Al Krow

Yeah the East stuff definitely has a great rep and I should probably not skimp the extra £50 or so it would cost. Not sure I need sweepable (just sensible usable mids), but 40 Hz cut / boost is a bit "boomy-end" territory for the bass EQ. Maybe no bad thing in that it's not often that you need to boost the bass (unless you're in a dub / reggae outfit with a sub woofer on tap), but being able to cut at 40 Hz would still be useful.

The bass, treble and mids are definitely not working right. But it's now got a more usable sound than I had feared, although I need to sort out the fret buzz next. Interestingly a couple of other Carvin BB owners have replaced their EQs as they felt they had become tired and that seemed to be a very positive move for them. Leaning towards an Aggie OBP-3, which I guess is on-topic of sorts to this thread, given that Korg now own both Aguilar and Spector! Glock 3 band has its fans too from several comments, but is apparently a little subtle, whereas I appreciate having a broad tonal sweep at my finger tips, so the Aggie is probably more suited to what I'm after. I can play it as a quasi passive bass / in passive mode in the meantime.

Yeah been sad to watch Debbie fade to a shadow of her former self. I completely loved that track as a teen!

A foot rest wheel is always good. I presume used prices rather than new? Wonder what's driving the crazy demand?

Pleasant surprise when I opened up my Carvin BB! Saw what looked remarkably like a Tone Pump mechanism - the bass was built in late 2005. Adjusted the screw so that it ended up being a 1/4 turn off the max, which was an increase from previous setting, immediately filled out the tone from what had been pretty anaemic beforehand.

My turn for OT 😂 ... I'm in the market for my first van (well, second if I count my previous Volvo Estate) and am looking at the Ford Transit. Has anyone used a Ford Transit to transport their BB and can recommend it (or not)? Other recommendations appreciated too, specifically regarding camper vans, rear-wheel drive and metered snake oil. PS the Boss OC-5 looks like a really good alternative to the MXR and definitely is on my radar.

Good question about whether DAC involved. Seems to be using the Line 6 Relay G10T which is "fully compatible with Yamaha THR-II bluetooth amps". If they are going down a bluetooth route won't that immediately introduce additional latency?

At current rates of progress you're going to be down to two strings in the 2030s...😁

Congrats @Pow_22 Already looking pretty darned good! Are you thinking of replacing the bridge, knobs and tuners all in gold?

Hah - very probably true! In fact anywhere that's not a haunt for aging bass players who know that playing their BB sporting a PJ and thinking about EQ is a perfectly natural pastime.

Congratulations!! I particularly love the look of the LX4. And zero surprise that you've been blown away!

You know your basses! (Btw, small point, I think it's Brunel, rather than Brunnel).

Hah! Tbf when a seller makes you an offer that you can't refuse on a bass that's already turned your head, well...it would just plain be rude to turn him down wouldn't it? Anyway you gents should know by now that I'm a sucker for white neck-through BBs.

The 40TWs with single / dual coil tap give such a broad tonal palette with mix and match combinations thrown in. I love the variety I get from mine.

Ok I'm out. Properly definitely, no way back kinda out. @JohnDaBass pic just for you mate! Needs a new preamp, strings and decent set up but was priced to sell accordingly...so could be a while before it gets a full review. @BassBunny - this is the "offending" item (as far as this thread is concerned anyway 😁)

I think strictly it's £135...but hey what's £215 between mates? 😁

Interesting point. So what's the key cause of a flabby B string?

Should be fine. Maybe a little extra in terms of handling costs, but there are no Customs duties on imports of basses from the EU and you always had to pay the VAT on new basses anyway. Where there is an issue is with used basses to / from the EU where an additional VAT charge applies now and makes UK <--used goods--> EU much less attractive.

Brilliant thanks for that. Love to exchange notes / pick your brains. Will PM you, if that's ok. Mine should be arriving in the next 45 mins

Asking prices in the FS for mint Euro 4LXs seem to be around the £1,350 to £1,500 mark at the moment - which are obviously subject to "haggle" as with any asking price. There were a couple of beauts that went for less last year and the market is generally gummed up at the moment, so you may be able to negotiate a bit of a price chip. Do you know how old the bass he's selling is? What I do know is you're almost certainly going to love the bass! Just remember to wind the TonePump down a bit if the seller hasn't done so already 😉

Well only one to find out if they have succeeded isn't there, and that would be to A/B their "free" patch against a Mesa amp. Not something I'm in a position to do and haven't been for about 18 months since moving on my Stomp. And you'll still need a decent power amp in your signal chain. So not sure how "bottled" the fx sim + power amp route would be, even if it comes close to emulating the real thing. You could go FRFR, of course, but that's a whole 'nother story and not something I'm looking to do having considered the weight options in some detail a while back.

I do, pretty much every day mate! 😉 But I'm not lugging a 25lb head on the road to gigs with my dodgy back. I'll leave you 6' strapping youngsters to do that. I suspect I'm going to end up with a BIAmp for the road - been highly recommended by a dodgy mate of mine, who has a M6 at home 😁

Cheers buddy and doh(!) quite correct about HXFX not having the amp modellers - I'd forgotten that, lol! (which will reconfirm my superior memory skills for @dave_bass5 on all matters Helix!) @LukeFRC - maybe on one of the Helix threads to avoid another non OT tangent 😁, it would be really good to understand what the individual components of the M9 patch are? As I said, I would be positively stunned if a multifx patch can emulate the complex harmonics provided by something like a tube preamp paired with a class AB poweramp you get in the Mesa M9 (and M6).

It would be a shame if this was being stated incorrectly on formal well respected YT reviews such as Dan's, as I get the impression from comments on this thread, and elsewhere, that not working out that the v1 OTB was boost only on the treble and bass EQs, and thinking that neutral was 12 noon, was a key reason for a number of OTB owners giving up on their amps. (Tbf - it's not unique: we've had similar unhelpful comments about the Spector TonePump from Spector, themselves, about the EQ being purely boost, when they are not!)

Ah ok gotcha. Two things (i) I don't currently have a Helix (ii) I would be (very pleasantly!) stunned if a Helix patch could closely emulate what a Mesa M9 (which you're right should be pretty identical tonally to an M6) does. I suppose the way to test it would be to bypass the preamp on an amp and feed the Helix straight into the power amp section of a clean amp such as a DG M900. Having said that - I would be less surprised if you had said a Kemper or the new DG Quad Cortex came close just based on their reputations. Calling @bassfan - dunno if you've come across the M9 patch on your HX Effects, buddy? But if you get a chance to A/B it with your Mesa M6, it would be interesting to see if it comes close.