bnt

I actually have a SpectraComp, kind-of: it’s half of my SpectraDrive, which is OK. I’m putting together a small “affordaboard”, though, so after thinking a bit more I ordered the Sculpture and it arrived today. First impressions are that it’s a very clean “sustainer” type compression, it reminded me of a Boss CS-3. That’s in normal mode, while the clip mode adds a tiny amount of hair, becoming more noticeable if you engage more gain after it. A little grit on the attack. Not a huge difference but another flavor that I can see myself using. Very good for the price, nice and quiet.

The Race - Yello

I spent some time yesterday trying out the ToneX One as purely an audio interface to other things, and it performed very well. To do this you have to switch Direct Monitoring off (in Librarian settings) and have it bypassed in Stomp mode. Connecting it direct to a new iPad Air was good, no problem getting power over USB-C. There's something about the sample rate that affects its compatibility with some iPad apps, which I've seen a few complaints about - I think it's because it's 44.1 kHz rather than 48 kHz, or something. I couldn't get it to work with Korg Gadget 3 or the Aurora Mammoth standalone app, but Mammoth and others worked fine as plug-ins hosted by AUM. Logic Pro was great too, as was IK's ToneX app that uses the same models. I also tried it connected directly to my Mac Mini, also over USB-C, using ToneX (of course), Apple MainStage and Logic Pro, and even Neural Amp Modeler - no issues there. There's no problem using the pedal's own processing when recording to DAW, but you don't need to when you have ToneX as a plugin in the DAW.

Street Spirit (Fade Out) - Radiohead

I'm in the market for a small compressor, and I know there are good options out there such as the Keeley Bassist, but I wonder whether anyone has any experience with this pedal on bass? It's about £35, and has a blend control, an unusual feature at this price point. It also has two operating modes: Clean and Clip, where the latter reduces the headroom and allows the signal to clip, turning it in to a gain stage you could blend in. There are only a few YT videos of this pedal in action, and none of those appear to use bass at all. At that price, I might just take a punt and report back.

Secret - OMD

These Dreams - Heart

I don't know the Tone Hammer range, but I presume you meant the pedal preamp? I imagine it sounds different dependng on whether you go direct to PA from it or through and amp & cab, since it doesn't have amp or cab sims, and the same would be true of the model i.e. I should try it in the ToneX with and without amp & cab sims. So far I've only really used the ToneX in Dual mode (amp & cab sims), not Stomp mode, since I don't have an amp.

I put together a small board to be more portable and suit the Squier CV Bass VI, with a Harley Benton combo PSU and Tuner to start. It's not the neatest with those power cables sprouting out the back, but it otherwise works great. MXR Bass Octave Deluxe - don't know if I really need it on this board, considering getting a small compressor for this space. My Orange Kongpressor is twice the size. Mosky Silver Horse "Klon": I might get a Golden Horse to replace it on this board, since I don't need both modes and it's not a lot of money. Nice for just a bit of dirt / mid boost. Tone City Matcha Cream, green Russian Big Muff clone. Brings the dirt. The Boss MD-200 is back for now since my JHS 3 Series Phaser has apparently died on me. It's a bit overkill and I could fit two pedals in that space. I have a mini size chorus/tremolo (Mooer Soul Shiver), the space could fit that and another mini phaser. Sonicake Sonic Ambience: delay/reverb, pretty good if a bit fiddly. IK Multimedia ToneX One: I have it on this board as an amp/cab sim with headphone and USB interfaces at home. Won't be needed if playing through an amp, but could be useful in a direct to PA situation. "The Fridge" preset gets used the most but I also have a cleaner Trace Elliot model on there.

Sunset Grill - Don Henley

If I Was - Midge Ure

Different Strings - Rush

I looked at the DSM Humboldt Simplifier for this, which splits the signal in to two paths, both with FX loops. It's not a true crossover setup out of the box: the low Parallel clean channel has a switchable LPF, but the high Preamp channel has EQ but no dedicated HPF. After the loops the signals are recombined through a cab simulator.

Magic - Olivia Newton-John (from Xanadu)

Photograph - Def Leppard

I've got the Mini version, which is great. In my experience, Strobe tuners are better at giving you a sense of how quickly I'm tuning, not just how far off the tuning is, which helps me avoid overshooting.

One important thing I've learned about the ToneX App is that you have to watch out for dual processing, since the pedal is also an audio interface. If you are using it in Librarian mode only, to manage the sounds on the pedal and playing through it, turn off the Input in the app settings. No audio should be going through the app at all. If you are playing through the app, using the Tone Models there, you need to put the pedal in Stomp mode and bypass it, so it's not processing the audio as well. They could improve the app by making this automatic, I think: mute input when on the Librarian page, and bypass the pedal processing when on the Home page playing through Tone Models there.

Look Away - Big Country

Too Shy - Kajagoogoo

The World Is Not Enough - Garbage

Circus of Heaven - Yes

I think I said this on the Taylor Swift thread: artists and TicketBastard have gotten wiser about the way scalpers made money through tickets being sold at below "market value". The scalpers are still trying to make money e.g. there are already Oasis tickets listed at over £6,500.

I lived in London for most of the '90s, and you couldn't escape the Britpop Wars: Oasis vs. Blur, Norf vs. Sarf. At that time I was in to Progressive more than anything else, and it wasn't until years later that I got in to late-period Beatles. So it was no contest from my POV. I couldn't imagine Oasis making anything with the power of Charmless Man or the understated emotional punch of Coffee & TV.

My ToneX One arrived today and I've played with it for an hour or so. The basic functionality works very well e.g. I loaded up "The Fridge" tone model and lost track of time for a while. It does that thing I like about an amp that just makes me sound better, and I added a bit of compressor for the smoothness. The software needs work, though.

Junk Culture - OMD