Al Krow

20 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

Not exactly revolutionary though, there are a lot of those '1000 effects in a cheap box' things around, it depends on the box, and ultimately what is that giving you that a zoom b1-4 isn't?

Fraction of the size of a B1-4 for starters. Not aware of any that look as good on paper as this one for the money and compact enclosure?

I suspect it may well sound better than the B1-4, too, but I'd need to A/B it to find out and tbf no particular rush for me to do that as I've got my work cut out for a while getting up to speed with my Boss multi 😅

Greg's suggestion of it providing a back up is a neat one, though.

22 minutes ago, Greg Edwards69 said:

Intriguing. Could be a useful thing to keep in a gigbag as an emergency backup.

That's not a bad thought! It's not going to take up any space and as back-up can potentially cover off a full pedal board!

Valeton GP-5 - announced at NAMM 2025: super compact multi fx for £79! 

• 100 effects
• Supports loading 3rd-party cabinet IRs, max 20 stored
• Supports latest Neural Amp Modelling (NAM), with 50 curated files, max 80 stored
• 100 patch slots (50 factory patches)
• Up to 9 modules able to work simultaneously, with the order of some modules being customizable
• Built-in chromatic tuner

Boss GT-1000CORE Multi-Effects Guitar Processor - Black for sale online | eBay: Not sure how long this one will be knocking around for, but that's a good price for one of these, and seller describes it as being in 'mint' condition. [Update - sold overnight, not surprised!]

First patch created - added a clean blend to the drive sound I took a shine to, using the easy to use parallel path routing. Nothing comparable to this on my little Zoom B1-4, and starting to look like my personal Zoom multifx era could finally be coming to an end!

Also need to explore what bespoke patches folk have created and shared for bass on Tone Central. Hopefully some good preamps that I can filch!

You're welcome! Tbf the journey, including some of the dead ends, has been part of the fun - all helped by sourcing kit used from BC or elsewhere, which makes "mistakes" not expensive in the financial sense. Unfortunately you don't see too many of the Boss multifx's coming up for sale used, maybe because fewer people are buying them and those that do are holding on to them.

I run my pedal board straight into the PA and we use IEMs for monitoring.

Look forward to hearing how you get on!

My own experience fwiw:

Current: 

Zoom B1-4 - been gigging this for several years and has been a core pedal (and great tuner!) at the heart of my little pedal board. Can be a little noisy and need to regularly use the noise reduction fx on patches which can make the bass tone feel less 'open' / more blanketed, but not particularly noticeable in a band mix

GT1000 Core - new to me and currently putting it through it's paces. Liking it a lot so far and it's getting to places (e.g. a quality dirt/fuzz for bass) that the Zoom never quite reached

Previous:

Zoom MS60B - much loved by many since its launch in 2013

Zoom B3N - decent --> I replaced with the much more compact Zoom B1-4

Zoom MS60B+ was looking forward to this one, coming out last year a full decade after the 60B. Disappointed that Zoom have designed the software so that the patch name doesn't stay displayed but it defaults to one of the fx in the chain, which makes it much less user/gig friendly for me. This plus lack of PC editing ability, available on the above Zoom earlier models, were deal breakers for me. Shame.

Helix HX Effects and Stomp. Tried several times to bond with these, but for whatever reason didn't manage to. I've found several of the guitarists I've worked with getting quite a harsh tone when going straight into the PA with their Stomps (unlike the GT1000 Core). A few guitarists on YT seem to have managed to crack by focussing hard on the EQ. Huge bass-playing fanbase on BC and elsewhere and the Helix software fx is unmatched IMO and regularly updated. Hardware getting a little long in the tooth now: 10 y/o chipset.

Hope that's useful!

That looks like a LOT of kit for the money! And I can vouch that it delivers a big punchy sound!

I sold my GT 1000 Core to our band's guitarist a year ago not really having touched it myself. He's put it to really good use and easily managed to avoid the harshness of tone that guitarists I've worked with can struggle with some multifx pedals (notably the Helix Stomp until they've really got their head around the EQ on that pedal). However, I managed to get hold of another Core (from my usual BC source, haha) a little while back and finally had a bit of head space to load up the PC Editor, which is pretty easy to use, and spend a bit of time with the pedal.

First impressions are very positive!

Just picking up on a couple of comments made on another thread recently:

On 16/01/2025 at 13:40, SumOne said:

My list of multi-fx ex's has grown a bit!  Zoom (B1-four, MS-60B, MS-60B+, MS70 CDR), Line 6 (Effects, Stomp, Stomp XL, Pod Go),  Boss (GX-100, GT 1000 Core), Valeton (GP-200).

 

What particularly gets me with any multi-fx in terms of sound is they are great for EQ, compression, HPF/LPF, IR, modulation, delays, complex routing, but none are as good as individual pedals for Envelope Filter, Synths, or Analogue Octavers (although some of the digital ones are pretty good and track better). I think that might be as a big part of the multi-fx market is guitarists - and they aren't so fussed about those things.  If you aren't so fussy about those those effects then a multi-fx can be your whole pedalboard, but if you do want those specific sounds then you need the multi-fx to be just one part of your pedalboard (e.g. adding a GT-1000 Core or Stomp to your pedalboard).

 

So I dunno, I don't think they are quite there for me yet as a pedalboard replacement (and that is before considering the interface and lack of 'what you see is what you get'). The minute there is a multi-fx with the equivalent of a Source Audio C4 built-in for decent filters and synth and octaver I'll be all over it.

 

The Boss GX-10 is next on my list as is probably small enough to be included as part of a pedalboard if needed, or can be used on its own for when I don't need envelope filters and synths, and at £350 is similar cost of having an individual BB-1X and BC-1X. 

 

On 16/01/2025 at 14:50, Al Krow said:

 

100% agreed! In my case I've a Zoom B1-4 as the 'core' plus dedicated envelope filter, synth and octaver. The only addition to your list for me of "can't do as well" is overdrive/fuzz, but that may be a limitation of the Zoom and the GT1000 Core may be able to hit the mark better?

I seem to have amassed quite a collection of dirt/fuzz pedals which I was going to spend some time A/B'ing. Not sure I will bother now - I found a drive sound on one of the preset patches (#226 "Classic Rocker") which I think is going to work really well in the mix. Not something I ever managed to get close to with my Zoom B1-4! The octave capability doesn't seem noticeably worse than the excellent Boss OC-5, and I think certainly usable live, to thicken out the sound. And it has a decent up and down filter patch, although not on a par with the best dedicated pedals, so my EBS will be not be getting booted off my little gigging board just yet! Really liking the #12 Clean & AG Mix patch - which has quite an upright bass feel to the sound.

Very much looking forward to creating some bespoke patches over the coming weeks.

Nige bought my Future Impact v4. Great comms and immediate payment. Hope you enjoy the pedal! 

Now sold (part ex).

29 minutes ago, Matt P said:

 

we're just a pub 3 piece band doing the usual covers most of the time, we do have an alter ego as a folky 3 piece acoustic band though, when we're playing pubs its vocals only through the PA, when it's acoustic then it's vocals, acoustic guitars, EUB, and a bit of cajon in the PA.

 

I doubt we'll ever need a sub, I'll probably sell the amps, the 15's and the foldback monitors and then buy another pair of the 310's to use as foldback monitors. the desk we've got is way too big as well so that will get swapped out for something smaller as well.

If you've got backline for bass and electric guitar, a pair of RCF 310As for what you've set out could be just the ticket! We only stepped up from 310s to 912As when I started putting my bass through the PA (competing with a full rock drum kit!)

1 hour ago, SumOne said:

The touchscreen and features on expression pedal are great. 

 

I can notice a slight delay in the pitch shifter that I don't remember the Core having, so possibly doing a direct comparison the Core would sound better for a few things. But at least just from memory, I can't notice much difference in sounds (fewer blocks and routing options though).

Ah interesting. I've always thought of pitch shift as being a really good test of capability for any multifx - most really struggle with it! I'm guessing the DSP / chipset are going to be a step up on the 1000 vs the 100/10, which may account for the difference?

42 minutes ago, Matt P said:

i'm using a pair of the iNuke 3000 amps for our PA, seems to be a similar setup the the OP, i've not found them lacking so far using a pair of old Mach 15's for mains and some peavey foldback speakers (one amp for mains, one for foldback)

 

mine are in a 4U shallow case (Gator i think) and the 2 amps in the case are lighter than the old 2U power amp we had before.

 

that being said we're moving to powered speakers (RCF 310's) and probably a small sub, the old speakers are just too heavy for lifting into the stands (and we had a situation before Christmas where a gig was booked but the speakers were locked in a house we had no access to so another pair of speakers was required art short notice and these were available locally at a good price)

 

Matt

There's a lot of love for the RCF 310s plus sub, combo! Should work very well depending on your band line up? Another alternative would be two decent 12" tops e.g. RCF 912As.

1 minute ago, SumOne said:

I'm liking the GX-10.

 

Sounds good, solid build, nice size, the big colour touchscreen is great for editing.

 

The expression pedal does some great stuff, it is much more useful than having two extra footswitches in that space (heel down = tuner/mute, toe press = engage a different effect e.g. switch from volume to wah, and can assign multiple effects and parameters and settings for where they get engaged in the sweep)

 

 

For approx. the size and cost of three or four Boss utility compact pedals it does do the same things (TU-3, BC-1X, BB-1X, GEB-7) and more. So even before considering the other features it's a winner in my book.

 

My only slight beef is that it feels like more thought could've gone into how to squeeze more from fewer controls than the GX-100. E.g. the 'up' and 'down' footswitches pressed together seems to only be assignable as 'tuner' (or, confusingly 'up' or 'down'). That seems a waste of a valuable options with limited footswitches - the expression pedal heel down already does tuner (and I have a separate tuner, pictured for scale) so it could be better used as something else. Likewise, 'long press' footswitches do nothing - which feels like a missed opportunity.

Ooh that looks good! The screen, in particular, looks a nice step up from the one on my GT1000 Core! 

On 14/01/2025 at 21:41, Bluewine said:

We have two guitarists so it's not an issue for me. However,  for certain songs I will engage my MXR Bass Octave pedal to fill out the sound.

Agreed - a judicious use of an octaver can add definitely add something to the basslines of some songs for filling them out (and some of the original tracks e.g. MJ's Billie Jean did exactly that). 

On 11/01/2025 at 13:02, chris_b said:

Guys, stop racking your brains for ways to thicken up your sound in a solo. If the bass sounds thin in a solo then it'll sound thin for the rest of the song, and that's bad. Get a tone that works for the whole song, from the intro to the coda.

If you think you have to fill in all the "holes" you're thinking is wrong. When a solo starts you stay locked with the drummer. Whatever the lead instruments are doing is irrelevant to you, and if they are having sound problems it's not your job to fill in. You can't anyway, you're on the wrong instrument.

A good solo is about dynamics so many guitarists will drop out for a bar or two at the start. The solo will then build. If the bass or drums start filling in the gaps there are no dynamics and the whole section is a mess. If your bass line is good for the verse  then it's good for the solo.

Out of interest Chris do you use any pedals for tone shaping/EQ/compression etc or are you a purely bass --> amp & cab bass player?

1 hour ago, SumOne said:

What particularly gets me with any multi-fx in terms of sound is they are great for EQ, compression, HPF/LPF, IR, modulation, delays, complex routing, but none are as good as individual pedals for Envelope Filter, Synths, or Analogue Octavers (although some of the digital ones are pretty good and track better). I think that might be as a big part of the multi-fx market is guitarists - and they aren't so fussed about those things.  If you aren't so fussy about those those effects then a multi-fx can be your whole pedalboard, but if you do want those specific sounds then you need the multi-fx to be just one part of your pedalboard (e.g. adding a GT-1000 Core or Stomp to your pedalboard).

100% agreed! In my case I've a Zoom B1-4 as the 'core' plus dedicated envelope filter, synth and octaver. The only addition to your list for me of "can't do as well" is overdrive/fuzz, but that may be a limitation of the Zoom and the GT1000 Core may be able to hit the mark better?

Bought new and in mint condition (albeit has velcro on bottom). Another pedal I was planning on getting to grips with but still haven't! So if anyone else would like to put it to use please drop me a line. Price includes insured P&P (approx. £10)

Now sold

On 09/01/2025 at 18:21, Woodinblack said:

 

I have had my X18 mixer since 2017, and before that I had an XR16 for most of a year, and i have not once used the headphone output!

As you say, maybe there is some use for it, I never found it.

@AllYourBassAreBelongToUs spotted a second use for twin headphone outs which is to provide a second FoH option for venues where the main XLR are going to the house PA but you still want to make use of your own PA at the gig. I can think of a couple of venues where that might come in handy!

Pretty much brand new and still unused! Other priority projects are likely to keep me from getting my teeth into this excellent pedal for a fair while, so if anyone else would like to put it to use please drop me a line.

Price includes insured P&P (approx. £10)

35 minutes ago, MacDaddy said:

 

Like most of us I've been through a few distortion/overdrive/fuzz pedals, but its my Flattley Poison Ivy bass fuzz pedal that works for me.

The blend was the reason I bought it.

Aha, ok, thanks! As it happens, I picked up one of those a little while back. I'd best give it a proper try out in a live mix then, if it's the one that has got your vote!

6 minutes ago, MacDaddy said:

Judicious use of Fuzz pedals with blend controls can help to fill the sonic space.

One thing I've struggled with in using dirt/fuzz in a live band context is, despite how good it can sound on its own, the bass seems to get lost in the mix, even when blended with a decent amount of clean. I'm guessing that's not something you're finding but I wonder if it's something others have found and what they've done to solve. In my case I've ended not really making much use of my fuzz in a live band context.

I've always really liked the Nordstrand big singles on the SR Premiums I've had. They have a punchy growl which works really well in a covers band mix.

Released last year with a £700+ price tag. Not seen too much on this, and doesn't seem to have made much of a splash with existing bass multi-fx users on this side of the Pond? I guess that boils down to feature set vs cost, and established competition from the Helix Stomp and GT1000 Core which are arguably bothe better featured and less expensive.

Great bit of kit on at a good price! GLWTS!