stewblack

Nice. I have a sneaking suspicion that my days of sound engineers went the way of back stage hospitality, groupies and decent pay, a distant memory, sadly. So this is all about experimentation, having fun, defining my personal sound and actually making life easier when turning up at different venues. No matter how big they are this rig can handle it. Different acoustics can be catered for easily, I have, effectively, bottom middle and top controls, easy. Set up and pack down will be much quicker now - so much of my stuff is permanently wired up. I used to have something similar back in the day but really it was just a pile of amps and cabs bodged together. The crossover has made all the difference to this.

That's great, a really balanced review. Thank you. So the colour didn't win you over when you had the bass there in your hands then? I wonder how similar the electronics are in this to the lower priced HB I bought recently. I really dislike active basses as a rule but was so impressed with these - simply because of how subtle they are. It could be the case that what I liked about them is exactly what you didn't. I don't mind a bit of weight in a bass, so that's fine. However, all of that becomes irrelevant if there is neck dive. That's the only deal breaker for me when choosing a bass. I can't stand even the tiniest bit.

Yum yum. That's on my wish list.

Had no idea these could be had for that kind of money. Wow.

I would hate there to be any confusion. 1) I am not criticising the manual. I struggle to learn that way. I have to feel my way in slowly, understanding some simple part then gradually expose myself to the more complex stuff once I have an overview. 2) It is vital for me to understand the panel on the pedal, as I may need to tweak it when gigging. This is very simple to do, which is excellent. 3) I am always grateful for any assistance I receive from anybody on this forum. On the other hand I try not to irritate people with questions they consider to be beneath them. I don't always get this right. 4) This pedal cost me less than the four it will replace, you live and learn.

🤣🤣🤣

OK, so.... I was so pleased with the warm and heart-felt response this post got that I thought I'd come back and give you all an update. I bet you can't wait 😁 I managed to run the rig at a decent volume and placed my Future Impact synth pedal in the effects loop of the amp controlling the midrange. Lawks a lummy. This is the answer for synth sounds and other extreme filters. By careful adjustments to the two frequency controls I made sure the synth didn't drop out altogether. Keeping the top and bottom perfectly clean and letting the pedal play with the mids is just brilliant. I'll try to record it but it won't be easy to capture. I reckon it's the midrange we 'hear' and the top and bottom we are aware of in a different way. I'm not expressing myself scientifically here not trying to. The bottom end kind of fills us up with bass, the rhythm pulsing through us, the tops give us rhythm too, but in that clacking ticking kind of way. Like you hear from a double bass. The middle, if you like carries the melody. BTW mute the mids and it has a bit of dB about it boom and rattle

Dammit! Woke up this morning to find I'd bought the California Sound pedal last night. All thanks to this thread.

And I shall go through the manual and tutorials, but first as I have said I am happy learning in a very basic way. I did acknowledge that the pedal controls are broad brush strokes, which for a first time user is just what I need right now. Everyone learns differently.

Thanks guys. I didn't mean for those who built or worked on it to make videos. I'm talking about users. I was surprised such a complex and flexible piece of tech didn't have folk flocking to YouTube with tutorials. @prowla I'm happy going through the pedal slowly one step at a time, learning the adjustment available on the pedal itself. That way once I am comfortable with what a sound is and broadly how to alter it I can open the main editor with a goal in mind. I'm sure the manual is very simple and clear to follow for some, but we all learn in different ways.

Making some small headway. Managed the firmware update without a hitch. Spent an evening with the software, just long enough to realise it will be a long gentle learning curve, which is fine. I have time. I have gone through the stock sounds one by one, noting any I think might be useful with a brief description of what it does and/or a song it might suit. I've worked out how to download and install sounds created by other people. And learned that as good as they sound online they may be of limited use when played with a bass. I'm assuming that these may have been created with a keyboard. I'm not going near the software again for a while. Instead I am making broad brush stroke changes on the pedal itself, just to get an overview on sound editing. First impressions? Lots of diverting amusement to be had. I can see me losing many hours to this. The ratio of useful to fun is about 1:10.This will change once I get properly to grips with the software and make patches to suit my needs. On some patches the tracking is astonishingly good. I'm talking Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick good. In some cases using a plectrum is rewarded where fingerstyle struggles. Similarly good clean technique is always rewarded. I like the one click forward, double click back I feel if the Zoom MS-60B had this it would be the perfect pedal. I am surprised at the lack of YouTube support. There is a plethora of help with almost any other piece of tech imaginable, but for the FI I have only found users scrolling through the sounds. The manual will be of limited use until I am very much more familiar with the pedal. Which is why a video for first time users would be so handy. Anyway. So far so good, and I can already see myself using it in a band context - not just as a bedroom toy.

I like Precision, Jazz and Thunderbird basses. I like the look of them. So obviously I am going to like the look of some of these. I also applaud innovation and creativity. But I don't get angry with a company over their design choices. It's not like they promised me one thing then came up with something else. It's their business what they produce, and at what price point, not mine. I wish these were sub £300 basses so I could try one, but they're not. I shan't be marching on Heybridge with pitchfork and flaming torch over it though.

I put mine straight into the power amp stage of my Veyron at a gig, effectively making the American Sound the preamp. I absolutely did not want for bass that night.

I hear great things about the California Sound too.

Oh God this is going to turn into one of those threads. Tin hats everyone.🧘🏼‍♀️

Yeah, me too if I'm honest. Always wanted Trace when I was a kid, couldn't afford it. Ashdown the clear successor.

I am yet to try the Ashdown with any other head, but the Elf sounds great whichever cab it's gone through. The micro head and the cab sound great together a good match

Fork it. Buy 'em all.

You're all missing the point. How cool would 2 15s and two 4 10s look stacked up either side of the kit or next to one another. The simple truth is each extra speaker increases the cool by 254% - you do the maths.

Had a chance to wind up the Elf and put a bit of synth bass through it. It's a really nice sound. Said I wouldn't go long without Ashdown once I sold my ABM.

Someone smell gas?