutes ago, Quatschmacher said:

Also, if it’s a rear pickup (especially a humbucker) it may also not fare well. My Sterling made my octavers sound dreadful. 

21 minutes ago, CameronJ said:

This.

I'm thinking you both may have hit the nail on the head... Any suggestions on how to make them play nice? I'm planning on selling the Sandberg and don't really want to keep such a nice bass for 2/3 songs max.

21 minutes ago, CameronJ said:

Was it definitely the pedal that was misbehaving or the amp you were playing through?

I'm assuming the pedal, as it's the same set up I've always used except for the change in bass... I may have to do a bit of investigation, but kicking in the T16 is usually my favourite part of the set, needless to say, last night was a disappointment haha.

18 minutes ago, Quatschmacher said:

Is it an active bass? Analogue octaves seem to work best with passive basses. 

It is, but the Sandberg I was using before it was too and I had no issues (admittedly the active pre in the Sandberg seemed a bit more tame)