WinterMute

I've got the Bartolini Musicman replacement in my fretless with the 3 band Bart pre-amp that has the switchable mid, and I don't think it's weak at all, it's a very useful and musical pre that voices really well on the fretless.

It has advantages over the lego, that's for sure.

Jesus, can't a man buy a plushy pig....?

Yep, very capable unit, I looked at it before I bought a second hand XT Pro, but I needed a bit more power and went with a sweaty great Crown amp into the Big Twin.

I've tried the Helix and the Pod XT Pro against the Kemper rack and the Multi-amp, what I observed was that the units designed specifically for bass were more flexible and therefore more useful than the "general" units that had some bass models in them, that said, I thought the models in the Helix were perfectly useable but needed more attention, and the Kemper was fine as long as you didn't stray too far from the original modelled sound. The MB was a cracking unit, but I didn't think it sounded any better than the Kemper or the Line6 units, it sounded different. Studio use of course.

Is your OS up to date? Focusrite Control is on a new version I think.

boot the machine into Single User mode by starting it up and holding down CMD+S at the chime till you see a black screen with a bunch of white text. Wait for that to finish loading and then type fsck -f (the space is deliberate) this will force the machine to do a full check of the disc architecture and run fixes. Wait for the process to finish, it'll either say "Mac HD look OK" or Mac HD was repaired" or something like that if it says OK, type sync;sync;sync;reboot and press return. The machine will reboot and hopefully work. If it say repaired, run the fsck -f command again until it says OK.

Yes, which is why I used the Barefaced Big Twin T when I was gigging, as it's effectively a bass PA... In the days of Ampeg 8X10's I wouldn't have been so picky I suspect. What I would definitely be able to tell is that the tone is how I designed it to be, and when I played through other rigs, it didn't sound right.

Cheek! That's a limited edition Pink Floyd plushy pig from the V&A exhibition last year...!

Best way to deal with multi-fx, one stage at a time and keep an eye on the levels.

My studio: In the box digital all running through a class A summing mixer and a Rupert Neve designed Amek comp/lim. All the flexibility and power of digital and some lush analogue width and depth.

I'm mixing an album currently with UAD2 plugins emulating some of the best analogue gear on the market, with a little patience the result I'm getting is perfectly acceptable, given that I'm not able to afford a Rupert Neve Designs 5088 60v console and a rack of vintage eq's and compressors... Still, I like the result, but then I know what I'm doing and have the experience to back it up. I used to use the PodXT pro, and a lot of guys commented that they didn't like it's sound until they heard what I was getting out of it, fact is that multi-fx units like the Helix need a deal of understanding, not least about gain staging and signal chain construction, and the standard patches aren't always very good... Easy to use, good sounding comps are always going to be popular because a lot of people don't actually know what a compressor is doing to their signal, I'd love a Shelford for my bass, but it's overkill, the limiter in my Phil Jone flight-case works just fine with one knob.

This has been around for a while, a year or so at least, if I buy or sell a bass or kit now, it has to be separately insured for the journey.... This is why pick-up is so much easier.

It's a great little unit, enjoy.

I have to disagree, I hear the difference and it matters to me, why else would we spend so long and so much money finding the right bass/amp/cab/effects/case/tea...? No digital system modelled, synthesised, convoluted etc. sounds as good the real thing, I use Universal Audio plug-ins because they are the best sounding in the market to my ears, but I'd still take your hand off if you offered me an 1176 or an LA2A in good nick. Each to their own, I'll use what sounds good to me, but I most definitely can tell the difference.

I used the Line6 Bass pod XT for a number of years, both live and in the studio, now replaced with a Tech21 GED2112, but both have an old Boss Bass Chorus pedal on the FX loop as none of the choruses I've tried sound the same on the rare occasion I use it on the fretless... Analogue has it's place as it doesn't sound the same as digital, that said, digital has great advantages in the studio and live.

Without doubt Mick Karn was once of the most original players out there, that Japan catalogue still sounds like nothing else on the market. Lovely fellow, sadly missed.

You might actually be better off looking for a second hand Clarett 8pre, rather than buying a separate preamp. I know it's a stretch but they come up on EvilBay fairly frequently.

I, on the other hand, record bass with a stack of AUD plug-ins and amp models... I also record vocals with plug-ins and delay and reverb, plus dynamics and EQ for drums... TB does indeed work if you're going down that route.

The pre's do sound better though, and the headphone amps are really nice... C'mon Si, don't make me do your job for you...

The obvious difference is the reduced latency with the Clarett interface over Thunderbolt, I'd have though... I use the Clarett 8pre X and have no issues at all with tracking multiple inputs whilst using plug-ins, and whilst I don't think the latency with USB is particularly bad, the TB connection is faster. I'd go with the Clarett if you really don't need all the I/O that the 18i8 offers.

Spirit of Radio by Rush... I blame Geddy Lee for my habit of hitting the strings so hard... According to Melodyn I push the bass 10-15% sharp...

Oh yes, the old BSS box, I've still got one of those in a drawer somewhere, used to use them all the time before the Phoenix Audio and RND stuff came along. Good call.

I've had a couple of Bartolini pres in basses, had a 3 band in the Tony Levin OLP that was brilliant, very powerful and easy to use, I have a slightly different Bart in my fretless, bass/treble stack with a midrange push-pull selector. Again, very useful. I do find, however that I only tend to use the EQ to iron out sound issues onstage, and I leave it flat in the studio, preferring to use the EQ in the pre or desk and then plug-ins in the mix.

Bought and sold stuff here for years, never had a bad exchange, everyone's polite and the couple of people I've met have been friendly and honest fellows to a man. Only problem I've encountered is the lack of interest in some of the dodgy kit I've advertised sometimes...!