Boneless

I have this comp. It actually was my backup, I had one brand new that I even trying selling but no one was interested And... it's mediocre. It affects the tone quite a lot, adds hiss, doesn't seem to compress that much, and I'm not won over by the comp's logic: the two bands actually "boost" bass and treble respectively. as well (if I actually understood how it works), so, at my current setting, with bass and treble both at 1 o'clock, there is a bit of a mid scoop.

+1 on the BBE Optostomp. Cheap and cheerful, does its job. Nice. Avoid: - Ashdown Dual Compressor: I am using it now as a backup (I used to own the BBE), and it's noisy and doesn't seem to compress that much. Plus, it's anything but transparent - BOSS CS-3: it just doesn't work on bass.

Can someone explain me how the VLE works, actually? Is it a shelving filter or more of a very, very wide peaking filter (as in with a very large Q)? Anyway, I never understood MB's choice, since the VPF scoops the sound at 380Hz (while boosting everything around it), but the Low Mid filter is centered somewhere very close to that. I'd have thought a frequency between low mids and high mids would have been a more obvious choice.

Happy Jack, yes! I actually live in Monopoli Have a look: [url="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=it&geocode=&q=monopoli&sll=41.442726,12.392578&sspn=18.194768,46.538086&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=11&iwloc=A"]http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&sour...=11&iwloc=A[/url] and yeah, I do get those jokes all the time (especially considering that the game of "Monopoly" is actually called "Monopoli" in Italian ) but you just get used to them over time

I used to have a Rockman Stereo Chorus. Half rack unit, which was a nuisance, but BEAUTIFUL sound, to me, anyway: it's intended as a guitar chorus, and it had a very "shimmery", trebly kind of tone, leaving the low end somewhat unaffected and with not really much depth, nor it was capable of throbbing speeds.

My idea of the perfect preamp: - both a (true) valve and a "uncolored" SS section, with a minus whatever pad for active basses, and double gain control (a la Hartke HA3500), and the possibility of getting true overdrive from the valve section (or maybe a separate overdrive section, but it would be too crowded, probably) - modulable (as in, with a pot think Markbass's VLE) low cut and high cut controls (shelving EQs) - peaking low and high (at, say, 80Hz and 5kHz), to increase lower and higher frequencies, without affecting the extreme frequencies, tailored to work together with the shelving eqs so that they "interfere" correctly one with the other (ie. cutting both bass and doesn't result in a peak between the two frequencies) - graphic equalizer for the frequencies in between, or a fully parametric 2 or 3 band equalizer - blendable FX loop - preamp master volume - digitally storable, footswitchable settings - DI, of course, with modulable output - defeatable speaker sim on the DI output plus probably something else

Anyway, I wouldn't except all of this to have any perceivable influence on the basses' tone. If the first photo is on the Ibanez's website, it's probably intended to be like that... these basses are all CNC-made, so I wouldn't expect any difference between basses of the same model. EBS_Freak, were the "different amounts of piss" between a bunch of 4-stringers or between different models?

[quote]I did also consider the Laney RB4?!![/quote] I'm probably the only dickhead on earth who actually LIKED the tone of his Laney combo I REALLY liked my R2 (today's RB5, I think), although the tweeter was no good and the combo wasn't very loud (but then again I'm a volume addict) Why don't you try it? Maybe the extra 40W may actually be useful. Anyway, I'd consider 2nd hand gear for your price range as well, you might end up with something much better, and if you have the chance to try it out before you buy, you can check for issues with it.

Prrrrrrrrrrrrrrricey But then again, maybe the price is justified.

Anyway, I must say, Chinese instruments nowadays are perfectly playable and sound good. Years ago, when I started playing (at the beginning of the millennium) Chinese instruments where generally crap (I still remember my first Samick P-J... *shudders* ), but now, I mean, you can gig with a Squier or whatever without sounding dull and/or "cheap".

I hated the ODB3 at low gain settings... it sounded lifeless and sterile, to my ears. Anyway, I'll just make do for the moment... I have a blender and a Bad Monkey, I'll just have to switch through different settings between songs

[url="http://www.bugera-amps.com/EN/products/BVP5500.aspx"]http://www.bugera-amps.com/EN/products/BVP5500.aspx[/url] Am I wrong or is it a SVT3PRO copy? (Just to be clear: I like copies ). It's got nearly the same layout as well, plus the valve preamp (4 valves, which look substantial anyway, looks interesting, actually a "true" valve preamp, if it's properly made, that is ), a 500W poweramp... So it's going to be uselessly quiet as well? *ducks*

The thing is, it doesn't seem to do low gain settings nicely... it sounds better with the drive half-way (a bit like the ODB-3, which sounds crap at low gain settings, and only sounds good with drive between 9 and 11 o'clock - although I think there is only one useful setting on the ODB, actually, all those knobs and they could've just hard-wired the right settings my opinion of course).

I don't like the Behringer - Sansamp clone on high gain settings... it sounds a bit boxy and "plasticky" to my ears. Very nice for colouring the tone, of course. Anyway, I'll have a look at the pedals you suggested, thanks

[quote]If you've got a blender all the better, opens up more choices of overdrive/distortion - hopefully finally finish my 'paralooper' this weekend.[/quote] Yeah, that's the whole point of it, since I really like the tone (or at least find it "interesting") of many guitar pedals, but find them not very useful in a band context (ie. RATs). Not mentioning the fact that guitar pedals are the majority and is easier to find them for cheap, and for a gearhead like me, having the possibility to actually use them with success is of great importance [quote]I like the 'Red LLama' on bass, I built a clone. Its basically same as Tone Factor Mule & quite a few other derivatives. To my ears it's got more of an edge to it than a 'Bad Monkey', which I like too.[/quote] But how more? The Bad Monkey is "edgeless", I'd say (and it's nice for this reason as well, it "glues" everything together), keep in mind that I have kind of a modern sound (strong upper mids and treble, a bit of a scoop around 500-800Hz, slight boost on the low mids), and that I actually use distortion through a tweeter as well, even though it is harsh sounding, it gives me loads of edge, which is important (for me anyway) to set a rhythm in a very crowded mix (two guitars, mostly distorted, keyboards, loads of delay and reverb, etc.).

[quote]Have you considered 'Red Lama' or similar clone?[/quote] Didn't know of them. Are they any good with bass? I know I have a fx blender, but still, I'd like it to fare nicely with bass for starters, to then just "adjust" its tone better for my taste. I'll look for the Owen one as well. Of course, if I can't find neither, I guess I'll try the Ashdown Drive Plus, costs next to nothing and I heard quite good things about them

[quote]I think the only way to get real aggressive attack is very biting overdrive combined with around 50% clean signal.[/quote] Which I was going to do... That's the word, "biting". Anyway no, I haven't tried a Jackhammer. I will as soon as I can

I already had/am getting a Ibanez PD-7, but it's more of a strong distortion. I'm looking at an overdrive, really, and both the PD-7 and the Little Big Muff are too strong. I actually used my Sansamp GT-2 copy as a... let's say harsher version of the Bad Monkey.