dave_bass5

By the way, Sweetwater have it in stock now, so hopefully we will start seeing soem real world reviews.

And lets face it, who doesn’t already own a tuner.

Ill agree with that. There are quite a few of these type of boxes already out, and the one thing that puts me off is they are all trying to do so much. Ok, the SD could have had more things on it, but when to stop? A tuner would have been good, but that would involve a display of some kind, which I’m sure would push the cost up and maybe make the box larger. the thing that jumped out of Rome was that it offerese just what I need, in a box the size I want, with an effect I’m already using so wont lose out by replacing it with the SD. It’s still way under the cost of the Darkglas Ultra boxes, and for me at least, much more usable in more than one situation. .

Yeah, and I have no idea what a TC OD sounds like, as I’ve never used any of their dirt boxes or heads. At least it has its own footswitch so can be turned off.

Ive just been to many times to find it interesting now. It’s a great place to visit every now and then though. My old band used to play a Christmas party in the American hanger. We did it 3 years on the trot. As you can imagine the acoustics were not ideal. Back the the SD. I won’t find lack of tone prints an issue, as I’m quite happy with the stock SC TonePrints if it comes to it. I’m sure there will be others once the pedal has been out for a while. I’ll be interested to hear what the OD section can do though, but im not expecting much.

Yeah, I’d like to read a bit more about it first. If only to see what the cons are. Im very impatient though, and about to spend the afternoon at RAF Duxford, so might get bored and push the buy now lol.

Just went back to G4M and it looks like they are shipping them direct from Sweeden, with £7.99 delivery charge. Looks like someone has already ordered one as the number has gone down I have it in my basket already but will hold off for a bit as I’d rather not pay that much for delivery. I expect by the middle of the month other places will have them in stock.

Pretty much agree with all that. Just a hair of dirt is all I’ll need from the SD, and the AS can supply the real dirt. Just going off topic a bit, I tried the Tap tempo with the AS yesterday. Very impressed. It turns the AS in to almost 2 separate pedals. An always on mild dirt, plus a full on (or anything you want) dirt pedal. Thanks to the tones being two channel. Not bad for £20

I’ve taken my SPECTRACOMP off my board at the moment. It was getting too cluttered and I was hitting my phaser and AS at the same time. Having more specs has helped. If the SD can replace the VTBass DI as the always on preamp, supplying EQ and comp, then that’s a win win for me. I don’t need to use the VTBas, it’s just there at the moment because I’ve not used it for ages so fancied a change. Plus I want some from of EQ at the start of the chain. Where the comp sits in the SD signal chain is really how I use my SC anyway, so that’s good. The downsides will come if I want to use it at home. Ironically this was my intended use for it, but it now doesn’t seeem practical as having the headphone out at the start of my board will mean bypassing the other effects. Still, I can use just the SD at home I suppose, I don’t tend to go all out with using all my effects when just learning songs etc.

Glad it’s not just me that finds the Spectracomp as usable as the much more expensive Cali. I also find the SC has a bit more life in it under certain situations. Not surprising as it has a lot more control under the hood. Mine doesnt make a strange noise when turned on and off. Maybe it’s down the the TonePrint in use.

I just heard back from TC. Not much help really. They went and looked on G4M’s website and said it looks like they should have them in 1-2 weeks. To me that doesn’t sound like an official confirmation, although they didn’t mention any hold up either, so fingers crossed. I have a space on my board that needs a Spectradrive. At the moment it’s got a VTBas DI in it.

Yeah, i just sent them a message on FB to ask if the G4M time frame is accurate. If it is then ill order one. Ill let you know what they say.

Yeah, same here. If it was definite I’d take a gamble, I think they state just under a 2 week delivery time, but i feel this could change once the order is placed if TC arent actualy shipping yet. I read on Talkbass that Sweetwater are saying June for thier batch. Not sure how accurate that is or if it effects us, but its worrying.

I saw that as well, but on closer instpection its actualy in stock at TC’s warehouse in Sweden that they are showing. I had thought about risking it but will wait until its in stock in the UK.

Out!!!, they never went away lol.

Maybe i will get a Lunar at some point then. See how i get on with the Helix. I’m worried ill over use the phaser effect as it is lol.

Ah, that was how i would have wanted to use it. To be honest I’m happy with the Helix.....for now.

Yeah, its more phaser that sounds close enough. I was comparing it to my Corona this afternoon, and while the Corona is a true chorus i still preferred the phaser on ‘wobble mode’ I’m not sure how useful the Tone print aspect on this pedal is, it seems a bit pointless, as there is so much variation between the two presets. Ive had a few chorus pedals over the years, never given phaser a thought. It seems like the sound in my head has been phaser all along. I sort of wish i had got the Lunur now, which does do chorus I believe, but I’m having a lot of fun with the Helix and its going to get a lot of (over) use. Every time i turn on the Smooth setting I find my mouth makes an ‘O’shape lol. Its a fantastic effect, although i dont think ill use that setting much.

To answer my own question, yes it does. Not as smooth as my Corona, but passable for the 80's section of our set.

Quite often i take my Squire CV's out instead of my MIA Fender. I gigged only my Squiers for about 5 years. Probably did over 300 gigs with them. The only reason i use my MIA P now is i like the look, and its quite a bit lighter than the Squier.

Nah, i meant i could start another thread, that seems to be the norm on here :-) I need to find a band worthy of my compressor lol.

I too like the stock settings. It seems to me that most of the Tone prints are based on slapping, which i dont do. I know they are not only for the authors style, but even so. i find the TC Electronic tone prints to work better for me. I cant honestly say if i find it as transparent as the Cali, i suppose its not, but as i use one or tweo other effects which all colour my tone i dont worry about this side. I I really need to get in to the tone editor at seem point, but for now i just trun it on and leave it at whatever its set at from before. In fact last night i hadnt noticed i was turning it on and off by mistake when i was using one of my large feet to turn my Aftershock on and off. The two are so close i was hitting both by mistake. No one said anything, and even i didnt notice until i looked down and saw the light was off......but thats for another thread lol.

Brought a TC Helix. Let’s see how long this lasts lol.

Well as it happens I’m siting here now with the 60B on my board. Ive found the Phasers but I’m a bit underwhelmed with them. Good fun playing with but not a patch on the demos I’ve seen of the other two. I don’t want all that wobbly stuff, just classic phaser with the ability to mix in the direct signal, be able to EQ the effect to help even it out, and have one or two variations on tap. I also like the Envelope function the Lunar has. Could be handy in the funkier songs. Yeah, its just GAS, but after watching a few reviews on the above two, I think iPhase is the effect I could (over) use. I would want chorus on lay on a couple of songs, and I know the Lunar can do this as well as Phase.

I really want to get the above pedal, and mainly for phasing, but it would have to replace my TC Chorus. Im just wondering how close it can get to a pretty basic chorus effect. Other option is to get the Source Audio Lunar, but thats a bit more money. I think its better for my needs, and a lot more programmable, but im not sure how much ill really use the pedal anyway, so id rather pay a bit less. I cant believe im even looking at getting a Phaser. The last one i had was a Boss one back in the 70's.