T-Bay

Nope, I don’t own any of their stuff at all. I know some of it and it’s ok, but never had any meaning for me growing up from the 70s to the 90s. I am sure it influenced some of the stuff I listen to but that’s about it.

Look on reverb perhaps? Always a few vintage Precisions on there.

Mine still blows my mind, such a great bit of kit for sensible money. Glad it’s working for you as well.

I have an ultra that I bought myself as a 50th birthday reward. I don’t regret one penny of it. By far the nicest bass I have ever played. Is it worth the cost? To me yes, to someone else? Who cares! I don’t worry what other people want to spend their money on. I have guitars and basses worth from £50 to a couple grand but each performs a role for me. I have a Sire LP copy I love. Is it as good as a Gibson? Tribute or studio then probably yes, but doesn’t have the sound to match the higher scale ones.

Tried a few different ones over the years, spent a long time with a Thunderbird, but eventually came back to Fender as they just do everything I need well. Now have a Fender Ultra Jazz that is the best bass I have ever owned by a long way, and a scruffy Squire Jazz, with a few mods that only owes me about £100 all in, that I use in the dodgier pubs where I don’t want to take a £2k bass to. I still have my old Aria pro which I love but never seem to reach for. But does anyone NEED one? Or course not, apart from a tiny number of people doing very specific tribute bands and recreating an exact look.

I have the 1000w version, Sounds amazing but I have never even got close to properly pushing it.

My Ashdown is my ‘practice amp’ but the service from them was amazing when mine died. 100% would buy again.

I wonder if it’s what you get used to. For years I played slim necks, whether Jazz, Thunderbird, Aria Pro. When I tried a Precision it just felt all sorts of wrong. I am sure I would get used to it in time but can’t be bothered. I am pretty settled in what I play and apart from a special Jazz for my 50th, I can’t remember the last Bass I bought.

Did you see the one they did? They took every bit of character out of it and made it like new. I could have cried at the result.

At least you know which optician NOT to go to next time.

I am amazed how much difference the small change makes. 38mm Jazz neck feels beautiful and perfect, 41mm precision neck feels like something I should use at the Oval.

Poor optician there, they should warned you that they take a day or two to become accustomed to and then it feels totally normal. And best for new wearers to wait until they get home until you try them out properly.

Tamworth and Lichfield are pretty good, although both have lost brilliant venues since Covid.

Jean-Jacques Burnel for me. Even now I can’t think of a bass tone I like more.

How many multi fx screens have you seen broken? Being a touchscreen does not make it any more vulnerable. I cannot think of any multi fx floor set ups that don’t have a screen now, so the GX is just in line with the norm but with the advantage of touchscreen. The only way to avoid a screen is to use stand alone pedals or a seriously old unit. Even then they are at risk of damage - a chunky knob (no pun intended) is more likely to get a kick than a flat screen. Personally I have never had any damage to pedals at gigs.

I think you will be surprised how good they sound, multi fx have moved on so much in the past few years.

And I forgot to mention that there are shed loads of patches you can download from Boss and third party sites if you don’t want to make your own, but to be honest it’s so easy I haven’t bothered going down that route.

I have been seriously impressed with them. There are bass specific ones but I use a mix depending on what patch I am using. At first it seems as there are only a few but when you select a module there are then multiple sub options so I think there are 20-30 ODs/ distortion/ fuzz in total. Each one is completely adjustable as you would expect of a separate pedal. On top of that you can stack them and the switch’s are configurable giving a ridiculous number of options. For example you could stack four together and have them in individual switches, or all four on one, or a mix and match on different switches. There are also a load of amp sims, some of which give a decent amount of distortion as well. Add to that all the other effects and it’s crazy value for money. What impressed me the most is how analogue the sounds are, it has been a while since I messed with multi-effects and they always seemed a bit ‘processed’ sound wise which I didn’t like, so the GX was a revelation. It has been well thought out in so many ways, for example the switch lights up different colours based on the effect type it controls, patches can be made incredibly easy and it’s pretty intuitive on the whole but like any unit does take a bit of learning to get the best out of it. When you look at the unit it appears to only have a few switches for effects but you can stack as previously mentioned and also assign any of the switches if you wish e.g. change the tuner switch allocation to an effect. As a confirmed pedal nut I couldn’t have imagined going over to a multi fx unit but I am completely sold on this and use it for everything. Being able to control via switches, touchscreen or Bluetooth makes it easy to use and quick to adjust. There are enough patches that you could assign one per song if you so chose to. There are so many ways you can tweak it, that it would need pages to explain them all, but the usual EQ, input levels, output levels, multiple output options, Bluetooth sound in etc etc are there and more. I don’t think anything is ever perfect, you can always find something to improve but I would give it 9/10 for sound, 8/10 for ease of use and 10/10 for value. A list of effects and parameters can be found here: https://static.roland.com/manuals/gx-100_parameter/eng/25629758.html

I think that is why the one on the gx100 is quite small and there are several higher knobs around to protect it from wandering feet. But if you think about what the average phone goes through in a pocket/ handbag they are nowhere near as fragile as many people think. In addition on the GX100 all touchscreen functions can be carried out via other controls/ Bluetooth so if the touchscreen element stopped working the unit would still function.

As a confirmed pedal collector I could never imagine going to a multi FX set up. That was until I had a play with a Boss GX100. I am a total convert now and use it for everything. It is configurable to a ridiculous extent and the onboard sounds are superb. It is also controllable via Bluetooth or the onboard touchscreen as well as the usual buttons you would expect. The Bluetooth control saves your back but I have also used it live where a mate was able to tweak my sound while I was playing. They could even switch patches/ turn pedals on and off if you wanted that but I do that myself. With any of this the key for me is always how it sounds and that is what surprised me most with the GX100. I would imagine the Helix is similar but at £500 the GX100 was worth a punt for me.

Or is it that all those small improvements, whilst not immediately obvious, make a big difference over time? I indulged myself with a Fender Ultra Jazz for my 50th and it is the best sounding bass I have ever had bar none.

Blob Dylan

Place a kick drum in a small clearing and lay in wait with a dart gun?

The Edamned

Pawn