Al Krow

Would be great to see clips of both setups, if you're happy to upload? Not least as our guitarist is using a Fender Combo plus pedal board so the comparison with the breakfast-eating Kemper would be super helpful.

Here's a comparison of the two: Al Krow (@al_krow) • Instagram photos and videos

We've got a pair of both the 912As and 732As as our PA speakers, and I put bass through them both. I'd say the 912As are perfectly good for bass (maybe a touch better?) The 732As are the way to go if you want to also use them for vocals.

A Kemper would be great, but quite a high-end unit, our fella is going to need to save up to get something in that league. Would Helix be able to cut it?

Just wondering what folk's experience of amp modelling of their guitar players is with their PA? Guys I've worked with have tried going through FoH, partly with a view to getting a balanced FoH sound and enable us to all use IEMs, but typically get quite a brittle / harsh sound if they are going into the PA via something like a Helix Stomp or a DI out from their pedalboard. The best compromise seems to be to mic up their cabs and use their rigs as a stage monitor. Be interested to hear where your bands / guitar players have landed on this one?

I have no idea where you have got that idea from? 😂 You're going to be horrified to hear I'm not debating your "strict" definition. However I don't think you're correct on the max ratio that the Keeley bassist pedal can deliver, and I guess it's for that reason that Bob Keeley describes the unit as a "limiting amplifier".

You maybe already doing this, but one thought here is to use your Keeley more as a limiter to deal with those occasional spikes i.e. set it with a high threshold to kick-in only above a certain volume level, rather than necessarily compressing the whole dynamic range, to potentially give you the best of both worlds? (Obviously plenty of folk on BC are fans of "full-range" compression as well).

Thanks Luke - I love the preamps on both my Elrick and Spectors, but they're quite different so it's not a specific sound I'm looking for. But actually you've got me thinking that the BB 2005 does actually benefit from, and pair really well, with my Tech21 VTDI which makes the bass feel more alive and able to cut through the mix better on a couple of different settings. Whereas the Elrick and Spector I play don't particularly benefit from the VTDI in anything like the same way. I know there's a line of thought that you can get "your sound" consistently by using a pre-amp pedal but my, albeit limited, experience suggests that's not always going to be case especially when you have an active bass. Tired = worn out (it's a nearly 20 y/o bass). But I'm really keen to hear if anyone else has done an upgrade and it worked well with their BBs?

Guys - just giving my earlier post a little bump - have any of you fellow BB owners ever replaced / upgraded the preamp on an active BB? Appreciate that a lot of the range is purely passive!

My tuppence worth as an owner of a bunch of high end cabs and amps as well as MB combos:- if you want something super crisp for playing solo, then MB may well not be for you. If, on the other hand, you're after something that works brilliantly in a band mix, then you could do far worse than MB.

@Sparky Mark - thanks that's v helpful. However are those the EQ graphs at max and min settings for each of the EQ knobs? In which case at a moderate boost or cut you're not going to hear much difference at all at say 3kHz, given that a 3dB boost is just about noticeable.

The EQ points on my LM3 and AC 121 amps have been the one thing I would have liked more flexibility on, particularly the massive gap between the 800Hz hi mids and 10k Hz treble. This amp has totally nailed that!

@Lozz196 hey Lozz - here's our band set up outdoors at the weekend with everything going through a pair of RCF 912As, other than guitar. So no bass backline at all - I've got the bass going through just a Zoom B1-4 into the desk - super easy set up. @Pirellithecat - thought you might be interested in this clip, too, as you decide on which RCF 12"s to go for, if you've not settled on a pair already?

I think the interference issue was due to the lack of adequate shielding on my former Zoom L8 desk, which is a budget and plastic housed desk. Not had any interference issues with the Xvive U4 with several other desks including Mackie, Allen & Heath or our own replacement Soundcraft desk. FWIW the lack of shielding, on the otherwise really good value Zoom L8, only seemed to be an issue with wireless i.e. nothing equivalent with the usual wired set up which most BC owners of the L8 / L12 range seem to be using.

Thought I'd give this thread a little bump! Had a lot of fun playing at the Hackney half marathon on Sunday with over 20,000 runners streaming past!

We were invited back to play for the Hackney half marathon runners for a second year, which also included an afternoon slot on the mainstage this time around. A huge amount of fun: 20k+ runners this year, made doubly special for me as my daughter was one of them 😊

Am thinking about upgrading the preamp on my BB2005, which is feeling a little tired on what is, otherwise, a great bass. Any of you swapped out the preamp on your active Yamahas and could recommend me something that worked well?

Interesting / helpful feedback - which Shure model did you have?

Already been said by Dan! ^^ Plus I had the pleasure of collecting the unit in person this morning and enjoying the company and hospitality of a true gent.

Nice review, thanks Greg! @Reggaebass - check out the ultra low at 4.10 - ooof!! Methinks that could be just up your street!

That does look lovely! Does it sound as good as it looks?!

To deal with low lighting, get a decent chip size if you can 1" , 4/3, or APS-C - that will help get much better low light pictures and videos, and reduce "noise". Get a model with a separate input for an external microphone - camera in-built microphones don't tend to be that good. Mirrorless should be just fine, you don't necessarily need to step up to the bulkier DSLR.

Exactly this!

Little confession time: I've been wanting to love my Spector Euro 5LX bass for a long while, because it's such a good bass - it's got such a meaty Spector EMG growl and punchy low end which immediately announces you're there to an audience and cuts through the mix effortlessly, but it's played second fiddle to my lighter Elrick for some while (also a great bass) and I've had it up for sale on and off for 6 months as it wasn't getting used. My particular issue has I've just not been able to find a way wear it comfortably - it's felt a bit too heavy and the fretboard extension was at a tiring angle for my left arm. Fortunately I managed to resist near offers and gave it another go with a wide padded Minotaur strap tonight combined with slightly shortening the strap length. Bingo!! 2 hour gig tonight it felt just fine, well actually more than fine. Singer commented on what a great looking bass it was (it is!) and drummer loved the tone. I'm not disagreeing with either of them 😊

Aha sorry - you're quoting Jon Willis, which actually makes it doubly poignant for me, given that his Stomp patches have a big fan-base amongst Stomp users.