Al Krow

Andy's mum agrees. But I think it's all possibly a bit harsh. But there again, I've never seen your dog.

He also thinks he's better looking than Andy, apparently too...

BGT slot?

Oh my word, small world!! Seems that Yammy BBNE2 ownership was an inescapable destiny then? 😁 I'll PM you to find out which one!

You're too kind. But I trust, following your earlier comment, that you are not merely confusing talent with talent? 😁

Any footage?

Thanks - it was multi-tracked by the same uber talented guitarist with the Jackson 5 hair. I really must get in touch with him to find out he's getting on, pro musician during Covid - ugh!

In which case, definitely please don't spend any time checking out later incarnations of the same line up 😁

Mate, you've gotta stop taking legal action at the drop of a hat... 😁

Yeah - sitting in the pocket; it really is what being the rhythm section is all about, isn't it? This guy came to audition for a function gig where we needed a dep. I really thought he was going to be amazing, but he just couldn't handle "playing with" other band members well at all. The best bedroom guitarist I've not had the pleasure to gig with! Having said that he's probably made more from YT than he would ever with us...

Nice book collection! (And the bass isn't too shabby either!)

Yeah bollox to the first bit, I've heard your set up and frankly the bit I liked most was the bass! Second bit I get: my OP guitarist had turned pro and he was also barely out of college. Almost like rock n roll should be!

The Ugly Andys?

"Yeh that Andy was just great!" Almost impossible for anyone to get upset...😁

Been chatting to a couple of BC mates and it turns out all three of us either still are or previously have been in bands where the guitarist was the better bass player. Any of you been in a similar set up and, if so, how did that work out? In my case, I'd only been playing bass for a couple of years and had just started a 50s/60s rock n roll band. The guitarist was a seriously good musician and with respect to my current and previous crews, the best guitarist I've worked with. In the end he had a major crush on the singer who didn't feel the same way and ended up leaving. I did occasionally find it annoying at rehearsals when he picked up my bass without asking!

Agreed it's good to have choice! And depending on the feature set you want, there does seem to be a nice hierarchy of price and capability evolving in the 'compact' and 'super compact' multi-fx space and you can slot in at the right level for your individual requirements: Compact DG / Neural DSP Fractal FM3 Super Compact Boss GT 1000 Core Helix Stomp Zoom B1-4 Obviously plenty I've missed off that list! Not sure that cost / value was ever linear though i.e. you can pay a fair bit more for a marginal improvement and why a £2,000 bass is never going to be 400% better than a decent £500 bass. The entry point here is a Zoom B1-4 which is around £65 to your door and, having had both, I can say that the Stomp is definitely a big step up but certainly not a 6x better product than the Zoom. On PSU surely it depends on how many other pedals you are wanting to power - but I might be missing a trick here? Some key considerations in getting one of these rather than e.g. the Stomp are going to be whether the following features are of interest and whether folk would be willing to pay another £200, given these differences? 24 rather than 6 blocks (and the associated greater processor power that comes with this capability); a display that's 40% bigger (albeit monochrome rather than colour); access to the full Boss library of effects, but not yet as broad as the imitation of boss and other effects provided by Helix.

Announced a few days back: https://de.juno.co.uk/products/electro-harmonix-mainframe-bit-crusher-effects-pedal/793996-01/

Folk who like to run some of their pedals in parallel, rather than in series, do often use one or more fx loops which is why we have kit such as this being used by our fellow BC'ers (this one has 3 loops): With the Core if you were only needing one loop then you can actually use the other as an aux in - now that is neat! Its more modest power consumption compared to the Helix kit will also come in handy if you want to pair the Core with your other favourite pedals using just a single PSU without needing to invest in something like the Ciocks DC7.

I don't think Bartolini did themselves any favours when they introduced their budget Bart range for some of the more entry level basses; that's left a few of us, including me, wary of the brand which is a shame and perhaps unfair with regard to their higher end pick-ups. Personally, I very much associate the classic Spector sound with EMG pups and the TonePump preamp. Having said that the new Legend range does look great with their neck through design!

You know that your two dodgy Boss pedals were about 320 years old (and not an almost new £400 piece of kit) 😂 I suspect this could be possibly quite a step up rather than just a different flavour. One example: if you want to have other pedals in a parallel loop with the Stomp you need to assign one of the blocks to the loop, right? So two loops = two blocks assigned leaving you just 4 (the same as a Zoom MS-60B) for your effects. Ok that will often be plenty, but not always e.g. you want to set all your patches up with an hpf at the start and a limiter at the end and maybe a couple of EQ options with tailored mids. Well that's your 4 blocks gone already. On the Core, the layout of the 2 loops is really straightforward (if you look at the rear panel) and this thing has 24 blocks!! In Helix terms that's pretty much "unlimited". Never being constrained by the number of available blocks again, seems to me more than a "marginal improvement". Comparison of Core vs Stomp Useful and I think trying-to-be unbiased review here If this really does have all of Boss' latest and greatest pedal hits, as the Boss blurb indicates, (e.g. the about to be released OC5, the SY1 etc) then this really could be an excellent multifx. Two further things: I love the fact that this has a decent sized screen and the same processing power as the GT 1000 i.e. it has not been cut down in the way that the full fat Helix has been with the smaller Helix units, and which is why we still have 24 blocks available in the Core.

Ever thought of moving to Belarus? You'll get plenty less choice there 😁 Did someone previously mention that the perfect number of basses was nine? That works for me (again)!

Yeah - hats off to Line6 for their customer service on that - definitely good to hear. Much better than what I'm currently getting from Amazon on an Asus laptop they sold me! But, equally, I completely understand you now wanting a back up in case it happens again! Btw I am a generally massive fan of Line 6, their innovation and speed to market and the way they have moved things on with their Helix line up. And I'm just as much a fan of their parent group...Yamaha, whose basses I adore. But I'm also thrilled by what Boss, the old gits(!) have been doing to update and keep relevant their product ranges. For example the Boss SY-1 is on a different planet to the predecessor Boss SYB-5 in terms of its tracking and features. I think this new GT-1000 Core is a very exciting new addition to the multifx options we have and will finally give the Stomp some serious competition, at a similar price point, particularly with the additional processing power it seems to be bringing to the party. I'm looking forward to getting my hands on one. And in my case, it won't be replacing the Stomp, but the Helix HX Effects, where its more compact size is another real plus in my books.

Only the stuff I've already shared on the Helix thread - including your own 'blow out'. I wasn't particularly bothered about the previous reports of the Stomp overheating or my own USB issue (which could be just wear & tear related). But an almost new Stomp failing on a gig (how old was yours when that happened?) coming on top of the rest was definitely concerning, particularly as I know you're not one to abuse your gear. A quick search on the net, just to confirm we weren't unique, threw up a few of these threads: https://line6.com/support/topic/45406-hx-stomp-sudden-loss-of-sound/ Having had both a Stomp and HX Effects the HX Effects has, to me anyway, a more sturdy feel to it. Maybe all this stuff was just teething issues and Helix have got it all sorted now.

And mentioned again by you, for a third time by the looks of it - hehe. Good to see you adding value to your own thread 😁 And there's now even been a link provided. Service with a smile eh?

But folk who are happy with their rig aren't necessarily going to be that fussed about amp and cab sims? I'm certainly not, which is why I have the HX Effects: that has precisely none of them! Besides it seems to have a very cool IR loading capability should you want it. In my experience, the quality of multi fx sims (eg synth, filter and pitch shift, in particular) is very much related to the processing power on tap. This seems to leave the Stomp and HX Effects in the rear view mirror on that score. Doesn't reach the processing power of the forthcoming DG multi, but it is less than half the price of that unit, so it's a good compromise on price vs power for me. And knowing Boss, this will be built like a tank. That has been a bit of an achilles heel on the Stomp from the feedback I've seen.