Al Krow

And exactly how do you know it has poor quality and lacks durability? It's just a ridiculous statement to be making, unless you are basing it on your own or others' actual experience. In fact the octave pedal with the worst reputation of the three you mentioned (Boss, MXR, Valeton) is the MXR. It was well known for being noisy and it seems to me a big reason for the release of the latest model to deal with that particular issue. Oh look here's another noisy MXR pedal... https://www.sevenstring.org/threads/mxr-10-band-eq-is-making-tons-of-noise-and-popping-sounds.332880/ It's been replaced with a more recent (silver version) "and it’s been upgraded with noise-reduction circuitry," Please don't assume that just because you pay less for bass gear, it's automatically going to be worse!

@stewblack - that Ricochet looks versatile i.e. both octave up and down plus other intervals. Does a lot more than the Digitech Mosaic which I'm a big fan of, but which only does octave up (very well!). I'm guessing the Digitech pedals are analogue rather than digital but couldn't find anything immediately to confirm.

FWIW I've had MXR M288 octave pedal and found it to be noisy as well as a lot more expensive. The cheap chinese Valeton OC-2 rip-off is actually very good and from a quick read there seem to be a lot of very happy BCers on this thread who have one.

Understood. Yup it seems to me that trying to adjust string spacing simply by using a different bridge can very easily miss the key point of what string spacing the neck has been designed to cater for.

Btw I agree that replacing the bridge on a 5 string bass to allow narrower string spacing may not be an option - mainly 'cos you no longer have your old 5ers! But in any case, setting the string spacing to 16.5mm on a bass neck designed to cater for 18mm or 19mm spacing is not going to make the neck width any slimmer and you'll just have 'awkward' fretboard space on either side of your B and G strings. And as @Kiwi mentioned elsewhere, there is also the issue of pole piece alignment, particularly for the bridge pup. The Helix multifx, mentioned earlier, is very good at pitch shifting and does so without noticeable latency. If you don't want to spend that much then a Digitech Ricochet would be worth checking out, but as much as I love my Zoom multis, which are amazing bang for your buck, one thing they don't have the processing power to do well is pitch shifting!

I'm on a successful variation of this currently. Gear in.

Ok possibly a ridiculous thought: but could you not replace the bridge on a Smith with another high end bridge that allows 19 mm string spacing? And, of course, get a decent luthier to fit it! Or is it the case that the Smith neck width is not designed to cope with anything more than 18mm, in which case the plan would be scuppered!

+1^^ OMG @Rich you guys are great!

@cheddatom - that P bass sits so well in the mix! What's the rest of your rig?

Was after the bridge string spacing though, which unfortunately didn't seem to be provided.

I really like the look of that ESP! But there again, I'm a sucker for good looking neck through basses (ok I'm shallow). Couldn't see what the string spacing at the bridge was from the spec or whether it had the possibility of switching to passive mode. Any insight on these?

That makes very good sense in terms of trying out an Ibby. Can't comment on the GIOs as I've never tried one; I'm sure other folk will hopefully be able to shed some light. But, as you say, you're taking much less of a punt at that price point. Besides orange is the new black. And it should be good for metal(lic) 😁

Yeah, you can often pick one up in vgc and less than a couple of years old for 30% to 40% discount to new. Very decent active EQ (although some folk prefer just to play them in passive, which is also an option) : 3 band plus variable mid EQ selector switch. And personally I would go for a Premium with their juicy Nord Big Singles over the Standard range every time - but then I like my basses to growl!

It is a fair point about the string spacing. Several of my 5'ers are 18mm spacing, my Spector is 17mm and my two Ibbys are 16.5mm. But in my experience, and I don't have particularly small hands, it doesn't take more than a couple of mins to get into the "zone" and adjust to the string spacing of the bass I'm playing.

Interesting - that's pretty much what I thought you were going to say. In which case the Ibby SR Premium range with 16.5mm spacing was designed with you in mind! An incredibly playable neck for a 5 string. And IMO a pretty tasty rest of the bass too!

More precisely the G string, eh? 😁

@Skinnyman out of interest what is it about 5s that you don't get on with?

@Quatschmacher as a former FI user, I think I would be right in saying that a lot of us are massively grateful for the time and skill you've put into this pedal and in devising and sharing so many excellent patches for free. But also taking the time to be a goto resource for anyone who has sought your help. Bravo mate, you're a hero.

But maybe there is a difference here between an originals band and covers bands? Covers bands like mine really can't get too arsey about ownership of band names: it's not like any of us are paying royalties every time we cover other folks songs!

One of my covers bands has had our band name used by another after we started ours and the other 50s and 60s band ended up using a name already in use by several bands (which we hadn't spotted initially). Obviously best if you've got something unique, but not worth getting too hung up about if you then find it's a duplicate. If folk are precious about it they can trademark the name. Otherwise it remains available for anyone to use.

@LukeFRCI think you've pretty much nailed it. The SC is also ridiculously portable, which is the other factor keeping me from moving mine on! So from a "grab'n'go" perspective, when things start up again, it will be SC for band rehearsals and pub gigs and the BB2 (which tbf is not exactly 'sumo' class!) for weddings and functions. But that's just what's going to work well for me, from a practical perspective, with my covers bands.

Just announced: "Gov. Greg Abbott orders Texas bars to close again and restaurants to reduce to 50% occupancy as coronavirus spreads." The UK in two month's time?

Hey - try this as a starter for 10 . I actually pulled it together for another use - but will hopefully get you part of the way there. And then you can return the compliment with your final version!

Nah - I'm very aware that we're largely an older crew! It's just that we are sacrificing our kids futures at the alter of our own safety. Gotta get the balance right.