Al Krow

@Jus Lukin - lol! Compression isn't rocket science: threshold, compression ratio, make up gain to compensate for compression, attack and release. Get to grips with those and you're good to go. But if PB compressors make a difference in a live mix, it should be a simple thing to make a recording to demonstrate. Come on gents let's hear ya!

Yup, dear fella, you did and all credit to you for that one! The "but" was it didn't sound too different to a slight volume boost! But be great if you are happy to share the clip here as it's exactly the sort of evidence that is actually useful in this discussion and I suspect would be of interest to more than just yours truly (aka Sith Lord, apparently 😁). Yeah fair enough Kev and I think that's well understood. I think the point is a LOT of folk have done exactly this over the years and not found any difference. Bear in mind from a live player's perspective they should be wearing a decent set of ear plugs if they value their hearing and the same for your band mates. So perhaps the better test would be whether someone in the audience specifically listening out for the bass line could notice it. And that's where a few half decent recordings would be really useful.

Completely agree with your first point Kev. Studio compression in the hands of an expert sound engineer makes complete sense. And similarly a sound engineer mixing a full band sound. Compressors used as limiters in the way Ped set out earlier makes a lot of sense too - it's how I have my Becos set up on my board (and also deals with items 3, 6 and 7 on krispn's useful "list of 8"). But hearing and feeling our live sound are not unrelated and should be something that can be recorded, just in the same way as studio mastering, and make a difference to the listener's experience. Unfortunately the lack of any evidence of the efficacy of pedal board compressors used in a live setting is a little deafening; it certainly doesn't mean that we're not open to it, contrary to Mr Lukin's belief. Tbf, unlike the self-proclaimed Jedi above, one of my BC buddies is happy to record a clip of the impact of PB dual band compression on his sound and, if it is decent - which he is confident it will be, I'll definitely be following him in getting one!

There's been a lot of talk from those seeking to bring balance to the Force, but unfortunately little evidence. All it would take is for a few clips to be posted demonstrating how transparent (so as to strip out the effect of their colouration) pedal board comps improve the bass sound in a live mix e.g. at a pub gig with no sound engineer doing his stuff. Just play a couple of tracks with your comp on and a couple of tracks without and let's hear what all the fuss is about? As one of the Jedi's mates rightly often says and with wisdom, I might add, sound clips can be worth a thousand words. And it's not a big ask really, particularly as there have been several requests going in the other direction to the said individual who has often obliged (more fool him, eh?). Still patiently waiting...

If I could only react fast enough, I would be affected by latency. @stewblack - just my poor attempt at humour, Stew. I should clearly stick to the day job...

Maybe worth trying ordering via Wunjos in London? They're a leading Ibby retailer in the UK and Tom (manager) is super helpful.

@lee650 - cheers mate. Seems like Hellzero has already been dialling in the same! I'm a fan of Poly mode too - unquestionably better tracking, which is a key for me, and also cleaner. So for the three settings I would most likely have this on: Classic OC-2: Vintage mode Budget Royal Blood / Hammond B3: Poly mode Clean Octave - thickening**: Poly mode **Dry 5/10, +1 Oct min, -1 Oct max, Range max

There are 310 binary accountants in the world**. They use computers for most of their counting. **59,049

I've just a booked an appointment with a psychologist and a bone surgeon...

Can't oblige with that innovative tuning, but I have retuned mine E,A,D,G,B,E i.e. the same as a six string guitar but an octave down, for a classical bass project and which this thread has inspired me to get cracking with again! The Fender VI style basses have too narrow a string spacing for my liking for this and a normal 6 string bass too wide, but I managed to bag a Ibanez GVB 36 which has a lightly tapered 9mm (nut) to 14mm (bridge) spacing along the length of the fretboard, which seems close too ideal, although a similarly spaced short-scale would likely be even better - but that's maybe a separate little project in itself for another day!

What do you get if you multiply six by nine?

That's interesting but, that being the case, why have there been so few "accurate" clones out there, and why were such a large proportion of MXR octave pedals so noisy - so much so that they have recently been running an exchange programme?! You massively flatter me to suggest I could make one myself! 😁 And, apologies, that contrary to your OP on the SY-1 thread, I've still not got around to moving that one on yet...

Interested as to what you mean by a direct clone? Did MXR steal the chip design and algorithms? If not, they've clearly done a very decent job (obviously at a significantly higher price point), but... You'd think that Boss might know a thing or two about their own product range, and almost certainly more so than any rivals? 😊 Worth referring to @Sibob's review earlier on in this thread - he's had / got more OC2s than anyone I know, and knows them really well in terms of nuances of sound. He's said the OC-5 has pretty much nailed it. Based on that alone, I'm not sure anyone else should confidently say that MXR have done a "better" job without doing a detailed side by side review first?

£114 from Amazon (postage included if you have Prime) - and very much obliged to the "tip-off" from @Kev for spotting that they were in stock (they've already run out again!). I do think Boss are making life very difficult for the OC-2 clone competition with the OC-5, given its feature set, the way it's nailed the "OC-2 sound" (with the added pedigree / brand recognition of being the "real thing" i.e. Boss!) and at a price point, new, that you wouldn't hope to get at least some of the well known alternatives, second hand.

Returns are a killer for retailers' margins, so you guys are going to be very welcome customers then!

I know several of you like to hear clips - so here's a couple from me: - the second in 'classic OC-2' mode with just -1 oct max, vintage setting, finger - first (same riff) in more 'Royal Blood' mode with a bit of clean (3.5/10), +1 oct (5/10), -1 oct (max), poly setting - full range, pick into VTDI set for dirt. In conclusion the OC-5 seems to give us both the OC-2 and the OC-3 with improved tracking for both and throws in an octave up. What's not to like? Definitely looking like a keeper! OC-5 'RB'.wav OC-2 'classic'.wav

"Insignificant by comparison" is overstating it. The EU 's two biggest customers (net) are the US with which it has a trade surplus of €150.3 billion, followed by the UK at €110.3 billion. Trade surpluses then fall away pretty rapidly in comparison with these two nations - the next is Switzerland at €33.8 billion. [Source: EU Commission data] In relation to music products IMO the US is going to be a massively more difficult market for retailers like Thomann to crack compared to taking on the likes of Andertons in the UK, if they were to follow the Music Store / DV247 model and set up a UK branch to take the hassle out of purchases for UK consumers.

Just put it in front of a Red Ripper fuzz and Proton filter and it plays very nicely! I didn't think I was going to particularly like or use the octave up, but I'm already won over. It's not a clean octave up in the way the Digitech Mosaic is, to give you an 8 string bass sound, but it definitely adds a bit "extra" when used with the -1 oct and a bit of -2 oct; both when the pedal is used by itself but also when combined with fuzz and / or filter. So overall first reactions are a thumbs up from me. And, as everyone else has already reported back, it nails that classic "OC-2" sound with the -1 oct solo'd.

That last point is interesting. You thought about splitting your signal and using the OC-5 in parallel eg with an LS2 to make the most of your pups'output?

+1^^ except I actually prefer it in Poly mode over Vintage mode when I'm using both octave up and down simultaneously, as it gives me a cleaner overall sound. In terms of tracking it's very good at normal bass riff speeds, but will glitch if you sustain a note (and the latter is not unusual for octavers).

To be or not to be, that has gotta be the question the OP intended, right?

I agree, it is high praise, and fully deserved from where I'm sitting. The Yamaha BB1025, which has been a goto bass for several years and will continue to be, is a truly fantastic 5 string passive PJ and hard to beat at its price point. My gigging experience is currently very limited with the Spector - Covid descended just as I was starting to use it in anger: I posted a review earlier in this thread: Spector fans!?! - Page 5 - Bass Guitars - Basschat The Spector Euro 5LX is a different, purely active animal, to the 1025 and, as I've posted elsewhere, has a lot more in common with another Yamaha the flagship BBNE2: The Yamaha BB mega-thread - Page 187 - Bass Guitars - Basschat I've set out in that comparison a number of features that I really like about both basses. Pulling out some of the stand-out features of the Spector, for me these are: tonal variety from single or dual coil for either pup on Spector and ability to mix and blend; meaty, fulsome tone from the EMG 40s plus TonePump preamp (dialled back!) which work really well together; sculpted comfortable body and laminated neck-through which looks and sounds great; playable, comfortable neck and easy to access 2 octave fretboard The fact that I, and much more importantly, MusicPlayers magazine are prepared to consider the Euro 5LX and the NE2 in the same breath is testament to the Spector's quality, not least given that it is significantly lower in price than the NE2.

I nearly ordered a pedal from Musique Shop in France who, with a 5% discount, were coming in just below £135 and seemed to be offering a free courier with UPS. But I fell off my chair at PayPal's crap forex rate which effectively adds another 4.5% (i.e. back up to £137). HSBC & Mastercard between then are not much better at 4% combined "non-sterling" fees. Then factor in possible loss-in-transit and difficulties with returning and paying just £1 more from DV247 (which is the UK branch of a German retailer, Music Store) was a no hassle, no brainer. Be great if Thomann took a similar step and set up a UK branch - dunno if their market share and holding onto a loyal customer base over here would warrant it?

Sorry John, can't help you on that one, but hopefully one of the others can. I do know that I was very pleasantly surprised when I got an older Legend Custom. Gave me the confidence to step up to a Euro 5LX, when Andertons had one in a sale, and which has blown me away - it's very possibly the best gigging bass I will ever have.

High praise indeed to compare a Yamaha (albeit top end) favourably with a Fodera costing several times as much! That's a very helpful comparison coming from someone who knows his way around high-end bases. It's made me feel a little more confident about my previous suggestion of putting my much loved Yamaha BB1025 into bat against your new Sadowsky and no live audience noticing a meaningful difference in the hands of the same player in a band mix.