mcnach

I didn't like the Mojo Mojo, I had one for about 2 weeks. But I was after dirtier sounds at the time.

Exactly. My Precision just generally doesn't give me the sound I want, with overdrive... except when I turn the tone control all the way down for that very thick type of overdriven bass, and I need to tame the lowest frequencies to get it right or it gets a bit overpowering. Commenting on that in the same sentence as talking about the Spark Booster was a bit unfair, as it's not an issue with the pedal. The pedal is super transparent, as far as I can tell, so it won't 'fix' a slightly boomy bass sound like some other overdrives do that remove low frequencies to some degree and compress the rest.

But you know how it is, NO pedal is the promised land, ever. :) In case I was misunderstood: I like the Spark Booster, a lot. It does what it does very well, which is keep the existing tone and add some grit/thickness. It reminds me of the sounds I was getting out of a DHA VT-2 tube preamp thingy I used to have, but I think I like this better. Some distortion pedals just seem to make your bass sound the same, more or less, regardless which bass you use. The Spark Booster does not. I would not call it a distortion/overdrive pedal either, but you know what I mean... I hope. If you are interested in that kind of low gain fat a-bit-tubey-like kind of sound, really, do give the Spark Booster a try. It's nicer/smoother than a Xotic BB for that kind of thing, if that comparison helps. On my'rock' board I generally have 3 dirt pedals: a low gain one, a mid one (currently EBS multidrive), and a crazy one (currently Ibanez PD7 Phat-Hed or SA Aftershock). I've used a bunch of different pedals for the low gain one and the Spark Booster is the one that I think will work best of them. My current one is the Caline Orange Burst, which loses a bit of low end but gets closest to what I have in mind. The Spark Booster is more versatile and the bottom end is very adjustable so you can get it just right. Of course, the real test will come at a gig/rehearsals... but there's so much scope either way that I can't imagine it'll be lacking or difficult to set there.

I've walked out for less. :( Technical difficulties, I deal with. Attitudes... you'd better be paying me handsomely or keep it at home. I admire your restraint.

Of course it's subjective and I only owned the pedal for like a day... so I can't say it was an exhaustive test (even if it lasted a good 3 hours or so playing various basses on their own and along to backing tracks from my band stuff to try to simulate a bit how it mixes in etc). My Precision and my JJ (J at the bridge, and additional J about an inch from that, towards the neck) were a little muddy and could not get it to give me the defined sound I wanted. It was not bad, but I wouldn't have kept the pedal based on that alone. I have to admit that especially the Precision seems to be a bit picky as to which overdrive pedals it prefers. Or rather, I am picky, I guess. The ones that sounded great were the Stingray/SUB and the Schecter P/J (active, EMG). It could be that those basses are closer to my 'ideal' sound, so it's only natural that the pedal sounds better with those, since it's pretty transparent and I'm not using it to change the sound drastically, just to add a little... something.

I think I prefer the fat setting too. On clean, I had the drive knob very high all the time, whilst on fat I have a much more useable range. I like how you can use the treble EQ knob to emphasise the distorted sound or tame it. I had a Mojo Mojo (which I found ok but just that), a Xotic BB (which was nicer for my taste), but I definitely prefer the Spark Booster for low gain sounds.

Talking about warm tubey sounds... if you want it relatively low gain, the TC Electronic Spark Booster would not be the worst pedal you could get, and at £40 it's worth a look. I've just got one and I'm liking it a lot so far, but certain basses sound a lot better than others. I'm sure it's a matter of adjusting things differently, but there it is. Oh, and don't use batteries. It sounds better plugged in.

Based on your comments I checked a couple of videos and ordered one. Thank you! Really nice for those very low gain sounds, as you say. It has crazy amounts of boost too, if you wanted it. I noticed it sounds a lot better plugged in than on batteries (although my battery may have been a little old).

Minimal soundcheck. In fact, just a line check. For about 5 songs, I struggled to get enough clear bass from my amplifier onstage, which was my monitor really. It was not my own amplifier, but an Ampeg PF-something and a 410... which should have been ok. Then, something tripped the mains where I was plugged in. My pedalboard went dark and so did my amplifier. It was the end of a song, so it finished without bass. Soundguy came to see what was wrong. Sorted it. Then I realised... I had been playing with my amplifier muted. No wonder any tweaks I made to the controls made no difference! I was just hearing whatever bass bounced back from the FOH! :D Good job I knew the songs well and could play them without hearing myself much... :D

It's never to late to learn. Seriously, I do not get the Fear Of The Truss Rod... Don't apply brute force when things don't turn and you'll be ok. There's a few videos online that will show you the right way to adjust a neck. Lose the fear, and enjoy your bass even more

Especially at the feet... Hmmm...

I have no idea what his reasons are... but with a lot of amazon-hating comments everywhere lately, perhaps someone is compelled to explain their different views. I personally have mixed feelings. I don't like what Amazon (and other big ones) get away with... but the baddies in this film are those who set the rules and allow those behaviours to be legal. Having heard first hand what life working in an Amazon warehouse is (and you could add courier drivers too, which we hear and complain about in this forum often), I feel angry that in 2019 a supposedly civilised country's government allows that kind of employment situation.

Can't he just like the ability to receive things quickly?

I'm getting that feeling too. The kind of thing that is simple enough to look easy to anyone who deals with this kind of thing routinely, but offputting enough for someone like me who just want to make noise with the thing... Warming up the existing glue looks like a must, if it works the same way as the new glue.

It doesn't look all that promising to me, then... (sigh)

Do you really want me to reply? Yawn.

I did that a few weeks ago

That's a handy tip, using masking tape like that. So obvious now that you mentioned it, but I would not have thought of it... Like I said, not very DIY minded, myself Thank you! I don't think I'll need it this time, but it's bound to come handy in the future for something.

I'm getting a repair sample from him.

I'm going to block threads like this from my feed until I get my VM4...

Well, Alex must have seen my comments here or on the other thread, found my email based on the serial number, and wrote to me. I didn't want to get glueing because it looks to me like it'll be complicated to remove the excess glue afterwards. However, he says their water-based glue (the one that does seem to work) can be wiped off with a cloth and warm water after the tolex is glued back together. It looks like you need to warm it up, paint it, press both parts together and wait till it cools down. I think I'll have a go. The description sounded like even someone like me (hate DIY) could manage it. Nice touch that Alex found me even if I had not tried to reach him.

Am I the only one who really likes the logo on their bass cabs?

Haven't we all heard that before, 'though I hope it does the job for you. It looks great too. Is yours blue like in the picture? I like the look of that one.

We had to pull out. Our drummer has some family matters that will take him away that week. Are you going to be playing? I was also going to play on the Saturday with a one-off band we put together just for that, playing Audioslave songs [1]... but the singer, after standing us up twice, has just told us she needs call it off. Shame, as I was looking forward to play those (only 6 songs). [1] One of the organisers got in touch with our RATM band to ask if we did Audioslave too. We said no, and that our singer didn't have the range for that. But she said she knew a girl who would be perfect, sent us a video, and we said we're in. Well... our drummer was going to be away (different drummer), but our singer said he'd do it. It would be his first gig on drums. We were all quite keen but too much faff for a one off 30min show to be looking for a singer now.

Isn't the SC finished in 'tuffcab'? If it is you'll be ok. I owned a Compact and two BB2, and from time to time they'd acquire a ding here and there, which was very very easy to retouch (I bought a small retouching kit from BF, but you can buy the stuff elsewhere). With regards to TKS, I only have praise: the sound, the service, options, look and the built quality. I personally don't imagine using a single 112 except as a stage monitor. It's true that I've played gigs without PA support with a single 112 or 115, but I play more gigs where that would not be enough. The Barefaced BB2 was probably the closest to being ok from the ones I tried. If I absolutely had to use only one, that would be the one. But I do prefer two in general. I think stacking two vertically gives me the best chance to get the right sound out front while still being ok onstage. The TKS S112 is my favourite sounding of theirs. It also happens to be the cheaper one, and it's very compact and superlight. I've used a single one as a stage monitor and for rehearsals. For rehearsals, choosing the right spot close to a wall helps a lot getting the right depth, as the S112 is not very big on the low end. Using two it's a lot easier to get the right amount of 'girth'. I think they're beautifully sounding cabs with tight low end and there's something in the midrange that just works for me. They just sound good whatever I do The only drawback is that they're a bit limited with regards to power handling, so you need to be sure that you're not going to put hundreds and hundreds of watts through them. Normally I would not need to, and I used a pair for all of my gigs for quite some time. Small bars without PA support? No problem... but I'd be a bit nervous about others using my gear and bumping up the lows higher than I go for. I play mostly ska/funk with prominent bass lines, so I'm not shy with volume or depth, but I realise there's other bands who like to be louder than we go for. The 1126 is bigger, but still easy to carry, and is a lot bigger sounding with better power handling. I'd be ok with a pair of those. I used two, in fact, for a while. But I prefer the sound of the S112 so I stuck with them despite not being as powerful. If you think a single 112 by some super-duper company might be enough for you, volume wise, then I'd really recommend you try a S212 or two S112 by TKS. Yes, it's two speakers... but they're compact and light. I'm actually more comfortable carrying a pair of S112 than a single Two10. They won't be supermegaloud... but no single 112 will be, really, and they sound great.