willgatesbass

Managed to find a B-Stock one of these for £275 which is a good forty quid saving on a brand spanker. Just the same except someone has obviously bought it, changed their mind and sent it back. I can't think why, as I just received it and after fifteen minutes of messing around, I'm really enjoying it. It really reminds me of my favourite amp - an EBS NeoGorm 212. Makes sense as this pedal is based on the HD360 head and so was that combo. Tuner works well for a kick off. Input gain has the usual clip light you see on EBS stuff so it's very easy to set the level. Can't understand why some manufacturers omit this as correct input gain is so important for playing feel (among other things) in my opinion. Basic sound is clean and clear and suitably 'EBS'. Really enjoying the EQ. It offers different frequencies than the onboard pre on my main bass. For example the bass frequency is centred at 60Hz on the pedal and 80/100Hz on the bass. Was pleasantly surprised at the results I was getting by dialling in various amounts of both. Quite a bit of hiss from the treble control when maxed out but I suppose this is fairly normal. I was wearing headphones and had the master volume pretty cranked to be fair. Anyways, you get the idea. I tried various cocktails of eq from my onboard pre and the pedal and found a ton of great sounds. This is just one of those EQ sections that seems to give pleasing results whatever you do. I like the simplicity of the compressor and it's nice and neutral. I've just sold an M87. I'm sure the MXR was more finessed but my ears weren't trained enough to hear the nuances of all the various parameters. It just ended up giving me option anxiety. The EBS has one knob and a light to let you know when you’re hitting it. I don't use compression all the time but it's nice to know that this could take care of the odd peaks when needs be. Onto the drive channel. Great fun! Again, loads of options and everything sounded great. I tried a 'thin' distortion with the tone at around 9 o clock and a slight boost in the high mids. I then mixed in the clean channel letting the regular sound take care of the warmth and the overdrive channel sizzle on top. Not a sound I would usually use but it does a good job of impersonating a Darkglass distortion. Looking forward to trying some more subtle sounds tomorrow. Anyways, you get the picture. I'm very encouraged by it after just a few minutes. Encouraged enough to jump straight onto bass chat and write a Bass Player Mag style review 🤓 The same can't be said for the GK Plex I had a while back. This pedal seemed to be offering the same feature set (albeit a good couple of years before this new EBS was released) but many things about that pedal annoyed me. The knobs had such little resistance and most of them doubled as push buttons. The result was they felt like they were one knock away from breaking and they were never in the settings you left them at. The input gain was on a tiny knob (about the size of a pin head) in the corner which made it very fiddly to set. I suppose the idea was that it wouldn't get knocked accidentally. I didn't like it though. As for the really important stuff, I just wasn't sure about the tones I was getting out of it. I found myself scrolling through the various amp models and EQs thinking 'does that sound better now?'. That surprised me as I've liked all the GK amps I've ever played through but I wasn't getting that same character through the Plex. The tuner was indecisive and to cap it all, it had power issues the first couple of times I used it so it had to go back. This EBS seems to offer most of the benefits of that pedal with none of the drawbacks (yet) I know all this stuff is subjective but I'm dead keen already. I'll play with it some more tomorrow while I practice but I'm pretty sure it'll have velcro on the bottom of it by the end of the day.

This looks perfect. Don’t know why I didn’t come across this in my search. Thanks!

Hi all - I wasn’t sure where best to post this. Thought this was probably my best bet. I’m looking for a really good wall chart for bass specific music theory. There are a couple on amazon but they seem to cover just once aspect of theory, for example chords or scales. Some time ago I remember seeing a really good all-round chart that had everything from The cycle of fifths to modes, pentatonic shapes, you name it. Would be really handy to have those key bits of info at a glance rather than flicking between windows on my laptop when I need a reminder. Thought I’d see if anyone knew of a good one before I give up and design my own (which might not be a bad idea).

And I’ll take it if he doesn’t 👆🏽😆

Is this piece on YouTube or a BC post?

Thanks man. I’ll check it out!

I have a Vintage V4 Icon. I bought it as an experiment to see how I get on with a P-style instrument. I absolutely love mine. It's fairly lightweight and comfortable to play. I was able to get the action about as low as you'd want it on something like this. Mine sounds quite punchy which is a good thing. Some P basses I've heard although lovely and warm, lack definition. These wouldn't lend themselves very well to my touch which seems to bring out darker tones in most basses. Basically, with my chunky fingers, I need all the help I can get to be heard clearly! Hardware all does it's job well as you'd expect from Wilkinson stuff. Only problem I've experienced is a hum when I touch the pole pieces, particularly on the bass side of the pickup. I'm on the case trying to figure out how to remedy this as it's an otherwise great sounding thing. It's definitely given me the P-bass bug. I'm currently on the search for my ideal P bass. Not sure whether this will be a vintage Fender, a Nash or Limelight type thing or something else. In any case, this relatively cheap (£130 second-hand!) Vintage bass has definitely opened the door and I'll be hanging on to it.

People keep saying 9v. I believe this new Markbass pedal runs on 12v (unless I’m mistaken?). My Audio Kitchen TST runs on 12v at 1a which is more than enough to get the tube cooking

I think I was reading about these a few months back. Very cool. Needs to be a pedal or DI box unfortunately.

Thanks. I spent about an hour looking at AMT Bricks last night too. You know where all the good stuff is!

Thanks - just bid on a VT1 pro on eBay. It's just over a hundred quid so might be well worth a go.

Thanks so much for all the info. Any idea why you haven't been charged import and/ or VAT on the Shift Line pedals you bought in the past? If I could order an Olympic III without fear of getting hit with 20% VAT and import charges, that may well be the way to go for me. I'm now lusting after the Audio Kitchen stuff, no thanks to you! I love the simplicity and I bet they sound the nuts. To be honest, for the price of The Small Trees DI, I could just about get the full blown DI version of the WR Goliath. Similarly, for the price of the non DI version of The Small Trees, I could get the WR Gnome (basically a Goliath without the EQ section). Both of the WR pedals use a Lehle DI and all the audio examples I've heard sound wonderful. WR is also based in Europe so I doubt I'd have to pay any charges. I also like the fact that their products are bass-specific (the Goliath anyway). The Jule stuff is mega. I tried the Monique Dove Cage in the Gallery recently and loved it. I bet the Simone pedal sounds the nuts but is way above what I want to spend. Also interested in the Lehle Sonic Spark, which claims to add harmonic content similar to a tube amp. The audio examples sound great, it's sub £200 and I could stick it before my Radial DI. I guess I'm asking for the impossible - something like we've been talking about for £300 or less once it reaches my pedal board. Thanks again for taking the time to help.

Anyone have any experience with these? I guess I’m hoping it’ll behave like a noble pre but for less than half the price and without the pesky import charges! Would love to hear from anyone who’s tried this. Also any recommendations for similar valve DI pedals that won’t brake the bank. I’m aware of the Olympic MKIII and The WR Goliath. Again, these come with import charges and/or very high purchase price.

Thanks man. Sounds like a winner!

Cool! Where did you buy it please?