Al Krow

Best not check my review then 😁

Nope - one of the new Marquess range; I'm a little bit blown away by how good it is!

Just bought an HB bass off Thomann (above the £135 limit that Alan mentions above). A couple of my BC mates have asked me whether there were any hidden costs in importing from Thomann? My experience is that they really seem to have got their shit sorted! I simply paid the all-in price quoted on their website and they dealt with all aspects of importation with no further costs e.g. customs handling charges etc. They used DHL to courier, who gave me a 1 hour delivery slot on the agreed day of delivery and arrived within the first 15 mins of that slot. Couldn't have been more straightforward.

I guess glitchiness in pedals is like marmite - you either love it or hate it. Personally, I can't stand marmite! 😁

Harley Benton – Marquess 5: Quick Review This bass is good and at its price point it’s excellent value. Sound & electronics You immediately notice that the pups have considerable punch and that’s without being particularly close to the strings. Each pup has a separate volume control to allow you to use them individually or blend them to taste. Both pups deliver a very nice touch of growl. The neck pup is warm and full; the bridge more gnarly as expected and blended together they deliver a sweeter, slightly mid-scooped, tone. 2 band EQ. Bass set to ‘neutral’, or a very slight cut to tighten up the low end, is good; you certainly don’t want/need to be boosting the bass. The treble has a good range from vintage when rolled off to bright when maxed to deliver a slap ‘zing’, should it be required. Very slight high pitched whine from my rig when the treble is boosted - similar to what I get on some of my other basses e.g. Spector Euro 5LX, but completely disappears when set to ‘neutral’ or cut. It has no problems in belting out a meaty low B - entirely consistent with being a 35" scale bass. Comfort, design and playability The first thing I did was to weigh the Marquess because some HB 5ers have been known to weigh more than some minor planets, which would be a deal breaker for me. I had a good feeling about this one as it didn’t feel too heavy in the box and that was confirmed when it weighed in at just 4.2kg (9.2 lbs). Yaaay! The strings are 17mm spaced at the bridge which I’m very used to as it sits between my Ibby SR Premium at 16.5mm and Yamaha BB at 18mm and is, in fact, actually the same as my Spector Euro LX – but I appreciate that 17mm may be too narrow for some folk who prefer a 19mm spacing. The bass is comfortable to wear, but has a fair bit of neck dive which can sometimes be a feature, particularly of 5 string basses where the neck : body weight ratio is higher than on a 4 string due to the broader necks on a 5er. But when compared to my recently acquired BB 2005, which is a little heavier at 9.9lbs but which has almost zero neck dive, this is probably the Achilles heel of the HB for me. The bass was well set up straight out of the box with a very comfortable action and no noticeable fret buzz. The dusty end of the fretboard going up to the 24th fret is very accessible. Comparison This new bass reminds me of my Spector Legend Custom with its similar 2 band EQ set-up. I liked the Legend a lot and it gave me the confidence to upgrade to a Euro 5LX that I absolutely love. Except I prefer the Marquess to my former Spector Legend (which was a little too heavy for me and I ended up moving it on). The HB is both lighter and has punchier electronics; the Legend Custom’s EMGs always felt slightly anaemic, certainly in comparison to the pups on the HB Marquess. IMO, other than the neck dive issue on the 5 string, HB have delivered a very decent product particularly at the price point.

For pedals, just get yourself a Zoom B1-4 and be done with it. Fits very nicely within the new "basic as possible" regime! 😁

I have to disagree with @Mudpup that a 210 won't be able to cut it live - if its got sufficient power handling capability (and efficiency, articulation etc), a decent 210 should be absolutely fine with a full band, and that was certainly my experience with my former VK210 LNT.

Wot I previously said 😁 Cheers John!

True - but compressing a sine wave will change the amplitude (volume) but shouldn't impact the frequencies (i.e. the pitch)? I mean YT clips generally don't sound out of tune or pitch-shifted compared to a Spotify recording. I'm sure someone will be along shortly to correct me if I've got that wrong. Besides, I was adjusting for amplitude in any case by altering the volume as I was going along.

SM - what we should both consider doing do is to play that YT clip through our bass cabs (BB2 and GR 212 Slim respectively). Be interesting to see how much low end comes through and where the cabs top out and I'll also A/B it with RCF 310A and maybe @jrixn1 could do the same with his 732As?

Paul - that's a seriously impressive BIG sound from a 3 piece!

These are my "creative" pedal boards for home use: And I just take this one pedal off to give me everything I need for live work! 😄

This is always informative and fun through a decent pair of headphones: I can definitely hear the low B and E on the bass as an indistinct "rumble" at 31 Hz 41 Hz respectively with the volume pumped up through a decent quality headphones. Their first harmonics at 62Hz and 82Hz become "notes". I then have to reduce the volume considerably through the mids and treble before progressively increasing it again as I get to the high treble, and then my aged ears top out at around 13kHz.

John - does the RCF 732A Mk4 handle a low B well? I note that it has a frequency range floor of 50Hz, so should be able to cope with the first harmonic of the low B (i.e. 62Hz) comfortably and I'm cool with the sub 40Hz boom-ville / sub-audio range not being prominent anyway. We've been using RCF 310As, since we started up, for vocals, sax and acoustic guitar. It's been great and very lightweight and compact. But if the 732A can handle 5 string bass, we could stick the bass and electric guitar through the PA and use the 310As as monitors and get a better overall balance to our FOH sound. Might even start making use of our RCF 702 which we got shortly before lockdown and which has had a very easy ride of things since then!

Damn! I enjoyed that!

Sounds great, I'll PM you.

Is that your band?

@Maude - great job on that bass! If that reverse-P J option was available from Yamaha (on a 5er) I would be getting one!

I liked both clips a lot. The first clip with the Hartke is a bit more mid-scooped than the second, so my guess is that it will sound 'sweeter' solo'd but I suspect the second set up with the YYZ will cut through better in a band mix? Would you agree? I've got a YYZ waiting patiently in a box from a fellow BC'er waiting to be opened - was too busy getting our set list material up to scratch for a wedding gig last night to unwrap it yet, but looking forward to giving it a spin. I had a really useful exchange with one of the chaps from Tech 21, on another thread, who recommended using the cab sim on all their pedals as they are voiced to operate with the cab sim engaged. Must admit I'm kinda glad you've ditched the DP-3X; sounds like you've come to the same conclusion it wasn't working for you. Certainly the previous recordings you made with it were completely not my cup of tea at all and very much at odds to your other recordings which I'm a fan of!

@lee650you've also had a Valeton OC-10 (my old one) which is a compact OC2 and perhaps the best value of all the clones? Sadly discontinued - I'm guessing because Boss probably threatened to sue as it was such a close copy of the sound! Another one to add to your summary The best all rounder, including value for money, is still the Boss OC-5 😁

I really didn't like how "tinny" / artificial my Pitchfork sounded. But it did have a bunch of interesting options.

Boss OC-5. IMO the best value octaver on the market today, it has excellent tracking and nails the OC-2 sound. And you get a very decent octave-up thrown in on top!

Thanks for your post which was super helpful. It's already changed my view to having the cab sim as a 'default on' with Tech 21 pedals (and also explains why @dannybuoy was finding it was giving him a better sound!) Was my guesstimate of the cab sim bump curve on the VTDI about right i.e. if 22Hz is the 3dB drop point, is it providing around a 6dB boost at the 50-60Hz bump point and then back down to 3dB at around 90Hz? Also interested in understanding a bit more from you as to why an analogue pedal is likely to work better than a digital pedal through trad guitar and bass cabs?

That's a really interesting additional snippet of information about the Cab sim on the VTDI, thank you! What the manual has to say is this: SPEAKER SIMULATION Speaker simulation is an integral part of the SansAmp circuitry. The VT Bass DI is tuned to match 10-inch American-style bass speakers. It is designed for a smooth, even response as would be achieved by a multiply-miked cabinet, without the peaks, valleys, and notches associated with single miking. The shape of the speaker curve will not adversely effect or interfere with the frequency response of your own cabinet. The speaker simulation works in tandem with the EQ controls to custom tailor the overall sound. i.e. there is no hint at all that the cab sim is doubling as a 'bass boost' on the VTDI from the manual, so I will definitely be checking that feature out a bit further and, based on your additional info snippet, looks like it should be another 'always on' feature rather than my current default of having it disengaged. If 22Hz is the 3dB drop point, is it providing around a 6dB boost at the 50-60Hz bump point and then back down to 3dB at around 90Hz?