Al Krow

@MJJS I wonder if that's a typo on that particular web page? If you click on your original link - it's coming up at the much more expected price of £479 with 1 in stock and immediate delivery.

Maybe count yourself lucky her initials weren't BB then! 😉

So, we're agreed, a Smith then? According to Scott "this bass is really, really special, not only because it sounds insane and plays like a dream [note: not butter], but also because of its history..." He must, of course, be referring to the fact that it had previously been owned by our one and only @ped, right?

Congratulations on the new bass! One itch well and truly scratched for you 😊

I was thinking exactly point (1) about your basses...surely he doesn't have them long enough under his roof to actually gig all of them?! 😁 (2) she's got a point 😁 Get yourself a Ken Smith. And apparently, according to some, you might as well get an ACG as a Wal. But can that really be true? Please note it is the JOB of all kids to not think their parents are cool. It's in the Kid's job spec, clause 1.1.

You and me, both mate! Weirdly that's almost exactly the same weight as I currently am, but I could do with shedding a few more lbs yet...

I've found that my basses have absolutely nothing to fear from my belts when I have one of these for "protection" 😄

Know where you're coming from - although plenty of our fellow BC'ers are not in bands and still happily managing to play their basses and getting a lot of pleasure from doing so. But not playing a quality musical instrument at all (whether at home, band rehearsals or at gigs) would be a shame.

Would you both gig a BBPH? Must admit I'd be worried about getting it damaged ie it would end up as more of a collector's item and get home use only from me, not that there's anything necessarily wrong with that. Case in point is my BB 2005 which has already had two full band rehearsals and a gig under its belt in the two weeks I've had it (and I'm loving it!) which is three more outings than I managed with my NE2 while I had the privilege of owning it.

Loved this quote about the B1-4! Welcome to the owner's club @bassman7755 and help yourself to any of the patches on the OP which can be accessed via ToneLib Zoom

You're very welcome to pop over and try one out with mine, any time.

Hmmm...did someone say "cheap Zoom multi"? Not sure any 1 has recommended something like that B4 😁

The MS-60B was the very first bass pedal I ever bought when they first came out in 2013! If you ever find that the interface feels a bit like a PITA then its cheaper more up to date sibling, the B1-4, is well worth checking out.

Ah that would seem to explain it - I thought I had switched "off" all the "extras" but I'd probably missed that one! Ah well, I'll try to remember that for next time I'm in a Pirate rehearsal studio! [Note to self: I don't need to be in shape to play a RM500 😄]

Applying your instruction to the first part of your post...oh, of course, I would absolutely love to borrow a Wal! I suspect I might have more luck borrowing a bunch of other stuff from Wal owners before they let their Wal wander off... 😁

Interesting diversion on the RMs (apologies to the OP). Are the RMs quite mid scooped in terms of core tone? I found myself playing through an RM500 and an Ashdown 4x10 at rehearsal last week and my bass sounded really good solo but disappeared in the mix, and I ended up boosting the lower and upper mids considerably on the amp to try and compensate.

Be interested to know if Alan manages to closely capture the Wal sound with his Über spec ACGs? You come across any decent clips of them being A/B'd?

I agree. Filter and synth are very much the Achilles heel of budget and mid-range multi fx - they really can't compete with the likes of Panda FI, Source Audio C4 and Boss SY-200 / SY/1 on the synth front - particularly as the FI and C4 have proper synth wave generators on board. Or something like the Proton Mk4 / [filter of your choice] on the filter side. But, hey, any one of those pedals costs a multiple of my humble Zoom B1-4, so the fact that the Z synth on the B1-4 is actually borderline usable in a band mix is flippin' brilliant! 🙂 Good luck with the new band! Covers?

Yes - the Z synth on the B1-4 is surprisingly usable and, weirdly, better than anything I managed to get on Helix! I'm guessing the B6 patch may be similar / identical. I dropped the Z synth into parts of the bass line for Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" at band rehearsal this week and I seemed to get lucky with not being shouted off the pitch...🙂

True, but what if you're "just" a bass player and literally 90% of the fx on the unit is aimed at guitars? Personally I find it a chore to have to wade through stuff and audition it on the off chance it might also work well on bass. I love the fact that Zoom are prepared to make some of their pedals tailored to bass with ALL the fx being potentially suitable. Horses for courses, I guess? Both Helix and Zoom sell well, so there's clearly a market for both approaches as we seem to be demonstrating!

Definitely!

I also very much need to shed some weight! 😁

@MichaelDean - you make a fair point! However, for me it's really nice to know that all the fx available on the Zoom bass multis have been tweaked with the bass player, and the our lower note ranges, in mind. I no longer need to start by working out what's good for bass and deleting 90% of the stuff that really is better just on guitar. Sometimes too much choice can be daunting!

A few BC'ers who we know to be successful, very capable, regularly gigging and having a lot of fun, with decades of experience under their belt, have already 'fessed on this thread to not using any pedals (yup not a.... anywhere in sight! 😁). So when you say: ...that for me neatly sums up 90% of what we angst about on BC on so many gear related matters!! Once we have a "good enough" rig & bass, being a better bass player and a better sounding bass player to our audiences is then no longer about the gear but how well we play it i.e. it really is then "all in the fingers". But having said that, if it just gives you, the bass player, and no one else pleasure in hearing that difference, then why not?