andruca

Holy... Z7! I owned a SBMM Ray35 for over a year. I expect that Z7 to be better. My Sire V3 5er is definitely same quality league, at 1/3 the price new. Now, "P style"? Why?

There should be no difference in fact. Just higher headroom => lower distortion, which is not an issue if your pickups' gain don't clip the onboard preamp in the first place. Some claim a cleaner/richer tone, that's exactly how lack of distortion sounds to me. Some poorly designed/fitted onboards do benefit from the 18V upgrade. Most if not all are designed to work with a wide power supply range, so manufacturers/builders/upgraders decide whether to prescribe 9 or 18V based on the output gain of their pickups of choice. I know a couple examples of instruments with onboard preamps clipping from factory. One is most entry level Sterling By Musicmans. You don't even have to boost anything to get them to distort (in an ugly non-musical way), you're out of headroom just by digging in. The other is the Q-mix some Yamaha BBs used to come equipped with. Slightly boosting anything would make mine (2 BB-615s I owned) fart. They stopped distorting when fed 18V (the preamp still sucked, ended up swapping both for ~20€ 3-band Artecs, WAY better, and OK at 9V). So. If your EMGs were already clean sounding the gain might perfectly be, as you've experienced, close to none.

That was only because I already had the hole in there. Otherwise I would've gone with a single 22nF cap (my fave value for passive tone).

My finest upgrades are probably in my Star Bass. Got a MIK ProSeries Star Bass 5 for real cheap in 2020. First thing I changed was the stupid strap pin at the heel. Relocated it to the upper horn. It helped both with neckdive and most important with the bass facing down when strapped thru' said heel located pin (can't describe how much this sucks, sucks the same in my Epi EB0, but it's somewhat more tolerable due to its nimbleness). I drilled a pilot hole... ...filled the tip of the upper horn with epoxy using a syringe, then screwed the the pin in and left it headstock down to cure. Absolutely solid. I managed to take this photo of the inside of the horn with a mirror and a mobile phone thru the upper f-hole. You can see the solidified pool of epoxy and the tip of the pin screw back there. Then I also added an "armrest" to play more comfy when seated. Yes, it's crappy foamy rubber cornering, the kind you put on furniture edges/corners when you have little kids. Comfy a/f to play seated now. Finally, I don't like VVTT at all, so I changed it to a VVT arrangement, with a tone cap selector rotary switch (values 10, 20, 32, 43 & 57 nF), much more useful now. Chickenhead knob for the win! I also did a mod to both my Stingray5s (both pre-2008, 3-coil ceramic pickups) to be able to use the neckside coil on its own (from factory, the single coil -plus phantom- position gets the bridge side coil sounding). With the use of a 4PDT switch I swap the bridge for the neck coil and also invert its coils/change its phase (so that it'll still be humcancelling with the phantom coil). Barely noticeable in terms of timbre to the untrained ear. Made a world of difference to me (was using the single coil position, now this is definitely MY Stingray5 tone). It's like a slightly P'ish Musicman (a more mid/lo-mid focused tone), close to the series tone, but throatier. You can hear al 4 positions here, the 3 stock ones and the neckside coil one.

Finished adding support for 1 Series (G1/B1ON/XON, custom firmware or not) and G Series (G3/G3X/B3, these can't be customized). So far tested with models MS50G, MS60B, MS70CDR, B3, G1XON and B1XON. Should work with G3/G3X/G1ON/B1ON too but I haven't tested them yet. Will test G3 when I get mine back in some days and I think I also have access to a B1ON from a friend (that could allow for G1ON testing too, with a firmware swap on Zoom Effect Manager). ZOOMIDO-UTILS Just a backup/restore/organize tool for your G/MS/1 series patches, no matter if your firmware is custom/hacked or not.

I've owned both a ZOOM BFX-708 and a 708II back when they were released. The 708II was a great piece of gear. Sounded great given enough tweaking and it had outrageous features, such as the non volatile samples (in a SmartMedia card, brilliant for its time). I had been using the 708II for bar gigs (+ a combo) for years, until I got an MS-60B as a gift from my wife in 2015. From then on I only gigged live with that Zoom and whichever amp (provided or mine) or even (lately) no amp at all. As time passed I also got a B3, a G3, a G1Xon, then an MS-50G (and also a B1Xfour, which I don't use much, prefer how the G3/B3/MS/on stuff sounds). All of them (except the B3/G3) are hacked inside and out. My MS-60B indeed has been recently converted to an MS-50G (6 FX slots and all, yes, Zoom Effect Manager version 2 on can do that). I have set up a ONE STOP SITE for everything Zoom effect hacking, both for the MS/on generation and for the more recent n/four models. As an example, my G1Xon (least memory available for effects) has 163 effects in it. My MS-50G holds 177 as of today. Usually it's everything relevant for bass & guitar (amps, drive, EQ, dynamics) and some selection within the the MOD/SFX/DLY/REV types. Check that out as you might find your Zoom is capable of way more than you believe. Also have recently added some patch export/import/copy/move/swap Python scripts to at least be able to backup/restore stuff on devices with custom firmware (no available editor/librarian will do that, at least this way I can backup/restore/reorganize my custom firmware patches). (photo of my usual live setup, wireless->Zoom->DI)

One more thing I've progressed into. I've been forever frustrated due to the lack of a proper editor/librarian that will work with devices with hacked/custom firmware. No existent app will handle effects "foreign" to the connected model (not even a browser/js app that claims to do so -even has a checkbox to indicate your firmware is custom-, I've exhaustively tested it, doesn't work either). I didn't even need an editor. I edit my patches in my Zooms. But I definitely needed a BACKUP/RESTORE tool. So finally I had a go at it. I used a collection of Python functions from https://github.com/PhilDaThrill/MultistompMidi and so far came up with a series of Python scripts for simple tasks, such as: - switch to a certain patch # - copy a certain patch # to another position - swap 2 patches with each other - export a certain patch # to a file - import a file to a certain patch # - activate/deactivate the tuner (useles for my purposes, just for testing purposes) The patch handling is RAW, I mean, TOTALY "BLIND" TO WHAT'S INSIDE PATCHES, scripts don't care if the effect mentioned in a certain patch belongs in the connected device model or not. For my needs (backup, restore, patch reordering) these scripts are more than enough. But you're welcome in case you want to go deeper and develop a full fledged editor/librarian (I'd use it, for sure). So far these work only with MS50G, MS60B & MS70CDR, but next thing I'll do is add B1/G1on/Xon support (as soon as I have some time to play with these and my G1Xon). Utility scripts are thoroughly commented, so anybody can take it from there and make their own thing. Still, USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. My utility scripts won't brick your device, but they can sure mess with your patches if you screw up the params enough.

Sorry for the "threadsurrection". Just a few days ago I found out version 2 of the Zoom Effect Manager can install a "foreign" firmware into your device (provided hardware is the same). So, I installed latest version (2.1.1, from early 2023) and now my MS-60B is an MS-50G, 6 FX slots and all. I have an MS-50G I bought last year, and had degraded the MS-60B to backup/home duties. Now they're twins. Then there's new unofficial effects included: RTFM & Div0 (together they make separate processing of left and right input signals possible in the MS-70CDR), RainSel (like the LineSel but with a dry/wet balance when on), BaPEQ NoiseMod (the good old 2-band bass para EQ but modified to reduce some high noise that could show up in certain circumstances). Also includes OCDrive, Parallel Reverb, ROUGHVERB from MS-100BT (removed for copyright reasons, later reissued as Dynamic Drive, DualRev and LOFI Rev). Last, but not least, ZEM 2 does some "compression" on effect files (apparently removes debugging data) so they take up some 20% less memory. That way, both my MS-50G and "re-firmwared" MS-60B are now home to 177 effects (in my case an assortment of bass and guitar effects), at 100% memory usage according to the app. I have mixed guitar/bass FX list files (.zem) for all models of the MultiStomp/on/Xon generation in my resource compilation site on the subject. All are using the whole memory for each device (ranges from 163 to 182 effects, depending on model). Amazed at this expansion in functionality. The "alien" firmware thing is only really useful for the MS-60B, due to its silly 4 pedal slots limitation (I'd just prefer DSP limit to be the judge). I just wish my B3 (3 slot misery) was hackable like this.

Mine is simple. Sort of a Jino Stingray5, like the Jino Jazz, but starting from a Stingray5, with 2 added J pickups. A 5 string Jino Jazz would be a nice step forward, but I prefer the ergonomics, neck profile and 3-band preamp in my ceramic Stingray5s to anything else.

I've used mostly 5 string basses since 1993, some 4 years into playing bass. In my case it just happened that 5 string basses shaped me into a lower bass player. So much so I could get away with a 4 string tuned BEAD for most of what I play these days really (have done it many times). I feel lucky I let that happen and the low B is not a thumbrest for me, but at the same time I'm taking my G string out almost new most times I change strings in my 5ers'.

I've used a SansAmp RBI since 2004. I've keep it, but it's been rackmounted in my studio since forever (at least for the last 10 years), I don't think I'll ever go gig with that again. I've switched to Zoom boxes and can sound pretty mean with them no problem, either SansAmp'ish or Darkglass'ish (or both combined). I've set my patches so that they sound perfect with my array of old Peavey combos (TKOs, TNTs) with the set EQ flat, which happens to be a great reference (also sounds perfect on your regular SVT set flat). I carry any Zoom (MultiStomp, ON or FOUR models) plus a 10€ DI box with me and I'm done, my tone comes with me everywhere, as "mastered as possible", compressed, "compacting" EQ, noise reduction when necessary, etc. Sound guys love it. I can connect to any amp (mine or at the venue) or go ampless, which I often do too. I fell in love with the CMOS/B3K sound aesthetics too after my strictly SansAmp years, but that was after I already had several modern Zooms, so I never even got to buy a Darkglass. I had one of my brothers build me a GUMA-Drive clone tho', which is now also never leaving the studio. After 2 weeks of it being built I too was easily able to reproduce the tone with Zooms, even in those models that don't emulate Darkglass (only latest gen does), using the blendable RAT emulation for the grit character instead. Here's a side by side comparison. I would've never bought a SansAmp if these Zooms (say, from the MultiStomp/B3/B1on generation onward) existed 20 years ago. So cheap, functionally unbeatable and extra reliable (I've had a G1Xon fall from 7ft high, to a desk -where it made a hole- and to the floor, not a scratch, 4 years later it works perfectly). They sound great, IF you're willing to do the detailed tweaking (not for everybody, I know).

I own and play mostly 5ers. Even tho' I've owned several Jazz Basses, they had all been 4 strings. I've never owned a Jazz 5er but played A LOT (Maruszczyk Elwood, Sandberg California TT, several Fenders, etc. -in fact had a friend's Am Dlx P5 for almost a year-). Have also owned several Fernands Gravity 5ers, several Yamaha BB 5ers, a Maruszczyk Jake 5a+, amongst others). Lately I've got a Sire V3 5er and I prefer it over any o other 5er Jazz. It's only second to my Stingray5s and Star Bass 5 in my stable. Nothing remotely close in bang for the buck.

I play mostly 5ers. Have been a Stingray5 guy since forever, but also owned several other 5 strings. Most expensive of them were an EBMM Sterling5 HS (doesn't count, still a Musicman), a Fender Am Dlx P5 (worst "expensive" 5er I've owned) and a Maruszczyk Jake 5a+ (& was indeed about to buy an Elwood 5er a few months ago). Also have played countless Sandberg 5ers, which I find barely OK for their price. I'd take the Sire V3 5er over any Fender/Maruszczyk/Sandberg 5er I've played, no doubt (also I hate DEADlano pickups). Feel really stupid for not getting a Sire years ago.

Flattering but funny at the same time. Lately I've been struggling to lay down some fast HC bass tracks for my own band (100% picking). I have this tendency to chase the drums and it doesn't always work right. Definitely doesn't work with quantized drums in the 200BPM zone 😢

I've just succumbed too, loving my V3. Unfortunately not as good looking as the V5R you're getting ❤️

Nice score! I've been the owner of a gen 2 V3 5er for 10 days and I'm still in awe at all the features, quality, playability and tone. Really superb. I've been playing some Sires for the last years (gen 1 mostly) and really liked them, but spending real time with it I don't think it plays, sounds or feels a penny cheaper than over 1000 instruments (I own a couple Stingray5s, and have owned several other over-1000 basses). The V3 was definitely my choice as I prefer both the lighter weight and the more modern tone (kind of a more delicate/refined hi-end). Best Jazz 5er I've played. I've owned a Maruszczyk Jake 5a+ and played several Elwoods (real lovely Jazz Basses) and I'd take this one over those, at 1/4-1/3 the budget. First Sire and first Jazz 5er for me. So much value. Enjoy your V7 👍

I have 2 USA Stingray5s (1997 & 2003, ceramic) and have owned a Ray35 for over a year (sold it a couple years ago). I'd get the 2 pickup SUB Ray5 HH. The Ray35 was just OK for the price I paid back then (600€ used), but there's way better crafted/more feature rich instruments at the price (Schecters is an example, will forever regret not getting a -way cheaper- Diamond PJ5 instead). The preamps on SUBs suck (they all seem to distort easily) but that can be fixed for about 25€ with an Artec preamp. The SUB Ray5 HH used to be under 500€ , now it's slightly over 600€ new. Too bad they don't show up used much, 600€ is definitely too expensuve for a SBMM SUB.

I started using Zoom multiFX around 2000. I first got a BFX-708, noisy, but WAY more bang for the buck than anything remotely close in price. Upgraded to a 708II in 2003 (quite an upgrade), also owned a B2.1u (kept the 708II for some more years as I liked its tone more, in fact the 708II replaced a Boss GT-6B I owned, liked the Zoom's tone better). In 2015 I got an MS-60B as a birthday gift and that really made the final switch for me. I stopped using my SansAmp live and since then I've only used Zooms for such purpose (SansAmp only gets used for recording). I currently own said MS-60B, plus a B3, a G3, a G1Xon, an MS-50G and a B1Xfour. All are as reliable as it gets, and also most are really customizable (I have guitar+bass FX models in all my Zooms, except for the B3&G3, which can't be hacked to do so). I can sound any way I like on any of them. I still prefer the previouos gen to the newest (B3n/B1four), fours sound boxy in comparison, you have to further EQ it to make it sound with the "fullness" my previous gen gadgets get more naturally. Still can be made to sound superb, just a question of knowing what you want and what to dial in to make it happen. There's no tone you can't get. In fact I (along with my brother) built a GUMA Drive pedal (B3K clone) and after just a couple of weeks with it I managed to get a great Darkglass "impersonation" with previous gen Zooms, which don't really emulate any Darkglass pedals, using the BA SQUEAK effect, a blendable RAT emulation. Sorta' disapointing, the GUMA Drive is now also recluse in my studio, Zooms can do that for me too in live situations. As per durability I've never had any of these Zooms break on me ever. My G1Xon (plastic) in fact fell from about 2m (6+ft) high about 2 years ago, it hit a desk, then the floor. Not even a scratch on it, and it keeps working perfectly many years after the event. The (Ikea) desk got the worst part of it (big hole on top after the huge hit). Zooms are TOUGH. Also own a couple Zoom R24 recorders (my 16-chan portable recording studio) and they're also super dependable and tough.

I'm a longtime SansAmp (RBI) user and GUMA Drive (B3K clone) user for under a couple years. I play mostly HC/punk and metal. I'm more of a SansAmp fan for punk/HC and more of a Darkglass fan for metal. I play both mostly with a soft pick and quite a strong consistent (maybe guitar like) attack and lots of compression in both scenarios. My suggestion is you'll get away with this EASILY with any Zoom small footprint pedal (i.e. MS-60B). That model in particular has SansAmp emulation built in and the blendable RAT emulation allows for a very convincing Darkglass tone too. The unit can hold up to 4 effects per patch (if not enough the MS-50G, guitar model, can hold up to 6 FX, and can be easily hacked to have every effect you might need from bass models), so you can further EQ, compress, gate the noise out, even add an additional preamp if it serves your tone shaping. I've permanently assigned the SansAmp and the GUMA Drive to my studio and exclusively use any of my Zooms live. I work with 3 basic patches (2 SansAmp, 1 Darkglass paradigm). All of them are fat and heavily compressed (not squashy tho'). Most difference between my SansAmp "clean" (mostly used for playing fingerstyle, not too clean really) and crunchy (mostly pick playing) tones are just gain and blend variations . The Darkglass tone I only use in a crunchy version (100% pick work). This is the "clean" SansAmp tone plucking on the neck pickup of a cheap parts Jazz Bass... Same bath, on both pickups, pick and crunchy tone... And this is the faking of my Darkglass tone soloed, you can barely tell a difference between the Zoom and the B3k clone (same bass, bocth pickups + just the neck pickup)... I use this same scheme with any bass (I also own a -cheap- P, Musicman, Warwick StarBass, Epi EB-0, Schecter CV-5). Most videos in my YouTube channel are recorded thru' Zooms I own (MS-60B, MS-50G, G1Xon, B3, G3, B1Xfour). Please note your playing has A LOT to do with how effective your distortion timbre is and how heavy you sound. Compression helps your output level, yet can't supress all EQ "surges" if you don't pluck/pick consistently hard. Hitting hard obviously "maxes out" your signal and helps EQ (lows included) stay consistent.

Neck feels great. It's a modern C shape, around 21mm thick @fret 1. In fact I have another cheap parts bass (made from the cheapest neck & body I could get from AliExpress) and it's 1+mm thicker.

I built the P-style kit in early 2016. It went thru a lot. First I made it a reverse P. Then added a J pickup from a Squier someone sold me. Did the "S1" series/parallel switching mod (via a push-pull vol pot). Then, after often stringing it BEAD I decided to make it into a 5-string (16mm spacing at the bridge). Then refinished in worn out red, then made it a fretless. Basswood body, super stable neck, no sharp fret ends on mine, and the pickup is VERY decent (i.e., sounded better than the Delano P in a Maruszczyk I've owned, which sounded DEAD and with a terrible dip around 600hz, also like it better than the tone I used to get from a Fender Am Dlx P5 I got years ago). As a fretless, flats are starting to get boring (and far from what I do as a bass player) so I'm probably going back to roundwounds soon, for a more Tony Franklin kinda' mood. This was her original form and tone... Reverse P mod... J addition... And this is my current fretless 5er... For the 88€ it cost it's a great little project bass. I don't think I've put another 88€ more in parts (if you don't count the 55€ LaBella LTFs in it). Any upgrades are made on the absolute cheapest, mostly AliExpress parts. Spending real money on this would defeat the purpose. Only thing that failed was a tuner, some teeth in its gear just snapped while tuning about 3+ years in (got a cheap yet decent enough tuner set for 25€). IDK, it's cheap, it's simple, it's reliable enough, easy to work on and it's given me many many hours of modding/tuning/tweaking fun, so well worth the cost. All that said, I got a used Harley Benton PB-20 a year ago and my guess is if you found one used (you might find onoe for 60-70€ 2nd hand here in Spain, not often seen tho') you could have a better bass from the get go, which can also be modded to death. Only bad thing about the PB-20 is the neck is a little thicker than the P kit (I personally prefer them as skinny as possible), still totally in the P-bass ballpark, nothing extreme.

Hi, just saw this thread. I've been forever wanting to make something like this (more like the Ouya of multiFX, with some open source scripting to make "models" a DSP would then execute). Please, count on me for anything, from those clean bass recordings (have many basses and can play whatever styles, fingers or pick, and can provide quality recordings no problem) to anything programming (I make a living out of PHP/Python mostly, but am fluent with many other stuff). Also have a Raspberry Pi400. Just not familiar at all with the dealings of DSP. OTOH I'm a great functional analyst/advisor when it comes to multiFX, I have huge experience with them (many brands and their different generations). P/S: Proteus is an old synth/sampler model by E-mu, some trademarks might be involved there.

I've always felt meh about the old POD (and floorboard version). OTOH, with only minor insight into recent (Helix range) Line6 products I take my hat off, awesome tones, awesome layout/operation. Pricey tho'.

I own both a G1Xon (guitar model, but hacked with added bass FX, virtually making it a B1Xon for bass purposes) and a B1Xfour. My suggestion is get the B1on/Xon. Even tho' both can be tweaked to sound great, the fours sound boxier and noisier. The ON models sound fuller/rounder out of the box (and can be had for 40€/$/£ or less used). No Darkglass emulations on the ON models, but you can fake it decently enough with the BA SQUEAK (blendable RAT) emulation. I own many other previous gen models (B3, G3, MS-60B, MS-50G) and they all sound the same. Also owned many previous models (BFX-708, 708II, B2.1u) and they were all great and I never had a problem with it. My G1Xon in particular took a dive from 2m high, hit a desk (where it punched a hole) and then fell to the floor. Not even minor damage to it, really tough plastic I guess.

Just got a Sub'n'up Mini for cheap. Can't be happier. Tracks the octave up perfectly and immediately. As much as I hate TCE for their "optimistic" bass amp specs (what a joke) the Toneprint concept is awesome. I've made a couple custom Toneprints in no time (octave up+clean+overdrive, octave up+chorus+overdrive), both with a hi-pass filter in the output EQ section, set to 80hz, to avoid some lows that still come out of the polyphonic +1 octave. I'm mostly still using the clean polyphonic octave up into a Zoom for "guitar amp" tone duties (a B1XFour with guitar amp models added, will almost exclusively use the Rectifier orange channel emulation and occasional pitch shifter adding 5th up -mildly mixed-), the Toneprint overdrive is not that good really. All in all, very cool concept and huge posibilities. Also got a Roland Cube60 guitar amp for dirty cheap, to have a wholly independent "guitar" path.