bassbora

Just got this today and already gave it a spin. Sounds great and is different enough from my Octbvre and T47. The sound options are great and a lot to explore and as Taylor suggests to pair it with a filter (preferrably Xerograph) and that is so true. I have read a lot about these and early ones had a bleed from the synth voices but this one is really quiet. Really looking forward to see what I can do with it.

I am using exactly the same as you. 3 Leaf Oct M3.33, Doom2 (is that from last summer Gray type thing glows in the dark? Thats the one I have) and finished off with the IE XD. It just sounds amazing, very impressed.

Is that IE XD next to it? That pedal just makes everything sound better

I love this album. I will definitely check this out. Great work.

Why not. I just loved your comment on it

Just to chime in here with the acoustic part, it sounds great unplugged. It depends mostly how old the strings are on it. I have over the years spent a long time practicing unplugged and to me it sounded great. Probably the biggest surprise is the B string. It really sings (again depending on the strings). I have had mine since 97 and its an 89 with EMGs. I have over the last years used it as a backup but it still sounds great. I prefer my Stage 2 and that has been my main bass for at least the past 10 years but the Thumb gets used sometime and often at practices. I totally understand why hate the shape. I am 6,1 so it does not feel like a problem to me. What I have always loved about the Thumb is how well it responds to right hand technique. I have also started to change my preference for the pickup selection. I have always just had the blend in the middle but I have started to favor the neck pickup more and more. Maybe its me being older but I always hated that sound but now that is my preference. Just a last thing, I cant remember if anyone has mention how they sound as fretless. I think they are amazing fretless instruments. I think they really sing and shine there. I have an 89 6 string fretless and that is the best sounding bass I have played. The tone is just perfect and again the B string is so clear and punchy. It does has that Thumb sound but just a little less than the 5er and that could very well being the pickups not being JJ. I used the 5 at practice couple of days ago and I have been thinking about using that for the gig next weekend I enjoyed it that much. Oh and I played few songs with a pick which I have not done for 25 years (I used to do it all the time) and again right hand technique and a pick, a whole rainbow of sounds opened up.

Hey I am not in a position at the moment to do any recordings, it would just be just using mobile phone and that would not do it justice. Hopefully there will be demos soon, through some circumstances I got it really early. I can just give a quick opinion after playing around with it yesterday. I had been using OC5 for a bit and I liked it but I like having couple of different pedals for similar usage and T47 came up here and I have to say it suits me better. So I have been gigging the T47 for some time now and I really like it. The M3.33 is in similar ball park tone wise (of course OC2 derivatives) but I think the tracking is better. Or at least it felt like it. I had been at a practice the night before getting the M3.33 and I was playing the same stuff and it sounded great. I still have to play around with the Tone and the overdrive switch more but I most of the time kept the Overdrive switch on and I really liked it. I was also running it into Doom2 and IE XD (which just makes everything sound better). I was getting very similar sounds as from the T47 but as I said I need to play around more with the Tone but it was really impressive. I will reserve final judgement on the pedal until practicing with my bands and gigging but I am really impressed and I really like it.

I will be trying this one out after work. Never had an octaver from Spencer but I have GR3, Wonderlove, Proton Mk4 and Doom2 so I expect this to be on the same level.

I have been using Jam Pedals for this very task. I am not a fan of distorted or overdriven bass sounds and in isolation (at home) I just dont like it. But as you describe I have found myself lost in the mix in certain scenarios when playing live (not sure what it sounds like with a sound man in a mix when I have played in those type of venues). I started trying out couple of pedals for this and I was just happy with Lucydreamer and Rattler. I use them in three different bands (two different pedal boards) gain is quite low, tone more open and I use the mix a bit. It has helped greatly to cut through. I would not have the gain high I think that would just add to the overall mush as you describe. I dont really spend much time buying and selling gear so I just settled on these without looking further. This is of course personal to my playing style, the other gear I play and the overall sound of the bands. I guess you could probably achieve similar results with EQ pedal or a compressor.

Out of curiosity what is the difference in tone between the BO and NT? I only have experience of NT. I agree with previous posters the emg pickups in the older ones are great.

Just watched Zach's video and this pedal looks amazing. Also great to see him back.

When I am modern type synth in a band I go oct=>fuzz=>filter but I don’t always use the fuzz. I have found the Iron Ether XD give me the best synth sound. It has that 4 pole switch and just works differently than other filters I find. For Stevie Wonder type of thing I just use a filter (Wonderlove) and might add an oct occasionally. I have just found this works best for my setup and bands but there is no wrong or right you just have to experiment.

what year is the LX? Great looking bass

Another Doom2 here. Works great for synth type I do and also adds sparkle even to certain songs in band setting. Did not think I would appreciate it this much. The best one for me and my playing style is the Xerograph Deluxe. It just works so well for synth type things having the fast setting and the 4 pole. And the way it also works with octavers I prefer over my 3Leafs. And a wee mention for the T47 I got on here. I am not big OC2 sound fan and this one sounds great to me. I will probably try and find one or two other octavers next year to have options haha.

That cover is something else

I have the TC Infinite for exactly this. Can have up to 3 notes droning if you need, reverb and also tone prints. Quite handy practice tool as well.

Very late to reply to this but someone might see this later and find it useful. I was looking for an amp that would be loud enough to gig but not too heavy would have decent cleans and could take pedals. I did not want to have to deal with valves and the expense of that. I ended up getting Orange Super Crush 100. I really like it and I think it sounds good. I have not tried it with a band but I am sure it would do fine. There are few different amps in that range and either head or combo. I would look at that as an option.

I have a Rattler and I really like it. I actually don’t like distorted bass tone but I have found having the Rattler helps cutting through in live setting. So I set it up for that for heavier songs. It is really good if you set it right. I actually have the LucyDreamer as well and I keep changing my mind which one I prefer. Both are really good. @Supernaut if you are not worried about looks I would keep checking the B stock section on the Jam Pedals website. I got mine there. Free shipping and the price was under the import tax threshold so I thought it was dirt cheap. They say it’s just external blemishes but I couldn’t find any on my Lucy but I did get a different pedal and the paint work was not right on one side but honestly you couldn’t see it and obviously doesn’t affect performance so highly recommended.

I am sure Flea used all the gear back in the day. I am no Flea expert just remembered reading it in BP at the time. Interestingly enough I remembered I had other issues and found them, Feb 96 (the One hot minute album) his tech gives a run down on the whole rig and the pedals he is using. @Higgie and @Bagman you were actually both correct. The tech says he is using AW2 and FT2 and ODB3 but also MXR Micro Amp followed by an dbx 160x compressor. Either there was no interview for Californication or it was in the only 3 missing issues for me from this period but he is again in Aug 2002 for the By the way album. He says he used no fx on record but is using Boss ODB1 , MXR Micro amp but is now using Q-Tron live. I clearly had lost interest in fx pedals at that time since I already had the answer to my question. Sorry for the derail.

No wonder I could not figure out pedal was being referred to in the interview haha

I still have the Bass Player mag which features Flea (Feb 92) and in the interview he says he used Mu-Tron for Sir Psycho Sexy. It was running out of battery and he did the track. Then they changed the battery but it did not sound the same so they kept the first take. Interestingly he says he is using Boss filter live because he cant get the Mu-Tron to work right onstage. I always wanted a envelope follower (it was called that in the interview and not a filter) because of Flea talking about it. It never said which one and in the signal diagram used it just says Boss Envelope Follower and I always wanted to know what that was. Does anyone have a clue? Anyway I bought my first pedal in 94. Looked at all the Boss pedals but none said Envelope Follower and I had seen two or three players in BP articles using OC2 so I just got that. I had no idea what to do with it so I barely plucked it in. Those were the days before the internet where you had no one to ask questions and you just had to guess lol

Best explanation of all dials and switches: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IK3Dn4xjnl4&t=288s