joel406

It's your birthday.

The wife says. Go buy what you want.

Musically...

With the world as your oyster.

What. Are. You. Buying.

By the way. You have roughly a $4,000 usd budget.

Hartke has never impressed me. The new stuff is the worst they have ever made. No power, no body and worst tone in the business. 

9 hours ago, fretmeister said:

 

 

Unless your band doesn't use or need a PA. Bit stuck then! 

Then... You mean..

When it's not a band?

Having owned the Legacy 800. Fusion 800 and 1200. And being a lifelong GK user. The latest line GK has is a terrible disappointment. I fought with all of them and lost every time. Sold all of it. I am now living happily with the current Mesa Subway system. Their 212 and 410 cabs are truly the best in the business. Their D-800+ was my sweet spot. And yes I did own the TT-800 and the WD-800. Both fine amps. Just not for me. I also recomend the current Epifani offering. The UL901. Crazy good tone through the Subway cabs. 

While I keep a stock of these amps and cabs on hand for when needed. I always chose amp less for live gigs. The Quad Cortex blows it all away. Quality IEMS beat any cab.

Wal's piqued my interest years ago. Before that was Alembic. 

I'm so happy with my Fenders.

Nothing beats the Mesa Subway D-800+.

But the Epifani UL901 sure comes close.

3 hours ago, Grassie said:

A bit fuzzy, but clear enough…

Yes you can use an amp. But I recommend caution. This is not a cab that can really handle a lot. Raise it, tilt it up. Whatever you gotta do to hear it. Too much pressure, it's in the dumpster. GK was at one time excellent cab makers. And I was their #1 fan. I left them 8 years ago for a reason. 

Be cautious.

24 minutes ago, Kev said:

 

Seen a few on the Cloud but where is this pack?  

Noble DI Pack - Neural DSP

15 minutes ago, Kev said:

 

Seen a few on the Cloud but where is this pack?  

Search the cloud at QC website. Ivanbassist. Noble DI pack.

Just re vamped my QC.

Found a Nobel PreAmp capture pack. Like a dozen different Nobel captured. Took out the Darkglass Vintage OD pre and stuck in one of these. Still running the Mesa 400+ amp. 210 Darkglass Neo cab With 212 Darkglass neo IRs. EQ is Hi pass Lo pass and parametric 8. 

Excited about the Nobel captures.

Secret sauce?

Pedal board one: Mesa Subway pedal. Keely compressor pro. Tuner. Chorus.

Pedal board two. Mesa Subway Pedal +. Keely compressor pro. Chorus.

Pedal board three. Two notes Le Bass. Keely compressor pro. Chorus.

Pedal board four. Two notes ReVolt. Keely compressor pro. Chorus.

Pedal board five. Quad Cortex.

Pedal board six. Work in progress. But I have a CAB M that I'm toying with.

11 hours ago, Lfalex v1.1 said:

Just about to acquire one (Very late to the party,  I know!)

Can it match the Ampeg SVP Pro  for tone,  though?

We'll see.

 

It's not a perfect fit for me (don't want or need the MIDI or cab sim)

No aux in, and I'd prefer a ¼" headphone out.

 

On the plus side, it's switchable. And the Ampeg isn't.

 

Can't see Hot Fusion being much use to me, but bypass, A,B and Cold Fusion ought to be enough...

I have one. Awesome pedal. I go direct with it. Ampless. You will love it.

Just throwing this out there. I have been lucky enough to own the D-800+, WD-800 and the TT800. All at once.

The D-800+ won.

Now since I have changed bands. And am no longer playing "Modern Country". I have come to the conclusion that the TT800 would be more suited to rock.

Now live I play amp-less. So I can get what I want from my pedals. 

But if I was live with an amp, playing what I am now, compared to what I was playing 6 months ago. The TT-800 would probably have won.

Bottom line. No bad decisions are possible when considering "anything" from the Subway line. If you really, really like the TT-800. I recommend a second. I have 2 x D-800+. 

I would pickup another TT-800 if I didn't already have an Epifani UL901. It does Subway and more.

Over the last 7/8 years my personal equipment has reached a level where I have no need, or want, for anything.

Amp wise I already have the best. As well as multiple heads and cabs.

I own 6 outstanding instruments. Carefully selected, and compared to the likes of Lakland, MTD, Alembic and any other brand you can think of. They fit me and sound fantastic.

Over the last 3/4 years I have gone primarily ampless. And now I have six pedal boards. Any of which can, and do, get the job done. 

Anyone else out there that want for nothing? It actually feels great.

Two notes

C.A.B. M

7 hours ago, Downunderwonder said:

Precisely why they scare me to death. It's all very well to set levels on an output but an accidental overload from back up the line is game over.

Never happens.

17 hours ago, Jack said:

It's like, the trendiest topic. 

I've seen a few threads. But they quickly degrade into disdain for IEMs. One chap even said putting them in his head would result in him ripping them out and throwing them across the room. A very toddler Ish reaction. While many have embraced IEMs there are more (it seems) that are unwilling to even try them. A lack of understanding how they work seems the underlying problem. Personally, I have been playing since the 70's and admittingly was apprehensive and slow moving to IEMs. But once I made the decision to at least try them, I wondered what took so long. Bass response is staggeringly great. And the clarity is unmatched. I understand that not everyone can afford quality equipment. A good set of IEMs with just 5 drivers can easily run upwards of $500+ usd. And a decent wireless unit is a minimum of $850 usd. Not everyone is about that. But when you look at what we spend on inefficient amps. That pales in comparison to the tone of IEMs the expense is very justified. Yes, I still own amps. A throw back from a dying era. And I will keep them (maybe). The Mesa Subway D-800+ and my Epifani UL901 are amazing. Paired with either my Mesa Subway 212 cabs. Or my Mesa Subway 410 cabs. They outshine anything out there. But the Quadcortex and the C.A.B. M have them on file. And now I can have them easily available without having to transport them. The biggest benefit of IEMs (to me) was being able to move anywhere I wanted to, without having a change in sound. Tone doesn't change as well as the mix. You can go to the toilet and your sound remains the same. 

Long post... sorry.

But there is a lot of ignorance out there in regards to IEMs. People hate change. Even when it's for the better.

15 hours ago, Downunderwonder said:

IEM scare me to death for the potential for a system out of my control to blow out my ears with one mistake.

That can't happen. Modern IEMs are controlled by their user. With a laptop, tablet or smart phone you have complete control of volume and your EQ. If you blow your ears out, you are the one to blame.

I have several pedal boards setup to quench whatever thirst I have at the time. I've been ampless for the last 2 years. I have both the Mesa Boogie Subway pedals. Both perform perfectly. I also have a Le Bass that is a bit better. Probably the tube. Which led to picking up a Revolt. And a CABM. Both amazing. The Crown Jewel of course is the Quadcortex. It does it all. Expensive. But more than worth it. I also have a variety of compressors, but I pretty much married to the Keely compressor pro. Love it so much I keep 3 on hand. I also have the Empress and a couple of MXRs. But the Keely is just right. Very subjective subject. Not a lot of love for ampless users here. Even if it is better than any amp setup. And I have a 1600 watt Mesa stack. I'll take in-ears any day. The sound is soooo much better.

I have 2 Mesa Subway D-800+ heads.

1 Epifani UL 901 (Custom tone stack).

1 Epifani UL 310 cab. A 310 cab that's living at my guitar players house. Now considered furniture.

2 Mesa Subway 212 cabs.

2 Mesa Subway 410 cabs.

Band is all In-ears now. So they stay home now.

I was once anti-pedal. 

Oh how times have changed.

Band went amp-less about a year ago. And I just dove straight into the QuadCortex. A fantastic piece of kit. More options than you could ever use. But live application with bass is way over kill. Especially if you're not constantly changing scenes. The amp sim and IRs are cool, and it does sound amazing. 

That being said. I wanted simpler.

I already had a stable of pre-amp DI pedals. So, I figured let's run a few. 

When I use an amp, nothing compares to my Mesa Subway system. After running through the entire "current" line I found my sound in the D-800+. The TT-800 and WD-800 are fine amps, just not my sound. The 212 and 410 cabs (Subways all) are second to none for power handling and tone. Love them so much I got 2 of each. I also found a very "Special" Epifani UL901 (custom tone stack) that is incredible. 

But I digress.

This is supposed to be about a pedal.

I got the Subway and Subway+ pedals because their pre-amp is based on the D-800+. And they sound great. But using them with an amp is just redundant. So I put them away. The Mesa's, Sadowsky and Le bass (which I only got to try out once) were put away. 

Now since I wanted something simpler than the QuadCortex I started bringing them back out. The Mesa pedals rock. Just not very clear. The Sadowsky wasn't very clear either. I wanted more punch and distinction. Then I remembered... I have a Le Bass. 

There it was. Clean, with bite. Combined with a Keely Compressor pro, I was there. 

But wait, there's more.

Finding how good the Le bass was (and kicking myself for not figuring it out sooner) I began the ritual information grab. I wanted to know more about it. Several moments into my research I found out the Le Bass was discontinued. 

Such a great sounding pedal. Off the market.

So I went to the Two notes website. 

Le Bass was replaced with Revolt.

Hmmmm...

I spent the rest of the day and most of the night researching this revolt. Which led to the discovery of the Cab M.

Which led to a large order to Sweetwater.

The revolt has had 2 gigs. So far. It will have 3 this week. 

All I can say is... HOLY *&%$!

Channel one. AKA clean. Based on the SVT. A little muffled. But easily brightened. 

Channel two. AKA Vintage Dirt. Based on the Marshal bass amp. There it is. Smooth, bright and distinct sound everywhere with every bass. 

Channel three. AKA Overdrive. Two notes own creation of grit. Crazy good and I can see the application. Not what I need at the moment but it's good to have. And with a little tweaking a nice boost when needed.

This is a longer post than intended. But I felt a little history of my pedal journey would help with perspective. 

Needless to say. I will keep all my pedals. The Mesa Subway pedals are a favorite of mine. The Sadowsky is ok. Nice backup pedal. The Quadcortex is without a doubt king. 

But this Two notes Revolt pedal is special. 

I recommend it.

I've switched permanently to 5 string. I've gotten so comfortable with it that 4 string just feels like a toy now. I use the B all the time. Makes playing much easier even at low E and above. After 4 years of 5 string, I now consider 4 string inferior to 5 string. I no longer even consider 4 string a real bass.

I found 5 string to be very liberating. It's not for everyone. It was for me. Small hands so 6 is out of the question. As is 35" scale. Ironically the Fender American pro line was where my comfort zone was. Life has been sweet ever since.

Question:

What is everyone using for their ampless setups?

I'm using several setups depending on whatever mood I'm in.

A Mesa Subway preamp DI with Keely compressor pro.

A Mesa Subway + preamp DI with compression (Keely pro).

Sadowsky Preamp DI with compression.

Le Bass Preamp DI with compression.

Quad cortex. Obviously, this is an all-in-one package.

I love the Keely Compressor pro. But I also have the MXR and the Empress. I also have chorus. But if I get into anything effect heavy, I would just use the Quad cortex.

Just looking to see what's tipping the boats out there. I find the Noble preamp interesting. I've had the chance to hear them live a couple of times and they do bring it. But the QC as well as my other DIs seem to do just as well.

I have the Boss B6. Just not a fan. Noisy. Not as easy to use as the QC or even the straight pedal DI.

The Mesa Subway D800+ was the cleanest of the line. And if you've never heard of or tried an Epifani... you are missing out.