Al Krow

Lol!!

I wonder if it's folk looking to play the files on their phones rather than PCs? Definitely not an isolated case of "I can't open the wav file"!

Cheers will do. I think it's fair to say that the basic threshold and ratio settings are effectively the comp's "bike stabilisers" to ensure a more even peak / trough output signal to the amp; and that folk who prefer to use compression more as a limiter (ped et al) with a higher threshold, and with an uncompressed signal below the threshold, to preserve their dynamics have an equally valid approach. In terms of the "magic" of compression, this does appear to relate much more to the attack and release settings, a compression topic which gets less airing than it might deserve. But setting these will vary depending on the track, style of music and what else is in the mix. It does seem to be more properly in the realms of studio mastering to adjust this to suit a specific track, rather than anything we will be able to do whilst playing our basses real time over the course of a set. So perhaps the better option depending on our "global" preferences might be just to go for the auto "fast" or "slow" attack / release settings available on the Becos, or just set and leave for punchier (slow attack / fast release) vs more compression (fast attack / slow release) again depending on preference.

Sorry, yes I did indeed mean "slow" for a punchier sound. I'll correct my earlier post.

Thanks very much for sharing that. I guess I was looking to understand what a typical amount of compression folk are targeting e.g. is -3dB to -6dB before make up gain. I've actually moved my comp, after writing my previous post which you replied, to the end of my board rather than at the start to deal with any spikes from my Proton filter, and there is a noticeable increase in compression resulting when the filter is engaged, as might be expected. My settings aren't a million mile from yours, in terms of ratio, threshold, makeup-gain and dry level. I've gotta slightly faster slower attack (just based on the theory that this should be more punchy) but I'm finding any difference very marginal on that front! Easier to see on this pic:

Interesting item in the FS: I guess this is technically a "BB" albeit not a Yamaha one. But there are a number signature styling features from the body shape to the body through stringing. Fact that it's neck through and in white doesn't help on the GAS front either! Dunno if this might help? https://www.yamaha.com/yamahaguitars/ElectricandBassGuitarSerialNumberSystems.pdf

Oh dear, this whole thing seems to have taken a turn for the worse. Anyone who's in touch with Scott should maybe let him know so he can nip it in the bud: such negative publicity on TB is not going to do SBL any favours give the size of the US market. https://www.talkbass.com/threads/scam-alert-scotts-bass-lessons.1442084/ PS - thanks Stubby for amending the thread title to make the GW takeover explicit! Speaking of which, I really must open that book up before 2023 and it has lain there dormant for 3 years...

Good stuff. Be interested to get your thoughts on why recording in MP3 is less good? Guess I'm going to need to load up a wav <--> MP3 converter - 'cos a bunch of fellow BC'ers have said they can't open .wav files and need stuff in MP3 format.

Interesting question - not one I've given any thought to as it's already got 8 stomp switches. Ok not all of these are for scrolling but you can still very quickly scroll through banks of 4 patches, each of which can be a virtual pedal board of 6 pedals as we were discussing a page or so back. This would seem for most of us to eliminate the need to use an additional footswitch on the HX FX. Having a couple of extra foot-switches on the Stomp obviously has a bigger payback. But HX Effects is midi enabled, which might give an option...I'm guessing if any of the HX FX users knows the answer to this, it might be @Woodinblack

Did you get one in the end? I've managed to get my head around mine in the last week and am actually finding it, if anything, easier to use than my old (and vastly bigger) Boss RC 30; things like overdubbing and then deleting / redoing the last take until you're happy with it is surprisingly straightforward. The one niggle is that its output and input have to be in .wav files rather than the more compact / widely used mp3 format. For the money, though, I've not come across anything better. And certainly there's not space for anything bigger on my mini-board! And tying this vaguely into the thread subject matter, this is a pedal where prices seem to have gone down rather than up!

Having lived with the updated mini-board for a few weeks, I've come to realise: a) the Zoom B1-4 is easily the best value pedal I've ever bought! b) the Grizzly doesn't really interact with the filter at all and I've managed to get 95% of the way there to my favourite drive setting on the Grizzly with the B1-4. c) it would make better sense to have the comp at the end of the chain to deal with any volume spikes from the filter and to have the looper there, too, so that it can pick up the rest of the board => I've swapped these round with the VTDI, which then becomes a pre-fx preamp rather than a post-fx preamp. Does mean I lose access to the DI out on the VTDI, but I'm much more likely to be taking a DI out from my amp anyway, so hopefully I won't miss this. d) the HB50M board is a very good size for a smallish board and I just about managed to squeeze on a Red Ripper in place of the Grizzly, which will be a much more interesting combination with the filter. So having rearranged and re-wired, it's now looking like this. Fingers crossed I'm done for a while - plenty to keep me sonically entertained! Signal chain: SY1 --> VTDI --> Red Ripper --> Proton --> B1-4 --> Becos --> Lekato

So none in, one a decade out? How many you got left? 😉

So you really liked them? Well with the benefit of hindsight anyway. Yeah, bit like parting with an old friend that you've shared happy memories with but haven't really spoken to for a while.

So I tried an Attitude the same time as a BB NE2 a while back. Maybe it was store environment or the combo I was playing through, but I really didn't feel it with the Attitude, but the NE2 blew me away! AndyT you had a couple of Attitudes and moved them on, if I remember right. What's your take on them?

Ah yes, I forgot about your rather tasty pimped BBN5!

Are you currently completely Yammy BB devoid, for the first time in a while?

Any reason you can't put wheels on a BB2?

Mate a BF cab is good, but even Alex wouldn't say that they were that good 😁 If it had been a Wal bass we were talking about, now obviously that's an altogether different matter!

Let's cut to chase: Basschat BF owners past and present - 5,164 votes YES Wife - 1 vote NO Outcome? 😁

Ah ok - in which case no arguing with that! ST it is for you then, matey. But you're gonna need scratch your BB2 itch at some point. Just sayin'... Out of interest what was it that didn't cut the mustard with your Bergs?

Noted. I'm sticking with my recommendation! A 2x12 will be great, though. And if so, don't discount the Berg CN212 - seriously your ears will love you. A/B them before pulling the trigger, if you can. I've had both the Berg and the SC and personally I'd go for the Berg ahead of two BF SCs, which is what your ST will be.

Only 'cos if you want to play a bit of slap, she and I are of the view that a BB2 might meet your needs better! 😉 Particularly if you're pairing with a warm MB head.

Si - on both the above, I note that you have recommended -3dB to -6dB GR. Is that a decent "ballpark standard" GR you would look to be targeting, or were you suggesting that amount so that it becomes noticeable? One thing I've observed with my playing style is that even with threshold set pretty low, so that a fair chunk of my signal is being compressed e.g. at 2/14 on the Becos which corresponds to about a -33dB threshold, there's pretty little compression going on (0 to -4dB). So I'd need to drop the threshold a little (but not much) further to get to a -3dB to -6dB GR. For completeness I've got it set up with slow attack and fast release for a punchier overall sound and comp set at 3:1. One thing that was surprising is that using the level control on the tape saturation rather than make up gain seemed to provide a weightier / better sound, even though I'd got the saturation, itself, set to nil! Looking back at your excellent review of the Stella for some idea as to what's going on here and the level control is boosting the dry signal only. I've got the wet / dry mix on 65% wet and if I turn the Sat level up to max I need to cut the make up gain to -6dB to get a similar overall volume to the pedal in bypass. This does fattening up the tone nicely, but cutting the makeup gain in this manner, seems to me to be sidelining the compressor and pretty much enjoying the tone shaping provided by the Sat circuit! A better balance of the two would be having the make up gain at +3dB and Sat level at a little boost at 3/10 also. @Opticaleye be very interested to get your thoughts on the above too.