SumOne

As far as I know you need to use the app.

I guess it's a timeless discussion! You don't need to be the best to have fun and make music that others enjoy listening to. People don't stop playing Sunday leage football and trying to win when they realise they aren't ever going to be on the National team that'll win the world cup. It's easy to watch videos of the top 0.001% and compare to them and get disheartened. And there's the youtube players that play some amazing intricate show-stopping piece at home, then you realise they might've spent months and 100s of takes to record that quick 2 minute show-off routine and it doesn't necesserily translate to a live performance. It's good to remember that Punk happened for a reason, amazing virtuoso musicianship isn't everyone's cuppa.

It seemed limited on controls (I wanted something that works for slap, and Dub, and synth, so needed quite a lot of control), but I think the minimal type compressors can work well if they happen to fit the type of compression you want.

A new one from Billy Nomates

I owned the Pigtronix Philosopher Bass which is a bit of an odd one as I thought it worked best at adding sustain and distortion. For those specific things it's good, not so good at the things most Bass players want from compression for though. I haven't used these but was looking into having a board of just mini pedals a while back and was considering the ones you mention and: Becos Compiq mini Aguilar DB 599 Fairfield Circuitry The Accountant But as @Bigwan says, compact size (instead of mini) with top mounted jacks (e.g. Empress, Cali 76, Ego, The Warden) seems a better compressor pedal size to me as they don't take up much more pedalboard room, especially when next to other top-mounted pedals. They don't tip over as easily, have more room for the footswitch (e.g. the Becos mini looks like you'd step on switches and a delicate micro dial when you step on the footswitch) and more room for additional and easily visable dials and things like metering.....so I gave up on the mini pedalboard thing, especially for compressors.

Sold Alain a pedal and it all went well - thanks!

Classic riddim! If you want to get nerdy about it (I do!) then riddimguide.com is a good resource. Cuss cuss riddim has apparently been used at least 181 times https://www.riddimguide.com/tunes?q=Cuss+cuss&c=

The trouble I had with my Steinberger was the ergonomics, sounded good though. I've now gone for an Ibanez EHB 1005 MS which I'm really liking.

I recently bought a headless Bass and seeing about half of the players in that list pictured with one became one of the selling points.

Horace Andy has done a few tunes with Adrian Sherwood lately, including this version of Massive Attack's (who he's done a lot with) Safe from Harm

I don't think I'd ever go back to owning a heavy Bass again. I had a 3.3kg Sandberg TM5 SL and currently have a 3.3kg Ibanez EHB 1005 MS and both sound as good and have as much sustain as any heavier Basses I've owned. I suppose that's not scientific though, perhaps if those light ones had heavier bodies they'd sound even better. Actually, come to think of it I'm not even sure I'd want anything other than a headless Bass now for the weight and size saving while also staying well balanced and staying in tune well.

Aidan bought a tuner from me and it all went welll with good communications. Thanks!

Unfortunately, there's also a lot more to making a piece of music popular than just making the music. Even if both were exactly the same it's probably the Sheeran one that'd get most popular down to presentation, marketing, 'brand' recognition, distribution etc.

Wires? Where we're going we don't need wires! Pod Go wireless + Boss Waza Air: They fight for dominance though - need to turn on the Waza first and then the Pod Go which automatically finds a different frequency. If done the other way around they fight over the same frequency and drop signals. (A bit worrying if playing a gig with the Pod Go wireless and someone comes along and turns on a Boss wireless). Just need the Pod Go to run off batteries to really get rid of all wires.

Pod Go Wireless arrived and seems good. I've owned the Helix Effects, Stomp, and Stomp XL and it holds up with them - there are quite a few things I actually think it does better. Good things: Sounds good: The same sounds as Helix, it includes all the same Amps, EQ, Wah and almost all effects (just three omitted, annoyingly though one is the space echo which is one of my favorites). Lots of hardware controls - a decent amount of footswitches & dials and the expression pedal is good (with an extra hidden 'toe press' switch), it works very well at easily mapping multiple fx and parameters - this is a big selling point for me. Good size/weight, any smaller and it wouldn't have enough footswitches or they would be too close, also some sockets would need to go on the sides like the Stomp. Big screen (bigger than Stomp and better than Effects). Sturdy and well designed. Software works well (it's slightly different to Helix, but very similar) and is easy to navigate on the Pod Go or via Laptop which all connected easily. Good value (now that shops aren't charging the original original overpriced RRP) . Downsides: No parallel signal paths: Due to the processing power needed, but I wish a few more fx had a 'mix' parameter as that's a useful workaround to keep a % of clean blended, also it's a useful way of using the expression pedal to fade in/out an effect. Certain blocks are fixed: 10x block total (which I think is actually better than the Stomp's 8x), but unlike the Stomp, 6x are fixed (Volume, Wah, FX loop, Amp/Preamp, Cab/IR, EQ) leaving only 4x for other things. I get that there is limited processing power and the fixed ones possibly don't use much processing (like the 'volume' and 'fx loop' blocks) but it also includes EQ and Amp & Cab blocks which I guess use a fair bit of processing and aren't always needed (e.g. if using a real Amp & Cab) so if they could be removed (rather than just turned off) it'd free up blocks. It kind of feels like a deliberate choice by Line 6 to restrict it to not make the Pod Go too good and step on Helix's toes because other than that drawback it is pretty close to doing all the things a Stomp XL + expression pedal can do at almost double the cost. Actually though, I'm finding those 6x fixed blocks can be used well e.g. map Amp block parameters to snapshots so it can be used for distortion rather than using a distortion block. It's not often I'd need more than 6x fixed + 4x other effects all used at exactly the same time so it just takes some Preset and snapshot planning. No midi sockets, but it can do limited midi stuff via the USB. The wireless generally works well but one issue is that it fights with my Boss Waza Air and drops the signal unless you have the Boss turned on first (in which case the Pod Go scans and selects the best un-used frequency). Not a big deal once figured out but possibly an issue if playing live and someone comes along and plugs in their Boss Wireless transmitter after you. As with the Stomp, the power cable isn't great - it's too short at 1.5m and seems delicate. You can faff with alternatives to go from certain power bricks and use current doublers and barrel size convertors though. ..... So those downsides have workarounds and aren't deal breakers. Overall it seems very good. Add a decent power supply and a software update adding 'mix' parameter to a few more effects and allowing the fixed blocks to be replaced and it'd be great.

The trouble I found thinking the C4 would replace other pedals is that in many ways technically it can, you can listen to demos and it'll do very similar sounds. But that's not the same as having a few individual pedals each with their own footswitch and knobs. Saying that though, the C4 is very good as a synth pedal if you don't mind the hardware limitations. I'm keen to get one again mostly for the MF-101 sound as there aren't many alternatives and things like the Xerograph, Barbanera, Future Impact all cost at least as much, hopefully the Behringer clone gets made. Also the C4 does a good Reece, OC-2, Pads, and envelope filters. Source Audio have acknowledged that the hardware limitations are an issue for a lot of people though and are making a version with more hardware controls so I'm waiting for that. Quite exciting times for Bass synth pedals with the things from Future Impact, Boss, and Source Audio all now tracking really well with very low latency and some very good sounds and they're only going to be getting even better. The limitations are more that actually playing a keyboard synth often seems to me a more practical way of playing synth sounds and adjusting parameters. Bass guitar is more fun to play though.

My usual Helix thing is: Sell individual pedals > buy Helix > think it's great > get a bit annoyed with the amount of time I spend programming presets and lack of instant hardware controls/visability and individual footswitches> realise that individual pedals often sound slightly better (especially synths and envelope filters) > buy a few pedals to free up Helix blocks/footswitches have extra control and and sound better > decide that now I've got a few individual pedals that need a power supply and pedal board so I might as well sell the Helix and do it all with individual pedals.....repeat with a different Helix product a few months later...repeat forever! I'm hoping that the combination of wireless, a lot of footswitches, more hardware controls including an expression pedal make the Pod Go a winner. It's a shame it doesn't have the processing of the Stomp - block limits might be an issue but 90% of what I play just needs Tuner + Distortion + Preamp+ EQ + Compressor so hopefully it covers that well enough + the modulation and delay stuff that will be good with the expression pedal. I'll probably buy something like a C4 to cover envelope filter and synth things.

I'm going to get a Pod Go Wireless. Partly as I have been looking into wirelss systems and the Relay G10 II transmitter/receiver alone costs about £140. Also partly as I want some specific expression pedal effects which don't seem easily achievable with individual pedals or cheaper multi FX (a couple of things I want are: expression pedal simultaniously reducing bass while increasing mids and increasing reverb, and expression pedal increasing echo + reverb + distortion simultaniously). Those things alone make it worth getting for me, but also lately I've only been using EQ, Tuner, Compressor and a light bit of Overdrive so I should be able to sell them to cover most of the cost, and it simplifies things down to one bit of kit. I have already owned the Helix Stomp, Stomp XL, and Helix Effects though so I have no doubt that I'll get bored of it and will sell it to get individual effects in a few months!