Al Krow

I love that! In work I often try to distinguish between being on a production line and being a craftsman. And it's a privelege to find ourselves getting off a production line, where circumstances permit. But I've never really focused on the difference between an artist and a craftsman/person. I guess that much of what we're saying is that we either don't have the talent to be a true artist (= successful / pro originals band), or would much prefer to be good craftsmen than a typically meh artist, which frankly most amateur original bands are! Obviously you've gotta start somewhere with both.

@ern500evo cobgrats on the new head and welcome to the DG M900 & BF rig owners club! Be interesting to hear how your new amp stacks up against the GK MB Fusion and what genre of music you're typically going to be using it for? You got yourself a really good deal on that M900 btw!

You're going to have to post some clips!

@NancyJohnson just wondering - do you only ever eat new dishes at restaurants, or occasionally do you order something you've previously enjoyed a lot? What about when you have mates round, nouveau cuisine each time? But even then are you "covering" someone else's recipes, or creating your own from scratch? How long does a band play its own original material time and again, before it effectively becomes a tribute act to its former creative self? Originality has it's place, of course it does! Otherwise we would all still be listening to Gregorian plain chant. But things don't have to be new to be stuff that we and in the case of music, our audiences, love.

It's great having the possibility of a comp and limiter on the same pedal, I can only think of one other that offers that. The only issue is that many folk typically would have a have a comp at the start of their signal chain and the limiter at the end. (Apologies @krispnthat this comment is not backed-up by anything other than home use, which obviously immediately renders it value-less 😉 )

Yeah, but the pictures are really useful to see how it's been pulled together (well for me anyway!) before downloading, so please don't desist!

Check out the analogue octaver on this amp (24.00 in to our very own Dood's review). It competes with the very best analogue octavers out there in terms of tracking. Very few analogue octavers (which tend to have less latency than their digital counterparts) can manage to track down to an open E without glitching. This can - love it!

Hats off (or on) to this talented Canadian two-piece! Upright bass and drum - not seen too many pull that off before.

How cool is that: your "own brand" high-end bass, with a level of craftsmanship which, dare I say, is right up with very best on the planet?! Look forward to the write up and pics later this week.

@Kevsy71 did I miss a NBD post about your new KS (was just browsing your Xotic FS)? Either way, pics please! How are you liking it so far?

Thanks - that's kinda what I was getting at with my initial question to you about "whether it was something your av bassist could do"? But my confusion with Mooer Tone Capture on its GE250 hasn't helped this discussion. Apologies!

Generally you're spot on - I pretty much always use an amp and cab (and which is why I am much less needy of the amp and cab sims on the Stomp). But for one of our function venues in Central London, I go straight into DI (no amp and cab) and I'm guessing that may also be something that other HX Effects users may encounter? Hence the reason for these series of posts.

Yeah - my bad, I'm getting IR confused with the Tone Capture function on the Mooer GE250 which allows you to sample an amp to create new models on the Mooer GE250 in the way you can on a Kemper. Completely forgot that Tone Capture is not available on the Helix range.

Be interested to find out if anyone on this thread has actually used the IR on the HX Effects and found it useful? If so, please do elaborate!

I guess the other key point is that if you're going down the IR route you're pretty much limited to your own cab, whereas something like the Mooer Radar allows you to 'sample' a whole world of cabs which could be interesting / useful in itself.

Good shout. You'll need to talk me through that, please, and in particular whether the HX Effects can do IR's both well and relatively easily with the gear a typical bass player is going to have at their disposal? Anyone uploaded IRs onto the HX Effects and been pleased with the results?

Sounds like mooer radar + preamp pedal pretty much has it covered for you. And the point for bringing the discussion to this thread, is that I think a similar combination of HX Effects + Mooer Radar should also work pretty well. I'm just trying to get my head around what a pre-amp pedal can actually provide that the HX Effects can't (and assuming that the venue has a DI) i.e. what are you still missing if you "only" have the Mooer's cab sims? I would have thought that judicious use of EQ plus a couple of the multiplicity of fx available on the HX Effects should be able to deliver a pretty darned good pre-amp patch? Guessing there will be a few HX Effects users on here ahead of me on this one!

Oh that's easy: you just empty the basket. You see, it doubles up as a protective carry case. It really has been carefully thought through.

That really is a basket case, isn't it?

Haha it's not getting much use live currently, although I'm not guaranteeing that will always be the case! Nor are several of my basses nor my 25 lbs Mesa M6 amp. In my case the HX Effects is being pipped to the post by the simpler and easier to use Zoom B14 which, as it happens, does have amp and cab sims. But you know that I don't share the utilitarian (aka "practical") philosophy to gear that you have (and tbf many share with you) dear chap, and I also value my back when it comes to heavier gear with otherwise great tonal ability (obviously referring to the M6 rather than the HX Effects in relation to this!). I'm a firm believer that if my gear gives me pleasure even if that be "only" at home, it's repaying my investment. It doesn't have to be gigged / taken out on the road or earn me money to be something I enjoy having. I'm also a believer that I hear and enjoy nuances of bass tone a LOT better at home without a rock band alongside and ear plugs in! And that's also partly because I'm fortunate with family and neighbours in being able to play at volume in my 'bass-ment'. But hey - that's where I've landed in my thinking and circs and it works for me. IMO it's certainly possible to have a very valid opinion about gear without gigging it - or are you seeking to censor comments from anyone about their own gear unless they're in a band? Banter aside - if you're going straight to DI (with no amp or cab) conceptually will a cab sim suffice or is there still going to be 'gap' left by not having an amp sim? I'm kinda thinking that a cab sim should largely get you there, because unless you're playing a tube amp most D class power modules aren't particularly coloured and the tone you're getting from the preamp section you could potentially get from your pedalboard. So that just really leaves the tone shaping provided by your cab.

One of the key joys of playing live is connecting with your audience. Great originals bands will fill out a stadium. A half decent originals band can regularly play to an empty venue, often for no money. Must be soul destroying if it never goes anywhere? A half decent covers band will bring in custom and fill out a pub, or help a wedding couple celebrate (hopefully!) one of happiest days of their lives and get paid handsomely for the privelege. Writing a song is a wonderful creative process. A lot of original material by your average originals band is at best meh, which is why they play to empty venues. If you write a great song, you'll touch people's souls. Audiences will want to hear it time again and other musicians will pay you the ultimate tribute by covering it. There's room for both. A harder road awaits the one with the prospect of amazing uplands, but few manage to scale those dizzy heights. For the rest of us, there is a lot of fun to be had making great music to appreciative audiences for a decent pay day. That works for me.

I'll ask my people to get in touch with your people. I'm sure some arrangement can be reached.

If you prefer the form factor of the HX Effects for live use but are missing the amp & cab sims of the Stomp, then it seems like the Mooer Radar will, to coin a Bon Jovi phrase, get you half way there in a very compact package.

Must depend on the band and the individuals involved. We've got a 23 y/o and a 60 y/o in the same band, but it works cos there's a whole range in between. If there were four 20 year olds I'm guessing the 60 y/o would feel much more out of place and vice versa.

Great review by our very own Dood. Comes with some useful effects: octave down gets down to an open E (24.30) without glitching, that easily matches the tracking of the best analogue octave pedals. 5th up plus reverb or chorus are also really neat. Tilt control to weight things to the treble (useful for boomy venues) or bass. Preset EQ in the form of the shape control in tribute to the Mesa M6. Fully sweepable mids although not sure where the bass and treble EQs are centred. A LOT of amp and given its versatility not outrageous in price.