eude

That's fair enough, there's more bad press than good, even though the industry is still pressing ahead with it. I think it probably better to have two remarkable products rather than dilute the range with some potentially weaker offerings I guess. Eude

I agree, I think they shoud've just left the design well alone and done some special finishes, shoreline gold etcs, maybe with a matched headstock? I've not read any positive comments at all about the addition of the bridge pickup, visually at least, it's clumsy and not really necessary in my humble opinion... Eude

STUNNING!

Wow, that's extremely good value! There where a few other models on the HandBox site which seem to have vanished including a funky looking class D one, are they just focusing on the R-400 and the WB-100 for now? Eude

Laaavly!

Great to hear from you dude, I'm not too and thank you! Hope all's great with you too! Eude

Oh really? Nice one, would love to see some pics of the old gal Eude

12 months or so is not unreasonable at all for a custom build, especially if you were informed of that at the point of ordering, it's pretty much standard... How long till it's ready then?

If a UK based luthier can make something similar for less, and I know of two well established names that definitely could, they must be making a profit otherwise, they wouldn't be in business. These are being built overseas, Indonesia? I can't imagine it's a production line, but it'll be a lot cheaper than a one man band over here per unit, especially if they'll building a lot of them at once. I expect there's a pretty significant profit margin here, but regardless if there is or not, they're at least £1000 off the mark in my humble opinion... Eude

The only thing special/unique can see about it is the neck profile. You're right, you could easily match and likely beat all the other specs in a custom made bass just for you for less. I'm not sure they're going to do well without dropping the price by at least £1000, probably more. Every review and reaction I've read about the basses, bar people who are endorsing them, has raised the price as an issue. Shame given how anticipated these were, they took too long to appear and even if they've hit the mark they've missed the expected price point by a mile. Eude

Very kind @Marcoelwray, I think that's more down to @Andyjr1515 than me Will get on with some proper demos soon. Eude

Very kind of you to say, I can do better though. It was somewhat painful Eude

It's perfect dude!

OK, if you insist! As mentioned before, it's terribly quiet, and you can hear the straplocks rattling too, but you can get a sense of the tone of this wonderful bass, tone all the way up, amp set flat... This was recorded in one take, for a joke, so apologies for the sloppy playing, proper stuff to follow. Eude

Just a little bump, I still intend to record some clips of the bass very soon. I've had flu lately and work/home life has been pretty hectic, but it's still on my mind. I did a super quick recording on my phone playing Music for Chameleons for a friends 40th birthday, an in joke, and it sounds absolutely wonderful through my little Warwick practice amp, but the clip is too quiet to be worth sharing, recorded very late at night while everyone else was asleep, but I did make a video, so it can be done, see?... The bass feels so wonderful and so familiar, every time I pick it up, so thank you once again @Andyjr1515 for all your wonderful work in resurrecting this bass for me. Watch this space, and sorry for the delay! Eude

That's very kind of you to say dude. Have to say, that all does sound like a bit of a fiddle, being a dad of two young kids, working full time and being really hands on at home, I'm not sure I'd ever get round to setting something like that up properly at all, I get 15 - 30 mins noodling a day if I'm lucky right now, I feel perhaps that could be what went wrong with my brief shot at the B3. As it happens, I've managed to snag a Sansamp BDDI V2 for a bargain, which will sort me out amp sim wise for the immediate remote recording project that's knocking on my door, just wish these things had a headphone out! I'm going to keep my eyes on the classifieds for a bargain B3n should it pop up, and I'm really keen to hear your thoughts on the B3n vs the HX Stomp, I'm surprised there aren't any comparisons out there already. There's several between the Zooms guitar offerings and the Helix stuff, but the opinions are so conflicting and obviously guitar specific, having spent ages trying to figure out a way forward I'm more confused than ever! Eude

That's fair enough of course. Just seems like a VERY long time, several years would be too much for me personally, but like you say, nothing to prove and his customers will know the score.

Wow, that must've been awesome! I'm a big fan of Jean's playing, and his stuff with Nuclear Rabbit, his Kenneth Lawrence bass is simple awesome! I know he has a couple more on the go, one fretless but man Kenneth takes his time making these things, it's been years!

Here's Jean Baudin on an 11 string >> I'm not sure how @binky_bass plays his ERBs but the above is gold standard as far as I'm concerned, not necessarily what folks would consider bass playing, but absolutely incredible musicianship as far as I'm concerned..

Another example of a Fender style headstock on a SC body >> I think it looks pretty bloody cool, hope @Andyjr1515's glue work holds up Eude

Or I could just buy one. I've got a bunch of pedals I'm not using that could go, and they'd probably pay for 2 B3n's but not quite a Helix...

Oh and another few questions @LukeFRC if I may? How's the whammy/pitch bend on the B3n? Blending of effects, can you adjust the wet/dry on patches, or just some? I've read some folks saying that the B3n flattens the tone of their basses a little, however I have read on some sites that the guitar equivalent, the G3n, G3Xn and G5n pretty much keep up with Helix to most ears, not worse, just different and that the amp and cab sims are just as good, although there's no IR stuff obviously. Any thoughts on the above would be awesome buddy... Eude

Don't worry it's not THAT old How big a step up is the B3n? I had a B3 briefly, and it left me a little underwhelmed, could well have been just as much of where my head was at playing wise if I'm honest, the lack of DI is a pain though. The build quality is another thing that folks mention, but I remember the B3 at least being pretty solid. How's you rate that on the B3n? I used to love that Sansamp BDDI tone a while back, and I've been contemplating picking one up again, but I know the B3n does an impression of that particular unit, is it any good? I could get a B3n new for less than a BDDI v2 secondhand! So you reckon it's not all that bad then? I'm half way thinking about just getting an HX Effects or Stomp now, GAS be damned! Thanks for the offer of a loan dude, very kind of you, I'm down in South London, so sadly it's not so easy to pop by yours in Leeds Eude

One of the nicest Fodera's I've ever seen... Eude

Told you they were good