Stingray64

On 20/02/2022 at 16:22, prowla said:

So, I've had a bit more of a play with it and my impression is that the effects are pretty good for accentuating parts of a song (eg. a solo with a spot of chorus) and the tracking for the octave effects is spot-on.

However, the overall sound with no effects on loses something; I'm connecting it via a GigRig Quartermaster looper switch and switching it in is noticeable.

Based on that, I wouldn't use it as a single fly-rig preamp unit.

I also made a separate two-switch box and configured that; I spent a while wondering why only switch FS5 would work, but then I found that I'd set the option to say FS4 is patch up, but I also had to set another option to configure it as a switch rather than an expression pedal.

Are you sure you didn't just have it set to be receiving line level input meaning it would be quieter when engaged and therefore sound weaker? I've personally never noticed it affecting my sound other than volume.

1 hour ago, Elfrasho said:

NEED HELP - I cant work out how to do this.

 

On my stomp, if you want to use it on stomp mode you've got the option to select a parameter within a block, for example an amp. I can then assign it two a footswitch, but when i press the footswitch it switches between 0 and 100%.  Is there a way (surely there is) that I can set it so that when its off its at a certain %, say 20%, and then switched on it goes to 40%? Basically I want to us an amp drive channel as a boost. Is this possible? I cannot work out how to do it.

Ye, go into the parameter edit mode, select the parameter and the footswitch thats controlling the parameter, then scroll once to the right and you get options for on and off values.

I think I've generally found more use from using a low/high shelf plus parametric as opposed to 6 parametric bands and i never use graphic eq because I like much more broad band boosting. But thats the great thing about helix, so easy to try different stuff.

For this situation I would personally go with a hard compressor that you could turn on when you wanted a load of pick attack/slap.

Hey, is this the 35" model?

On 10/11/2021 at 12:05, soldersqueeze said:

I'll probably be in the minority with all this, but you did say you're looking for differing opinions

I never thought octave pedals work for this job, because you're not really replacing what the guitarist was doing

Now let me tell you, I'm obsessed with OC2s and also a huge part of my niche is using effects to fill up loads of spaces outside just bass guitar and yet, I couldn't agree more with everything you've said! Although I would probably avoid chorus unless keeping the mix fairly low because I don't like too much detune in a mix.

Do you know where the neck came from?

Theres many ways to get past an A, plucking and pickup being obvious, using a low B string for the notes also helps it find the fundamental. Using digital pedals, 2 octavers in a row or a 2 octave down pedal or using some form of synth/synth effect all also work. But theres no reason it would ever be useful because its just pointlessly low frequencies for a pure sub sound, complete waste of time (and I use A LOT of synth sounds). A on the 10th fret of the B string is as low as I ever would want to go anyway, and when I do I just pluck carefully near the neck. 

Good choice on octaver though, its my favourite! If you would like I could explain how to get a more huge sub sound from effects and eq instead.

Bought a pedal from SumOne. Great guy and communication, and pedal in great condition, packaged very well and arrived very quickly.

Would definitely recommend.

I recently got a DR high C single and Phil from strings direct was extremely kind and helpful, and was about to make the request to DR for me before finding a random one in their old stock and giving me the choice to buy it for a good price. Im definitely gonna be buying all my strings from them (only about two sets a year tho lol). 

I only use a fret wrap when I’m playing John Davis style dub bass because it allows me to tweak effects and perform more without having to prioritise constant perfect muting that would mess up the octave pedal tracking.

1. 5 blocks, so theres still 3 blocks left for amp, looper, eq or whatever. 

2. Yes, I use the JG preset with the looper on a footswitch without losing much functionality at all. 

3. Yes definitely. The stomp can do that easily, and the stomp xl just gives you more footswitches for increased switching options (although since you can assign multiple things to each footswitch I haven't found much need for that myself).

Does it not put the sub octave out of tune which would be super muddy in a mix? 

That's probably the nicest looking board I've ever seen!

I use the aguilar db751 when I'm not using my tonehammer amp though. I find the low and high cuts and the aguilar drive control enough to get a good warm sound from the digital emulation. Although I can see why you would want your own preamp and combining the hx stomp on a board is where it really shines. 

The title is incorrect, this is not a midi switch and so takes up the exp/fs input (plus all the midi switches available cost far more). Otherwise GLWS, this is a solid price for something that's already insane value for money. 

The 2 button footswitch will be using the tip of a trs cable for one switch and and ring for the other. An expression pedal will use one of the tip or ring. So you could use a trs Y cable to 2 tr jacks and have an expression pedal and 1 footswitch, or go midi if you really want more. 

2 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

ok, so it is over £250 for a couple more buttons. Maybe skip that then!

Well when you consider a lot of the footswitch options that provide the same amount of options cost around 100-150 and you still have all the midi and exp 1 and 2. But ye I consider the stomp amazing value for money so this XL is firmly meh pricing to me. 

16 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

Also it has bumped up the number of blocks to 8

It actually hasn't, it's got the exact same processing power as the hx stomp. The latest update allowed 8 blocks but with no more processing power so any more than the originally intended 6 is often very limited to a few effects that need very little processing power, depending on the rest of the patch. This is exactly the same. 

For me it's 

Fingers plucking quite hard, sometimes jazz III pick

Slightly dead roundwound strings 

Pretty high action

Stingray special 5 H with treble cut on the eq

Mxr bass octave deluxe for synthing

Sometimes compression and drive from the hx stomp

Either aguilar th500 with db112 or aguilar db751 model in the hx stomp for amp. 

And my ear is obsessed with low mids and sitting in the mix without stepping into other instruments territory, which definitely affects my gear and how I play. 

3 minutes ago, Skybone said:

Just wondered whether they'd figured out that it's a useful thing to have if you're using these devices for bass.

Theres also the option of putting a simple eq after the effects to boost bass frequencies back in, without taking up the second path. I heard Roy Mitchel Cardanas say in a JHS video he does that with physical pedals and on the hx you can use the bonus blocks from the new update since it takes up basically no processing power. 

My chain is stingray - mxr bass octave deluxe - hx stomp( compression - split into sub channel clean out to amp/di - wet channel - fx loop - bass big muff - fredric effects bug crusher - xerograph deluxe with expression pedal - back into hx - noise gate - lfo with 1 expression pedal for rate (and at some point gonna another expression pedal for mix) - a little bit of extra drive from teemah and out to the amp/di. 

Bwoah what a mouthful, and I still want to add a tc spark booster after the fuzz so I can boost before bit crushing without affecting the fuzz. 

I might make a post on here some time soon with my dubstep effects but for now, you can look at my instagram - instagram.com/joegwinnbass

2 hours ago, Skybone said:

I know there's the B7K model on the Helix, what other bass-specific OD/Dist/Fuzz models are in there?

By bass-specific, I mean do they have a "Mix" / "Blend" function?

I use the Teemah! For almost all of my dirt needs. One of my favourite things about the helix is that everything works on bass as long as you add a clean path which pretty much all of my patches do. Plus there's loads of options for how you split how you blend back in, and now there's 8 blocks you can use a different eq and comp on each if you wish. 

For me HX stomp is far better for bass players as you only need 3 foot switches if you're sticking to the actual role of a bass player (and you can combine many parameters with 1 footswitch). The pod go has a few blocks that i consider near worthless on bass and unlike the helix you can't swap them out. The HX Stomp is absolutely spectacular though and I use money constantly, normally just for drive and amp sim but also a lot for synth bass and John Davis dubstep bass. 

1 hour ago, Clarky said:

Looks like the production run is over as Musicman website lists both the vintage sunburst and starry night as "Colour discontinued"

Every colour on the full size specials is discontinued too though. Saw what if I remember right was a music man rep on talkbass say they were discontinuing all finishes with the intention of better quality finish being used plus more gorgeous finishes. 

I'm obsessed with 80s synth sounds and I have found that by putting my mxr bass octave deluxe before the hx stomp and then using signal splitting drive/fuzz, envelope, chorus i have had amazing success making very musical moog style synth sounds and beyond. The pod go seems more guitar centred to me considering the blocks that are fixed but I think the hx stomp is the absolute best bass related tool imaginable so I suggest you look at that.