Lightlyseared

When I first picked up a bass in 1988, my hero was Billy Gould, who has always mixed everything up, so I had no preconceptions about what was and wasn't on the table. I've always just gone for what feels right for the song.

I got one not long after they came out. Definitely a lot of bass for the money by Fender standards and the P pickup sounds huge. Both pickups in series kicks like a mule and I don't think any other stock Fender bass has that sound. Mine is black with the off white pickguard which I think is a bit boring - I asked Fender if they sold tort guards (like the white and sunburst models have) and got a classic wally response saying no, sorry but we'll sell you a guitar one! Still tempted to get a nice celluloid tort pickguard made, or maybe black or gold.

Great sounding amps but definitely possible to set them up to sound less than stellar. There is a lot of range on the tone controls. A common mistake when using the footswitch is setting the clean and blended channels at unity so that when you switch the drive in it sounds too quiet.

The silverburst version is germanium right? The silicon version is gainer and meaner sounding. For me, the Diabolik has a bit more heft - if you like the Brassmaster sound, unless you need the honkier settings, the Diabolik may work better for you.

The BMP-1 does the "green" thing very well. The Stomp Under Foot Civil War is awesome too. The Solidgoldfx Imperial is a good sounding "refined" muff with more mid control and a smoother tone, the Grey Stache can get very in your face with lots of gain and mids, the Earthbound Supercollider has a really wide range of tones, loads of output and control, it will go from fuzzy overdrive to full on doom. There are so many muffs around now that sound good on bass it's really a matter of personal taste. Black Arts Toneworks and Earthquaker Devices offer nice versions and there's a new Skreddy green Russian too.

Ernie Ball Wicker Man?

There's a Pearl Octaver on eBay right now at £89 BIN.. same era and quality as the OC2, has 1 and 2 octaves down plus 1 octave up.

Rotosound RS66s, though the feel is a bit rough for many. DR Hi Beams are also available in short scale. Although they are in a heavier gauge, 45-105, Hi Beams are lower tension strings and the feel might not be much different to the D'addarios (tension wise anyway).

G&L will make an SB-1 or LB-100 with a jazz neck.

This caught my eye as potentially quite interesting - a two channel overdrive based on the DOD 250 with switchable silicon, germanium and no diode clipping. According to EQD it has a bigger bass response than the original (which can sound pretty burly anyway). I'm not aware of any videos or clips with bass yet but I'm sure some will surface. The lack of tone pots might be a concern though.

I recently got Baers for similar reasons. Changing to a mid loaded cab requires a rethink of how you EQ the rest of your rig (basically use your ears not your eyes) but I am now in the nice pick (as opposed to ice pick?) clank zone. With full on fuzz something more old school would probably sound better (think JJ's Hiwatt cabs) but I think you want something more articulate.

Has anyone tried the Keeley Seafoam Plus, which has a dipswitchable bass mode and some of the algorithms from the 30ms?

Dunlop's low introductory price tempted me over for a while - not bad strings but I missed the slightly lower tension of DRs. Fat Beams have a bit more zing and Hi Beams have a firmer low end to my ears. The DR winding has an unusual quality to it where the strings are flexy but it's easy for your fingers to get purchase on them. I find myself fretting less hard with them and playing fast easier than I do with flats or other steels.

Fairdeal and GuitarGuitar in Brum?

Having now tried the Bellwether and DMM I know which of those I prefer.. still interested to try the Nemesis and El Cap though. And maybe the Moog MF104. I don't think the Avalanche Run will be out for a few weeks.

Volume pedal, compressor, digital harmonizer/octave effects like the POG or Whammy!, EH Superego and Freeze, reverb.. I'm sure there are multis with pad type patches but experimenting yourself is more fun (and expensive).

From videos, the oscillation on the Endangered Audio Research AD4096 appears really responsive and usable but I think they are discontinued? I'm wondering how quickly the feedback builds up with the Deluxe Memory Man TT now. The Rainger Echo-X does some mad stuff but the tiny controls put me off mini pedals.

The Timefactor is nice but I would go into options overload! The Chase Bliss has some interesting LFO options but few places to try it out. I'm hoping Hot Rox will start carrying his stuff, the flanger looks wild too. I used to have the EQD Disaster Transport and regret selling it, I only ever used it on guitar though. You never know until you try effects with your own gear, sometimes delays and modulation pedals clip with hotter pickups. I have heard and liked the El Cap, and the Dig is potentially interesting too, though the Strymons would probably need me to change my power supply setup.

I currently use a Catalinbread Echorec for rhythmic delays. I think the sound is nicely suited to bass (not too dark, the modulation is not overdone and overall it sounds punchy and percussive) and I've found it very inspiring for coming up with lines. I'm now after another delay that will do the trippy/psych/ambient stuff (oscillate and pitch bend) as well as classic slapback/echo. Every few weeks there seems to be a new, more powerful and GAS-inducing delay pedal. Some of the ones that interest me are relatively new and there's not much online in terms of bass-specific clips or reviews so I wondered if anyone had any suggestions? I'm not looking for a swiss army pedal with a million options; it's more important that the core tones are really good and the controls are easily to manipulate while playing. I am leaning towards analog but it's not essential. What would be cool: controllable oscillation (footswitchable would be ideal), maybe expression pedal control of delay time. I don't need really long delay times or looping. Does anyone have experience of the following, or any other suggestions? -Electro Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man TT -Walrus Audio Bellwether -Earthquaker Devices Avalanche Run -Source Audio Nemesis

One major factor was the drummer's "edgy" sense of humour which ranged from cringeworthy to "Ok this guy is an utter social liability" after a few pints. Confronting him about it only made him worse. Years later his name cropped up on the leaked BNP members list and the penny dropped.

Kev got two Baer ML112 cabs to me swiftly with spot on communication and faultless packing. One of the good guys!

The one I haven't tried which intrigues me is the Keeley 30ms.

The Source Audio Vertigo can be set up to do tap tempo.

I like it a lot. It's not for everyone but it does its thing really well. The power rating is definitely on the conservative side, into 4 ohms it is easily loud enough for pub gigs. I would say the EQ has a reasonably wide, but not drastic range; don't expect Genz-style tweakability but it is well voiced and more flexible than the Terror.

Hopefully more bass demos will follow.. this sounds pretty cool and usable.