TG Flatline

Anyone got one or used one that can let me know how they found it on bass? I've steered clear of all filters (except phasers) thus far, but I fancy getting a bit dirty and building one of these. I imagine the HP mode is largely useless on bass, though like I say I am relatively new to this so any insight would be useful! To give you more of an idea, I'm predominantly interested in the auto-wah side of things for now, but I didn't think it would be worth building or buying something that would be limited to just that, and I can build the Meatball for less than I'd buy an auto-wah anyway, and it would have more features... Also worth noting that because I'd be building it, I can add more to it. One option would be to have a blendable octave-down in the same box (much like the setup on the EHX Micro Synth) and a Muff or other fuzz hardwired into the FX Loop. Any advice/warnings/mockery greatly appreciated!

I have a clone and find it very useful live. I don't use it as a boost as such, I set it so I get the same rough level as bypassed, but it just shifts where in the spectrum that level is, and I then use it under guitar solos to give more space for the guitar. I'm in a two-guitar band anyway, and more often than not the solos sound better with the Mole on. Also worth noting that it sounds proper ace running a Mole into a Muff! For the price you'd pay for a brand new EHX one I'd say take a punt if it's interested you enough to ask, I definitely find mine worth having

[quote name='Al Heeley' timestamp='1333572522' post='1603856'] Still on the Bassboost circuit, smaller format, beer graphics, not fitted the LED yet... [/quote] Top stuff Al, I may need to take inspiration from this for a Kronenbourg pedal! Looks mint dude, nice one!!

Great looking stuff Al, looking forward to listening to the clips on my lunch!!

Put this together over the past few months, cobbled a very temporary board together for a stint of gigs through April and will re-build a more permanent one when those gigs are done. The back tier particularly isn't high enough so that will be the main change! Signal starts in the big box in the bottom right hand corner, and the chain is: > Wireless or Cable in (these are on switched jacks, so if no cable is plugged in then the wireless signal is used - just means I can override the wireless with a cable in case of breakdown or for rehearsal without having to unplug the wireless!) > Tuner Mute Switch (top right switch) > Modified Ross Compressor clone on a toggle switch (very much an "always on" effect) > Master bypass switch, inside of which is: --> "Shape" Footswitch (a mid-cut with level control) --> "Boost" Footswitch (EHX Mole clone, mainly used under guitar solos live) --> Send Jack ----> Pearl OC-07 Octaver clone ----> Dirt box. First is a Fulltone Bassdrive Mosfet clone with a clean blend, without the extra switches, second is an NYC Big Muff clone with clean blend, variable mids switch and a High Pass Filter on the output of the dirt side. Both sound good on their own, sounds mega one into the other! ----> MXR Phase 90 clone with rate LED (pointless but fun), depth knob, gain knob, and a three-way switch to control the feedback. ----> Boss CE-2B clone without the level knob (I always had it on full anyway) --> Return Jack, back to Master Bypass Switch > Boss CE-2B clone without the level knob and on a toggle switch (again, "always on" effect with the depth and rate about 10-11 o'clock) > BBE Sonic Maximiser-esque clone on a toggle switch (still getting to grips with this, less is more is definitely the case with this one!!!) > SFX Sounds Micro Thumpinator > Amp The space between the Phaser and the Thumpinator is there for testing pedals as and when I build new ones. Bass-oriented Rat is next for that spot. Still fine tuning a few things on there, the mid-cut switch needs a bit of tweaking as it's a bit too severe at the minute, but it's getting there!!! Overall very happy with it and looking forward to getting it out to a few gigs in the next few weeks!

Musicman Bongo Pointy BC Rich-esque basses Front-mounted LEDs Musicman Big Al Anything with more than 4 strings Gibson Thunderbirds Now having said the above, I should point out I play a 4-string Shuker Explorer with side-mounted LEDs

[quote name='Sibob' timestamp='1331567889' post='1574953'] From what I understand with the bass big muff, there are issues with the blend & volume controls being out of sync? something like that. Difficult to balance your bass sound without getting a volume boost, easily modded thought it seems. I had a standard silver Muff that sounded fine on bass, although that was with all the tone rolled off, so more bass retention, wind it up and you lose bottom end. My CoPilot FX Orbit w/blend has replaced it. Si [/quote] The Bass Big Muff in Dry Mode simply adds distorted sound to your clean sound with no control of the volume of the dry, so you almost always get a volume boost. Clean blend on any distortion for bass is for winners. If you'd be leaving the BBM on all the time it would be fine, but if you want to be able to switch between clean and dirty you need to be able to do the mod or accept the volume jump. When I had mine I had to have less dirt than I would have liked because of the volume jump when I went from clean to dirty. I found the other two modes weren't really as usable in a band mix. As has been mentioned above though, they are always selling so you could grab it to see if you like the big muff sound, plus the big muff sound with a clean blend (can sound massive) so you can see if you want to go down the line of a unit with more control later. My Big Muff is home-built and has adjustable clean/dirty blend and it's just plain mega. Take back the authority in your rehearsal room!

Love ABM heads, wouldn't go back to the ABM cabs though I don't think.... ABM 500 + BFM Jack 15 = YAY

[quote name='oGREENYo' timestamp='1330641588' post='1561024'] Thanks; I mostly made my own connectors using the 'pancake' type jack plugs to maximize space. It's all powered with a gigrig generator and 2 distributors. The signal chain is: Bass>MultiComp (always on)>BOD>QTron>BassBalls>Pork Loin>BBM>Hairy Beaver (homemade Woolly Mammoth Clone)>LS-2 with Guv'nor in one loop and the M5 in the other (I use mix mode all the time and use a kill switch in each loop - black box under LS-2 - this way I can mix either effect with clean/each other or on their own). From the LS-2>Chorus>EP Booster (pretty much always on)>Malekko Ekko>VT Bass (always on)>amp. The box on the bottom right is used to switch the VP-JR between being a standard volume before the board or sending the bass direct to the board and using the VP=JR as an EXP for the M5. It is also the input to the board. [/quote] Very nice!!

Big Muff rules.... until you get it in with the band. I now use a home-made NYC Big Muff with a clean blend on it and it sounds immense. Soon as you blend some clean in it comes back to life. I had the Bass Big Muff and while it did sound good (I used it in "Dry" mode pretty much exclusively), the volume increase is such that it's largely unusable except as an 'always on' type of pedal. The only reason I didn't do the clean volume mod to the BBM is because it was easier to just build my own! Clean blend on any dirt just sounds better to my ears...

I use the ABM500 and love it. I'm not so much a fan of the ABM cabs though, they just seem to vanish in a band mix (4x10s and 1x15s) though I did find the mini 48 and mini 15 were great for monitoring onstage. They needed PA support in all but the smallest rooms though really. Back to the head though, I now use my ABM head into a BFM Jack 15 cab now and it sounds immense. I don't really find the valve pre adds anything more than a bit of warmth, there certainly doesn't seem to be any kind of serious dirt on tap, but it is a nice warmth! I find the compressor largely useless and despite trying it every few months or so when my pedalboard changes, it has always remained off and will stay that way. The octave hasn't been used on mine for ages as I had an MXR BOD and now use a Pearl OC-07 clone, but it did a decent enough job without blowing any dedicated octave pedal out of the water.

[quote name='deej' timestamp='1329999624' post='1551040'] Dont buy them! When you stomp on the pedals, the movement can crack the board inside because theres no give there. Ok, not the most technical explanation but I know what I mean. [/quote] This is true. I use these jacks, but all my pedals are either bolted to the pedalboard or cable tied to it so there is no movement, and therefore no risk, but there is no way on earth I would use these with pedals velcro'd!

[quote name='Al Heeley' timestamp='1329949176' post='1550380'] Heres a glowplate I've added to the smaller format ross-comp clone pedal [/quote] That's nice!

[quote name='tonyf' timestamp='1329297811' post='1540093'] WTF?! You provide the gear and no doubt do the setup, the hanging around for hours after you've played and the consequent breakdown for the "honour" of playing support? Nah. Don't care who they are, wouldn't be for me. [/quote] That's the way things go though unfortunately! Imagine the cost of logistics, for example, for an American band to get all their gear over here to tour. Just having the flightcases for the gear would cost an arm and a leg, let alone actually getting them across here... so the deal often is that they provide the name, and UK support band provides the means. At least you're not dealing with someone different every night and (you'd have to hope) you will almost certainly be dealing with a "professional" in terms of attitude! I would lend or source gear if this kind of deal came up that would allow us to go on a tour that would benefit the band that we wouldn't have otherwise been able to get onto.

Doctor Tweek is for winners, UK-based and a good bloke. Musikding.de is a good bet if you can't find what you want from Doctor Tweek, postage isn't too bad either. I find the selection of pots at Rapid unappealing - no idea why, I just don't want to ever buy pots from there! I get parts from them all though depending on what I need and have had only good experiences with all three. [url="http://www.doctortweek.co.uk/"]http://www.doctortweek.co.uk/[/url] [url="http://www.musikding.de/"]http://www.musikding.de/[/url] [url="http://www.rapidonline.com/"]http://www.rapidonline.com/[/url]

[quote name='pantherairsoft' timestamp='1329217406' post='1538836'] I always let others use my cab, but NEVER my amp. Even with advance notice. If anyone asks the answer is no. Using the cab comes with the requirement that no drink gets sat on top of it. I always tell folk, if I see a pint on it during your set I'll come and unplug it mid set, even if it's not your pint. protect it. People always think I'm joking... 6 months ago, at a Nottingham show a guy did not take notice. He turned up 'assuming' he could borrow gear, yet I still let him use the cab after he pleaded another bassist to let him use his amp. I went up to the stage mid set and pointed at the pint sat on my cab. He moved it looking a little coy. 5 minutes later, his singer put a pint of water on it. I gave him 60 seconds to notice, walked over, got up on stage as they finished a number, flipped the power to his amp off and unplugged my cab. The band started swearing at me. I swore back and told them they had been warned twice. My closing words were "if you want to play a full set next time, I'd suggest bringing your own gear". I wasn't very popular. Oh well. They were warned. [/quote] I have a warm feeling inside from reading this

Best onstage sound our band ever had was when both guitarists were using 1x12's. Plenty loud enough. They just like the look of having more more more. I don't blame them. I use a BFM Jack 15, very much loud enough, but I want another one on top just cos I can and cos it will look mega. Haha!

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1328008624' post='1520119'] [size=4]OK, nevermind the cab stuff, other than Happy Jack, has anyone else first hand experience of a 5 string bass through a Thumpinator? [/size] [size=4]Did it mess with the low B or the low end generally?[/size] [/quote] I've recorded down to Bb with the Thumpinator - no losses!

[quote name='chrismuzz' timestamp='1327956888' post='1519558'] Definitely, they advertise it going down to 30Hz before the standard rolloff etc etc... The low A used to be the loudest thing before I started using compression to tame it too! [/quote] Marketing, or "lies" as it is also known, is something to take with a pinch of salt. If Mark Bass cabs go down that low then I will eat my hat. That's nothing against Mark Bass by the way. What you'll be hearing in the "loudness" of the low A won't be the fundamental anyway.

Chances are your cabs wouldn't reproduce the fundamental anyway...