EdwardHimself

Yep I do this all the time. Can't get on with the floating thumb thing myself.

[quote name='samzemuel' timestamp='1340999804' post='1712801']
Iv had a look and the EMGs fro example come with their own tone controls etc so i hope i can link them with my pre amp
[/quote]

You don't need to use any of the knobs from the pickups since all the volume and tone controls come with the preamp already.

I am a big fan of EMGs. I've always liked them. Some people will tell you they are lacking in character or whatever but I have never noticed that as a problem myself. I find them to just be extremely clean and refined.

Should be fine; EMG pickups are on rails rather than polepieces, not that it particularly matters whether the strings are perfectly aligned with the polepieces anyway.

[url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/emg_45dc_basspickup.htm"]http://www.thomann.d..._basspickup.htm[/url]

as you can see, it is fine for any string spacing up to 95 mm. Also the 45 is a 6 string pickup

You can get them from maplin, but they only cover the actual speaker itself.

[quote]
Move around the room with the guitar. Does the noise lessen or disappear as you move around ? If so then there may be some “noisy” electrical equipment in the room. Some common culprits are –

1. Computers screens and computers
2. Fluorescent and “low-energy” light fittings
3. Lighting dimmer switches
4. Cheap mains transformers (e.g. pedal power supplies)
5. Fridges and air conditioning units
[/quote]

This is certainly true. One thing I would suggest for anyone suffering from noise issues whilst recording on their own onto a PC is to try turning off your monitor before you start recording. This reduces the amount of hum you get dramatically. It's a lot less of a problem with LCD monitors though, compared to the old CRT types. Alternatively, you could try standing further away from the computer or if you feel better sitting down, move your chair a bit further away.

[quote name='Voodoosnake' timestamp='1340976796' post='1712330']
Good review,

Thats blown the sale Ive got on the forum

The money was Basschats too....must be someone out there who wants it.
[/quote]

Sorry about that! I must say I am interested to know whether you have had these same issues with the buzzing and stuff though?

[quote name='eddiehoffmann' timestamp='1340957768' post='1711914']
Here's my main rig at the moment. Loving it!

[attachment=111706:eddie_rig.jpg]
[/quote]

EDDIE! That looks nice. My friend has one of those super 12s. They're supposed to be really good.

We have that exact same metre stick at home! looking nice so far mate. Love the look of that top wood.

Specs:

This is a digital pedal, from Digitech's "X-series" that uses microprocessors to emulate the sound of various bass distortion pedals. As well as the conventional knobs for level, tone and "blend" (wet/dry mix), you have a "morph" knob that allows you to go from a light growl to a full on fuzz. Note how there is no gain knob. This is important, as I will explain later. There are 2 outputs; one for the amp, and another for the mixer with a cabinet modeller. In terms of construction, it is basically the same as a boss pedal. It is made out of metal, 71x126x52 mm and weighs about 625 g.

7/10

Sound

Ok, so what you have here is a pedal that is intended to emulate a range of different bass distortion sounds. Firstly, you have the low setting on the morph knob which is supposed to emulate an SVT growl, this is the lowest gain setting with a bit of a softer sound. Next is about the halfway point which is supposed to emulate a modern solid state distortion pedal like a BOSS odb3 or a ProCo rat. Finally, you've got the full setting, which is to emulate a fuzz pedal. Now, you might think this would make this a jack of all trades, master of none, and you would be right. It's not that the distortion sounds are bad in themselves, but remember what I was telling you about the lack of a gain knob? What they have actually done here is rather clever in a devious sort of way; there was no way they were going to make this pedal sound good in the "transition" stage from clean to distortion. It is simply not of high enough quality or processing power. By turning the gain down on my bass, I have found the sound on low gain to be extremely flat and lifeless. Really, it's not too bad if you want a high gain solid state distortion sound or a full on fuzz sound, but if you want a nice soft low gain sound, this really is not the unit for you. Also, I don't know if there is an issue with this particular pedal, but the noise is terrible! I have only used this pedal using the internal battery so certainly nothing to do with any power supply noise issue. Even with a noise gate engaged, the 50-cycle hum is almost as loud as the distortion itself when the morph knob is set to more than about halfway. In fact, using the mixer output, the hum is even worse. There is horrible loud hum, even when the pedal is not engaged, which is a shame, because the cabinet model does not sound too bad really.

5/10

Reliability and durability

It is all metal, which is good news for durability. However, what is not good for durability is the fact that like some of the more modern BOSS pedals, they have replaced the proper nice little mechanical switch with a tiny little PCB mounted button. Certainly can't imagine it lasting very long if you stamp on it, which is pretty easily done at a gig; you could even smash the whole PCB if you're not careful I reckon. Also, the pots are of low quality, with plastic shafts. I am not sure I would trust this at regular gigs, not that I would probably use it anyway, due to the issues with noise. Not sure about the battery life as I have not used it very long, but an ominous sign is the fact that it comes packaged with a notice telling you that the battery should be used "mainly for demonstration and practice purposes!" In other words, don't expect to rely on the battery.

4/10

Overall

Sadly, I am not impressed with this pedal. I was initially quite impressed with the sound; the reason I purchased this over other similarly priced pedals was because I preferred the sound samples I heard on the website over the others. Certainly, if you only wanted to use this pedal for high gain sounds such as bass soloing. However, the lack of low gain capability and the issues with the noise have really let this pedal right down. Would I buy another? I am not even going to keep this one!

3/10

[quote name='davidlovellbass' timestamp='1340907379' post='1711437']
If NASA was to make a bass it be amazing,
[/quote]

It certainly would. Let me tell you a story about NASA- A man who runs a building firm comes over to NASA. The man he is talking to tells him about how they produce everything in tolerances to the nearest micron. The builder then replies to him "that's good, but I prefer to get it bang on!"

That would be epic. How many places do you think would do band nights after that though

[quote name='davidlovellbass' timestamp='1340662289' post='1707900']
It looks like it'd fit a standard usa 5 but with the difference in inches from imperial to american i'm not quite sure.
[/quote]

I'm really not sure that is an issue. The USCS standard is something like 0.002% different to the international standard (which is what we use), or about 1/8" to the mile. Possibly a problem if you work for NASA but not much of an issue if you are building guitars

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1340875643' post='1710736']
Is a fine of £290m a slap on the wrist for Barclays?
[/quote]

Well considering they were given £20 billion a couple of years ago...

[quote name='EdwardHimself' timestamp='1340802107' post='1709770']
2. You can't exactly trust the quality of new instruments either; fender are known for having had pretty shocking QC on their mass produced instruments in recent years.
[/quote]

Just to add to this; you're never really going to be sure whether something is a good player or not unless you actually try it. You can still get some pretty good deals on used gear in an actual guitar shop or as someone suggested earlier, the local cash converters.

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1340806939' post='1709884']
Do you want me to have a listen on my monitors if/when I get a chance?

They're horribly revealing
[/quote]

I did listen to them on my monitors. I didn't find a massive amount wrong, then again I don't think you are going to get much detail out of the low bitrate mp3. If I was being picky I would say the mids are maybe a bit high but then again that is probably something you can sort out with a bit of eq at the mastering stage.

They sound pretty damn good if they are real. And yeah, no idea why they force you to upload a huge wav file if they just end up playing it back to you as a sh*t bitrate mp3 lol.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1340794673' post='1709615']
Go ahead... don't be shy (Mr Venom certainly isn't!)
[/quote]

I knew he was going to get in between her legs eventually!

I would say it sounded more like hardcore than metal. I liked the sound of the bass, really nice distortion going on there, also not too loud either. Obviously the whole track needs mastering, and the quality on the soundcloud isn't fantastic but it sounds like a pretty good job mixing. Everything is pretty clear. Did you use a VST for the drums?

[quote name='ScreencastTutor' timestamp='1340801694' post='1709761']
The reasons I prefer to stay away from 2nd hand are pretty simple but not set in stone.

1. I don't drive, therefore collection is an issue, otherwise delivery is very pricey.
2. I have never played guitar before so wouldn't really be able to evaluate much about it. Easier to return or be assured of a standard from new.
[/quote]

1. Most people will deliver, and the cost of delivery is vastly offset by the saving you will make over a new instrument.
2. You can't exactly trust the quality of new instruments either; fender are known for having had pretty shocking QC on their mass produced instruments in recent years.

I find if you have a strap on the headstock, it pushes the guitar a bit too far to the right. For me at least.

Lol "more gear than Pink Floyd." Got to love it

[quote name='skidder652003' timestamp='1340776419' post='1709347']
[url="http://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Vintage-Advance-AV6P-Electric-Guitar-Laguna-Blue/7E8"]http://www.gear4musi...Laguna-Blue/7E8[/url]

The Vintage advance series get rave reviews, this one in particular I've tried and been blown away with it.
[/quote]

Vintage guitars are pretty good, possibly a bit more than the OP wants to spend though.

[quote name='ScreencastTutor' timestamp='1340745742' post='1709163']
Thanks for the tip Edward (original total recall ftw), thats kind of what I wondered, which is why I created the thread.
[/quote]

Great film.

Well I took delivery of it today. I can certainly reccomend one of these if you don't have a volume control on your monitors. It's totally passive; the power is only needed for the lights and headphone preamp, which is a good thing because it came with a DeutschePlug so I can't use it at the moment lol.

You might be better off going for something like this:

http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/product/10429-squier-by-fender-affinity-strat-maple-neck-2-tone-sunburst.html

if you want something a bit better quality, not entirely sure about the bullet series.