Al Krow

My sense is that the consensus from those who have made the step up from the Ibby SR Standard range to the Ibby SR Premium range was that it was well worth it (particularly if you're buying used). Primarily due to improvement in the pups ie basic Barts --> Nords. Loved my Ibby SR1800 and still really enjoying my SR1825. Bear in mind that other than the 655 and 655E and the equivalent 4 string versions (650 and 650E), which are P (reverse) /J the rest of the Ibby SRs are J/J so will give you a different character in tone just from that.

You and me both

Simple gigging board built around an HX Effects, which I've substituted in place of my HX Stomp and / or Zoom B1X-4, and a Boss SY-1.

Rio by Duran Duran. John Taylor knew how to craft a challenging and excellent bass line! Oh and if I was a BL looking for a bass player I'd choose @M@23 over me every day of the week whether or not he played Level 42. Cream has a habit of rising to the top.

Hah! Already fell for your subtle mind games twice this year Woody. Must resist... Another contented Smoothhound user. @Rich are these as good as Xvives (which I couldn't make work for me - too glitchy even at home), but at a fraction of the cost of Xvives I'd likely put up with the glitching for the convenience. Did I just say I must resist? 😄

@ratman definitely a cool board! In terms of a quick comparison, cost of MC6 is around £245 + Stomp at £429 = £674. I'm guessing the HX Effects which probably takes up the same board space of the two units combined, but is almost exactly half the price at £389, is effectively a 'poor man's' version of the Stomp / MC6 combination? Other than amp and cab sims (which can be compensated in small part by being able to load IRs onto the HX) would folk say there were other significant benefits to going down the Stomp / MC6 route over the simpler all-in-one HX?

@alinbassplayer I think you were after a steer on whether what you're looking to do could be done on the Stomp before you get one. I think the posters above are already confirming "absolutely yes!" to the queries you raised, which should hopefully give you the confidence to part with your hard-earned cash. And you can then invest the time as krispn has helpfully suggested, knowing it's not going to be time wasted.

And just to confirm the point: Quad erat demonstrandum

Thanks. Entirely @dave_bass5's fault for being a bad influence in persuading me (without actually really trying!) to make the reverse trek of Stomp --> HX FX.

Interested that you're using a Radial DI rather than taking the balanced output straight from the Stomp. Are you finding that this gives you a noticeable improvement?

Just the screen/scribble strips on the HX FX. The smartphone screen protector route & trim per Dave's suggestion is a very neat idea given you can buy a pack of those for not very much.

Glad I didn't guess - I was thinking Shuker Horn with a touch of ACG! So well off the mark!

That's mega frustrating! I got myself an used Boss SYB-5 recently as I was curious how the tech had developed over the decade since the launch of this predecessor pedal. It's surprisingly not too shabby at all. And layout / controls share a lot in common with the SY-1.

This perchance

Those jazz style knobs work well IMO. I'm completely with you in wanting to be able to see where the dials are set - I resorted to a much cruder set of white stick-on markers on my former 735A!

Are any of you guys using a screen protector for your Helix? If so what do you recommend?

One point to be aware of is the limited amount of blocks and DSPs you have available with the Zoom pedals. I've been using an HPF, comp and noise gate as a standard clean patch and then adding whichever effects on top on my B1X-4, which has a more modern chip and therefore likely greater DSP than the older chip on the B3, B1on and MS 60B models. But still not much space / processing power spare even with the newer B1X / B3N chipset. Re. the Thumpinator I'm pretty sure Max confirmed to me it was set at 28 Hz initial cut off, which is very much in line with the 27 Hz that folk were mentioning above. Not sure 28 Hz is too low, though, particularly if it has closer to a 24/dB cut, obviously depending on what you want to use it for. If the aim is purely to eliminate the sub sonic crud but leave your bass frequencies intact, starting with the 31 Hz B fundamental, then Max has designed it very well.

Ah that's a shame to hear. Out of interest what colour / finish were the ones in stock and what was it that about them that made them look so trashy? Fender clearly have made them look a lot better in their sales blurb! But good to know that PMT have them in, I'm still interested to find out a bit more about their weight and how they sound as a PJ and if they stack up against our beloved Yammy BBs. Maybe a glimmer of hope for them yet though, after all one man's trashy can be another man's mojo relic!

I kinda think that the combination of the PG on krispn's bass, with the white edge, is what makes the green work for me.

She's certainly a looker! Love the black hardware in particular - which just works so well on natural wood; and confirmed by having @BassAgent's bass immediately above!

@BassAgent - you're going to have to put out of my misery and please confirm which horny make I suspect this to be!

Never really been into green basses, but that does look good on that body shape!

This now feels really poignant, mate, given your post a short while back with your sad band departure news on your thread. Didn't someone somewhere say there's pretty much nothing you can't do with a Squier?

Gutted to hear that Lozz. Really hope you find something music-wise when you're ready, that's more compatible with a work & life balance that is going to suit you and let you thrive.