stewblack

I haven't noticed any. Let me have a play around

What a snappy name for a pedal eh? Things I don't like about octave pedals: warbly wobbly upper octave, bad tracking, lower octave only sounds synth, or only sounds realistic - I like a bit of flexibility - and a pedal with no special sauce, nothing unusual added. So I like the MXR Poly Blue very much - ticks all boxes. I like the Joyo XVI - ticks most. I like the Boss OC5 - ticks most. And I have to say I also like The 85. The addition of a 5th is a really cool feature, the Focus control alters the whole sound in unusual ways. If there's a downside it would be that you can't simultaneously select octave up and a 5th up - its either or. The one time I've gigged it I found the 5th, blended with a smidge of -1, and full dry signal produced a wonderful harmonious thickness to my sound. Used on appropriate songs it filled the sound under solos in a very satisfying manner.

No not really. I enjoy such a wide range of sounds. I've just come to realise I'm more into trying different things out than aiming for something specific.

Fascinating little discussion. And well timed too. I absolutely love trying different gear, experiment and novelty drive me. I am not searching for the ultimate sound as many bass players do, I just like trying out new and different gear. So my latest plan is this . Rather than buying endless different amps and storing and humping them about, I am buying a powerful yet small and lightweight head, then I shall try different preamps into the power amp section . It will smooth out the loading process, give me all the variety I could possibly want, and above all it will be fun.

I can't count the number of items I've bought here and on FB and eBay. Only twice have I come home with a piece of absolute crap. Both times my fault. First time for believing the seller and the second for not having the balls to pull out if the deal and demand my money back. And once I sold a perfectly good, working bit of gear in great condition and ended up having to buy it back because it was apparently not working. It works perfectly and always did. Why do I remember these three so clearly? Because they are exceptional. I'll go on trusting people.

I had the next size up, the one with an expression pedal. It's a perfectly usable piece of kit. I wasn't keen on the way the effects were organised. There are specific effects in each block and only one could be used in each block. So if there were two effects I wanted to employ but both were in the first block - tough. Couldn't edit the order either. Of course other folk probably wouldn't worry about this. The unit itself was well made, the sounds were fine.

Ah man, I hate it when gear lets us down. Fingers crossed the HB is ok. Once again the Elf punches above it's weight though!

I don't like boxing. The baying crowd, the violence, it appeals to our most base instincts. The dep gig I did in a pub in Swindon yesterday had to finish early so that the patrons could enjoy watching a 'big' fight. I was in my car and heading to the M4 at a quarter past ten. Home in bed before midnight. I was a big fan of boxing last night.

Wow wow wow. That's an incredible share. Thank you.

It's worth speaking directly with him because not everything he has is on the website.

Delighted to share [email protected] is the address I use. He's called Paul.

Long drive yesterday but the expense was offset by there being two gigs. First one in a 'cidery' which was basically a cider farm with a building converted into a kind of cafe bar. Lovely atmosphere, friendly folk, polite rather than enthusiastic, but they enjoyed it. Then a 45 minute drive to the second gig which was a private party somewhere near Stratford on Avon. They used a field on a caravan park and set up a marquee for us. It was in truth a little late in the year to be playing outside but we started early (7pm) so didn't lose feeling in our fingers until nearly at the end of the set. Despite the distances involved I was home before midnight, which for me is a win.

There's a guy who has the UK dealership. He can't import them any more, apparently there's some kind of trade problem with Russia, but he has stock and somehow got an envelope filter.

The SCS system from Russian pedal maker Yerasov is the neatest, best thought out pedal board I've come across. The only things lacking for the perfect set up were an octave and an envelope filter. Well, they've come through with one of them at last. I came across the system when I bought the overdrive from the Basschat marketplace. Since then I've sourced a compressor, fuzz, phaser and a preamp pedal. All have been superb.

Harley Benton. Just so much better than the price point they sell them at. i have a couple of Squier basses and there's no comparison. Not that the Squiers are bad, just not in the same league.

They've always been popular with audiences of all ages. People are so sniffy about them but I clearly remember how refreshing they sounded when they burst onto the scene. Just what music needed at the time.

I forgot to pack an amp on Saturday. Age catching up on this poor old bassist. Out came the Elf, which lives in my gig box with cables and stuff. The venue was enormous, the drummer loud, the guitarist playing through an amp , and through the PA and added to at least two of the monitors. Ok so the Elf looked a little silly atop two Barefaced 15" cabs, but it never broke sweat. As the title of the thread clearly states, it never ceased to amaze.

I enjoy playing around with different gear. My latest idea is to actually utilise the many preamp options I have at my disposal. I too considered a small power amp, but in the end I found there's no real savings to be had and tiny powerful bass amps abound. As long as it has an effects loop I can bypass the preamp and off I go. Bang for buck nothing seems to beat the Harley Benton Block. 800 watts, under 300 quid. I've been waiting for them to return to stock at Thomann, they're now predicted at 1 to 2 weeks.

Ah, we have a different experience. I've never felt the need to touch mine beyond fitting a strap and tuning it. Perfect out of the box I thought.

I was going to share that last night represented a nightmare gig for me. A rugby club full of suited idiots, playing infantile drinking games, abusing the female singer just because she was female and its just a joke innit? I'm a recovered alcoholic so the environment did not suit me. Then I read the above post bringing to my knowledge the existence of something called a bow hunters ball. Replete with the decapitated remains of poor innocent creatures and no doubt populated with people for whom bloodshed is fun. Truly there are deeper circles of hell to which I've never been introduced. Anyway the gig was horrible but well paid and not far from home. Win.

Used exactly this G4M bass myself last night. Isn't it great?