Al Krow

Damn! Ed Friedland is raving about the more high end GVB 1006. I'm hoping for the sake of my wallet these aren't made any more... ...oh dear, the GVB 1006 is still there on the Ibby website! @Teebs there goes the harem!

I'd love to have a harem. However Mrs Krow isn't that keen, and apparently they don't come cheap...

Good job I 'fessed it being a stock pic, then! It's from Google Images. Your cab is famous!

Just checked the Ibby website and: "GVB36 features special 14mm string spacing, compared to our usual 16.5mm spacing. This narrow spacing allows for playing chords with much more ease, a staple of Gerald's playing style." That sounds pretty perfect to me. I'll guess I'll need to "put up" with Barts in place of the big Nord singles I really like on the Ibby SRs, given that everything else is getting ticked. When you say "the neck spacing wasn't tight enough", if I recall correctly from a previous thread in which you fed back on your GVB36 you mentioned that the neck width stayed similar to the bridge width i.e. fairly parallel strings all the way up the fret board rather than angling into a narrower neck string spacing? If so, that 'problematic' feature for you I'm hoping will be actually exactly what I'm looking for. Hmmm...excellent! Now to see if I can get my hands on one

Sounds like the SRC6 and the Bass VI both have very similar spacing then at 11mm, and helpful to rule that SRC6 out then. Something around the 14mm +/- 0.5mm at the bridge, I'm guessing would be pretty ideal, but also not too much further narrowed at the neck i.e. relatively 'straight' from bridge to neck.

Guys, Looking for a quality six string bass that could double up as a Bass VI for playing chords and which I will be stringing E to E. I found my Squier Bass VI too narrowly string spaced, it felt closer to a normal 6 string guitar, but finding my Ibby SR 1206 too widely spaced. What are you guys playing that may be in between in terms of either a: - normal six string bass with narrow string spacing, or - a bass VI with wider (by bass VI standards) spacing. Relatively flexible on budget ie I'm fine with paying a bit more for the right bass, if need be. Cheers, AK

Aria Pro II - had been hanging around the house not being used for over a decade, previously owned by Mrs Krow who'd had a brief flirtation with bass a long while back. Into a TC BG250 115 (stock photo). Began my love affair with PJ basses long before I knew what a PJ bass was...

The other point to be aware of is that Ableton Live 10 Lite is bundled with some Focusrite products eg their Scarlett range, and is not time limited.

Just been trying to get myself up to speed on what the various bass options for Maruszczyk basses are but couldn't easily find a side by side comparison of what was available; so I took the liberty of cutting and pasting from their website to pull something together for myself. Sharing this here in case it's of use / interest to other folk (and apologies if this has been done multiple times already!)

Tbf you typically have one with the other n'est-ce pas?

I just found the OFD did all its emulations well but none brilliantly so. Tool for the job eh? ...And seamlessly back on topic 😂

Yeh, yeh... Cut the guff, all we're really interested in is how old your mistress is 😂

Have listened to this all the way through twice now. Great album with very accomplished musicianship. The track I wanted to return to after listening through twice was 'Invincible', the fourth track in the album and for me the fulcrum around which the album hangs. Evocative lyrics and melody line, combined with driving rhythm taking you back to an age when men led short brutish and often futile lives as battle fodder: "Warrior struggling to remain consequential". At 6.48 it could have come to a natural end; but then they change-up the tempo with the same over-arching melodic theme and kept me gripped until the track finale at 12.40. If I ever come close to writing anything 1% as good, I'll retire happy.

If he'd been making the same point about only old duffers playing PJ basses in covers bands, I'd have to plead guilty as charged!

Yeah I've been on the receiving end of 'advice' that delay pedals and bass don't go together. Glad to be hearing a contrapoint to that view! Short delay to get slap back on certain tracks can work great IMO and whilst longer delay takes more skill to work in well, it's not something we should fear. In fact something to get innoculated over.

@mangotangoI had to look up what 'estimable' meant and you're being far too kind! I've started using picks over the last 12 months or so, to complement finger style. Took a little while to get used to, but it's definitely a fun / useful alternative. I find picks to be particularly useful when you need a very precise lock-in with drums eg Michael Jackson's - The Way You Make Me Feel, as well giving more 'bite' with drive as well as other pedals (filter and octavers in particular). A couple of songs work really well with a combination of plec and fingers in different sections and it's then a case of working out how best to get hold of the pick seamlessly mid song! 😎

Killed an hour or so heading up the M1 last night listening to this via Spotify. It really is very good and I'm looking forward to a second listen on the return trip. Loved the complexity of the drum rhythms - breathtaking!

For me the three best tracking and best sounding bass pedal synths for < £350, based on personal experience and fellow BC recommendations, are the Boss SY-1, the Panda FI and Source Audio C4. And if I was choosing a high-end bass synth pedal it would currently be one of these three. Only the SY-1 is poly and has this clever sustain feature (unless the C4 also has the latter?) The other two have presets but require midi / PC / phone editing to get the most out of. The FI doesn't have ARP, which we are both loving in the SY-1. New prices: SY-1 £175, C4 £249, FI £328

Key strengths of the SY-1. Here's my list: Ease of use (no PC editing required) Fantastic tracking at speed all the way down to a low B Some very usable sounds Creative fun including an excellent arpeggiator Polyphonic Separate sustain whilst overlaying your bass line Competitive price point compared to the leading competition Key downside: Lack of presets

Yup! I've auditioned 60+ pedals over the past couple of years. Have held onto 10 or so which are still on my board. For me, the SY-1 has gotta be the most hassle-free creative fun in a bass pedal of any that I've tried so far! Can't really give it too much more praise than that, can I?

Yup the only white models in the 3 series seem to be the 235, which is a shame. I'd have loved a white 735A.

Looks like the Akai may now be out of production though? ...and as Woody has just commented very expensive used - true of a bunch of other Akai pedals e.g. Deep Impact - they clearly have a cult following!

My tuppence worth would be: The 200 are not diagonal strung through whereas the 400 and upwards are. The offset B string saddles were a feature in the older 1 and 2 series 5 string basses, so they may have a bunch of left over stock? They don't look quite as good aesthetically as the higher end bridges IMO, so I guess it's part of the small incremental changes in design, build and finish as you head up the BB range.

Damn - I'm going to end up getting one of these myself, if I'm not careful, I can tell 😂 One of my bands just has bass, and one guitar so we could similarly do with filling out the sound, and this might just be the answer (another bit of expenditure I need to blame Woody for - haha!) The pitch shift is pretty good on HX the Stomp, but weirdly the octave up effect less so (more latency and certainly not as good as the Mosaic). Be interesting to see if I can get a decent Fishman Powerchord patch on the Stomp using several pitch shift effects combined. Ok that's a little project to keep me out of mischief...