BillyBass

I've bought a new MarkBass head and 8 pedals since lockdown started. I had too much time on my hands to look at various websites selling gear. No regrets though, I like Gas. And now the rehearsal studios around North London are starting to open and I have a weekly session with a drummer so there are songs to practise and less time to peruse Andertons

The Subspace is a knob twiddlers dream. You can get any sort of dirt you like out of it, from glitchy or clean fuzz to lightly overdriven tube warmth to distortion. Hamstead Soundworks supply a booklet with a few different settings which produce a variety of dirt to suit one's palette and also suggest a starting point on the knobs, from where you can experiment. If you want a particular sound you will get it on this pedal. It also has a nice clean tone too and could be an always on pedal. If you need fuzz for one song and distortion for the next then you either have to knob twiddle between songs or get another pedal. It would be absolutely perfect if it was a Cog effects style 2 or 3 pedal in one but you can't have everything. The Spectradrive has compressor and dirt toneprint options but nothing else, no tuner. I got it for the headphone out and aux in to practise at home with (the Zoom B1-four not being available) and thought it might be useful as a pre amp too. And I also bought Strymon and MXR power supplies and a Little Marcus 500w special edition head, my Elf was going back to Peavey for repair so I had to buy another head while waiting for it to be returned😉.

My wife is less than impressed! Since lockdown started I've bought a TC electronic ditto X2 jam, TC Electronic Spectradrive, Ampeg Opto Comp, SFX microthumpinator and some fun stuff: Jam pedals Ripplyfall bass, Hampstead Soundworks Subspace and I 'won' an Aguilar Octamizer on eBay on Wednesday. I have to pick up my Elf from GuitarGuitar in Camden over the weekend, after a repair, and I'll buy a Polytune 3 while I'm there.

The Zoom B1 four has been out of stock at Andertons, Guitarguitar, GAK, Thomann etc, not sure about the rest of their catalogue. I don't think other pedal prices have gone up. I've spent over a grand on pedals during the lockdown. Lots of spare time during lockdown to peruse bass gear websites, stay in for deliveries and let GAS take over😟

Thanks for replying all of you. All I want is just one teeny weeny T-47 but maybe I'll try something else.

Does anyone know whether Cog Effects are still making pedals? Their Twitter and Facebook accounts don't appear to be updated and they don't appear to have any pedals for sale. I messaged them via the website but have not heard back.

I have the 'Ripply Fall', which is a 2 in 1 pedal with the 'Waterfall' chorus and the 'Ripple' phaser and I love it but its the first chorus pedal I've owned so not had to chuck anything else away. Thomann have many of the Jam catalogue in stock at reasonable prices but if anyone is keen on ordering one, make sure you get the bass specific version. Your link is to the guitar waterfall, there is a 'Waterfall Bass' here: https://www.jampedals.com/waterfall-bass/

The Stranglers Live X-Cert J J Burnel's bass on the track 'Straighten Out' is killer. It was the first track on one side of the LP and I played that to death when I bought it in 1979. Its a much better version than the studio version, which was a B-side, I think.

While we are on the subject of crap rhymes: I am an antichrist I am an anarkyste (spelt how John Lydon sung it) Hope this isn't off topic.

Its a good catchy song and I can see why it charted but the lyrics are cringeworthy. The Cockney Rejects "The Greatest Cockney Rip Off" was a p*ss take of it.

Sham 69 "Hersham boys, Hersham boys, they call us the cockney cowboys" No Jimmy, they don't, they call you bumpkins because Hersham is in Surrey

I ended up buying a Spectradrive and I am very pleased with it, it is perfect for my needs. I haven't put it on my pedalboard, I just use it on its own. It fits on my music stand, next to my iPad or I can plug it into the fx return of my MarkBass for a change (I do like the tone). For £145, its a bargain. I downloaded a couple of toneprints for the compression and drive, but as I will be mainly using this for home practise, I'm not too fussed about this. I will play around with these later. I'm just pleased to have something to practise with without disturbing the neighbours.

A quick search on Wikipedia reveals this all to be true. He flogged Chinese bullets to the Afghan army, contrary to US law, got nicked and did 7 months house arrest. He now supports a charity called 'Guitars over guns' that donates musical equipment to disadvantaged kids, so maybe he is feeling a little guilty about his past.

An interface! Don't know much about these. Any recommendations, something small, that can sit on top of my amp or next to the pedal board would be nice.

Hi all, Apologies, I know the subject of headphone amps has come up a fair bit but I would like some input regarding my need for a practice set up at home. I need an Aux-in and a headphone out, I don't need it to be portable, it will be mainly used in one room. I don't need all the effects on the Zoom B1Four (but might use them if they are there) I just want the practice amp facility. it is very cheap, this is its attraction. Likewise with the Spectradrive, I have a compressor and dirt pedal already but the Preamp could come in handy and I'm sure I would use this into the FX return of my MarkBass sometimes. It would also fit on my board, just. Not as cheap as the Zoom but not outrageous. A concern I have about buying something for the headphone out, that isn't an actual headphone amp, is that the sound quality will be poor. What are BCers experiences of using either of these devices for the headphone-out and aux-in? Would there be a big leap up in sound quality with the Ashdown Tonepocket or PJB Bighead?

I read your posts above. You must have had a dud. I get no hiss but there is minor fan noise, I say minor as it is much quieter than my Trace Elliot Elf fan noise.

I have roto flats on my P bass too; it did sound good out of the Little Marcus and one10 yesterday, really smooth.

Ordinarily I wouldn't buy blind, but its lockdown. I was umming and arring between the Genzler Magellan 350, the Darkglass 500 and the Markbass. I thought I might end up wanting a bit more headroom than the Genzler would provide. The Darkglass does have built in dirt, but I would rather have that in pedal form, and the Darkglass Footswitch costs another £89, which makes it £260 more than the Markbass, not bad value if you want the Darkglass pedals, but I wasn't sure I did. Then there is the outstanding EQ section in the Markbass. I did read your previous posts about your rig, as you seem to be the only other bassist out there with the one10 and Little Marcus, so thanks for posting your opinions. My first impressions are good. I am only playing it at quiet volumes at home but I have had to dial the 65Hz and 180Hz knobs down a bit; the room is concrete floored with painted walls and not much in the way of soft furnishings. In a couple of days I'll take it out to my shed and turn the volume up a bit. And yes, my basses sound different with it, more so than with my Elf (I have mim Fenders; a P and a J ).

I just got one today: Its the 500 w version. My Elf has a fault and I have an appointment at GuitarGuitar in Camden Town on Tuesday to take it in to be repaired (such is lockdown!). So, not wanting to be headless for, I'm guessing three months, I bought The Little Marcus 500 watt ltd ed. The Eq points looked really sensible and generous, and Andertons had it on a deal. So why not!

I got one today, see the post below (I mucked upon the photo download hence the edit & repeat) I think I now have a very similar rig to @fretmeister

So your Beat Buddy will have already paid for itself by now then! Like @grandad above, you are not helping my GAS here. I've just received a TC Electronic Ditto X2 Jam looper. It seems to work well with the Beat Buddy. I have only just started to tinker with it but if you loop a chord sequence and then play the loop with the Beat Buddy on, it will alter its timing to fit in with the Beat Buddy. This could be a great pairing.

It works very well. Judging by Internet forums, it seems to be a common pairing; perfect for home but also small venues, coffee houses etc. A few people pair it with a second one10, I can see myself buying a Barefaced Two10 to stick underneath, when I need to fill a larger space with sound; I like the idea of a modular rig. @mcnach answered this so I won't repeat what he said. But yes, I have a P bass with flats and if I wasn't such a dinosaur I would post some recordings for you. I am hopeless with this sort of thing.

Have you got the standard one or the mini?

My experience with the Elf is as part of a practice rig on top of a Barefaced one10, not gigging. Most of the time I keep the gain at about 2 o'clock and it is clean. I rarely play anything but passive Fenders through it so perhaps makes a difference. I'll experiment a bit with it tomorrow. I don't often push the Elf but when I have done it has got quite warm. Not much in the way of heat sinks of course. The fan noise is a constant, even when using headphones or a tuner. And yes, I did check the links at the bottom of your page🙂. It's a great song and the bass just holds it all together.

The Elf only gets dirty with the gain almost full on. You can leave the gain slightly off this level and whack up the volume, you will have clean and very loud. P.S. nice bass playing on one in ten.