mcnach

That's my feeling too: that it's probably one (or more) or the patch cables, or a particularly bad pedal but I've tried them all in isolation at various points and none seemed bad. The thing that puts me off solderless kits is that I *feel* they're not very solid. Maybe it's just my feeling and they work beautifully, I don't know. I'm happy to solder anyway... but I prefer them already made (while I can solder well, I prefer to use my time doing other things, like reading BC 😛 ) IN your own personal experience, what works well?

EDIT: It was a single patch cable, between the last overdrive and the wah... I'm not a heavy effects user, and I only really use a non-small pedalboard in one of the bands I play in. I say non-small rather than large because I've seen the size of some of the boards some of the guys here have... some have a measurable gravitational field 😛 I've been replacing, adding, changing things over the past few months, and I realised last week that I have a significant signal loss. The volume drop is noticeable and it feels a bit... muffled... just a bit, compared to plugging straight in, or through a single pedal (so that I still use the same long cables) I use a 6m lead from bass to pedalboard, and another one from pedalboard to amp. I checked and it turns out that every single one of the 9 pedals is true bypass, including the tuner at the start of the chain. Last/near last is an EBS Multicomp, true bypass but it's always on. Chain: Tuner (Tomsline TA-07) Octave (MarkBass) 3x overdrives (Caline Orange Burst -> EBS Multidrive -> Joyo Ultimate Drive / EBS Metal Drive) wah (G-Labs wowee wah) Phaser (EHX Small stone) Compressor (EBS Multicomp - always on) DI (DSM OmniCabSim DeLuxe - always on, but using the 'through' output to the amp, reserving the processed signal to send to FOH) Q1: I generally use active basses, either a Stingray or a Schecter Model T (EMG)... which I thought would go some way to help matters, but perhaps I should consider putting a decent buffered bypass pedal first in the chain, especially as I sometimes use a passive Precision too. Probably a tuner would be the best idea although I like the one I'm using now (small but bright, good visibility in all conditions)... so maybe a dedicated buffer would be a good thing to use, such as the TC Electronic Bonafide (also small footprint). Any suggestions? Q2: Cables. The patch cables I use have been accumulated over the years. All kinds and varying in length to fit. Whenever I identify a bad one, I throw it away... but that doesn't mean that they're all great... and perhaps the cumulative effect of all those cables, if a few of them are not great, can have a noticeable effect... so my question is... there are lots of patch cables advertised everywhere, some with pretty amazing claims (of course) so it's hard to decide which ones are really good and which ones are just exaggerating: which patch cables would people here recommend for a pedalboard the size of mine? Most can be pretty short but I need a couple of longer ones. Compact plugs are a bonus as they allow to organise the pedals better. Q3: Any benefit in adding a buffer in the middle of the chain? Just considering adding a buffered overdrive as the last of the 3 overdrives I use. I plan to test systematically the board removing one pedal at a time, to see if the effect is mostly due to a single pedal (as I found years ago with the CRy Baby wah I was using at the time), and see if any cables are obviously worse than the others... but until I an do that (not until next weekend, likely), I'd love to hear any suggestions/advice from people who know about these things and/or have experienced similar issues and how they dealt with them.

I'm liking what this little pedal does. I found this video that explains a bit more what's inside, as well as showing the internal switch if swapping to 12AX7 type valves...

remember? I still have one, turned fretless!

I have never played one with neck dive, and due to their shape I imagine that only the very lightest ones could potentially have neck dive... so that sales guy is talking pish, in my opinion. Go elsewhere and try other Precisions.

I find the Orange Burst has a very slight low end loss too... but it's very very slight and I think it works well with bass. I have let many pedals go because of the bass loss, but this one manages to pass the mcnach threshold

I really like that Orange Burst too. I have one of those early Danelectro Cool Cat Transparent Overdrives. I don't use it much, mostly because I find the knobs on the back a pain to deal with... but the few times I looked at it and thought "I'm going to sell this, but first, let's have a little play" I ended up changing my mind and keeping it. I prefer it on guitar 'though, but it's really nice for low gain bass sounds too.

I've just got my hands on one of the black label series MetalDrive pedals. I already have a non black label MultiDrive, which I really like. It covers a lot of ground and I generally use it for moderate levels of gain overdrive sounds. I am not entirely happy with what I've tried so far for higher gain sounds... the inexpensive Joyo Ultimate Drive is my favourite, which I keep removing to try other 'better' pedals, and always manages to make his way back onto my pedalboard. I was disappointed with the SA Aftershock... well, not disappointed, it is a GREAT pedal, but it required more tweaking than I was ready to do to get the sound I wanted... It is potentially the best and most versatile dirt pedal out there... but I like simple pedals with simple controls. The Ultimate Drive always gets back. I thought I'd try the MetalDrive, as I saw it for sale here a few days ago, thinking it would do the higher gain sounds better than the MultiDrive. Well... it does sound good for high gain... but I actually prefer it for low gain. Using the Tube Sim mode, the drive knob allows you to start with no discernible distortion, and slowly thicken up the sound all the way up to seriously distorted sounds, but it's in the low gain range that I think it sounds best. I've often tried overdrive pedals looking for that elusive thick low gain overdrive that's barely perceived as overdriven, but has such a nice body, reminiscing a little of classic valve amps... The MetalDrive does it better than most others I've ever tried, if not better than all of them. So it looks like I might be using this for low gain stuff after all, keep the Multidrive for slightly more overdriven sounds and even high gain, and the Joyo Ultimate Drive gets to stay... It refuses to be beaten!

Well, I've been on an overdrive quest lately and... it happened. I bought one of these. The instructions it came with are hilarious. I'll see if I can scan them or at least take a picture. I did not understand a great deal of it, and the function of the switch on the side is a mystery to me, as are the meanings of the red and the blue leds. I've tried it only at home, at moderate volume, using one of the power outputs from the Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 2 +, the one at 9V and up to 250mA. The instructions indicate it can take up to 18V but use more than 500mA. However, it did work (at least partially) and I liked what I heard. Why partially? Well, with the side switch OFF, the footswitch alternates between muting the pedal or producing a clean sound (with the red led shining). I don't know if giving it more juice would change the behaviour, or if this is only useful while using certain valves (the instructions are unclear to me). With the switch ON, however... the footswitch alternates between bypass, or overdrive (with the blue led shining). The drive knob allows you to go from clean, to pretty distorted, and everything in between. It's a very pleasant distortion, with body, meaty, and a lot going on on the higher registers if you want it. The tone control does what you expect nicely, but what's even nicer is how it responds to the tone control on the bass: roll off treble and use low gain for a thick well define sound, and add treble to increase the amount of 'grit'. I quite like it, I have to say! For less than £40, it's a pretty cool overdrive that sounds a lot better than the vast majority in that range. It doesn't appear to suffer from low end loss, but I cannot tell 100% until I have played it at higher volumes. It's very promising, 'though. I decided to use it with a 9V battery, using a little adaptor cable, and see what happens. To my surprise, it worked. I was under the impression that a lowly battery could not power this, but it does. However, there was a distinct difference in the sound (slightly lower volume, I think that less bassy too, and more distorted), and I *think* the sound deteriorated a little in the couple of minutes or so I tried it like this. It makes me wonder how it'll work using the more common 100-120mA outputs on most power packs, and whether using a separate power supply that produces 500mA or more, as recommended, would give better results than my test with the 250mA output. Does the valve do anything? I think there is a red led at the base of the valve to aid the visual effect, but the filamen(ts appear to glow a little. Regardless... it sounds good, especially for low-mid gain overdriven sounds, but even cranking the drive to the max still sounds good and doesn't get overly fizzy like many other pedals out there. That switch is a mystery to me and I'll have to investigate further trying to decypher the instructions. They say something like it is to choose between 6N2 or 6N4 valves or valve modes... I have no idea what this means. As it is, it only seems to work in one mode... but it's a good one. The pedal is only slightly larger than a boss pedal and the knobs are hard to read (black on black with a small silver mark)... but that's not much of a problem. So the first impressions are pretty good, for this Little Bear G3. Nobsound. Ha! EDIT: Oh, and it works as it should. The switch is a bit like the 'standby' on valve amps. It turns the valve on, and keeps it on, while the foot switch just turns the effect on/off. The valve takes a couple of seconds to start working if you plug it in with the switch in the on position. Not sure it needs this switch but, that's what it does.

+1 on the foam. Simple, no residue.

same here. It's such a trivial repair, I would not want to play lottery with what bass I'd receive next (unless I were able to go in person to the store and check their stock, which is not possible here, I take it)

I agree, it's really useful when sellers provide all the info... some of which is pretty basic (like location), but is it such a hardship to just PM the seller?

This! I had a pair of PJBs and they were distinctly underwhelming for me. They sounded ok, but not amazing and build quality was not great. When mine stopped working on one side, and it was not the cable, PJB were also very distinctly unhelpful. But I am glad, since I then got a pair of ATH-M50X and I think they are much better.

The cobalt flats are much brighter and you'll probably like them. They're not quite roundwound sound, but it's the closest one I've tried. Great strings. Another possible alternative is Labella White Nylons. They're tapewound roundwounds. They are soft, and very very flexible (some love that, some hate that). I like them for 'finger funk' type of sound, rich n mids with tight low end, lots of definition. They still have a lot of treble and while you won't get a Marcus MIller type of slap sound, they have a beautiful classic slap sound too. I'd say one of these two would be pretty good... although from your description, the Cobalts will probably be more your thing.

I never had the Pure Sky, so I can't really tell

Great example of how someone who can play, will manage to get a nice sound from any decent instrument. When I was a teenager and started to learn to play guitar, I used to blame my guitar (which needed a lot of work, that's true) and I thought if I had a good instrument I'd get so much better... Then one day I saw a little gypsy kid playing a battered flamenco guitar with chunks missing... and he was fantastic. I realised then that it wasn't the guitar, but the hours you put on it (and talent helps too, of course )

Maybe he had notoriously very bad smelly feet?

that must have been sooo satisfying!

Very nice! I love the sound of a Precision for slap...

I like this one, but the loss of bass was a little annoying. I've substituted it with a Caline Orange Burst CP-18... which at around £20-25 is a steal. For a mid-gain well defined kind of distortion, it's pretty cool. It does get quite dirty too if you want it. For higher gain... I've recently gone back to my Joyo Ultimate Drive. It just works. I was using a Source Audio Aftershock but honestly, I need to edit it too much for what I want... and it can do everything and more, but it's not the pedal to adjust in a hurry. The Ultimate Drive just does it for me. I keep trying other things and going back to it. It's time I admit that it's the sound I want. Again, quite inexpensive. So, for nice yet inexpensive dirt... I'd try those two: Caline Orange Burst for low/mid gain and Joyo Ultimate drive for... everything, really. A little tweak of a knob there goes a long way, so be gentle

Fantastic!

If you order them, they'll be whatever you choose. I specified the profile in the 3 basses I ordered by giving measurements at different points (width and depth). The ability to do that was what first attracted me to them, plus all the possible customisations for little extra.

where's the bass... again

Isn't the quilt a veneer?

I would have changed the pickup first. Get the 'basic' tone sorted first. Preamp for colour.