SumOne

I need to try and get out of the separate stompbox 'what you see is what you get, one footswitch per effect' attitude because I still like separate footswitches for each effect and being able to look down and instantly see where settings for each of them, and the sort of good accidents you get when mucking about stomping a big chain of fx on and hands-on tweaking - but I know the Helix Stomp can make the same sounds for less money and less boardspace....plus it opens up a lot of new opportunities with routing options etc. Say I want Octave>Fuzz>Chorus, with separate pedals that's immediate by just clicking on those three stompboxes and instantly tweak the controls, with the Stomp that's easily done (and can do much more) but you do need to have saved it as a preset and remember where that preset is or spend a minute or so selecting the blocks/FS assignment and clicking on them individually to change parameters....it's just that very slight inconvenience in workflow that I'm not so keen on but I think I need to spend more time building up presets and getting over the stompbox attitude.

I like the octaver, thought it tracks better than analogue octavers I've had (mxr BOD, and Aguilar Octamizer), I guess it loses a bit of their character but I don't use it at 100% and usually have some other fx or overdrive after it. I also prefer the Helix dual pitch over the TC Sub n Up for octave up stuff. The big winners to me are modulation, reverb/echo, eq, and the amp/cab sims, just buying them as individual pedals would cost the same as a Stomp. Losers are synth and envelope filter. If I were to get rid of the Helix it wouldn't be because of the quality of any sounds, it would be because I prefer more idiot proof individual pedals rather than programming presets.

You've just proved why it's also always worth checking Basschat knowledge! (as well as trying before buying)

Squire Jazz: Shoddy 2nd hand starter Bass - the bridge pickup didn't work and action was really high, but I didn't really know any better and it was good enough to get me into playing. Fender Jazz MIM: 2nd hand that hadn't been treated that well before (had rusty strings/frets and a few knocks), I liked it but wanted to move on to active 5 strings. Ibanez SRMS 805: Great Bass, good 3 band eq with 3x centre frequency switch for the mids, only thing I didn't like so much was it felt a bit small to me - particularly the string spacing. Dingwall Combustion: Technically excellent but felt a bit big and heavy and I didn't like that there wasn't ability to mix between pickups (it's one or other or both), also more of a modern tone than I was after. Sandberg TM5 SL: Excellent Bass, my favourite that I've owned, fun to play - comfortable and light and has a variety of good tones. I suppose the Dingwall did feel a bit more sturdy and 'high-end' in little details and was more even across the strings and the Ibanez had more tone control so I'm not quite sold on it being 'the one'! With the exception of the Dingwall being more expensive than the Sandberg these have all got increasingly expensive and increasingly good and not really lost much value when I traded to the next one so I am eying up my next move and telling myself it's probably worth spending the ££ which is a bit of a gamble as would need to sell the Sandberg to pay for it. Better to regret something you did do than something you didn't though?! And seeing the length of most of the lists on this thread helps me justify it!

No worries, I'm sort of relieved, it does look good - but I really don't need a new Bass!

Couldn't tell as it was covered

Ah! It didn't say sold earlier but I sent them an email with questions and it must have reminded them to update to sold.

Anyone here with experience of Philippe Dubreuille Basses? https://www.dubreuille-guitar.com/bass.html Seems mostly more of a Guitar builder but a few Basses, and custom stuff. I've got my eye on this Custom 5 https://thebassgallery.com/collections/bass/products/philippe-dubreuille-custom-5 but there is a crack in the headstock, and being a neck thru Bass it could be a massive hassle if it needed replacing. What do you reckon- a deal breaker?

Nice one, in that case I think I'll leave it and go for separate pedals (I've got a fuzz I'm happy with). Got my eye on a knackered old looking 00 Funk on Reverb since my clone build of one seems to have failed.

I'm looking for something that can do the Chunk systems Brown Dog (fuzz) + 00 Funk (envelope filter) combination. Not quite the same as just running a fuzz into envelope filter as they have an extra in/out where the filter works off the clean signal dynamics while adding the fuzzy tone to make quite a specific synthy sound. The Walrus Audio Kangra Fuzz/Filter looks interesting, designed for guitar though and only one YouTube Bass demo I can find which doesn't demo the filter on it's own. I'm not sure if it'll keep the Bass frequencies well or how well the envelope will react - So does anyone here have experience using one of these with Bass? https://www.walrusaudio.com/products/kangra-filter-fuzz?variant=16491585962030

Yeah good spotting- I de-soldered the switch and pots to take them off when I thought I'd just buy another board but might as well take them off and keep them (but am leaving them in place for now). The 3.9 Zener is what I put in the 4148 socket to start with - I'm guessing my heavy handed removal is what's damaged something. I won't give up just yet but will look with fresh eyes tomorrow.

Plugged in and.....nothing! I would have been quite shocked (perhaps literally!) if it had worked though. I put a diode in the wrong place and burnt the pcb while de-soldering so I think it could be that, or I damaged the diode. Bought a new diode but still nothing. Or it could literally be any one of the 100 or so shoddy solder connections so I think I'll give up on it for now. I do have an enclosure decorated by my daughter though so suppose I should do my part and get it working at some point!

I love my TM5 SL. I wouldn't say it's technically 'better' than the Dingwall Combustion I traded it for, but it's better for me - which is partly why if I could go back I'd tell myself it doesn't matter that much to have a 37" B string - the priority should be having something that's comfortable and fun to play and makes the tones that suit me. Although to contradict myself and not that the TM5 is a cheap Bass or that I have any issues with it at all but the grass is always greener on the other side so I do keep enviously looking at high-end £2-£3k (2nd hand) Basses (like this Sadowsky or this Mayones) and half-talking myself into if it'd be worth selling the TM5 and using my overdraft for it because it won't lose its value and I'll get to play it for many years - and perhaps in 10 years I'll go back on this thread and tell myself it was the best decision I ever made and I should have gone for a high-end Bass sooner! I'm guessing those double the price high-end Basses are only marginally better than something like a Sandberg though and I'm not sure I'd like feeling I have to be too precious with it, still though - it's an itch!

Yeah, I love synth Bass sounds but I'd had multi-FX pedals with Synth and a Boss SYB-5 and they were enough to put me off using Bass Guitar with synth pedals as they weren't enjoyable to play (latency and tracking issues), needed to heavily modify playing style, and the sounds were really dated- a cheap kids keyboard would give them a run for their money. I came to the conclusion that Bass guitar's strengths are mostly in producing clean Bass guitar tones, perhaps add chorus, envelope filter and distortion or some combination of them to get synthy but no point trying to sound exactly like a keyboard synth that can do so much more so much better for cheaper. ....however! I then got a Source Audio C4 followed by a Future Impact and they are a whole different league. Can't notice latency, tracking is really good (you do still need to be quite 'solid' with each note), and the sounds are often as good as keyboard synths. They're still not as practical as using a keyboard but aren't far off for monophonic stuff (which I prefer) and I find it more fun and creative playing a Bass than a keyboard so I'd recommend them mostly for the fun factor.

I'd agree with what's already been said but I've been through quite a few overdrive pedals including the Spark, Mojo Mojo and Vintage Microtubes and find that generally it comes down to your setup and personal taste (hence me getting through a lot of pedals to try them out) as it's is mainly 'what's your favourite sound' which is very subjective and quite difficult to compare like-for-like via youtube videos. The reason I got rid of them were: Spark had no mid control and I had another pedal that did similar low gain OD and included mid control, Mojo Mojo was a bit 'grainy/synthy' for me compared to the Blueberry Bass Queen Bee that replaced it for me, Vintage microtubes added a bit of higher frequency 'clank' that I wasn't keen on. My favourites have mostly included EQ with mid control (ideally sweepable), but those tend to be bigger and more expensive DI/Preamp/OD combination pedals. A smaller/cheaper OD without EQ (just 'tone' control) that I'm really liking at the moment is the Solid Gold FX Beta - it's similar to the TC Spark style, a bit darker, and a flick of a switch to also have higher gain OD. For a brighter higher gain OD I liked the Way Huge Green Rhino Mk5, it's a tube screamer type OD with useful frequency controls. Personally, I buy quite a lot second hand as they are built to last and they hold their value well so you don't really lose much £ buying/selling and trying a lot out....I suppose that's a bit of a faff but it seems to have become a hobby within a hobby for me!

First time at this so this time next year I might have built a Chunk Systems 00Funk Envelope Filter clone (JedsPeds 'Funkin for Ja Morton' kit).

The thing I've learned is that my top priority should have been to get a Bass that is comfortable/light and fun to pick up, and get a home setup that makes that easy to practice - even if just for a few minutes at a time. Getting that practice time in is much more important than obsessing over Alder vs Ash etc.

Almost all of mine. I guess when done well the album art reflects the music.

Yeah, they're great. It got me thinking:

What is your favourite album art? I'd probably change my mind tomorrow, but off the top of my head right now my top 3 are these: .....clearly I've got a thing for hand-drawn cartoonish stuff! And the best ones give a good impression of what the music sounds like. Perhaps streaming and digital files means the artwork is increasingly designed to be seen as a thumbnail on phone rather than 12", but vinyl sales are fairly strong and I think that's partly down to people appreciating larger-scale album art so hopefully it's something that'll stick around.

I ordered 'Scientist meets the Space Invaders' and incorrectly got sent 'Scientist wins the world cup' which I was ready to return it but I gave it a listen and it's excellent so will be staying (and I'll still get 'Space invaders' at some point). I really like that early 80's transition from classic 70s Roots dub into more digital sounding stuff - like the opening track (riddim also used for 'Two Bad DJ, Can't take another World War'). I've also got 'Scientist Heavyweight Dub champion' which I'd recommend. 'Scientist Rids The World Of The Evil Curse Of The Vampires' sounds good too.

I've realised this isn't a fault: It only does it when scrolling through 'Favorites' where I have previously assigned a particular FS when I saved the effect as a Favorite - it remembers what FS that effect was assigned to and always puts it there (I'll be re-saving my favorites without a FS assigned because I don't find it to be a useful feature).

I did find the BDDI reduced mids but suppose that's the nature of the tone its aimed at giving but I ended up adding an eq pedal. I guess the para driver is the answer for those that want more mid control, EQ for mids and a mid shift: