Al Krow

Gotcha thanks - had failed to spot that one in the drop down menu previously! Have quickly auditioned it...and definitely still prefer the GX Dual Drive and Orange Stack over that one, but YMMV obviously! Have you found particular fx that - delivers that warm break-up dirt to add a bit of grit to the tone? - any combination that get's a decent Sansamp VT Bass DI emulation?

Been setting up a couple of drive patches on the GX10 using the AIRD preamp fx. Managed to find the Orange Stack which I had previously been using on my GT-1000 Core, but not the Fat Tube which others had mentioned/liked on the Core and I was hoping to audition - maybe that's one of the fx not available yet on the GX10? I'm finding that the Boss preset GX Dual Drive (with some added EQ to fill out the low-mids) is my current fav - it's a reach creamy drive! That comprises the OD fx followed by two of their preamps in parallel. What's particularly neat is being able to assign the expression pedal to two parameters on each of the OD and the two preamps (ie 6 parameters in total): the gain and level so that the gain on all three can be simultaneously increased while at the same time smoothly reducing the output levels on each fx so the overall output volume remains even. Combining that with one of the footswitches to kick off/on the two parallel-path preamps and I've got quite a range of drive available via the expression pedal and one stomp-switch which will be handy for live use.

I think there's a whole 'nother thread specifically with you in mind! The "Gear Absinthe 2026" thread, or something similar...

John - love this! I used to have an Alesis, too, some years back and concur it was a PITA to programme! Look forward to following how your pub trio band develops. I think the bass & Beat Buddy combination could be a really neat rhythm section if it can be made to fly! I've not come across much on social media with bands using Beat Buddy, so if you guys are posting anything on YouTube or Instagram please do share! (And if you have anything with your Alesis SR16, to show a drum machine in live band setting that would also be great).

Only 6 years behind you on this, haha! But, as I've just started discovering from a very basic slicing patch on my Boss GX10, it's a very cool fx!

Love the fact that you've finally found what you're looking for after a 16 year search!! Guess when that happens you set aside any concerns about the chunky price of this unit and dive in! Looking forward to hearing more about how you get on with this and how you're managing to use it live / in the studio.

Guess I'm surprised that they've allowed it to go on sale ahead of general release though? Seems unusual in terms of commercial practice?

Thanks Dave - for me part of it is putting something down in writing on a public forum which I can look back at and be reminded of as the year progresses. Will be really interesting and hopefully encouraging to see how we're all getting along over the course of the year with what we've individually decided to prioritise, and see what impact it's having on our individual bass playing lives.

Interesting. Looks like a stripped down version in terms of having purely bass focussed patches, and buttons to directly access these, a smaller screen, but otherwise very similar to the GX10. Wonder if Boss abandoned this as the GX10 covers everything this does and a fair bit more? Or if it's still planned for release? Just spotted that same eBay site has a Boss GX-1 for guitar also "ex demo". Makes me wonder if this might be a clone / scam, if neither are on the Boss website?

Nice set of specific goals there Dave! For your #1 - how many gigs have you guys done this year and what would be a decent challenge in terms of additional gigs for next year? Seems like getting a good agent is a recurring theme already! I've no ideas / suggestions where to look for decent agents outside of mainstream covers bands, which my lot fall into. But maybe there's a few folk who can come up with some useful suggestions? Is an agent someone you can advertise for and "audition" / interview in the same way you might a band member? Or is that a daft idea?

Being in a band is such a big part of many BC'ers lives! Why do you feel it's wishful thinking for you?

Are you playing covers or originals Steve? And already currently signed up with an agent or getting gigs mostly off your own bat as a band?

I'd be happy to get the ball rolling! My main music goal is actually the same both for me personally and the band I'm in: I'd like me and my crew to get "off book" so we can all play our rep without needing to look down at tablets or notes! I'm sure that this will improve our on-stage performance no end in terms of being engaged and communicating with each other, and equally with our audiences? Main hurdle: we've got about 6 hours of material, which gets rotated to keep things fresh for us and our audiences. Where there's a melodic element to a bass line or many chord pattern variations that actually seems to be quite a challenge, certainly for me! But I'm guessing making this a priority and maybe aiming to get chunks of sets off-pat will be a do-able way of getting there? The second goal for me, as band leader, is to add another 5 function gigs to the 15 or so we managed to do this year. For this one, the main "hurdle" is getting our 2025 showreel finished - and that's on me to finish up the video edits, and then getting signed up with a couple more agencies.

I suspect lots of us will make new year resolutions, but do we have any particular music related hopes for ourselves as bass players and/or for the bands we're in for the coming year? What are yours and why those particular goals? What do you see as the main hurdles to achieving them? Are there any tips we can give each other to help make some of these goals & ambitions a reality?

Thanks Phil - the 2 x 12s at 21 kg apiece are actually an easier carry between them than a single 905. I actually did a bit of spec comparison across 8 different 15" active sub-woofers and interestingly the three that came top for me on £price, weight, SPL and reputation for quality were: Subwoofers - 15in active summary.pdf The overall winner on my personal criteria was Electro-Voice EKX-15SP. A mate of mine uses a pair of Electro-Voice EKX-12SP, and I'm wondering whether I can sub (excuse the pun!) those two 12" with a single 15". The RCF 905 AS-3 should definitely go on the list, too, and maybe will be a case of seeing which of those comes up in good condition used first!