Vin Venal

The problem I'm having (it's not really a problem, I know) is that I like my amp too much. Specifically the preamp in the Ampeg PF-500. I always want that sound in my signal path, and I also like the inbuilt compression. But I also want my DI to sound like its going through an 8x10, and I want all this on my pedal board so I can use any backline, and not have to bring the amp. Really I need someone to release a pedal which is all of the following: A preamp which accurately replicates the classic ampeg clean tone and plays nicely with my small collection of drive pedals. A musical sounding built in one-knob compressor. A great sounding cab sim on the DI/phones only. A good quality headphone amp built in. I got quite excited about the new origin effects bassrig (the blue one), but its 400 quid and I'd still need a separate headphone amp and compressor, which present both pedal board space, and cost issues. One day my dream pedal will come along, until then I'll just use the PF-500 like a massive pre-amp pedal.

I'm increasingly tempted to replace my whole rig with this, the more I read about it. I don't have experience with midi controllers, so I don't know how easy it would be to hook it all up, but the manual suggests, to my inexpert eye, both that darkglass will be releasing a midi controller, and you will be able to map bypass switches to all of your modelled effects in your signal chain. Once the app has more stuff to chose from, and that functionality is available, this has potential to be fantastic. You can literally build 5 different virtual rigs for different basses, different bands, etc, which I know you can do with other multi effects/modelling units, but this is also your amp, and is controllable from your phone on the go... But I think I'll wait and see how things develop.

Yeah maybe its more marginally useful than I think. It would mostly be for when I play through phones, or occasionally record stuff, to be honest, gigs are a bit hypothetical at present... I may be too easily swayed by youtube demos of cab sim pedals sounding awesome. But then, if you think about it, filming YouTube videos is probably the peak usefulness of a cab sim pedal. Lol

Howdy Wasn't 100% sure where to put this, this subforum is probably the best fit. I'm looking for a way to get cab sim into my signal chain. Ideally I want it on my DI signal (which hypothetically goes to FOH/anything I'm recording) and on my headphone output, but not on the output which actually goes to my cab. At the moment, both of these - my DI and phones out - come from my amp - an Ampeg PF-500, which I like the sound of, so want to keep in my signal chain if possible (rather than having a separate pre-amp pedal taking DI/phones from my pedal board before it hits the amp). The PF-500 has something called a preamp out, which I think bypasses the power amp, so is in theory a line level output with the ampeg sound. So my question is, can I just run a normal instrument cable from this and connect a cab sim pedal/DI box of my choice to this? Failing this, if I frontload a cab sim pedal into the amp, how much of an effect would this have on the sound through my cab?

Awesome, thanks! I'll give it a go.

Yeah, sounds like more work than I'd like to pit in. I was hoping to avoid completely removing the finish, cuz I like the "vintage" stain. Was hoping it would be possible to just rough up the surface of the polyurethane a bit, but not sure if that will work.

Howdy. I've got a Squier Jag, which I love, but the neck is thick, sticky gloss, which impacts playability. Is there a generally accepted, minimally invasive way of getting a more satin finish? I was thinking of just getting some wire wool and giving it a gentle rub, but I don't wanna remove too much finish, I've seen some necks which look like someone's been at them with an angle grinder, and I wanna avoid that if possible. Cheers ears!

Blimey. Lots of negativity on here so far, but then again I guess this place isn't brimming with the type of people darkglass stuff tends to appeal to. This is actually kind of my dream amp. I love darkglass stuff in general, don't care about built in overdrive in a solid state amp (would rather have modular effects), want lots of versatility - DI, cab sim, aux, headphones, etc. This has all that, with the added bonus of the effects modelling, which I'd see more as a way to try out a bunch of stuff, rather than as a replacement for a pedal board. Obviously I've no idea if it's any good in real life, but in terms of what it's offering, I'm very interested. Unfortunately, I don't currently have £900 to drop on an amp, so it'll remain hypothetical.

I think depending on the pickups, and more specifically the pickup location, some jazz basses have a natural mid scoop when pickup volumes are matched. Some kind of phase cancelling thing I don't understand. Most solutions suggested here seem to be to favour one pickup or the other, and boost low mids, so I spose that makes sense. I prefer noiseless pickups on Jazz basses, which is cheating really cuz they're single coil shaped humbuckers basically, but I prefer the slightly thicker sound.

Question is weird on many levels. Apart from anything else, what even is "good"? Kim Deal is a better bassist than Jaco. I know this because you couldn't improve a single Pixies song by having Jaco play it. Obviously that's nonsense, but the point is, "good" is both subjective and situational. If you hear someone making what you perceive to be an awful racket on a Fodera, it may be that that is exactly the kind of racket they want to make, and the fodera is the tool for the job. Also, nobody actually "needs" expensive gear. In 2022, you could do a stadium tour with a Squier and a couple of cheap pedals. Even top professionals surely buy stuff because they want it and can afford it, the same as you?

What depth of the Ibanez range is made by Fujigen do we know? Presumably all of their affordable lines are Indonesia or China these days? I think my EHB is Indonesian.

It's indulgent I know, but at the moment I've got two darkglass pedals - the vintage microtubes, and the alpha omega, and between the two, I can get some truly monstrous sounds.

Gareth bought a pedal from me recently. No issues. Good coms. Pleasure doing business, thanks!

Andy bought an amp from me recently. Smooth deal, great coms, pleasure to deal with. Many thanks!

Boodang bought a pedal from me recently. Good coms, no issues, good buyer. Thanks muchly!

Martin bought a bass from me recently. All went very smoothly. Pleasure to deal with, no qualms with recommending whatsoever. Many thanks! Vyn.

Seems like a good idea in theory - yay you only need one pedal. But in reality, you know you will end up needing more than one pedal. And because of the way overdrive stacking works, you can't put anything into the DI pedal without it sounding like the distortion on your DI pedal only more so. And you can't put anything after the DI pedal, cuz it won't be in your DI signal chain. So you better like overdriven chorus rather than chorused overdrive. Maybe having overdrive on your DI pedal makes sense if it's a crazy fuzz you only use occasionally, and want to colour everything else, but otherwise it kind of gets in the way the minute you go above 1 pedal. So why is it the most common configuration? And almost always your low gainy type drive? Wouldn't a built in compressor be more useful to most people?

I'd be happy to hang out with a tory voter, but I wouldn't let them be around my kids unsupervised. And I'm fine with all religions until they start trying to ram it down my throat... 😉

Unless it does. Then it just does. See what I mean? Like, if you're a lovely person to hang out with, but you're a nazi, being a nazi definitely still makes you a monster.

I'm non-binary, and I definitely exist. I suppose you can either find a way to fit that into your own belief system about gender, or you can choose not to, and operate on the assumption instead that I don't exist, which at least you wouldn't be alone in. You might find yourself on the same side of the argument as a bunch of people you wouldn't want to rub shoulders with. Also might be worth keeping in mind the argument is entirely about stuff which doesn't concern you, so if you go out of your way to go around telling people like me we don't exist, you're the one going out on a limb so to speak. Another thing to keep in mind, and of course this doesn't apply to most, but being binary trans is real flipping hard, and long. Like the waiting list just to get an appointment to start the process of transitioning is 3-5 years. A lot of people find it extremely daunting to think about attempting to pass as one thing or another. That's a lot of pressure to take on, especially when you're not getting any chemical assistance. If the idea of anything outside the binary makes you uncomfortable, keep in mind that a lot of those people might be on a journey and might end up more in line with your thinking when that's done, so cut them some slack in the meantime. Or they might not, that might just be what they are, which is really none of your concern. Anyway, peace and love and stuff.

Empros by Russian Circles

No, I do that because I now live openly as a queer and trans person, and I'm painfully conscious of the danger posed to myself and my peers by the real harm done by the language and conduct of others.