Kiwi

Maybe but the M9 has more knobs for on the fly tweaking.

Yes but the HX doesn't provide the same accessibility to settings that the M9 does. It's a nuanced difference that maybe only appeals to hardened professionals under time pressure.

That was for the M5, I haven't seen the same comment for the M9

https://www.jhv3.com/ This is the guy who didn't reply. There may be others offering something similar.

It's been a fairly popular unit (after mods) with Nashville session guitarists because you can basically grab a know to tweak on the fly if a producer requests it. No scrolling through menus.

I have a couple of M5s on pedalboards. I did look into an M9 for my guitar pedalboard, tried it and discovered it smothered the dynamics a little too much for my liking so sent it back. There was a guy offering upgrades to the M9 but he hasn't responded to messages or emails for quite a few years. But the mods basically made the M9 a studio quality effect.

Try pressing CTRL+F5 to clear your browser cache.

I suspect this is a browser issue, not a site issue. Depending on your browser settings, check to see if you still have stored a password for BC and whether you changed the setting that lets your browser remember it.

No, not at all. Just sounds different because of the filtering by the electronics. EMGs are quite bold sounding and have their own flavour. Acoustically I can both hear and feel the amount of upper mids that are dampened by the amount of wenge and bubinga in the neck. In particular the wenge fingerboard will absolutely dampen some treble content. You could try your Thumb bass against a Status Series II at some point acoustically and see what differences you can hear. We've occasionally had discussions in this forum about the sound of backline and I've played through some bass rigs where it sounds like there's not just pillow over the speaker but a complete four poster bed. I've been at a loss to understand how the owner can actually hear themselves on stage amongst all the cymbals and guitars. And the answer is they can't but they are so used to it that playing based on hand position and the movement of their trouser legs is their normal and a yardstick for what sounds good to them. Perhaps "good" really means normal.

I'm tempted to be coy as I'm negotiating a guitar build with him at the moment and have another in the works which will be a 5 string version of my Alembic. He exhibited at the Shanghai guitar show in October and came away overloaded with orders and I have already been waiting two years for the guitar build. After he's priced my build, maybe I'll reveal who it is. The craftsmanship is outstanding and he's entirely self taught. His instruments are priced at the same level as a UK custom build as well. I wonder how many of his customers are in the US though.

I think the point I was trying to make, perhaps poorly, is that there is a huge difference between how the Thumb sounds AND FEELS acoustically and what it sounds like amplified. Perhaps I"m still trying to get my head around the difference and I need more time with one to reach any kind of lasting insight. I can't think of any other bass where I've felt like that.

To be fair, there is a certain amount of micturational extraction by Aliexpress sellers. I have found the sales people are often obsessed with commission at the expense of everything else, including their jobs. In their minds, so long as they are selling something that looks like the photo, any deviation in materials from the agreed specification isn't important to them. Their mindset is opportunistic, irresponsible and at times disingenuine...a bunch of cowboys. I had dealings with a company called Shenzhen Grand which left me out of pocket and with a bitter taste in my mouth at the games they were playing. They were good at making amps but their instruments were less playable than a wishbass. The good luthiers in China (and I have found one that could rival Fodera) don't need to sell on Aliexpress.

I've played them in shops and they sounded and felt a little lifeless acoustically. But the amplified sound is pretty good. I've ummed and ahhed over getting one but really need more playing time to decide and it's not like I can walk into a shop where I am and find one so it might have to wait until I'm back in the UK. In the meantime, the Moon MBC5TN I picked up a couple of years ago is virtually identical in construction apart from mahogany body wings so that itch has been scratched more or less.

I don't think Reverb can be judged on the people who use their platform, they can't really take action without just cause. Last experience I had on Reverb was trying to land a pair of Alembic pickups for an upcoming project and the guy was pretty unreasonable just because I was in China. I could arrange and pay for my own door to door shipping and he still wanted 30 bucks. He eventually sold them for $100 less than he wanted from me. Similar situation with a rare Carvin FS77 footswitch for a guitar preamp I sold just recently, the seller kept flip flopping until he got a US based buyer. I've had good experiences with UK and European sellers though and the one time I needed support in dealing with a transaction that went a little awry, they stepped in promptly and chucked some Reverb credits at me to compensate for inconvenience.

Times when a Smith BSR5 was 2500 quid. Halcyon days.