paulo m

John East's 'On board' Pre amps are Stellar unit's J Retro or J Tone' in a Jazz Bass with any of Nordstrand's NJ4 series pickups.... Passive Pickups with Active Electronics... An acknowledged high quality Combination... Outboard preamp's in my experience are subtley different tone wise' & the difference'can be immense' from a Quality unit such as a EBS MICROBASS II right up to let's say a NOBLE UNIT.... & its interesting to see that ORIGIN have entered into this market recently with their BIG RIG offering's that I'm sure will be excellent units.

These compressors are Stellar units in the respect that they add a superb sublte' warmth & girth.. to our exsisting bass tones. The H. P. F side chain is an excellent addition in that it allows the lower frequency's to pass through unaffected while compressing the mid's & upper register.. together' I've owned mine for four years. It's always on' & infinitly tweakable but always in a musical way' I place it first on my board' & I don't employ 'Squash' I always want to hear fingers on strings ( That Attack' even with a plectrum the Click needs to be heard) I myself also favour the fast release & lower 4 to 1 ratios...

Origin make excellent products no-doubt' i have a Cali 76 compact...... But' Do we need or require more knobs to twiddle nor switch's to switch?...... interesting to hear that Gregor Fris (Bass the World) say's that they "Wont" turn your pedal platform into either a Fender nor an Ampeg..?? Dedicated Pedal Addicts will be head over heels' for these well designed & beautifully made products.

The EBS Microbass 2 stands head & shoulders above the crowd not only for its first class sound... But its functionality & myriad of applications... & they sell used for around £ 130 they don't hang around long... So be quick.

Rapture' Anita Baker. Little Feat' The last record Album. Weather Report' any of em. Victor Bailey' Low Blow The Nightfly' Donald Fagen Graceland' Paul Simon Prince Diamonds & Pearl's Tower of Power Soul Vaccination... & of course any Jaco Pastorius.. Motown Chart busters Vol 3. Chic' any of it.

The Noble is reassuringly expensive indeed & a tool of studio & live applications ( I've never tryed-one) but I have played the Microbass 3.. of which I was a little disappointed... Not the same quality of its predecessor... More aimed @ the Metal Bassists for myself..

Once again matt excellent little demo with great sound quality & clarity. I've owned a microbass II for years & it's a unit I simply wouldn't part with for its multitude of applications' the valve drive is of an equal quality if' a more rarefied taste for myself.. The Crunch' Drive' Distortition' is not something I would find myself using on a frequent basis but' it is most certainly convincingly audiophile quality. Your choice of P Bass is ideal for this demo... From the Jamerson motown grit' to the full-on rock-metal face melt. Hours of endless sound sculpting... & may I say with exceptional results.

I choose to go with tuner' compression' octave' envelope filter' distortition' Chorus/Flange/ Vibrato/ Reverb... & end with a Q Strip for extra EQ & H.P.F plus L.P.F I don't feed this through the amps effects loop prefering to go straight into the front... 😉 Enjoy.

Spencer's Pedals are quality tools but' not the holy grail of Pedals.... I've owned Proton mk2' Wonderlove Deluxe' & my favorite the GR2 a few months ago I had the offer of a Iron Ether Xerograph Deluxe... Or a Chase Bliss filter' both which are far more expansive than 3 Leaf stuff.... But' I didn't go for it... Why? Because I use an Envelope Follower very rarely... & the GR2 for myself is just a Great Filter which I enjoy.

The Simplifier for myself wasnt anything like it's title... I found it to be gadget ridden' & it's so called filters nothing new... Its designed to attract the button pusher's & knob twiddlers ( Gadget Freaks) .. Its industrial appearance is no-accident & its so-so sound reproduction average at best' for myself. Strange that the Premier or elite pre-amp builders these days employ a minimal approach.. A la' Noble.. As for its performance 'with passive instruments I found it to be far superior to its sound & performance with Active Circuits... Once again this is only my subjective view... to others it may appear desirable. Take a listen to the excellent Demo Video on this thread with the equally adept Nathan King' & judge for yourselves on this unit's non- revelationary performance.

Refreshing that this thread is still alive & rightly so.. But I feel we can't review Noble in the same breath as Aguliar' Sadowsky' G.K' etc for they are not of the equivalent price range nor quality... I've tryed the DSM & Humbolt Bass station & it's great on passive basses' but not active circuits! Beware❌ I posted earlier in this thread & remain a solid EBS Microbass II user for its functionality & quality!! I don't dig the EBS Microbass 3 inferior sound quality to my ears.... & remember you get what you pay for... In this department I. M. H. O.

All of these filter choices are subjective & I accept that. I have an opposite opinion with the MXR B.E.F. I found it to be way too Quacky' with laser beam type effects' No down sweep opition.. & it simply didn't perform or deliver a usable sound for myself in a live situation. The 3 Leaf filters to my ears deliver a superior quality sound' with greater user functionality.. & interaction with other effects.

I use a Tech 21 Q Strip @ the end of my effects chain it has both H. P. F & L. P. F which you can punch in or out... Most useful indeed.. I run it straight into the head not' into the effects loop of the amp.

T. C Electronic Dreamscape is a truly exceptional pedal on bass' designed by a Guitar player for primaraly just that this little box can Chorus' Vibrato' Flange' & almost Phase & throw in the Toneprint mode... where ridiculous amounts of Chorus plethora are available... Tough to beat indeed.... "Digital not Analogue" .

Ebs Microbass 2.....phenomenal

Iron Ether Xerograph Deluxe' I had the opportunity last week to buy one' this was the latest incarnation of this well..."Expensive" Extensive Envelope Follower & Synth unit. I passed on the sale preferring to stay with my GR2" Just what experience does anyone have with this unit...? & how did they rate it.. V. F. M.??

I use a T. C Dreamscape & favour "Roscoe Beck's" sonic string modulator print & I use a Mini HOF 2 with various reverb's " Shimmering Star" for fretless sounds' they are great Pedals with multitudes of applications the "Dreamscape" accommodates all of the Corona Chorus Prints also.

I've a GR2 & I don't think I will find anything quite like it....for its Wet & Squelchy Envelope '. Also their value is rising..

Especially useful' when used with a small bass combo say' a 1x15' 1x12' or 1x10 for they cannot reproduce those frequencys at best.. i have both HPF & LPF within a Q strip pedal plus extra EQ' which is a bonus also the HPF is great when using an Octaver' "tight low end" & we all appreciate that one....

Originally an Xotic expensive filter indeed.. Nearly £ 300 new & now less than £ 200 new from bass direct.

I've had Levy's' Comfort' Neotech' Gruv Gear... The single & the duo straps' which I'm currently using but' I will not be acquiring any more G.G stuff because for myself it's expensive & cheaply made... Comfortable yes' but not made to last... I. M. O.

The DB 924 is battery driven carn't remember if its one or two..? to my ears' of the two it sounds richer in tone both are boost only & @ the same freqs 40hz & 4k... & remember originally in the early days Aguilar made the Preamps for Sadowsky basses. Excellent comparison test this with quality sounds & info... 👏👏😉