Osiris

Oooh, I might have to pop round for a quick fiddle!

It's good to see you publicly embracing your inner Bill Oddie Maybe you could change your user name to Owl Crow in homage to the great man? PS - you forgot Freebird.

According to this article, compression has been around since the 1930's. Although admittedly it's a bit light on specific details.

Yeah, I'm an unashamed Genzler Magellan fan boy The 350 model is a bit bigger than the TE Elf, but it's only 345 x 305 mm and 67 mm tall, so it's still very much a small amp. I have done a review of it (along with its big brother) here. In summary it's a great sounding amp with very sensibly voiced eq frequencies on the pre-amp, it delivers a surprisingly 'big' (dare I say hefty?) tone and does a great clean sound with the option of using the dual voiced Contour control to dial in either a scooped eq curve or a great sounding, mid-rich old school tone that works great in the mix. It also has 2 Speakon outs so you can run both of your cabs without having to daisy chain them. Oh, and it's ridiculously loud too. I've gigged it with the volume control below 9 o'clock alongside a shed-building drummer, guitarist and keys. I can't recommend it enough!

Before adding any drive or distortion, try pushing the lower mids on the amp to help give the bass a bigger presence in the mix. It might not sound too sexy when it's just the bass on its own but once the rest of the band fires up it will fill a hole in the mix. Distortion can suck the low end from the bass (depending on what pedal you are using and how much distortion you are adding) so in this case it could actually be counterproductive.

Let us know how you get on. As they say, The Kevin is in the detail.

Looks like a textbook case of Stigmata to me

Having happily dealt with Alex in the past I was more than happy to deal with him again. We've just completed a pedal trade and despite the best efforts of the royal mail to delay things (but I guess it's that time of year) everything was fine - the pedal I received from him was as immaculate as he'd described it and really well packaged. It was promptly posted too and he kept up good comms throughout until he knew I had received the pedal and was happy with it. How's that for service

If you're happy with your sound might it be wise to quit while you're ahead and not add anything that could possibly detract from what you're happy with? If you like the Tone Hammer sound, why not get the pedal version and set up a clean(er) sound on the amp and use the pedal to kick in some drive?

Doncaster

Ocelot.

Don't forget perineum.

My mates kids have a pair of kittens, Tess and Tickle. Named by their father though, does that still count?

Frankenstrat?

@Al Krow is spearheading the 2018 Darkglass revival.

So the rumours about your stick are true then? I'm actively avoiding it at all costs I seem to recall you being the Farage-like figure head of the anti DarkGlass campaign due to what you consider to be their fizzy drive sound, but yet you rise from the dead like Lazarus with your imminent purchase of the Microtubes 900 amp

Possibly, but getting a driven bass sound to work in a band context is an issue that a lot of people have. Many bass drive pedals can be mushy or fizzy, but by pushing the mids you get a more usable sound that works well with other instruments regardless of what they are. And for most guys seeking a driven sound there's usually going to be a driven/distorted guitar or 2 in there somewhere, a driven bass with a mid bump will usually compliment this especially if the guitar(s) are scooped. Flea and JPJ lurking in the background? Wow, I've clearly got the wrong end of that stick

I've tried the big one but wasn't sure of it at first when used to try and add a bit more gain to an already driven channel, but when used on a clean channel it adds a great low gain edge with some basic eq options thrown in. It sounded particularly good with the mid boost engaged to make a tone that would work well in the mix. But even at full gain it is still fairly a subtle overdrive, but I think it is more usable in a band situation than most other drive pedals because of that.

@Cuzzie you know as well as everyone else on Basschat that now @Al Krow has publicly slated the Tech 21 dUg pedal that it is only a matter of time before he buys one and starts singing its praises. You've only got to look at his recent monumental U turn on all things DarkGlass

Some of the Tone Prints for the SpectraComp can add colour, but there are plenty of transparent ones too, so you get to choose which ever suits you best. The default tone print that comes with the pedal wasn't very exciting to my ear but once you start experimenting you'll soon find what you're looking for. I previously had a TC RH450 amp with SpectraComp and if anything I find the pedal to be an improvement in terms of performance and sound. Personally I don't mind the lack of metering, I prefer to use my ears to find the compression sweet spot. As for having different patches for different basses, I tend to just use my favourite tone print (Muscle Comp) with all my basses, a small nudge of the control knob either way is enough to adjust to different outputs from different instruments.

I have 5 different basses, some active, some passive and the SpectraComp is happy with all of them

Best is subjective so it'll come down to the one that does what you want it to do and gives you the sound you want My personal recommendation for infinite flexibility, versatility and a superb compressor in its own right would be the TC Electronics SpectraComp.

I hadn't even noticed those, just goes to show what I know

I use 3 fingers to play galloping lines, the index, middle and ring fingers. It takes a wile to get the ring finger playing well with the others but as with anything, keep working on it and you'll to grips with it. A good tune to practice this that has a slow-ish galloping bass line is Don't You Forget About Me by Simple Minds. Incidentally, my band also plays All These Things That I've Done by The Killers but I've never noticed the bass galloping, or is that just your own twist on the bass line?