Kiwi

It's almost certainly a dry solder joint. I've had the same thing happen in other bits of kit.

I suspect that the colouring of the Eden may have had an influence. They're a little scooped in the mids like SWR but not to the same degree. Technically they fantastically versatile amps, stereo, biamp, bridges mono, it can do almost anything apart from 16 ohm cabs. They fatten up brittle sounding basses nicely too.

I like every 5 string I own for slightly different reasons but they all sound great and have their individual strengths and weaknesses. The Spector is very growly but the pickups need to be swapped out with some that have a slightly more vintage sounding high end and it has a slight s curve in the neck which is being sorted out at the moment. The Status is a fantastic bass, huge keyboard like presence in the mix and the string spacing is perfect. I wish it had more flexible eq for the mids and lows though. The Pedulla is one of the best fretlesses on the market (on a par with Wal and Godin) but again I wish it had more flexible eq for the mids and lows. Finally the bass I built is the best sounding of all four, very articulate in the mids and lows, nice clean highs and very versatile. But I would like to tweak the outline of the body shape a little bit for neck clearance and balance.

I love mine after 6 months of use. But I agree with the points about the parameter knob - maybe they couldn't find one that was indented and offered the momentary switch functionality too. I think the comments about staying similar to Deep Impact are pretty fair and I was a little surprised by the footprint given the size of the PCB. BTW if anyone has a box for one that they don't want any more, I would be very grateful for it. Mine got destroyed and thrown out by our domestic "help".

I took on responsibility for raising her son and moved to another country where I don't speak the language and can't join a band.

Upright bass - never realised how much you had to fight it to get a good sound. Tried a NS Design CR5 and it was still no better. Shame really because that CR5 made a phenomenally powerful sound.

[quote name='project_c' timestamp='1485075606' post='3220835'] Lots of people live in small apartments with no storage space, thin walls and have neighbors really close by. Those people tend to live in big cities where they have to use public transport to get to gigs and carry everything by hand, and many of those gigs are in tiny venues where loudness and power are not much of an issue as sound quality. As long as they sound good, they should do well with these. [/quote] As one of those people, I still used a car. While my Shuttle 6 fitted in the gig bag pocket there was no [i]way[/i] I was going to cart a cab 15min to the nearest tube station and carry a laden trolley up flights of 10 steps or more. If venues provided cabs that would be good but they frequently don't and I did two shared billings in two years and at one of those I was expected to provide the kit without no advance warning. (And the c*** who used my amp played it redlined through their first song until I came on stage and turned it down for him with a glare).

It's called the Elf, prepare to be underwhelmed though - only 200w into 4 ohms. [url="http://www.traceelliot.com/#elf"]http://www.traceelliot.com/#elf[/url] SMX preamp in a pedal with eq preshape, tuner and drive. [url="http://www.traceelliot.com/#transit-b"]http://www.traceelliot.com/#transit-b[/url] No sign of effects loops in either yet...doh.

[quote name='uk_lefty' timestamp='1484559685' post='3216242'] I'm now renouncing GAS. it's a destructive force that never satisfies, just fuels itself. A dangerous addiction. [/quote] Good luck! For most people, it's a journey of discovery for the gear that makes the sound that's in their head. For a small minority it can be about owning stuff to prevent others from having it. If you haven't found your sound, you may relapse. In the meantime make a nuisance of yourself in music shops trying gear out and when the time is right make a plan to spend once and spend right. Investigate every detail of the gear you think might fit the bill for that sound but don't commit.

Mesa Boogie Bass 400+ and an efficient cab like a Barefaced 215 would be phenomenal. The Ray is snarly and muscular with a bass 400. Failing that, one of the Warwick heads because they're coloured for Warwick basses which are in the same ballpark tonally as a Ray. If you value mids, avoid Eden and SWR. They're better suited to bright sounding basses like those with graphite necks or all maple through body neck construction.

[quote name='Graham' timestamp='1484490509' post='3215825'] Bearing in mind my EBS 2x12 used to belong to you, how does it compare? [/quote] The F112 is slightly fuller sounding and slightly flatter in the growly lower mids but otherwise pretty close. The Neo212 is only 4kg heavier BTW (and a lot bigger) [quote name='Raggy' timestamp='1484570337' post='3216351'] Ive got an F115, and the jury is still out with me. I keep going back to the Barefaced cabs. [/quote] If the Barefaced are giving you want you are looking for, I see nothing wrong with that. Others might claim that nothing in the world beats an old 8x10. I wouldn't understand where they're coming from but if it delivers the sound in their head then good on them for ending their search. I'm not suggesting the Barefaced or Bergs are bad cabs BTW. They definitely have different flavours though...a bit like farts I guess, we each like our own. The closest analogy I can think of for the F112 is that they're like studio monitors.

[quote name='Graham' timestamp='1484468207' post='3215580'] Just watched this video, and now I want one [media]http://youtu.be/O-YUbQyK5Ls[/media] [/quote] Yep although it doesn't do the cabs justice in real life. I was at the bassbash shoot out mentioned above and it was the first time I'd heard a fEARless cab played with any amount of decent volume or from a distance. I was shocked not only at how much [i]better[/i] the fEARless was against the Berg and Barefaced, but also at how that was completely overlooked by so many others in the final round of voting after it had attracted so many votes initially. They're everything I've ever wanted in a bass cab. Cleaner highs than the Barefaced and more articulate lows than the Berg.

Getting good musicians is next to impossible unless you have gigs lined up. Then you'll need to beat them off your leg with a rolled up newspaper.

If any of you had tried fEARless, you wouldn't be having this debate. Jus' sayin'.

[quote name='SpondonBassed' timestamp='1484389309' post='3215084'] You will be looking for people to conform either to left or right handedness next. [/quote] I can't see how, the two aren't related to each other. [quote name='SpondonBassed' timestamp='1484389309' post='3215084'] Do all pedals tend to be counter intuitive? If the majority do there may be a precedent for making it so. As for pedal size... I'd agree that some of us larger footed, hairy arsed types may struggle with some of the pedals I have seen. Heeheehee, twinkle toes I ain't. [/quote] A modular footprint and consistent socket locations would make pedalboard planning and wiring up significantly easier.

[quote name='keeponehandloose' timestamp='1483740130' post='3209833'] Fx pedals have the input and output on the wrong sides. Input should be on left, out on right. [/quote] Different sized footprints, different socket locations...if ever there was a need for standardisation...

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1484235301' post='3213818'] [url="http://www.industrialradio.com.au"]The only one bothering with IMO[/url] [/quote] Technically yes, but I've played it and in practice...not quite. it still glitches and requires exactly the same adaptations to technique that a pitch to MIDI system needs. Having said that, there's less lag on the low notes so still an improvement of sorts. Forget playing anything below an open A string on stage if using pitch to MIDI conversion. It's impossible to play in the groove. Or...play a piccolo bass and transpose down an octave.

OK I tried the Effectrode PC2A and it worked really well. Whatever it does, it seems to fatten up those frequencies that are sensed by the Future Impact making the tracking a little more stable. Noice floor issues didn't seem to cause any glitching. I'm curious to know whether it's just this compressor (powered by a valve) that does it or whether other compressors might work in the same way.

I agree with compression on the output as suggested above but I might play around with some light limiting before the FI and see if the noise floor is lifted. [quote name='T-Bay' timestamp='1484206067' post='3213447'] Sorry to be slightly off topic, it can you get left handed keyboards that run the other way? I can't recall ever seeing one but it would be so simple to do on an electronic one. [/quote] You can but they're like unicorn poo [quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1484223205' post='3213649'] Has anybody noticed if using an eq before say, a future impact improves tracking? Maybe cleaning up all the sub lows improves tracking? Mind you, I'm guessing that the filters inside the Future Impacts triggering mechanism already do that if it's necessary? [/quote] Not exactly eq related but it and the Deep Impact both responded really well to single pickup basses like P-basses with flats and particularly Stingrays. Also does well with graphite necks but anything with two pickups and a scooped sound tends to glitch more easily. The Deep Impact used to track my Cutlass basses and the Modulus Sonic Hammer almost perfectly. I got the sense that there might well be a set of target frequencies that the pedals monitor for pitch tracking and related harmonics that make it glitch. The problem with eq-ing for these frequencies is that eqing needed is going to be different for each note played.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1484145586' post='3213016'] Use a keyboard ;-)[/quote] Oh nice try, Sir. Left handers aren't typically comfortable on keys - melodies are played with the right hand. Although, having said that, it didn't stop Phil Collins composing on one or Jools Holland (boogie woogie favours the left hand). I do pretty good with the Future Impact - it tracks my self built bass well but I'm still looking for potential improvements.

Perfected the use of a compressor into a bass synth pedal or even an envelope filter? Squashy settings seem to cause glitches due to the raised noisefloor but in principle it should make the dynamics more consistent. What's the secret?

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1482948961' post='3203717'] Having dealt with Chinese businesses at my job, I'm very aware of communication issues. It can be a real nightmare. [/quote] Try living and being an entreprenuer there! I'm lucky I still have my sanity and hair. Being informed that there Chinese way of doing things and then seeing sh*t hitting the wall after my advice wasn't heeded has made me less tolerant...not more worldly (and this isn't my first time here). [quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1482948961' post='3203717'] It pays to write concise and clear instructions... but even then misunderstandings do arise, it's true, ha! Still, they are not stupid and they want you to be happy so that you give them your money. They will work with you, you just need to remain focused, feed information in bite size chunks, and remain polite.[/quote] I could go on for hours about why this is the case. Mostly I believe it's the education system - it focuses exclusively on remembering facts and passing tests, not on understanding and problem solving. My niece is 12 and works until 11pm each night on homework (and she has a near photographic memory so never needed to study much in the past). It's a relentless grind for them with no room for personal development and I feel sorry for the poor bastards. The education system produces machines, not thinkers. Still...some, like my inlaws, can't help but think outside the box . In terms of generally working with Chinese, some allowance needs to be made for skill levels not being as high as in western countries and details get overlooked very easily. It's much more efficient to give them an example of what is wanted if so much of what is expected lies in attention to detail. It's then easy to point to the bits that are key to quality. Then they need training time to gain confidence and experience through repetition. As you say they're very eager to please. Once they've got the hang of what is expected, they turn into machines and can work relentlessly and very consistently - (as they are expected to by the education system). As for the topic of IP, it's a source of considerable frustration for myself. Trying to develop proof of concept without the manufacturing partner stealing those ideas is almost impossible to enforce legally. Yes there are confidentiality agreements that can be set up but the courts here generally like to have a pop at western interests on the basis of principle if there is an opportunity. So even if you took a company to court, used Chinese representation and had all the paper work in place, the courts might delay a decision indefinitely.