Iain

Second hand Dingwall Z3. Then again, everything bought since could be seen as indulgent!

Most Rush songs... Doing a couple in the 'Rush Fans Got Talent' as Rush EU Con in a few weeks time - great idea, fans get to pick a song from a list and their instrument... Chosen A Passage to Bangkok and Animate. Passage is simple enough (must remember not to overplay the verse) and I've got Animate nailed except the intro to the final verse. not the playing but the timing of the first notes. It moves up from the and of the bridge into the verse part played root-and-fifth but I just can't nail the timing... Still, got a few more weeks to get it down. Stupid thing is - it shouldn't be that hard.

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1474623865' post='3139286'] TBH, most of the time it'll be one sound for the whole set I expect... [/quote] Me too - for one band it's a switch from almost clean to mild crunch for the rockier stuff and a bit of chorus on that for Sweet Child. The other band it's mild crunch for most to a bit more for the punky end and a lot for some Motorhead. About 4 sounds in total that I've so far duplicated with one rig and some snapshots. Got an acoustic side-project where I'll be swapping between bass and guitar that needs a different approach. With that little lot the Helix makes way more sense to me even though each one is simple.

[quote name='fretmeister' timestamp='1474452082' post='3138060'] Yes. [/quote] What Fretmeister said! There's an IR block you can include in the signal chain and you can set it to any of your uploaded IRs. Took no time to upload and configure a block.

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1474356929' post='3137280'] How do the IR Models work? [/quote] It's either Voodoo or Black Magic! It's (simplistically) a definition of the response of a system to a given input. More specifically it's how much of the modelling is done in Kempers and the like. http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/The_Working_Guitarist_All_About_Impulse_Responses

[font=tahoma,geneva,sans-serif]Just had a play with IR Models - I was specifically looking for some acoustic bass stuff and found a generic patch for acoustic with a bunch of IR models of a Taylor 314CE with a bunch of different mics... Flipping brilliant![/font] [font=tahoma,geneva,sans-serif][color=#000000]The patch: [/color][url="http://line6.com/customtone/tone/2324697/"]http://line6.com/cus...e/tone/2324697/[/url] [/font] [font=tahoma,geneva,sans-serif]The IRs are on google drive: [color=#000000][url="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1XgNa5vH3j1ZkVoTFJLQ241WTg/view"]https://drive.google...FJLQ241WTg/view[/url] [/color][/font]

Just been playing with 'snapshots'... (Scenes in other unit)... wow.

No, unless it was someone like Geddy Lee - utter bass hero of mine. In that scenario I couldn't afford it!

Fretmeister - any patches you feel like sharing? I find the L6 Custom Tone library frustrating to find bass-specific patches!

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1473664736' post='3131979'] That sucks! But atleast the support is good so far! [/quote] Arrived back via DPD this morning - PMT Techs managed to fix it by patching it - something that had failed on two of my computers with L6 support hits and tips. Unit seems faster with this patch in terms of working with Helix Edit and, oddly, less noise when connected via USB to my PC. Been playing this morning with a base patch using the Template for Parallel paths. Got one setup now with simple EQ to provide a clean low freq route and a high freq route for FX.

My Helix is making a trip back to L6 via PMT this week... Unit has died after trying to patch the firmware to 2.01. L6 and PMT both providing excellent customer service so far.

After a very long wait the backpack turned up today!

[quote name='lefrash' timestamp='1471613536' post='3114464'] Would be interested in hearing your feedback using it as a DI straight to FOH if you can be arsed. how the dirt and octaver translates into the PA. [/quote] I don't generally play any gigs big enough to cover that and usually DI pre-eq from the Markbass amp on the few occasions it's been required. One of my bands is playing a local festival soonish so will update after that.

[quote name='lefrash' timestamp='1471542142' post='3113877'] How did you use it? Straight to pa? Front of amp? [/quote] In front of amp - eq set flat (markbass BigBang)

Used it in anger for the first time - at rehearsal - and it's a really capable box. The charachter control on the SansAmp stage was about all I needed to tewak between songs to go from mellow (Creep, Alive, etc) to harsh (Slither, Killing in the Name), mixing the pre-boost and chorus gave a really wide range of sounds to cover off most eventualities. Didn't really play with the Envelope/Octave/Fuzz stage at all so plenty more to go at.

Singer in one of my bands has just taken this step (he's a pro drummer living out a long-term dream fronting our band!) - purely because he needs to earn money - nothing wrong with that even though he's playing drums to music that does nothing for him and he can play in a coma. In terms of boredom - the trick, for me, would be to find positives in it (e.g. the cash, people, appreciative audiences) and set yourself targets - playing song-x perfectly, hitting riff-y out of the park, get as tight with the drummer as you can, improve feel - treat is as extended rehearsal. A lot of the time I'll use odd neck positions (bass, not mine) to improve things like fluidity on a stretch, etc.

Just had one delivered - online purchase from Hot Rox in Nottingham: £309 delivered. http://www.hotroxuk.com/tech-21-bass-fly-rig-multi-effects-bass-pedal.html Really impressed with it so far and it's truly tiny but really solidly made. Some example tones in the manual to get you started (impressed with the 'muse' tone. Small play and perfect 'Geddy' tones from the SansAmp section and the pre/post boost option (more gain pre, louder overall post) is great. The compressor is solid too - not massively intrusive mid-way on the knob and utterly rediculous cranked up. Really tasteful & simple chorus that doesn't muddy the tone or kill the low end.

I recently picked up a 4-String Sandberg VM4 and it's, for the price point, one of the best basses I've played.

[quote name='bassjamm' timestamp='1469917554' post='3102051'] Good shout. No idea...had a quick look, but couldn't really make much sense out of their product range. [/quote] California VS http://www.configurator.sandberg-guitars.de/?code=CAV2-VS:S-N-5S-34-MF-BKB-ASH-NOT-RWF-F-DTA-MHMF-CRH-CLT-2EQ-BP-BCP-RH I'd go with a VM or VT though for flexibility... M = musicman pickup in the bridge slot, T = Jazz pickup in the bridge slot.

[quote name='lefrash' timestamp='1469720003' post='3100637']playing like 13 year old![/quote] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0dSHb79JLM ?

One thing I've always done (barring keeping a spare set of batteries with me) is to check if the bass works in passive mode without power - paranoia I guess. My old Washburn is active only so dead battery = dead bass. My Dingwall, Sandberg and Cort are all fine in passive mode.without power. Saves failing mid set. Last gig my wireless died between songs though - really embarrassing - I normally put freshly charged AAAs in pre-gig.

I've been using Mono straps on my basses for a few years now. Medium length. Really comfortable, grippy and breathable. Even has a little pocket for plectrums! http://greatbritishbasslounge.com/product/mono-gs1-strap-sharkskin/

Something light and 6x10...

The beater - you're not going to get compliments (or laid) on the back of playing a good looking bass. Or playing bass.

Rushed (rush tribute) on Friday.