Al Krow

I guess the key point is that further clean blend via an LS2 is not going to particularly add much, which is probably fair. I have it set on low EQ boost (125 Hz on VTDI) plus a touch of low end boost on the DG amp (80 Hz) to address plus a fair bit of clean blend. But the core tone on the YYZ seems fuller.

Yes it does have a blend knob.

Can you take a pic of the settings you had your YYZ pedal on too? That would be interesting to see.

Working for me now, thanks. @gobasserk - enjoyed that! Combination of the bass with the YYZ works well. What's particularly good is that you're not losing much, if any, low end with the YYZ (given me a little bit of pedal GAS!). I think I'm getting more low end loss with the VTDI and maybe blending in some clean with a Boss LS2 might be a plan. What pup setting / combination did you have it on? Be good to hear it without the YYZ also; as we all know, drive pedals can completely mask the "natural" bass tone.

Hah I knew the bass is not for sale, I actually meant the clip 😁 it is coming up as "unavailable".

Is it still available? I really enjoy your clips - the sound quality is always far better than it should be on a phone recording!

I don't think most bass players think it's a bad thing, more that they don't hear any real benefit from having one on their pedal boards when playing live. It seems to me that there are at least as many bassists who are perfectly happy without a pedal board comp as their counterparts who swear by them. Besides, if you are making extensive use of dirt pedals as part of "your sound" you're already getting some compression in your signal, and some amps have compression built in also... ...although I note you regard the TC Spectracomp on the TC amp to be "pants" because it acts like a limiter. Nothing wrong with a limiter though. It's a valid alternative which many bassists are very happy with. It allows your natural sound and playing technique to come through / "breathe" for the most part whilst eliminating unwanted volume spikes. It makes complete sense to use bass compression in a recording studio where the compression can be adjusted to suit the style of music and done expertly by a sound engineer (see comment on attack / release below). And if you're playing at a venue with a decent sound engineer who is going to be compressing your signal anyway - so I completely get where @jrixn1 is coming from with his post above. A lot of bass players use their compressors to get more even volume across their strings as an alternative to adjusting the height of one side of their pups e.g. closer to the top D and G strings, but also to prevent unwanted volume spikes more generally. Dunno if that is what you are referring to as "fixing bad technique?" Agreed. It seems to me that the much of the "magic" of a compressor is in the attack and release settings, which actually should be adjusted for each track to suit the style of playing. Something that a trained sound engineer will do in a recording studio. It also seems to be a facet of compression that is discussed very little and perhaps not widely understood (I certainly don't claim to be an expert!) Again this level of refinement / adjustment makes total sense in the hands of an expert sound engineer in the studio, but less so for a bassist doing DIY compression in the Dog 'n' Duck pub? Just my 2 cents FWIW! 😊

Yup, I've had three Ciocks PSUs and a OneSpot previously, all excellent and in the case of Ciocks premium priced. But I've been very happy to go "downwardly mobile" with these HB Iso-Pros.

Continuing on the theme of John's PB hack for PT Metro / Nano boards: having glued (and "clamped" while the glue set) the new feet in place, my HB Iso12 arrived from Thomann and is now snugly in place, with enough clearance over the floor. I slightly angled it using an adhesive cushioned strip at one edge to allow me to use the longer end of the connectors at the PSU and the shorter end above board for use with the pedals. Now just waiting for my Boss OC-5 to arrive from Amazon... The HB Iso series are very good value and really compact which is a great combination! I've had a really good experience so far with its smaller sibling the HB Iso-5 Pro which is incredibly compact but also pretty much noise-free, so no hesitation in getting this more powerful unit from HB. The Iso12 Pro provides 9 x 300mA (all 9V) + 3 x 500mA (with 9V/12V/18V selector switches) all individually isolated. All this for < £95 from Thomann to your door.

But is that really a normal "bass" in common parlance?

I'm pretty sure he was using a Warwick Thumb NT as his goto for quite a while? - 26 frets and defo not short scale!

And yet so many people, at the same time, say that we are "all the same"... gotta be a song in there somewhere? 😄

Fair observation RR. But one person's "laziness" = another's easy work flow to actually get something done?

Pulling these two posts back onto the right discussion thread 😊 Blimey - tracking down to a low B without glitching?!!! That's super impressive (and reminds me of what my SY-1 does, so maybe they did share tracking algorithms which would make perfect sense). But even if it tracks down to "only" give an octave below a low E, that for me is plenty good enough, as you're then going below what we can actually hear, although not having a glitchy note impacting your bass line if you're going even lower is an added bonus. Looking forward to Kev's feedback, too, shortly and hopefully mine will arrive at some point next week also.

Which (will hopefully be again shortly) touring bassists currently pretty much only play 6ers these days? Not being snarky - genuine curiosity question.

How's that going? 😁

Ordered a HB PSU (they really are good value and very compact!) from Thomann. Under £135 so no additional charges to pay UPS. Arrived within a week and completely hassle free. All good: somehow, despite you know what, the world is still turning 😊

Sorry I beat you to it this time around 😁 (PS did you get around to re-checking the OC-5 tracking?) To the OP: if this is your first 6er then good for you. Taking up a new challenge after your 30 years of playing bass is a great way of keeping things "fresh", particularly with the current lack of gigs.

Jaco wasn't addicted to 6 strings 😁

Congrats. Already sounds like you're going to enjoy this a LOT; not least for the fantastic price you managed to bag it for!

Having recently got a predecessor Carvin BB, I've started noticing Kiesel a lot more these days and just come across your post Rick. This PJ 5er, 24 frets, headless, could be an interesting alternative to a Status.

Wow! Thanks for that confirmation - and look forward to getting your update. I have to agree with your comment about the OC-3 which, FWIW I rated as my worst bass gear purchase in 2019(!) - but mostly from a poor tracking perspective. I guess why I'm really glad to be hearing the comments above about how well the OC-5 tracks. Seems like Boss may well have taken some of the tracking tech from their SY-1 pedal which is sitting on my board and has ridiculously good tracking.

Indeed we are! I was actually referring to all the contributors to this 4 year old thread, which seems to be as popular as ever. I guess it's a simple testimony to just what great basses these Yamaha BBs are 😊

Here's my Metro 24 with John's 'pedal risers' attached over the existing feet, with the suggested bit of glue to stop them popping off. I "clamped" overnight with some heavy books across either end and it seems to have worked a treat - but will be interesting to see how they securely they remain in place when the board is used and knocked in a live setting. @jrixn1 - ok if I recharge the cost of the HB Iso12 and the Boss OC-5 to your account, that have both been ordered in the past week directly as a result of your (excellent!) hack? 😁

Great to hear! In terms of tracking - how low are you managing to get it to track without glitching?