Paddy777

The B string on the Anaconda Essence J5 Ultra (an import bass) was seriously good, I’ve been mulling over the idea of putting a 50% deposit down on a new one for this years run of them, as you (almost) never see them used, which says a lot in itself! I’m not fussed either way on headless basses but that does look nice!

….and two days after saying this Line6 announce the launch of a brand new multi fx/amp modeler that’ll be absolute minimum £2K 🤣 However what the Helix Stadium can do and the quality & level of detail of the tube amp simulation etc sounds like it’s going to be insane, but NAM captures are still legitimately excellent, and so the technology for that will be available for next to nothing (comparatively). I think what the big boys are going to be able to charge the big bucks for is the ongoing new fx/models, support & updates as Helix do now. Back to the original post tho I’m definitely getting one of these to use as a cab sim, or maybe an amp/cab sim, in which case I may drop my preamp and just use different dirt pedals for different flavours running into the amp model, but we’ll see If anyone is interested in what free NAM captures are available this website 👇 has loads on, and you can listen to them with several different styles of bass playing etc. There’s some very nice sounding rigs on there, I just found I couldn’t think what yo search for much past Ampeg, GK and a couple of others - the Avalon VT737 Channel Strip capture sounds really good https://www.tone3000.com

That’s what the livestream is “in aid of” or that’s the justification of it, but they’ve really pulled the big guns out - they’ve invited loads of guitar influencers to Line6HQ for it and really built it up. The speculation is that they’ll announce Helix firmware 4.0 which will have NAM compatibility but that could be wishful thinking or completely unfounded - they might even announce or give a teaser for next gen Helix 2.0 but the counter to that is that the current Helix software is only 18 months old and so I’m leaning towards the former, but I haven’t got a clue I to don’t even own anything Line6 anymore (but that may be about to change post-livestream if they do announce NAM compatibility). The livestream is 7pm tomorrow (11th) I’ll link it below 👇

That’s another pedal I’ve looked at in my quest to find some saturation that I like, sounds real nice too from the vids I saw

That’s actually how I fancy using it - I’ve just had to talk myself around the idea I could have a fuzz as an always on! I think I’m going to end up with one before long!

I don’t think the GP-5 is the next big thing or anything like that - far from it, but I do think it’s a sign of things to come and that the big boys should be a bit worried by how cheap the technology is now becoming to play free NAM captures, which are very very good. Line6’s next generation (the successor to the HX products) is going to be coming at some point - Line6 has a livestream with a ‘big announcement’ coming on the 11th June, so maybe they’ll announce something then, but I think if their next gen of stuff supports NAM captures then the likes of the QC are going to look very expensive for what they actually do

The NUX MLD is not a bad preamp at all - the drive sounds good, built in cab sim and plenty tweakable, they’re often overlooked cos of the price I think, but I had one and really rated it for ampless gigs, cracking sound out front

I mean for the price it’s worth it simply to use as an amp & cab modeler - you’ve got an insane amount of free open source NAM models/captures out there. From what I can gather you can run 9 fx blocks too making it more powerful than the Stomp (I’m not actually surprised, cos as great as it is, the technology is a decade behind). There is midi control too so you can presumably set it up so you can control those fx blocks via midi? I think this is a sign of things to come - over the next couple of years (or sooner!) the technology for all this stuff is going to fit on a tiny chip and it’s going to be able to be sold from manufacturers in China for buttons. I know you’re paying for all the R&D with something like the anagram but I think the days of paying a grand+ for modelers/digital rigs are coming to an end - the technology is going to be too good and too cheap elsewhere

Another compressor deal a month later 😂 This time I sold to Jim - top top Basschatter!

What exactly is the Ultrawave - is it primarily a distortion/saturation/fuzz pedal? I’ve been sure what it is