stewblack

My locking jack sockets have arrived. Need to get to Next for the pink hair band.

My view of Zed Zed Top was tainted by discovering them in their 'pop' phase. A guitarist I was in a jam band with prior to lockdown introduced me to their early stuff. The film on Netflix further informed me as to their credentials. Great band, very sad news.

I thought I would pick up a set. Six hundred quid! Ay carumba! Maybe not.

I am using the Studiospares one at the moment. I like the shape function (a bit Trace Ellioty) the gain overload light, the different ins and outs but most of all the effects loop. Oh and the price!

Yep. Play it slowly - as slowly as you need to to play it properly. Don't play along in time, to a metronome or the tune. in fact don't worry about timing at all until you have the notes and fingerings right. If you slow down on a difficult part that's fine, it's more important to practice it properly than to repeatedly play some parts incorrectly because it's too fast. And enjoy the process of learning, don't worry about nailing the whole song, that will come naturally in time.

Mine will get an airing at the next rehearsal.

@gafbass02 that looks like a really good piece of kit. Does a lot more than just a preamp.

As I had built my own vibrating chair with four relatively inexpensive tactile transducers or "bass shakers" I also decided that the price of the Backbeat was too high. However, I now have one and can happily confirm that the effect is very similar to my homemade device. So is it over priced? Well, let's see, my 4 speakers were about £15 each. But then I also needed a chair. Lots of wiring. Oh and an amp. Which needs power, so either a speaker cable runs to my chair or a mains cable does and the amp has somehow to attach to the chair. Only the Elf has the appropriate dimensions. So time, effort, a chair, an amp and I have built a system which surrounds me with throbbing bass. Oh I forgot my R&D costs - there was an early prototype which overheated and melted. The Backbeat still comes out a little more expensive. But here's the thing - it produces as big an effect as my cumbersome 4 speaker loaded chair while being small enough to fit on my strap. With no external amp, and no external power. In fact, turn it up and the effect is way more powerful. The cost of designing and producing something so portable and yet so effective, then shipping it around the world and making money for yourself and the retailer, does, I believe, make this a fair price. Of course something is only worth what it's worth to each individual customer. I have yet to use it live but I can immediately see how it will transform my rehearsal regime. With aux in and headphones out I can enjoy playing at any time without disturbing those I share a house with. And it's already attached to the bass. Nothing to set up.

Street Life!

I moved my Helix Stomp on, swapped it for an HX FX which suited me better. I never saw the day coming when I might go down this route. And to be fair this is just an idea right now. It might not work, but if it does it could save a lot time setting up. One potential problem is how the rest of the band hear me. But really, they are responsible for their own monitor needs.

Beyond my means I'm afraid. The idea is to use what I have. I just thought a preamp pedal might be fun. One with an effects loop would be super.

Loads of great suggestions. Thank you. Apologies for the vagueness of the opening post. I'm vague because I'm not sure precisely what my plan entails! I'll probably be going straight into the X-air (and actually I discovered some pretty exciting options in the 'effects' list) I plan to use a Backbeat and put some of the higher frequencies of my bass into my monitor.

Now I'm making the move to an almost ampless set up in one of my bands, I have discovered a whole new avenue down which to fling my money. Preamp. Between bass and PA. So come on baby light my gas. Don't break my heart by telling me I don't need one, nor by reminding me I have several options already, just tell me what you use and why it's better than everyone else's.

Sounds like I need to buy one for each bass, just to save faffing around.

The addition of some fettling and DIY is a massive plus. Also knocking out a guitarist or two.

Ah that's good. I don't have any hair so I was worried.

I'm getting mine tomorrow. A quick question, does the hairband have to be pink?

As a result of all this I'm not bothering to hump my gorgeous Ampeg Barefaced rig for this band any more. If they want the bass to sound like a wasp in a tupperware I'll just put it through the PA and get a Backbeat.

Brilliant!