Al Krow

Ah amazing - looks like you're going to be the first BC'er to get one! I just took delivery of a Fearless 112 yesterday which has been a few months in the coming and I'm currently also using a BF SC, which I'm loving for its combination of light weight and general overall quality, so looks like I'm going to be fully sorted in terms of cabs for a while. But really looking forward to getting your thoughts on this - which supplier are you getting yours from? In case you've not come across - here's a link to the TB thread I've also been following: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/acoustic-image-unveils-the-doubleshot-lightweight-2x10-cabinet.1407014/ One negative post on that thread which I thought was actually quite interesting: "The spec (at least the performance spec) is...really unspecified. The one thing you can be certain of is it doesn't have a lot of low frequency sensitivity - that tiny cabinet size simply won't allow that. It might work fine for reinforcing an upright, but if you're playing electric with a drummer, I'd say look elsewhere." Don't know how true that is going to be - I'd love to get some of our resident cab experts views on that particular point. This is the one decent comparison video I've come across - which will be on point for you as it's been done on double bass. The A.I. seems to hold its own very well!

@51m0n thanks very much for taking the time to put my mind straight on the subject of transients. I've shared your comments below for the wider forum as it was such a helpful pm and I am sure will be of interest / benefit to many others! Transients and compression Transients are one of the keys to understanding compression and how compressors tick, true. The threshold is always crossed by the transient, that is the trigger, it is always the loudest part of the signal (with bass), only instruments that swell volume can achieve crossing a threshold with the body of a note rather than a transient: certain ways of bowing a note with violin family instruments, e-bows, volume pedals, keyboard pads and a whole raft of other sources do behave differently, but general bass playing, it’s the transient that engages the compressor. There is no 'note' or pitch info in the transient, it is percussive noise, but it has more or less higher frequency content, the nature of human perception of sound means that a high frequency heavy transient will give the impression of a sound having a generally brighter timbre throughout the note duration, even though that transient is just a few milli-seconds (ms) ?in duration. Anything that allows you to hear the transient 'better' will result in the timbre of your instrument sounding brighter generally - tweeters do this, they tend to reproduce transients better than full size drivers, as well as dealing with the high frequency energy of the transient particularly well, brightening things up a great deal. Ergo anything that dampens the energy in that transient will also darken the perceived signal timbre. Anything that increases the transient energy will effectively brighten the perceived timbre of the entire note. It’s subtle but very real. Some sound engineers swear they use compression to help EQ signal as much as an EQ. I agree with them. This is important because compressors and limiters can hugely change the relationship of the volume of the transient compared to the volume of the main body of the note materially impacting the difference in level between the two. Hence, they can definitely impart or remove brightness, which they do as a direct function of the attack time setting. They modify this relationship depending upon the type of compressor / limiter and the settings you have and the input signal. This is what a compressor really does, the make-up gain does the rest; people label this with many simpler things e.g. “compressors make your quiet signal loud, your loud signal quiet, your dynamics more squashed etc” all of them an over simplification, which is where the problems really arise. A transient is typically less than 100ms long, it can be much shorter, in order to not trash the brightness in your tone you need to get your compressor out of the way of your transient. In order to not make your tone too harsh when using higher compression ratios you need to still keep control of that transient, and that is why attack time is so vital, and a limiter can seriously help from a timbral perspective as well. The final super-important nuance is that no two types/models/brands of compressor achieve full compression up to the set ratio after the threshold is crossed in the same way, the compression is almost never turned on linearly, or 'immediately' it takes time to ramp up, and it is rarely linear. The same with the release. The very sound of optical compressors is the relative slowness of the way they turn the compression on and off, coupled with the very curved nature of the optical circuitry, the light starts going out very quickly but as it dims it slows down in its dimming. This has a massive impact on the sound of the compressor.

Yes indeedy! Must have been having had a brain fart morning when I made that earlier comment 😂. Not least given that I have owned one of these for four years!!

'Lean' on it = put it in clean by-pass mode for the duration of any sections where you deliberately want to play loud and then re-engage to deal with spikes for the rest?

Sounds fantastic. Would love to come and see you guys play live!

Yeah - you were spot on! It's always amazing to get such positive feedback about an instrument from someone who has since moved it on. But would there be any possibility of KS customising one with wider string spacing to get you what you're particularly after?

+1 ^^ Love the band! Always very jealous of anyone with a decent horn section! Please do tell us a bit more about Latimo and what you guys get up to? Anything else you forgot? 😂

Another completely smooth transaction with Harry - he is always a pleasure to deal with! Just promise me you will try to hold on to your FI this time, eh? (At least until something better comes along). 😃

Haha, no. The OP kindly made this a more general KS thread so I am more than happy to share my NBD pics and journey to getting one on here Many thanks to you, @lee650 and @NotAsGoodAsJaco, who all have or have previously had KS, for sharing your thoughts and experiences on these wonderful basses which played a big part in encouraging me to try one out. A final couple of pics from me which I hope you'll enjoy:

Thanks very much Oliver, it is indeed the smaller bodied 'Studio' (according to Mark at BD) version. The smaller body means it's likely to be a little bit lighter than other KS's but, despite being 'super model thin' as with other KS's, it still weighs in at 9.7 lbs which reflects the quality of the woods used. To accommodate a 3 band EQ with the smaller body shape it has a stacked treble and bass EQ with separate mid EQ. It also has a front rather than the more common (for KS) side jack socket similar to Alembic basses. One feature that the Tiger models have that the Hadrien doesn't appear to have, is the series and parallel switches for each pup. I generally prefer the 'standard' parallel (down) setting for both pups - this is very much the signature 'Smith' sound. The series (up) setting delivers a fatter, deeper tone with a reduction in the high end frequency; on the neck pup and with the treble dialled off, this provides a really nice vintage tone and I can see this particular combination coming into its own for 60s Motown. My KS was originally bought by a French bass 'collector' back in Aug 2018 who then decided to part ex it for something else he had his eye on and I was able to get this almost new bass for a very decent discount. I almost ducked out of going up to BD to try it out as I really couldn't justify getting such a lovely bass for myself, but as soon as I picked it up and played it there was no doubt in my mind what a fantastic bass this was! I'm fortunate to already have some really great basses but nothing quite in the league of this KS. When Mrs Krow heard the bass with my rig at home her immediate reaction was that, as well as being a beautiful bass, for her it tonally knocked all my other basses out of the park! I wasn't expecting such an immediate positive reaction from someone who isn't a bass player but nonetheless has a very good musical ear. But I can understand where she's coming from - it really is that good!

Well yes, I get that, but my point is can a limiter distinguish between deliberately and accidentally playing loud? I'm struggling to see how it manages to do that.

If I recall correctly, ped, you use a Boss LM3? How do you have that set up in terms of threshold and compression so that it's used sparingly? I get that you will have a completely uncompressed signal below the 'threshold' dB level. If, like me, you and your band (and audiences!) no doubt appreciate the ability to add light and shade to set numbers via changes in the volume to take things right down / build etc. Ideally it would be great to have the freedom to deliver this volume contrast easily, whilst not having to 'fight' compression of the bass signal, but at the same time protecting against unwanted accidental volume spikes. Is that something you can easily achieve on your limiter?

Yes, absolutely, 100% true!

Seems like Lee is in danger of becoming my most regular pedal customer Another super smooth transaction and always a pleasure to deal with. Enjoy the Valeton OC-10 buddy. Bas

I thought the octaver was pretty good, synth less so (2009 tech so getting a bit dated). I've attached some notes I pulled together from the internet plus some responses from a couple of BCer's from when I had one for about a nine months, before I moved it on and replaced it with a Panda FI. Markbass SS notes.pdf

Found it Yeah totally agree: get yourself a decent, bass, amp and cab to help you deliver a great tone (of course, goes without saying that you'll also need to play well!) and you may well not need a comp to make up for 'perceived' deficiencies in your live sound. You'll be able to take the stabilisers off your bike and roam free. (Reaches for tin hat and runs for cover...😁)

+1^^ to all of that. Makes complete sense to me!

Not wanting at all to have it in for you, but did you not post recently on another thread that you had decided to stop using pedal board compressors? If I read that correctly (I may not have!) does that mean you're not bothering with compression in your signal chain at all before your cab, and gonna leave it all for the sound engineers to sort via the DI out? PS loved your 2011 "Compression 101" post btw which was linked to above. Great introduction to the subject! Could do with some more up to date compressor recommendations on there, but I guess that is what this thread is for!

Indeed! 😎

Yup Yammy BBs are typically in the 9.5 lbs to 10.2 lbs range (but what a great bass for the money!) Ibanez on the other hand are not heavy at all and probably have the most playable neck of any bass (certainly that I have come across). They are less well known for their P basses, although their new SR 650 does look pretty tasty (655 shown in pic) and this has the more fulsome Nords (rather than the tamer Barts which usually appear on their 'Standard' range) together with a reverse P pup set up. Add 3 band EQ and adjustable mids and you have a very decent bass indeed. Oh dear, I think you've just helped me identify my next bass! 😂

@dave_bass5 will hopefully be able to jump in and confirm (as he has played a much wider range of P basses than me), the Yammy PJs have a very comfortable neck to play.

Yes I'm a White & Black Tiger man also! Won't be bringing either of the ones shown above. At £5,250 new, they are a little eye watering for me in terms of price. What I wasn't expecting (and shows how much I know) were the MTDs that Mark had in stock at BD which were even more expensive! The quality of finish on the Tiger range is just in a league above anything I have experienced, though, and the attention to detail on little things like single cast brass nut with individual raised slots for the strings (picture below). I had a chance to play another BT he had in the store, which was actually the main reason for my visit to BD (more of that particular nearly-new KS anon) through an Aguilar DB 751 and Aggie 410 cab. It was a little moment of bass heaven for me - what a gorgeous rich tone this bass produces which was obviously not hurt by having one of the best available rigs to hear it through! Even got nods of approval from Mrs Krow!

Three Kens in a den!

Yes. But early days. Ask me again in a few months... In the meantime, you're clearly on the verge of getting another Stomp or Native yourself, I can tell!

If you check out the Zoom B1X-4 / B3n patch idea thread you can see that the basic ToneLib layout is very intuitive for each individual effect, with ready embedded software explanations on hand for each parameter. Add easy drag and drop features and you have something that provides a really 'accessible' and easy workflow - that makes creating and editing patches both a doddle and a lot of fun. It's just such a darned shame that Zoom are limiting their offering to the sub £130 multfx budget end of the market. If they would iron out a few minor niggles (eg low level 'digital noise' underneath the notes) and add a little more capability / DSP, I'm sure there are many Zoom fanboys (and girls!) who would readily part with another £45 to £70 on top. I'm sure with time I may come to view the Helix interface similarly. But not necessarily. You will have seen Jimfist's much more articulate post on why he is much happier with the Zoom interface than that of much more capable multifx, due to the easier workflow. And he is someone who has spent many many hours tweaking multifx pedals over many years.