Al Krow

The other obvious advantages of the FI over the MXR: - input gain - 99 presets, in banks of 10 (sure, I get that is overkill for many) - two stomp switches - display - midi The FI v4 VIP has a pedal-board friendly format not too far off what the MXR delivers My tuppence worth, if I may, if Andreas wants to stay in the game with the advent of the MXR Three improvements to suggest: - improved display. Boss stole a lead on this some while ago - please check their 200 series => can label patches with words and not just numbers. "Chaka Khan" is so much easier to remember than "#06"! - load patches 1 - 10 with popular cover band patches - arpegiattor (currently only available on Boss SY series of mainstream bass synth pedals) Marketing: Why aren't there any decent YT clips of bass-players using the FI v4 VIP live in a band in the way that Paddy has just posted?

The thing about a live clip with a band, which is partly why @knicknack / Paddy's clip is a really excellent demo of this pedal's potential, is that you get to hear it in the context of the rest of the instruments and vox, which is what many of us are hoping to use it for, but also (and here's the rub!): you get one take to nail it. I loved Nate Navarro's honesty when he reviewed the Boss GM-800 saying that he'd had to do multiple takes to get some decent recordings (and he made it sound seriously lush btw). If anyone tells me that was because he's got poor synth bass playing technique...

Yes, I agree, Paddy's clip was a perfect demo. I can't easily recall clips of other bass synth pedals being put to such effortless good use in a band setting? But if any BC'ers do have any such clips to hand, please do share them? Btw when you decide to go all-in-one (again) with the latest multi (or head back to the comfort of the excellent GT1000 Core?) you know exactly who to contact to pass on your second hand "rubbish" at a knock down price 😅

Always a huge treat to be playing at the London 10k and we couldn't believe our luck with the change of location we found ourselves moved to for this one! We'd had a late one at a function gig the night before, so an early morning start to arrive to set up at 8pm meant just 4 hours sleep, but it was one of those gigs that the adrenaline gets you through! In some ways our own mini marathon - playing for two hours solid with no break, but we all loved it. A sweet moment for me right at the close when a local London lady, who had an ice cream van set up behind us, thanked us all for providing the music and offered us each a free ice-cream! A little clip from the race: LA Mixtrax - London 10k

Damn, that sounds good! Nicely played & classy band! A live clip like that is worth a thousand words, and puts to bed any lingering doubts for me at least!

Great basses! My Elrick Expat Evo 5 quickly became my goto gigging bass after I acquired it from @Sibob of this parish (who is a far more capable bassist than me!) back in 2021. Not sure I would have had the confidence to acquire one new back then, given the cost, but was keen to try one out as, on paper, it ticked so many boxes for me and being able to buy one used was a godsend! I've been really delighted with it and won't be parting company with mine any time soon! Little clip of the bass in action at a recent outdoor gig - set on neck pup in active mode with tone knobs flat, with preamp EQ duties being handled by my GT1000 Core pedal: LA Mixtrax - Bletchley Park

Oooh what have you got in your 9 block chain? Someone needs to be first up in the BC collective, looking like this one could be you (I was very quick out the block with the Zoom B1-4, Valeton OC-10 and Boss SY-1 so I've done my bit!) 😅

Yeah, thank goodness eh!? 😅

Lovely thanks! Hope it goes well tonight!

My apologies Leonard - I obviously missed that from the contents summary when I was updating it late last night! Now if you had to call it (as tricky as it may be!) would it be fair to say that your current main band i.e. the one you are spending the most time working/playing with is Choked? If so, I'll include that one on the summary to keep things equitable 😊

Katy's got a really great vox and your band sounds great! Not surprised she's got 10k+ followers on Insta! How did the band get started / how long have you guys been together? Are you regularly out gigging?

Thanks! Kept it simple as possible: kick drum mic plus stereo overhead mic

LA Mixtrax - Feel it Still Our new RCF 932A set-up being used at a recent outdoor gig (with no sub), recorded using a Rode stereo mic on top of the camera. Both myself and guitarist using a GT1000 Core pedal as a preamp into our CQ18T desk.

Nice fix to being a bandmate down! Almost the equivalent of having an 8 string bass to hand without having to master 8 string bass technique - which is defo trickier than a guitarist switching to a 12 string!

Agreed. But the MXR sounded plenty good enough for a live band mix to me? Loved his descriptor of "blue collar bassist" - made me want to get his book, but seems to be kindle only now?

Kinda glad our guitarist hasn't discovered you guys, his two favourite genres are...ska and reggae and we currently have none in our sets! 😅

Oooh that does sound like a LOT of fun! How long has the band been going?

Happy to get the ball rolling... My current band is LA Mixtrax. We formed as a four piece (female vox, guitar, bass and drums), at the start of 2022 to play pop / rock covers from 1960s to current and initially were doing mainly pub gigs, but seem to get a healthy dose of function gigs in the diary these days, which are both better paying but involve a significantly bigger time commitment. We're based in London and will be averaging around 60 gigs a year for this year and last. Our pub gigs are generally London but we will travel further afield for function gigs. The current line-up has 3 different lead singers, each of whom we think are great and each bring something different to the party, with the 'backing band' being more permanent. I'm band leader for my sins. Probably the best place to hear us in on Insta- LA Mixtrax, which seems to be a main focus for our social media effort these days. In terms of getting more gigs - the starting point was having some half decent gig footage from our early pub gigs to share with new pub venues, and then investing in getting a showreel done a couple of years back to help us get function gig work. I'd personally say this is a 'must have' for function work - there's a huge amount of very slick competition out there and a showreel is pretty much all a potential client booking you for their wedding or milestone birthday party has to go on. I'd love to get us tighter and better sounding over the next couple of years and increase the proportion of function gigs from around a quarter of the total that we're currently doing. LA Mixtrax Live! - Party & Festival Reel 2025 - YouTube

BC cover bands Page 1 1. @Al Krow LA Mixtrax Four piece female fronted, formed in 2022. London based. Mixture of pub and function work doing approx. c. 60 gigs pa. 2. @SumOne Skavana 8 piece: Drum, Bass, Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar, Singer, Trombone, Sax x2 (alto and baritone) Also formed in 2022. Ska and reggae cover versions of Nirvana & other well known bands. Sussex based c. 25+ gigs per year mostly pubs and small festivals 3. @colleya Tea Time Funk Club Four piece - Bass, drums, keys & vocals, formed 2024, playing chilled out, funky versions of 90s RnB, classic soul and pop. Based between Manchester & Liverpool. A few gigs done so far. 4. @Franticsmurf The Hulla formed pre-lockdown. 13 piece with guitars, drums, bass, keys, a small brass section and a couple of ukes, playing rock. Average 8-10 gigs pa Page 2 5. @asingardenof Replicator Bradford/Wakefield area, 80s and 90s pop, new wave and Britpop. Mainly play pubs, WMCs and the occasional cricket club 6. @Stub Mandrel Bendricks Rock formed 2022. Classic (heavier) rock, all eras from late 60s. Around 40 gigs a year BC tribute bands BC church bands

BC original bands Page 1 1. @Lozz196 The Spacewasters garage punk/rock. Formed c. 2005 years. 10 gigs a year London and south plus a few overseas. 2. @Russ Earthbound AD female-fronted original metal. Based in NY/NJ, USA. Currently not gigging much - but new EP release just out. 3. @woodyratm The Julian Year difficult to classify “cyber nu-metal??” Formed 2010. Gigging maybe every few months. 4. @Cat Burrito Deadlight Dance 2 piece boy-band 80s goth, formed 2020. Wiltshire based. Mixture of covers and original (signed). > 20 gigs pa. 5. @Wilson_51_ Erronaut four piece stoner/doom/grunge c 30 gigs pa - debut album released end 2024 6. @BigRedX Hurtsfall post-punk/goth/synth-pop formed 2019 Nottingham based c. 20 gigs pa - have released 10 singles 7. @Stofferson Syncolima stoner / grunge formed c. 2021 Notts / Derby based c. 30 gigs pa - 3rd album out this year & tour in Nov 8. @Twigman Sad lovers and giants formed 1980 Watford based, gig a few times a year, mostly overseas, Currently working on their 10th album 9. @knirirr Mingus Tree Jazz 5 piece based in Charlbury, Oxfordshire - been going a long time with a relaxed gig schedule (10 a year?) 10. @Leonard Smalls Choked funkpunk with female singer and 2 basses(!) formed 2020. 4 gigs coming up including Rebellion Festival. Album out 11. @Mykesbass Silver Pines Wolverhampton based. Rock end of Americana - just starting up Page 2 12. @Merton Katy Hurt 5 piece Americana-ish(!) formed 2016, and joined as bass player in late 2022. Debut album released supported by small UK tour and a few festivals lined up this year. 13. @AndyTravis Fiasco Jam 5 piece indie. Working on first album 14. @neepheid The Inevitable Teaspoons 5 piece band based in NE Scotland (Aberdeen city and shire). Vox plus drums, bass, keys, trombone, sax. Gig infrequently hoping to put an album together this year. We have one EP and one album already released.

Thought it would be both really interesting and a great way to get to know each other a bit better, if we had a thread dedicated to the current main band we each play in? So, if you're in a band, please share a bit about: - your band, its history, whereabouts you're based and play, music genres? - whether it's an originals band giving vent to a creative streak; or a - covers band - do you mainly play at pubs and clubs or do you regularly also play functions? - or maybe it's a tribute or a church band? Please feel free to share how many gigs you guys are typically doing each year, and how you go about getting bookings. A video clip / picture is often worth a thousand words 😊

I agree Phil, I thought that was an excellent cover (how did they get the vocal echos done so well?) and why has that got less tham 150 views?!

First dibs on yours please when you sell it on then! 😅

Fwiw I don't think the Boss SY-1 or SY-200 come close to the FI in terms of the quality of its synth tones, but it delivers something decent enough for live use on a few songs that need it in our sets. (I also really like its arpeggiator!) I'd therefore be pleasantly surprised if the SY-300 was able to come anywhere near close to what the MXR / FI are producing tonally. What the SY-200 does provide, however, is excellent "tracking" (in the commonly used sense of that term) and a lack of glitchiness, neither of which seem possible without changing playing technique with the FI. So, despite its limitations, the Boss is the one that I've kept on my board. If the MXR provides a combination of great synth tones, accessibility, and tight tracking, as they seem to indicate they've done, then they've pretty much hit the jackpot for many bass players looking to use a synth pedal for live use.

That would be great, Peter. And an honest comparison of latency, tracking and glitching would be very welcome too! I've not kept up to date on the latest FI manuals, but was thinking that if instead of "1 to 99" you renamed the pre-set patches as being in the style of "[Artist initials]/[Song]" it would immediately make the FI more accessible and, dare I say, even more desirable? You could then have the 10 most popular bass synth sounds as the first bank? Just a thought!