bnt

I recently picked up a Ly-Rock Tone Monster DI pedal - see this thread - which has opened up some more possibilities around split processing of my signal. I've been looking to avoid the expensive bass drive pedals - DarkGlass etc. - while trying to avoid the dreaded bass suck associated with using pedals made for guitar. I have two drive pedals before this latest purchase: a Tone City Matcha Cream Fuzz, which acquits itself rather well as long as I keep the tone control down, and a T-Rex Diva Drive, which is basically an inexpensive Tube Screamer with a Mix control. With split processing now available, I thought it was safe to try a Klon type pedal. For this NPD test, though, I used it on its own without splitting the signal. The Silver Horse has a voice switch for two modes: switch down for the classic low gain "golden" Klon type, and up for the higher gain "silver" Klon type. I found the "silver" mode less useful so far, and I think I could have gotten away with the Mosky Golden Horse instead, but it only cost me about a tenner extra for the option. In "silver" mode I think the distortion comes in too quickly and heavily, which may be more suited to guitar. At the highest gain levels it just kills the bass frequencies. In "golden" mode, things are much better on bass, I think. After I placed the order, I read that the Gain control on these pedals is essentially a blend control anyway. With Gain down and Volume and Tone at 12, switching the pedal on or off made no difference to the tone at all, so I can believe that. Increasing Gain also increases the volume a fair bit before you hear much distortion, which makes sense given the way some folks talk about using the Klon as a clean boost. So "golden" mode is low gain in normal use, and on lower Gain settings it didn't seem like the pedal was doing all that much until I turned it off. I think this will work well in combination with an amp (or cab sim) and sit nicely in a mix. Higher gain tones are less useful and I'm not so keen on them. Amazon UK has the Golden Horse for under £40 today. This is where your input signal level can have an influence too. With my "always on" Orange KongPressor, the gain was too much and weakening the bass by the 12-o'clock position in either mode. With the KongPressor off this didn't happen until I boosted the Gain further. I'm not too concerned about this since the split signal will have different gain structure, and I may find myself using the "silver" mode again with the parallel bypass signal blend.

I should have mentioned this one before: I haven't been to this shop, but do look at the website occasionally. https://www.jimismusicstore.ie/product_info.php?products_id=6060 It is a 4003 (not 4003S), no year given but it has the old bridge, so pre-2019. Listed for €2,750 (about £2,350), which includes 23% local VAT. I've been meaning to go there some time, actually.

I got one of these delivered yesterday, ordered through Fruugo, also slightly guilty. I won't get to use it fully until the weekend, when I plan to rebuild my board around it. I've been meaning to try something like this for a while, for split processing and also to accommodate a possible return to dual-output bass. I have an ABY switch pedal on the way that will let me turn off the high channel easily, since this has no foot switches. So far impressions are generally positive. The cab sim seems pretty good, does improve the sound, though the effects of the various controls on it are quite subtle, at least through some not-too-great headphones. The preamp seems to need a hot input for real dirt, which it will get since I'll have the Orange KongPressor in front. PS the full name is Ly-Rock Tone Monster-Amp.DI Bass. Yikes.

There’s also a new EHB1505SMS, upgraded version of the short-scale. I like the colour on this one:

I’m still learning about this stuff myself, but from the descriptions on this thread, it sounds like neither the Beebo nor Dwarf has the raw CPU power to run the “full fat” NAM models. They run “nano” or “ feather” version i.e. lightweight. PS I see there is an official amp capture website for capturing your amps and converting existing NAM files. The descriptions on firmware updates like this appear to confirm it’s NAM Nano models only on current hardware. That thread is about a proposed new pedal to run all NAM models - still some way off.

Not from them directly, but they link to Poly Effects who make the Poly Beebo. So I suspect that NAM technology is used there. This pic shows the Amp selection screen with "AMP NAM": PS: yep, in this recent video the reviewer shows us how NAM works in the Beebo. PPS: the mod.audio Dwarf also uses NAM. It looks more like what I would want e.g. USB Host support, headphone output.

I heard about this recently, and spent some time with it this morning. It's free amp & cab sim software, standalone or plugin, for Windows or Mac. Not to be confused with NeuralDSP or mod.audio, which have been discussed here before. (NAM code is used in the mod.audio amp & cab sims, I believe.) The cab sim uses standard impulse responses (IRs), mono only, while the amp sim uses a custom capture format called NAM files. Lots of both types can be found for free on tonehunt.org. I tried it on my M1 Mac Mini, as a plugin in Apple MainStage and GarageBand, with either my pedalboard first or with other effects in MainStage. (NAM itself has no other effects.) These apps come with amp models too, though pretty limited e.g. for bass there only are a couple of Ampeg models and a generic "modern" amp and studio preamp. You can use the guitar amp models, of course e.g. virtually attach a 1x15" to a Vox AC30 if you like. The whole field of amps and cabs is something I'm trying to learn more about and figure out what I want. While I have a hankering for the Bass Beast Of Terror tone that John Wetton got with King Crimson through HiWatt stacks, I get that it's not going to be appropriate in all situations. I didn't look for HiWatt specifically, but I did load up an Ampeg SVT model with a 8x10" cabinet (of course), Fender Bassman 50 amp, and tried various IRs including the DarkGlass 4x10" models I've had for a while that use different mics and miking techniques. The first problem you notice when doing this is that you have no gain control within NAM itself: it's baked in to the loaded model, along with other settings. You can see this if you download other amp packs e.g. the Fender Bassman 50 pack contains 145 models covering the normal channel, deep channel and jumpered configurations, Bright Switch on or off, and gain from 0 to 10 in 0.5 steps. Plenty of options as long as you know what you want! Other amp packs include multiple amp EQ settings, though NAM has a 3-band EQ. Still, it's free, and there seems to be a decent-sized community behind it, taking captures of their real amps. It's great for someone like me who never gets the chance to feel my trousers flapping in the breeze from a SVT stack.

I haven't put any oil on my TWB43 bidy, now I'm wondering whether I should. I'm not at home at the moment to check. I'm not sure mine needs any, it doesn't look quite the same as yours.

Kyalami is another cool F1 track name: home of the South African Grand Prix back in the day.

I had the honour of taking some pictures of @Smanth with @Betsy - hope they came out OK. About the only annoyance was @Wolverinebass & I having to get a taxi from Weybridge after South Western Trains caused us to miss the connecting train there. I had a great time geeking out about bass with you all, at one point I think I was even bloviating about the engineering meaning behind the Modulus Graphite name (it’s all about the stiffness).

On stage now!

Cool! If you fancy company on the trip, tell us which carriage you’re in. I’m almost at Clapham Junction, will look for some breakfast here before the train.

I’m aiming to get the 09:19 from Clapham Junction via Weybridge, then Shanks’ Pony for the last mile. Anyone else slumming it in that direction? 🚃

I also plan to bring: a cheap and nasty pedal with a challenge to get a usable sound from it. 😑

Oh, good grief - I'm going to be a kid in a candy cake store, surrounded by bass and hopped up on sugar. I'll have to stick to tea! 🫖

The only recent photo I have of me playing is a still from a video, but it’s something, I suppose: That’s the modded Harley Benton Shamberg (MP-4EB with active EMGs) I’ve posted about before. They gave me a medal for this gig, literally.

I'll make sure to not wear a spiky belt buckle, I don't want to give anyone's bass a rash! If there's anyone there who doesn't have to drive away, I'd also be interested in maybe hitting a pub in Addlestone for grub and a pint. Or no pint, whatever. 🍻

When I put my name down the Bash was nearly three months away, now it's only three weeks away. Don't forget to pack spare strings: it's better to have them and not need them, than to need them and not have them, yadda yadda. Are we going to have some of these things? 🤔

Are the raffle prizes to be donated by us? I have a pedal I kind-of bought by mistake, because I forgot to remove it from the Thomann shopping basket, and I'd be happy to donate it for a good cause.

Looks like some real bass royalty will be in attendance… plus a few BCers! 🙃

I would love to try an 8-string, given how much I want the tone John Paul Jones gets on tracks like Leafy Meadows (solo) or Gunman (Them Crooked Vultures).

Cool dude - I saw his one-man show at a comedy festival here in Dublin. He has some stories to tell, for sure, maybe he'll have a few for us?

OK - I haven't been back to London in years, so this is a good pretext for a few days there. I'm also planning to hit the guitar shops, maybe even Anderton's in Guildford. Booked a couple of Ryanair "Basic" flights to and from Dublin, so baggage space will be very limited, but I think I can squeeze a couple of pedals in. @cetera - Charvel 3B, ESP Surveyor '87, Fender FSR PJ Precision, Hamer Impact, Italia Imola, Spector NS2, Spector Euro, Spector EuroX (Spectorbird), Spector Pulse II, Gallien Krueger 400RB & Legacy800, GenzBenz Neox 2x12 @TheGreek - All short scale this year - a @Jabba_the_gut short scale 5er, Mini Ray, Short scale P bass @Harlequin74 - Zoot Performer, Status Shark, Spector QV4 , Markbass TTE501 and Matching CAB. Maybe the Lehle Basswitch… @Frank Blank - @Jabba_the_gut short scale fretted and fretless, JMJ Mustang, QSC K12.2, Grace Design Alix @TrevorR - Mk 1 Wal, Wal Pro IIE, Aria SB700, Frankenjazz, pedals and MarkBass LMII & Traveler 2x10 @bnt - travelling light, probably a couple of pedals such as T-Rex Diva Drive, Orange KongPressor

I'm liking the sound of this, since I have leave days I need to use, but I'd be flying in from Dublin & taking trains. So I probably wouldn't want to carry a bass, just a few of my less-common pedals, maybe.