Al Krow

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?

Exactly this^^ in relation to the VTDI, cheers dB. The bite switch on the VTDI is an always on bit of "magic sauce" for me, but is essentially a 'presence' switch which, from the manual, is boosting parts of the high mids and treble and, as you point out, has a subsonic filter. I'm not engaging the speaker sim, as I'm very happy with the my speaker, but I agree with you that 22Hz is getting to "sub-audio crud" territory and, like many others, I use an HPF to tighten up my low-end sound, but I certainly don't want it disappearing entirely and the clean blend is certainly helpful in that regard. For me, it's around the 65 to 130Hz range where the meat of the low end sits (i.e. first harmonics of low B, E and A strings), but the VTDI bass is centred at 125 Hz which is set a little too high IMO to support that key bass range. That's really my only niggle with the VTDI, otherwise it's a really excellent piece of tone shaping kit.

Yup! Tbf one did come up in the FS just very recently, but it had gone within a few hours...

Good to hear -although I see that you're having a clear out of some very decent pedals! The VTDI is excellent, but there is unquestionably a loss of low end on the effected portion of the signal, so having a clean blend on that is pretty essential IMO.

Just been re-reading this thread and some great posts from you, dB, which I thought I'd quote to give this thread a nudge with, really to see what folks' opinions of the YYZ is a couple of years down the track?

Ah ok, in which case...I'll PM you

The small size without the scroll, would have been perfect. But it would be vandalism to remove the scroll!

A small iron or brass version of your sign in the picture for a window ledge.

You were selling some spare 'Bass' logos a while (a few years?) back, Mick. Did you shift them all?

Looks good! £1,099 is still more than £1k in my neck of the woods😉

Here you go, let's save you a bit of time...I've linked to my post with a clip of the actual bass you were asking about embedded. Health warning: it weighs more than most minor planets...

It's the lot you aren't sure about whether you like their new design or not on the other thread...🙂

^^ This 100% Add in the ability to have a preset set up per song which you can scroll through (50 available on a B1-4 which is more than ample for any gig) and you also avoid the faff of tap dancing multiple pedals during a live set (guitarists are the worst for this!) which really helps live set "flow".

In no particular order: - Quality of sound / articulation; - RMS power handling (and whether 8 ohm or 4 ohm); - Speaker size (12" or 10" for me); - 1x12 or 2x12 (or 2x10); - Weight; - Price; - Build quality. Having tried a lot of cabs from budget to high-end over the past few years, my experience is that a cab is the part of my rig that seems to give me the single greatest return on investment, in a way that extra spending on an amp or bass generally can't match. As it's the bit of our signal chain that connects all our gear to the audience, the quality of your cab can make a big difference. I'd always recommend getting the very best one you can comfortably afford, whereas with a bass, a £500 used Yamaha BB 1025 (for example) can hold its own with basses costing several times as much. FWIW I've ended up with a BF BB2 and a Fearless F112, which I use by themselves - although I should maybe try pairing them some time as they are both 8ohm cabs: together they would then present a 4ohm load which would unleash the full wattage available from my amps!

Nathan Navarro, who tends make most gear sound good, giving the 4 and 5 strings a review. Decent sound clips of the 4 string PJ from 2.28 in:

@gobasserk I usually love your recordings and I'm also a big fan of some Tech 21 pedals (e.g. the VTDI). But honestly? I love the clean sound of your basses waaaaaaay more than with your DP-3X. YMMV etc. By way of comparison - these two clips with and without the Tech 21 YYZ were both great!

The Boss OC-5 has a 'range' setting, that allows you to set a threshold above which the octaver doesn't cut in. I'd actually prefer it the other way around as I don't particularly need an octave down for the very low notes as these are mostly sub-audio anyway and it would at a stroke eliminate any glitching concerns. But given what you're going to be using it for, just wondering whether this feature might let you achieve what you're trying to do, without bothering with the need for a parallel path, to allow you to get the OC-5's great tracking without the risk of parallel-path comb-filtering? The only issue is that OC-5s seem to be pretty much sold out everywhere right now!

+1^^ plus the several comments about getting a decent bass and rig that gives you a core sound that you're happy with. The attack that a pick delivers is a really nice contrast to the more rounded tone from fingers which is my default for most of our covers sets. (Amusingly, I've only just 'clocked' that my fav plec thickness that I've been using for the past couple of years is 0.73mm; I spotted a pack of six 0.73mm tucked away in my drawer which had been thrown in with some random other order a while back - nice start to the day! ) An often underrated area of our signal chain can be our cabs, which is the piece of kit that connects everything else to our audiences. I'm a big fan of getting the very best cab you can afford. Having been through a lot of different cabs over the past 5 years it's clear to me that the difference in quality between low / mid / high end cabs is much more noticeable than from a similar price range of basses or amps. I'm still mostly a bass --> amp & cab guy, with pedal boards for home creative fun, but I've recently been using an amazingly good value Zoom B1-4 as a stand alone pedal board and tuner. This gives me a great range of sounds (dirt, synth, chorus, tape echo, plus HPF & EQ etc) which I use sparingly and default to a "clean" patch in between.

Yeah agreed; dare I say it's a bit (BC) rich for our American cousins to be making that connection? 😁

I'm kinda gutted that the PJ set up is not also available as an option on the 5'er. And if they had a reverse-P with J or MM set up as they do on the MP-5EB that would have been perfect! Please define "need"? 😁

@pedvast improvement from your half-arsed first attempt below (the Stormy is no longer upside down and the Funk-u-lator is now nicely the right way up). You should defo get at least a B- now? The topic is of course post your "pedal board" so you have to lose a few marks for ignoring the title...😁

Being GAS free is a good thing! Wish my deflationary periods lasted more than a few weeks - hehe! I know you're a massive HB fan (and perhaps even the leading exponent of HB basses on BC?), so probably best to ignore Gregor's comment in his YT review at 1.24 where he says "HB usually are good but not that good, it also doesn't feel like a typical HB: the build quality is on a different level here..."

Ooof I can see that's a tough choice! They're both 24 frets with twin soap bar pups; MM humbuckers in the case of the M2, which I suspect will edge it. The M2 would be the 'safer' choice: more trad design, with passive / active option which is always a nice to have in case the battery dies mid gig, and a 3 band rather than the 2 band EQ in the HB, and it's only £30 more. I really like the quirky design and flame-maple top of the HB and the additional stability/rigidity and often attractive look of a laminate neck are wish-list items for me too. It often goes with the territory of starting a thread and being taken in by your own "patter". And finding something at B-stock prices can take a lot of the pain away 😁

Cheers buddy. Put them together with our Bugera Veyron 1001M amps and you've got the makings of an awesome budget rig! ... other than the fact that I love a quality cab and that does seem to be one area where noticeably premium quality still comes with a premium price tag!