Al Krow

👍 That is the plan! Although word on the street is that the Helix hasn't mastered synth yet so it's likely that the FI will survive to tell its story for a while yet (unless this new SA Spectrum pedal matches the hype that its makers are putting out about it!) But, you're right, I suspect that we have reached 'peak pedals' for the Krow board. On the BIG plus side I've finally managed to get shot of the Markbass 410, which I received as part-ex on a cab sale, so I've suddenly got a whole lot more room including easy access to my bass rig for the first time in ages. So I'm hoping progress with getting to grips with the capabilities of the pedal board will speed up a bit now (yeah, yeah I know you're probably thinking it couldn't be going much slower - lol!). Gratuitous pic of the home rig...

...or that stunning 4 month old BB434 that John is selling for just £300. If I was playing more 4 strings I'd definitely be tempted by all of them! 😎

So here's the conundrum: a used 2024 for £1,300 or a brand new P34 (which folk seem to be loving) for the same price?

And I hate to have to admit this, but I think I noted a "very tangible" (as opposed to a relatively subtle, but nice) difference from having a comp at the start of my signal chain last night: When combined with my MXR BEF I needed to dig in significantly less hard to get a consistently good 'squelch' than compared to playing without the comp i.e. the comp appears to open up the filter nicely. On a separate point, I've also been thinking about whether I need both the Fwonkbeta and the BEF given the greater control that the BEF allows me, but the Fwonk has a brighter / less dark core tone (which is just the ticket for funk right?) than the BEF, and which seems to work well in the 'mix', whilst the BEF has a greater 'clarity' which is nice solo'd. So they're both staying on my board for now!

Here's my updated incarnation with the two new additions (Grizzly Bass and Fwonkbeta) in the chain. Currently just home use only for creative sonic fun. Still gigging the old fashioned way with bass --> amp & cab (via Smoothound wireless).

Many folk consider having a spouse to be expensive and over-rated. BB2025s on the other hand...

Totally agree - what you get a real buzz from playing live aren't necessarily songs that would be the ones you'd go out of your way to listen to - but hopefully will still be ones that audiences love, otherwise they wouldn't make it into our sets, right? I guess for me, in simple terms, that equates to numbers with a wicked / catchy bass line and which can often overlap with it also being a great song.

Wow! Feeding 3 amps at the same time?! Love to see your full set up including rigs.

Haha! Just a Warwick $$ bass <--> Ibanez Portamento and picking up a Yammy BB425 (and separately a Future Impact pedal) so far. All resulting in a pleasant hour chin-wagging with a fellow BCer. But I'm sure there's time yet for more sinister activities: particularly now that Hellzero is pushing me in the direction of I.R.A...

We should definitely get a recording done of the track at some point but, in the meantime, if you imagine our Ami on vocals and something along these lines

I guess we could get half way there by trying out a BB P34/5 at a Yammy store / other retailer as they are still subject to one of either the A.R.E or the I.R.A. treatment (can't remember which, but I'm kinda hoping it's the former as the latter has all sorts of other very negative connotations as we all know!). From what you and Hellzeo are saying - for me this has parallels of comparing bass tone to with or without a compressor i.e. subtle, but many bassists (certainly on Basschat and Talkbass) swear by them. Hard cases - I keep all my basses on a rack, so hard cases are not really needed for storage in the Krow household. However, if that's where you keep yours or in case (excuse the pun!) you ever need to sell a bass and courier it, then I agree a hard case would come in handy! It's all been dodgy motorway service station meet-ups for me so far...

Cheers Hellzero. Wow - hadn't realised they were asking circa £2,000 more for the 2025s in comparison to the 1025s!! You'll appreciate that many of us will never get to own or A/B either the 2025 or indeed a L series Fender (either out of budget constraints or a positive decision to stick with our more run of the mill models) - so if you're able to put into words what this huge difference is that the A.R.E & I.R.A treatment delivers, that would be marvellous.

So £1,200 question!! This seems to be the biggest single difference between the two models. Anyone who has had or tried both the 1024/5 and the 2024/5 able to have a go at articulating what the difference in feel / sound this produces?

Quite - but not the way we play it - lol!

...gonna need to check out the first of those. What I am loving about this thread already is a whole bunch of BRILLIANT tracks folk love playing that I'm not familiar with (or at least assume I'm not until I've heard them again!). Prince is such a guilty pleasure isn't he? We love playing Kiss which feels both totally corny and wonderful at the same time - and the bass line completely lends itself to being 'sexed-up'!

I'm guessing that is the Stevie Wonder (and not the Skee-Lo!) song?

So you would rather troll instead of coming up with something you really enjoy playing live?

@bigsmokebassI'm 100% in agreement with you. The difference in used prices is less, but before they were discontinued the 1024/5s were around £800 and the 2024/5s over £2,000 (new prices), which was a massive differential for two essentially identical basses. Besides, I have several hard / semi hard cases on my Yammys / Ibbys / Schecter. What do I only ever use for rehearsals and gigs? A decent quality (Yammy) gig bag!

Yup they sampled his bass line from Bring down the Birds, for sure, and he gets a writing credit on the track (and no doubt a deserved share of the royalties!).

Yup like all of those a lot! I particularly love the groove on Signed Sealed Delivered - always goes down well live. Anyone who can play Jamiroquai bass lines well has my full respect: Stuart Zender and his successors are all awesome!

...or possibly Elias and the Zig Zags (1958)? 😎 You're a better man than me if you've got that one nailed!

We've just been asked to include this in a wedding set for the autumn so gonna need to be learning that one soon! Ah the Pihranhas...

Been having a lot fun getting to grips with this, which we've recently added to our set (the clip is an early recording of them playing live a year before it became an international hit - hope you enjoy). What's currently floating your bass lines?!

At least you could petition for a sonic screwdriver?

You and me, both! There - two sales already! And 100s to follow, I suspect!