ben4343

I thought I was being too obvious...

Can you not just wander over to the keyboard and play the notes required? Once at a practice as a joke I started playing a synth with my right hand with my fretting hand just doing hammer ons for the bass line. Sounded awful to begin with, but after about 5 minutes practice it worked fine! If you were planning on doing this drone note on your bass, maybe you don't even need to multitask as there isn't another bass guitar part anyway; just take over the keys for the 4 bars!

Mentioned once already, but I am really enjoying Run the Jewels' most recent album.

[quote name='YanJones89' timestamp='1490735153' post='3267588'] Hoppus uses the SPB 3 Duncan basslines 1/4 pounder. I have heard that this does not stand out in a mix with lots of distortion and is this no good for punk rock/pop punk. [/quote] I have never heard this, and it seems an odd thing to say about the signature bass of arguably one of the giants of the pop punk genre! There was a Bassbass shoot out of a heap of P basses a while back. Could be worth a listen to get an idea of the different pick ups; I think the Hoppus sig handled itself very well... There is a fairly loyal following (myself included now) of the Matt Freeman signature. Again, he is a punk rock legend, so could be worth checking out what pick ups he uses?

Well, I don't know what I did, but the pickups are working again!! I am no wiring expert, but I just gave everything a bit of a wriggle to make sure it was attached correctly and not shorting out anywhere, bunged it back in and hey presto. They sound pretty good, with a very usable tone sweep. Had a good plonk on it yesterday evening with some medium-new roundwound 40s, and it sounds killer; very punchy with a rich presence. Need to tidy a couple of fret ends, but nothing major. Reasonable weight, and post-deep cleanse it is looking much happier all round. I'm very pleased. So, a few quid saved in pickups. An order has been placed for flats, a medium-dark red tort guard from the States, some push on knurled chrome knobs from China, and the Wilkinson double coil in the post above. When that arrives I will report the wiring style to KiOgon, get a loom made up, and then it's time to get routing...

So, after a couple of years of being consistently being impressed by the Matt Freeman signature Squier, a couple of years of wanting to be like Chris Steele from Alexisonfire, and a few months of panicking after I realised they had been discountinued... ...I got one. A black one popped up locally, and I managed to negotiate a good price. It has been well used; quite a large number of body dings, and the headstock looks like it's been bashed on something repeatedly, but this is all cosmetic and doesn't bother me. The neck is true, and a beauty at 41 mm; nice and chunky for a Jazz basser, but not too much. The neck pocket was super tight, and I was impressed to see the scratch plate has bee foil-backed and the pup cavities graphite painted. The plan was to fit a MM style coil tappable humbucker, use the existing split coil, and rig the lot to a KiOgon loom. However, irritatingly the stock pups don't work, and I have not yet worked out why not. So, for 15 quid I am getting a cheap and cheerful Wilkinson split coil for peace of mind, to go with the bridge humbucker (http://www.jhs.co.uk/brands/wilkinson/wilkinson-platinum-series-bass-pickup-single-double-coil; anyone got any experience with this?). A tort guard will replace the black one to break up the body slightly, and I fancy flats for a change! Pictures will come when I have something interesting to show; it is currently just in parts at the moment after a good clean. To Be Continued...

Off the back of this thread, I got one. Had it delivered to my old man, who tried it out for me. He says build quality is superb, and the tone range very flexible from low gain to full on fuzz. The boost mode is very usable, really thickening up the sound without any distortion. He was so impressed that he got one for himself. Mr. Raygun is a gent too; great communication. Full disclosure: I haven't had a chance to use it yet myself. However, I trust Dad that the youtube vid in the OP is accurate, and that this is the 'creamy', 'thick', 'gritty', 'warm', 'pushed' voicing that I have been looking for, as well as much more. Am about to start to learn how to record properly, so will do my best to put up some clips at some point in the future.

[quote name='pete.young' timestamp='1488637481' post='3250679'] I don't think it will do simultaneous output to two amps. It can switch between one or the other. [/quote] ...Despite being very confident earlier, I now have a suspicion you are right... Oops.

Having been through a similar process, I would recommend a LS2. It will do the exact job of an ABY, but it is super useful to have level controls for each output. Well worth the extra outlay, and can be got second hand fairly easily. I would second being wary of the Fender; it is attractively priced, but I had big unity issues with it. Didn't think it was particularly noisy, but I struggled to balance signal volume once I started engaging pedals further back along the chain.

I got it from Joe's Pedals. The guy is a hero and a total mine of info, drop him a mail. I think Faceless FX is just a small one man show from the north of England somewhere. There is a Facebook page, but it's not heavily populated. Think he designed a fuzz which is apparently well regarded. Like I said, I had never heard of them prior, but when it came to spend my money it sounded the best for what I wanted. For reference I also had it up against a Hot Cake in bass mode, and another I forget the name of (as well as the 3BOD), so I could A-B(-C-D...?) all of them together, and had previously tried and discounted the Darkglass. BUT it is definitely a boost that starts to break up, rather than a distortion you run at low gain. If the pedal parts kit sounds 90% like the Bearfoot, then I would say it's a steal for price. I didn't dislike the Blueberry, I think I had just over hyped it in my head.

Congrats! I regret not buying one of these whilst they were more readily available; easily held its own against the 'standard' Fenders I have played. Your pair look great together.

I have spent the last goodness knows how long hankering after exactly what you describe, and having tried and not got on with a Darkglass Vintage Microtubes, I was sure I wanted a Bearfoot Blueberry, but was always too scared to commit without trying one. And then managed to try one, and was pretty underwhelmed. It just wasn't as interesting as I had hoped. Dark is right, and to me it got kind of buzzy and lost clarity. Fortunately, I was with an extremely knowledgable chap who was able to suggest several alternatives, and I ended up leaving with a Jasmine Boost by Faceless FX, which I had never heard of before, and is pretty subtle below D, but is just mind blowing from there on out. So thick and full, with a little bit of grind. I definitely think you should try whatever it is before you buy, preferably with your rig (easier said than done I know...). I have taken a punt on a Soda Drive from RayGun effects; it seems like a lot of pedal for your money, but hasn't arrived yet. And would love to try a HG Bass Machine, they sound huge!!

The Harley Benton is great for it's price, sounding fine. Notably neck heavy though; the body is more Strat sized than Precision.

It's bonkers. For the stuff I have wanted over the last 6 months, Thomann has gone from my default first stop to being one of the most expensive options. I used to place an order with them several times a year; can't remember the last time I even bothered to check it.

Are yours the red Fender ABYs? I ask as I have experienced volume loss in one channel with mine when both A and B are engaged, which I thought rather defeated the point of it (I think it's something to do with the phasing of the pedals in the loops...?). It made managing my levels a right pain, so I booted it in favour of a Boss LS-2 which has individual volume levels, but doesn't do exactly what I want. I still use the ABY, but not in the manner I had hoped I would be able, and put up with the LS-2 thanks to it's improved volume control. Maybe a 'better' ABY pedal is the actual solution...

I've only used the Vintage Microtubes from Darkglass, but liked it for only one warmer subtle overdrive that I actually want to try a Blueberry for. I have the Billy however, and quite like it for the reasons Paulhauser mentioned, amongst others. I use it more as a always on 'boost' pedal (if that isn't a contradiction) rather than a big overdrive; I think its strength is at cutting through the mix. I have it at relatively high drive and tone settings but with a low blend, and it really gives your sound some wallop. Doesn't sound great on its own in my opinion, and I was actually pretty disappointed with it when I first had a fiddle, but it sits so well with a guitar (especially if they haven't EQd sympathetically to your sonic space...). I would say that it has quite a distinct and unique voicing, which possibly could be a bit Marmite. It's pretty dry and bright, whilst retaining presence. I definitely wouldn't use it for quite a lot of music I like to play, but equally don't particularly want to shift it as occasionally it's the only pedal I want: go figure... Just had a fiddle with the settings before replying, running through a Hotone Thunderbass (a baby clone was the closest I could get to your Ampeg...) and the extremes were more hairy traditional drive, rather than modern metallic fuzz to my ears. But always with this fairly dry cutting tone, which as mentioned sounds a bit naff soloed, but makes sense with a distorted guitar.

Crikey, that is a stonking deal! I think you will be pleased...

I recently bought the Polara as my first 'good' reverb pedal. I can't compare it to any EQD stuff I'm afraid, but I am very pleased with it. Excellent build quality, intuitive controls for fiddling, all the normal reverb modes, and some more experimental ones (reverse, halo (choir)).. I like the tone; remains pretty uncoloured. It's not quite as bonkers as the EQD stuff I think, but it's a great flexible reverb none the less.

Nice to still get some input on this, thanks all! Those TC pedals look great; I think affordable effects are key when testing the waters, and these look to be very well put together. Just as an update, a Digitech Polara arrived yesterday. Picked it up second hand for under a ton, and first impressions out of the box were excellent. Superb build quality, with a thick chassis and metal knobs. Soft button switch rather than a clicky one, but that's ok. It has all the reverbs I wanted (room, hall, spring, plate), as well as some shimmery alternatives. Oh, and the reverse is hilarious! Not sure how I can use it yet, but it's great fun to sound like a cello. The 'voicing' is just superb. No tone colouration at all to my ears, it seems to simply use your existing tone, and reverberate it...! It feels like bad form to ask for advice and then do something else, but I am grateful for the tips, and am very happy with my new toy. Would happily recommend the Polara as a 'normal+' reverb.

Thanks for the options guys; of course it just served to muddy the waters further! I thought the on the fly adjustment of the MXRs expression parameters was a great idea... Pricey mind.

I have a Nano POG, which does an octave down and/or up. Octave down works to about A, and the octave up has quite a distinctive voice, sounding quite chimey. Definite latency too; I wouldn't like to guess how much, but when playing quiet stuff the wet signal is later than the dry for sure. Sometimes that annoys me, sometimes I like it, go figure! I mostly use it +1 with a bit of reverb for finger picking 'guitar' parts for a loop pedal, and the latency and chimeyness isn't an issue here, as the voicing is nice and the split second delay gets absorbed somehow. Small footprint, plays well with others in the power chain, can split the wet and dry out. I know it doesn't do the 2nd octave up you need, but thought I might as well chip in.

Hi Team. Hope you don't mind yet another reverb and delay thread... I started with some very cheap reverb (Behringer RV600) and delay (cheap Chinese mini thing) pedals to see if I enjoyed them, and they have fast become some of my favourite board members. Despite tonally sounding pretty ok, they are a bit noisy, so it's time to upgrade... I'm combining my echo effects questions together as I have wanted an Avalanche Run (AR) since they were announced. The delay sounds awesome as best as I can tell, and the reverb is seems cool too, but that is where I am hanging up. The AR does roomy/hally/spacey style reverb very well, but doesn't seem to do the more bog standard/subtle plate and spring verbs, which actually are what I end up using the most... It's a shame, as I love everything else about it, I just wish it had a spring and plate verb!! The AR is an expensive bit of kit, so I wondered (sadly) if an alternative could be separate delay and reverb pedals. Tap tempo is a must, so I would likely choose the DD7 (I know it well from a friend, and like it a lot). However, what verb pedal to pair with it?! I would quite like the 'experimental' spacey swelling of the AR with the expression pedal, but need that plate and spring... What are your recommendations for an allround verb pedal for about 150-200 poonds (to go with the 120 odd DD7) that can do some cool things in addition? HoF? RV5? Levitation? I think Strymon is out of budget... EDIT just to jump the shark, the Polara appears to tick lots of boxes for not a lot of cash... Or, do I suck it up, get the AR that I think I am in love with, and buy a quality mini plate/spring verb to get the whole shebang, and be able to stack reverb? Any ideas for this? HoF mini? Mooer Shim? Holy Grail variant from EHX?

Well, I've got to come clean and admit that, after all the great input, I didn't manage to go...! We did a bit of sleuthing of the area code, and as I was hoping to go on route to the airport, it didn't quite mesh with the time available. Definitely one to visit however; I just felt it fair to give him more warning than we had time to, as we suspected it was a slightly more personal venture. I did however visit Manson's in Exeter, as that was very easy to get to. Was a pretty cool place, with a fair bass (mostly Fender and Ibanez) and amp/cab selection (mostly Orange and Eden), and friendly staff who were happy to let me plonk around on whatever took my fancy. I tried an original 4001 from I think '77 that I thought was an absolute pig, but fell in love with a wacky hollow body cheap Yamaha; go figure! Anyway, thanks again for all of the replies: I can definitely recommend Manson's, and am looking forward to meeting Mark in the not too distant future...