Bass Pedal Geek

Another vote for the B3K. I made some demo clips here, but you seem familiar with the sound, but anyway: http://bass-pedals.com/darkglass-b3k-bass-overdrive-review I also have the VT Bass DI and had both lf them on the board at some point. They complement each other fine.

Definitely have to take a closer look at them!

A good J-type lined fretless with 4 or 5 strings...

If you didn't get along with a standard P, maybe you should look at a P/J bass. Maybe even an active one. I had a Sadowsky HPJ-4 at some påoint that gave me a great tone, and some serious sellers remorse...

[quote name='machinehead' timestamp='1437171076' post='2824294'] Great work! It must have taken ages to put that together. Thanks very much. I do love the sound of the '72, although the 2008 is close. The big impression for me is that the differences are subtle. So really, they all sound fantastic. I love the sound of a jazz bass. Frank. [/quote] Thanks. Well, the most time-consuming part was seapping the same set of strings across all the basses :-) Other than that, it was pure fun! :-)

I just took the Empress Compressor our for a spin and it's so far the best I've had on my board. Closely followed by the Mad Professor Forest Green and Wampler Ego. I have a review site here where you can listen to each of them (and a few more) if that might be helpful: http://bass-pedals.com/type-comp-limit.html Also did a quick 101 on comp, trying to go through the basics: http://bass-pedals.com/tips-compression-101.html Also recommend ovnilab like others!

[quote name='LayDownThaFunk' timestamp='1436606024' post='2819428'] '79 Jazz for me, awesome tone. What strings did you use btw? [/quote] Sorry for the late response here. I used a brand new set of Ernie Ball Nickel Wound Slinky strings.

[quote name='Evil Undead' timestamp='1435525786' post='2809763'] Thanks for putting this together I skipped over the fodera (active) and the nordy. Hope that's ok but wanted to stick with the actual passive jazzes. It was between the 66 and the 08 for me, but I think the 08 just about took it. All sounded great though. [/quote] That's kind of interesting as they may be the two basses of the (passive) bunch that sound the most different (to me anyway). But maybe you prefer each of them for different reasons?

I generally agree with your observations, and the 72 is my main passive J bass. But I actually do reach for the Fodera a lot, too... It does sit very well in the mix. :-)

The 1964 is probaby my favorite P bass when it comes to pure tone. However, the wide C-neck is not good for my hands for some reason... Probably the string spacing as even wider 5-string necks don't bother me at all. Regarding the tone, I almost never turn back the tone control all the way. 50% is usually max and most of the time I don't use it at all :-)

Thanks! Yes, I agree that differences are subtle and in the mix they all sound like jazz basses :-) Funny you point out that 72, because out of the bunch that is my main player in the passive J bass department. Love that bass!

A nice fretless 4 or 5... Got a fretless Rob Allen Mouse that I love, but would like a J type fretless (with lines!). Or maybe a Lakland 55-02/55-94... :-)

[quote name='lee650' timestamp='1435391655' post='2808290'] I always thought this was a clean boost/eq! I didn't realise you could add a touch of drive/grit to the signal. I'm assuming the mini version is the same? I want somthing to add a little grit to my P bass, this is on my gas list now [/quote] I am not completely sure the mini version will drive it to the edge the same way as it has 20 dB of boost where the original Spark has 26 dB. And of course, you wouldn't get the tone controls. But would be nice to try one and compare them at some point!

Yep. Me too! BTW, in the meantime I also did a r[url="http://bass-pedals.com/darkglass-b3k-bass-overdrive-review/index.html"]eview of the Darkglass B3K[/url] Bass Overdrive. It has some of the same qualities. :-)

plugged the Mad Professor Forest Green Compressor in during a rehearsal the other night. I instantly liked the sound and even though it lacks some control compared to a lot of other comp pedals (and a blend option), I do dig it! http://bass-pedals.com/mad-professor-forest-green-compressor-review/index.html But it's not exactly cheap. The one I reviewed is the hand wired version and there is a cheaper mass production version available as well. Would be curious to know if anybody have ever A/B'ed the two versions and what their experience was?

Greetings. If you have ever wondered how well a Sonic Stomp pedal works on bass, you may want to give this review a quick read and listen. I have been using it for more than a decade by now - not all the time as an always-on effect, though. In some periods, I have used it as a kick-in-for-slap pedal, but at other times I have been using it at more sensible settings as an always-on pedal that was part of my fundamental tone-shaping arsenal. Can be used for both with equal success, IMO :-) [url="http://bass-pedals.com/bbe-sonic-stomp-review/index.html"]Sonic Stomp Review here...[/url]

After [url="http://bass-pedals.com/fender-precision-bass/index.html"]The BIG Precision Bass Shootout[/url] a few month back, I received a lot of requests for doing a similar shootout with jazz basses. This time there are 5 passive Fender Jazz basses: - 1966 - 1972 - 1979 - 1983 - 2008 Plus a Fodera Emperor 5 that has been built as closely to a jazz as a custom Fodera comes - bolt-on neck,single coils and 21 frets rather then 24. Just for fun I also included a Nordy P/J5, but if you find that totally inapproriate in a Jazz shootout, just skip that part ;-) Both the Fodera and the Nordy are recorded in 3 different modes: - Passive - Active (but preamp 100% neutral) - On Steroids (Bass & Treble boost of approx. 20%) So there should be a lot of potential disccusion topics here: - Lightweight vs Heavy (from 8.8 lbs to 12.1 lbs) - Rosewood vs Maple - Vintage vs Modern - Passive vs Active - 60's pickup spacing vs 70's pickup spacing - etc. As for stings, please note that it's the exact same set of brand new nickel rounds that is on every bass in the shootout. But hey the details are all in here: [url="http://bass-pedals.com/jazz-bass-shootout/"]The BIG Jazz Bass Shootout[/url] Hope to get a good debate going!

Greetings all, I had the pleasure of trying out the TC Spark Booster on bass. I must say I was pleasantly surprised by how well it worked for bass! But give the pedal a quick listen (and a read) here and let's know what you think about it. I, for one, realy like it :-) http://bass-pedals.com/tc-electronic-spark-booster-review/index.html

For some reason I have never gotten around to check out the Ricks... J, P, Musicman, G&L and a bunch of modern basses, yes. But no Ricks so far. Probably a mistake, but will try to find a used one if possible :-)

I guess it's not 'necessary' in the sense that you couldn't possible play a gig without one. I have played plenty without comp without any problems. That said, it's nice to have and I sometimes use it as a subtle even-out-the peaks and sometimes as a squash-it-to-the-max tool. Most of the time as the first and always on, though, but wouldn't at all panic if I forgot to bring a compressor or if it failed me mid-gig.

If you're into chorus on bass, Eden's I-90 maight be something you want to check out. I had a chance to take one of them out for test and just posted a new review/audio demo here: http://bass-pedals.com/eden-i-90-bass-chorus-review/index.html Mostly, I like it and despite a few issues the low cut option really helps keeping definition in the low end while adding that shimmering chorusy charm (if you like that :-) )

I would really like to see if I can find one lf each and do a shootout between these pedals. I don't know if/how I would/could use them in a band context but it sure would be fun! How do you guys who alreay use them actually apply them in a live setup? Roscoe Beck style 'fake organ with chords and all' perhaps? Or mostly for intros and melodies?

That is a 'big' question... To some it's almost religion. I used to be a 35" evangelist, but now own three 5 string basses all of which are 34" and they all play great on the B string. That said I have tried plenty of 34" 5-strings with poor to catastrophic B-strings and plenty of 35" basses that all had good to great B-strings. I guess that based on my experience I'd say that you can certainly find (or build) a 34" with a great B string, but it might also turn out horrible. If you go for a 35" chances are the B string will be decent if not great

Thanks for all your thoughts! As has been mentioned #5 stands out. And yes that is the Fodera. A quick scan on the guesses. No one got them all correct. Would also have surprised me. But stay tuned for a little while longer. When I post the full shootout there will be bridge PU soloed and slap clips and then the differences start to become more pronounced. Plus! Can't stress enough that tou should listen with headphones to hear the very subtle differences in this first clip.

As some of you know I have been working on a jazz bass shootout inspired by the P bass shootout I did last month. It is more or less ready, but I have received some notes from you guys and through the website that a blindtest might be fun. So I decided to start with that... For now, I have just uploaded one sound file with clips of 6 jazz basses: MIA Fenders from 66, 72, 79, 83 and 08 plus a Fodera Emeror with single coils and bolt-on neck in passive mode. It's just for fun, there is no prize if you can list the basses correctly, and a few weeks from now, I will upload the full shootout with more clips and all the details about each bass. Until then, have fun! [url="http://bass-pedals.com/jazz-bass-shootout-blind.html"]Jazz Bass Shootout Round 1 Blindtest[/url] PS. If you wonder about the strings, they are a known-brand-name. They are roudnwound nickels (0.45) and they are brand new. I swapped the strings on every bass before recording it, so it's not only the same kind of strings, it's [i]the[/i] [i]exact[/i] same strings.