Baloney Balderdash

Brand new shot of my Ibanez GSRM20 neck + GSRM20B body Mikro Bass : And I plan to add this OM decal soon (PhotoShopped) :

To elaborate I don't own the NUX bass preamp myself, but I have read a lot of praise for it and I did consider using it for my "amp-less" setup. I love my NUX Tape Core Deluxe though, which is a digital emulation of the legendary Roland Space Echo tape delay, it is in my opinion much better than the Boss emulation of the same tape delay, even if much cheaper, and a testament to how great NUX's digital modeling technology is, despite the relatively cheap price of their products. In fact as far as I concern it might be the best sounding delay ever made, at least digitally based delay. I can also warmly recommend the NUX Solid Studio IR Cab and Poweramp Simulator pedal, which supports about double the resolution of the IR files than other products from competitors in a similar price class, and actually than most much higher priced pedals that supports 3rd party IR cab simulation files too. I actually owned the latter pedal at some point, but sold it, as I settled for a simple EQ based cab simulation, that I dialed in to my own preferences using the 2 band fully parametric bass equalizer of my Zoom MS-70CDR to mimic a LPF set about 3.5kHz with a downwards slop of -12dB/Oct. Cause while an IR based cab sim will be much more precise and authentic in terms of mimicking a real bass cab that also means that it will be much more intrusive on the tone of your bass, whereas a simple LPF will be more true to the actual raw tone of your bass. It's totally a matter of taste though. and with an IR based cab sim you can get your bass to sound pretty accurately like almost every possible bass cab ever produced, at least that is giving you can find an IR of it, but really there is a huge amount of options to be found on the internet, both in from of free and paid for (but usually quite reasonable priced) IRs of various cabs and microphone combinations used to capture them. I just happen to prefer a simple LPF solution that will leave the raw actual tone of my bass more intact. This is how my personal "amp-less" setup looks in written form (only including always on units) : My "amp-less" setup in written form (only including always on effects) : 4 string 28,6" scale Ibanez GSRM20 neck + GSRM20B body Mikro Bass (equipped with an EMG Geezer Butler P pickup, wired directly to the output jack socket, and strung with gauge .090 - .072 - .054 - .040 D'Addario XL nickle plated steel core roundwound strings, tuned in F# standard tuning, 2 half steps above regular 4 string bass E standard tuning) ->> TC Electronic SpectraComp (always on 3 band parallel compression, adding extra punch, snap and bite, but without really affecting my playing dynamics) ->> TC Electronic Sub'N'Up Mini (always on digital polyphonic octaver, used as an 1 octave up effect mixed with clean bass signal, giving an effect similar to that of an 8 string "octave" bass, with pairs of respectively bass and octave strings) ->> Boss LS-2 [A+B Mix <-> Bypass] (always on parallel effect loops mixer/switch) ={ [Loop A Send] ->> Joyo Orange Juice (always on low gain overdrive, really primarily used to enhance harmonic content, [Tone] set at about 11 o'clock, [Voice] set to boost a wide curve around a 800Hz center frequency about +3dB pre gain stage, always mixed with clean {bass+octave up} signal from parallel effects [Loop B]) ->> [Loop A Return] ->||<- [Loop B Send] ->> (empty effects loop for clean {bass+octave up} signal blend with Orange Juice in effects [Loop A]) ->> [Loop B Return] ([Loop A] + [Loop B] mixed at an about 50/50 ratio) }=>> Artec SE-EQ8 (always on 8 band graphic equalizer, settings as follows: [Freq=100Hz LoShlv Boost=+1dB ; Freq=170Hz Q=wide Boost=+1dB ; Freq=280Hz Q=narrow Boost=+3dB ; Freq=500Hz Q=narrow Boost=+2dB ; Freq=800Hz Q=narrow Boost=+1dB ; Freq=1.4kHzHz Q=narrow Boost=+2dB ; Freq=2.3kHz Q=wide Boost=+3dB ; Freq=5kHz HiShlv +/- 0dB]) ->> Zoom G1Xon (Always on subtle plate reverb, and additionally used for 4 other reverb patches) ->> NUX Tape Core Deluxe (Roland Space Echo tape delay emulation) ->> Zoom MS-70CDR (Always on "160 Comp" (emulating a DBX 160A compressor), set to a quite subtle compression -> always on 2 x 2 band parametric EQ : [Freq=63Hz Q=4 Boost=+1dB ; Freq=250Hz Q=4 Boost=+1dB ; Freq=400Hz Q=4 Boost=+1dB ; Freq=1kHz Q=4 Boost=+1dB[/I]] -> always on faux, EQ based, cab sim, consisting of a 2 band parametric EQ set as follows: [Freq=12kHz Q=1 Cut=-18dB ; [I]Freq=20kHz Q=0.5 Cut=-20dB], and additionally used for a lush Church reverb that can be switched on/off) ->> Joyo American Sound (always on clean preamp (gain set to ever so slightly break up when digging in the hardest), a Tech 21 Blonde clone, analog emulation of a Fender type amp, with a wide curve around the center frequency of 400Hz boosted about +3dB, and an about +3dB pre gain stage boost to a wide curve around the center frequency of 800Hz) ->> EHX Black Finger (always on tube driven optical compressor, used primarily as a tube preamp stage) ->> ART Tube MP Project Series (tube preamp, with HPF fixed @40Hz) ->> [Effects Return] (poweramp input) of Peavey Solo Special 112 (160W, solid state guitar combo, with the build in 4 Ohm 12" speaker unit disconnected and instead hooked up to a The Box PA 502 PA speaker) ->> The Box PA 502 (full range PA speaker with 1x 15" woofer/mids driver + 1.7" high frequency tweeter horn) This gives me a very consistent tone, making sure I sound approximately the same weather I go through my powermap and full range PA speaker (the Box PA 502 that I use got got an exceptionally good low end response, better than some dedicated bass cabs, which is rare for full range PA speakers, not only in this cheap price class, but in general regardless the price, and they sound amazing and have very close to flat response, giving me a tone pretty much identical to when practicing at home though my Sennheiser HD 380 Pro studio headphones) at band rehearsals, through a PA at a venue when gigging, or I pratice at home through a mixer and then my high end studio headphones.

Danish Myrkur :

The NUX Melvin Lee Davis Signature Bass Preamp + DI gets a fair share of praise, is quite affordable and supports 3rd party IR cab sims.

Both very cool looking basses, especially love the black one, and I bet they sound great as well. I personally would have chosen a 24 fret neck, and a bass with less than 22 is a no go for me, but I am not you, and if you never ever need more than 21 frets then sticking to just that, but having them made really easy accessible, as they, by the look of those pictures, are, would definitely be the way to go. Is the string spacing the standard 19mm or narrower?

This Bee Gees cover (note that the first 10 sec of the video is silent) :

From Low's coming album "HEY WHAT", that will be out on 10th of September :

Wouldn't you actually want the body to be as havey as possible to at least counter some of the neck dive?

This is another great Sunn O))) track featuring vocals :

What's wrong with the Danelectro Longhorn? It's an awesome bass that sounds great and looks amazing too, and you won't get any other bass with easier upper frets access.

Finally got to mount my pedal setup on my new Harley Benton SpaceShip 80 pedal board (the white goo is hot glue used to fix the knob settings on some of the pedals) : Which makes the entire signal chain for my "amp-less" setup look like this : (*pedals listed in [ red/bold/underline text ] are "always on" effects*) 4 string 28,6" scale Ibanez GSRM20 neck + GSRM20B body Mikro Bass (equipped with an EMG Geezer Butler P pickup, wired directly to the output jack socket, and strung with gauge .090 - .072 - .054 - .040 D'Addario XL nickle plated steel core roundwound strings, tuned in F# standard tuning, 2 half steps above regular 4 string bass E standard tuning) ->> TC Electronic SpectraComp (always on 3 band parallel compression, adding extra punch, snap and bite, but without really affecting my playing dynamics) ->> TC Electronic Sub'N'Up Mini (always on digital polyphonic octaver, used as an 1 octave up effect mixed with clean bass signal, giving an effect similar to that of an 8 string "octave" bass, with pairs of respectively bass and octave strings) ->> Boss LS-2 [A+B Mix <-> Bypass] (always on parallel effect loops mixer/switch) ={ [Loop A Send] ->> Joyo Orange Juice (always on low gain overdrive, really primarily used to enhance harmonic content, [Tone] set at about 11 o'clock, [Voice] set to boost a wide curve around a 800Hz center frequency about +3dB pre gain stage, always mixed with clean {bass+octave up} signal from parallel effects [Loop B]) ->> [Loop A Return] ->||<- [Loop B Send] ->> (empty effects loop for clean {bass+octave up} signal blend with Orange Juice in effects [Loop A]) ->> [Loop B Return] ([Loop A] + [Loop B] mixed at an about 50/50 ratio) }=>> Boss LS-2 [A+B Mix <-> Bypass] (parallel effect loops mixer/switch) ={ [Loop A Send] ->> Behringer SF300 Super Fuzz (Boss FZ-2/Univox Super Fuzz clone, octave fuzz, always mixed with clean {bass+octave up} signal from parallel effects [Loop A]) ->> Mosky Black Rat (RAT clone, in Turbo RAT, LED diode clipping, mode, quite raunchy, fuzz-esque, high gain distortion, always used mixed with the Metal Zone distortion in parallel effects [Loop B]) ->> Behringer VP1 Vintage Phaser (EHX Small Stone clone, used in the high feedback and deep sweep mode, always used boosted by the Hotone Trem in front of it, and almost always used mixed with flanger in parallel effects [Loop B]) ->> Hotone Trem (Tremolo with rate and depth at 0, always used to boost the Behringer phaser placed behind it and make it a bit brighter, since it's a few dB above unity gain when engaged and got a tone control) ->> [Loop A Return] ->||<- [Loop B Send] ->> Joyo Orange Juice (lower gain overdrive with a somewhat grindy character, always used either stacked into the Metal Zone in front of it, and then mixed with the Rat distortion in parallel effects [Loop A], or as a dirty slight "clean" boost mixed with clean {bass+octave up} signal from parallel effects [Loop A]) ->> Boss MT-2 Metal Zone (distortion, used with a relatively low gain setting, always used with the Orange Juice behind it stacked into it, and always used mixed with the Rat distortion in parallel effects [Loop A]) ->> Monarch MFL-22 (flanger, most often used mixed with phaser in parallel effects [Loop A]) ->> [Loop B Return] ([Loop A] + [Loop B] mixed at an about 55/45 ratio) }=>> Behringer UT100 Ultra Tremolo (almost always used staked into Valeton chorus in front of it) ->> Valeton Aquaflow Vintage Chorus (Boss CE-1 clone, almost always used with the Behringer tremolo staked into it) ->> Artec SE-EQ8 (always on 8 band graphic equalizer, settings as follows: [Freq=100Hz LoShlv Boost=+1dB ; Freq=170Hz Q=wide Boost=+1dB ; Freq=280Hz Q=narrow Boost=+3dB ; Freq=500Hz Q=narrow Boost=+2dB ; Freq=800Hz Q=narrow Boost=+1dB ; Freq=1.4kHzHz Q=narrow Boost=+2dB ; Freq=2.3kHz Q=wide Boost=+3dB ; Freq=5kHz HiShlv +/- 0dB]) ->> Zoom G1Xon (Always on subtle plate reverb, and additionally used for 4 other reverb patches, which respectively are as follows: Plate Reverb->HD Hall Reverb->Tape Delay, more prominent reverb :-: '63 Spring Reverb->Analog Delay (set to a slapback type delay), lush splashy spring reverb :-: '63 Spring Reverb->Tape Delay (set to a slapback type delay), brighter sounding lush splashy spring reverb :-: Plate Reverb->HD Hall Reverb->Tape Delay, extremely thick lush reverb, used as a reverb pad effect with volume swells) ->> NUX Tape Core Deluxe (Roland Space Echo tape delay emulation) ->> Zoom MS-70CDR (Always on "160 Comp" (emulating a DBX 160A compressor), set to a quite subtle compression -> always on 2 x 2 band parametric EQ : [Freq=63Hz Q=4 Boost=+1dB ; Freq=250Hz Q=4 Boost=+1dB ; Freq=400Hz Q=4 Boost=+1dB ; Freq=1kHz Q=4 Boost=+1dB] -> always on faux, EQ based, cab sim, consisting of a 2 band parametric EQ set as follows: [Freq=12kHz Q=1 Cut=-18dB ; Freq=20kHz Q=0.5 Cut=-20dB], and additionally used for a lush Church reverb that can be switched on/off, which is often used combined with the other reverb effects of the G1Xon) ->> Joyo American Sound (always on clean preamp (gain set to ever so slightly break up when digging in the hardest), a Tech 21 Blonde clone, analog emulation of a Fender type amp, with a wide curve around the center frequency of 400Hz boosted about +3dB, and an about +3dB pre gain stage boost to a wide curve around the center frequency of 800Hz) ->> EHX Black Finger (always on tube driven optical compressor, used primarily as a tube preamp stage) ->> ART Tube MP Project Series (tube preamp, with HPF fixed @40Hz) // ->> Band rehearsal/jamming/gigging // ->> Home practice // ->> Home recordings // : // ->> Band rehearsal/jamming/gigging ->> [Effects Return] (poweramp input) of Peavey Solo Special 112 (160W, solid state guitar combo, with the build in 4 Ohm 12" speaker unit disconnected and instead hooked up to a The Box PA 502 PA speaker) ->> The Box PA 502 (full range PA speaker with 1x 15" woofer/mids driver + 1.7" high frequency tweeter horn) // ->> Home practice ->> Behringer Eurorack UB1202 (mixer) ->> Sennheiser HD 380 Pro (headphones) // ->> Home recordings ->> M-Audio Fast Track (sound interface) ->> Reaper (DAW) //

Lou Reed :

Jefferson Starship :

Oops, wrong thread!