Al Krow

Did you manage to get any clips to share with us? No worries if not. As you mentioned, there doesn't seem to be an input gain with the sub mix doubling up as the output gain.

Are you still on the 2.4 GHz setting for the CQ wifi?

+tracking/latency/glitching = usability live. Really interested to see if the MXR lives up to the hype on this!

Switched the desk wifi on our CQ18T from 2.4Ghz to 5.0 Ghz at our gig tonight.. The personal mix apps on the band members' phones worked flawlessly with no drop outs for the first time.

I've used it as standard on pretty much all my patches for live use, to tighten up the low end. Cut bass at about 50Hz.

Thanks for that - hope the gig goes well tonight and look forward to your clips! PS that's a seriously impressive pedal board!

Great to hear such a favourable report from a function gig! Did you get any clips of you guys playing live? What's the latency/tracking like vs the C4?

The preamp EQ frequencies for quite a few bass brands seems to be something they keep close to their chest!

Shipping and import duties will account for another sizeable chunk of the rest.

Yeah it's mad! This is a potentially stunning new piece of kit that's been 18 months in development; appears to have fab tracking for 5 string basses, has some totally usable bass synth sounds straight out of the box and a very compact form factor. Not surprising that it's making so many go weak at the wallet! Sure usb, midi etc. would be really nice to have - but I guess we've got something to look forward to in a Mk2 in 3-4 years time. In the meantime, is it going to give a bunch of us bass-players, who aren't also part-time keys players (and very likely have no wish to be!) a better synth sound? Just maybe 😅

That's 'cos everything IS pricey these days!

Comprehensive run through of the features from MXR:

+1^^ to both of those which, as you say, are great selling points. I've always struggled with the tracking / glitchiness of one or two of the leading synth pedals, which meant they didn't work for me live. I ended up with a Boss SY200 which has fabulously tight tracking, but doesn't have the quality of synth tones of e.g. a FI. This pedal seems to deliver the best of both worlds. That really is quite a feat, well done MXR/IMA!

Sorry I won't be able to help you out on that dear chap this time around...but I'll happily join you on the 2nd hand waiting list! (And I've got first dibs on any kit coming onto the market from @SumOne under our long term 'gear' supply arrangements 😅). Wow! This thing is already shaking up the market - just checked what's been recently listed in the FS section and quite a few synth pedals! Clearly a lot of folk (understandably IMO given how good this thing appears to be!) seem to be wanting to make the switch.

Haha fair enough! For those needing to scroll through several patches mid set and not during a break between songs, then there is the option of using an external foot switch - I guess similar to what many folk use with their multi-fx? Midi capability would have been a very nice touch.

I think if you are needing a synth bass sound for just a few songs in your live set, this looks great! 2 or 3 very usable different synth sounds which track tightly, together with a usable filter, would certainly meet the needs for my covers band in a given 2 hour live set for filter/synth, I certainly won't ever need more than 8 at any one gig. I guess in the same way as a couple of dirt/drive/fuzz options are plenty for many of us for live use; we don't need loads - just a few really good ones.

One thing I would miss on my SY200 is the arpeggiator, which gets use on a couple of live tracks. But layering this with the SY200 could be pretty cool! It's going on the birthday wish-list!

This is an actual synth rather than a "synth emulator" like the Boss SY1 / 200? If so, the tracking / lack of glitchiness is incredible - check out IMA's clip above at 12.44 playing a low D on the B string, and (12.55) pulling off onto the low E - effortlessly tracked. +1 ^^ 😅

Sure thing. I thought you also had a A&H CQ12, but I might have got that wrong? And was thinking that you would have an easy option using that.

If you set your A&H CQ monitor feeds on pre fade won't that give your IEM mixes isolation from whatever the sound engineer is doing with the FoH mix, and problem sorted? Or am I missing something obvious?

I'll happily forgo a fancy holiday for a lovely bass I will treasure for a life time. Each to their own eh?

Question for everyone: Is a bass only "properly played " at a gig? If you choose to make music on a bass at home is that not "playing" it? Why would that be true for a bass but not a piano? Doesn't that kinda assume that a bass player can only ever play his instrument as part of a live band? What if you're not in a band?

For me, there's a false hierarchy to say that playing an instrument in one setting (e.g. a gig) is more righteous than playing it another (e.g. at home). I think it's possible to get enormous pleasure from an instrument wherever it's played. I've got a particular bass that seems to be my goto for gigging these days - it's a decently high-end bass (Elrick) which I bought a while back from @Sibob of this parish and am very much still loving it. It now has a few knocks to testify to the very many gigs it's faithfully done for me. I do have one bass that I would hesitate to take out to a pub gig specifically, as that was a 'treat' bass and I suspect I'd be quite upset if it got damaged. Part of the joy of that bass, for me, is the craftsmanship that went into making it and I think it's possible to appreciate the design and craftsmanship in an instrument, as well as other objects in life, that can make it be worth something more than being just 'a tool', albeit an excellent one, to get a job done. The rest of my basses yes, absolutely, would be happy to gig them at pubs as well as function venues.

Great question! Maybe turn that one around - what would make you want to join a band and really commit to it and to work hard at keeping your place in it? It's going to vary for everyone, but I suspect it will include some or all of the following? Regular decently paid gigs (covers band) Love the music that the band is playing / get a say in song choices Talented musicians to work with Fun crew who you enjoy hanging out with Good band atmosphere and minimal drama Feeling valued An opportunity to be creative (maybe more for original bands?) An opportunity to grow and develop as a musician