Wolverinebass

Really?! Game on! 😎 I should probably check out the helix stuff more....

What version of helix is that? Just the rack? LT? Tiny floor stomp thing? Or all of the above?

That looks like a Shine Bass that cost £500. Ha!

Wouldn't you be totally miffed if you'd paid 4 grand for this stuff when it came out?!! Having played a full beans one of these, you won't be disappointed. Neither will your chiropractor as the power amps can only be lifted off the ground with a crane. The power handling of the cabs is surprisingly low and they're heavy, but that's neither here nor there as this stuff is quality.

Well, with 55 hours of footage to play and 140 hours of audio I'm expecting Peter Jackson to make a trilogy of films which come to 92 hours long and have a "goodbye" scene at the end that goes on for at least an hour. I can't stand Jackson for this and he does it in almost every film he directs. Everything is dragged out and milked more than the death of Madge Bishop in Neighbours. This film will no doubt make the interminably long outro of "Hey Jude" feel like it only lasts ten seconds as the film version will probably last 36 hours. On the other hand at least they didn't get Ron "I only make feel-good films" Howard.

More bargaining Lozz. Shocking!! Net zero accumulation is not the same as zero MasterCard obliteration I fear.

Well, yeah. I can laugh at this stuff now as was the point of my post. If I couldn't laugh about stuff like this then I think I'd go mad. If I had said I started drinking when I was 10 (which is true) then maybe my post wouldn't have had such an amusing undertone. However, I'm all good at the moment and wondering if I'll get through the challenge. 😜 Stay strong kids. The new Darkglass amp will be superceded in 18 months by V3 and then they'll be cheaper.

Maybe Chris. But Ashdown just seem to have so much wasted potential. I'm just exasperated with it. For every decent/great ABM, small valve head or Rootmaster there are at least 3 little giants, superflys, mibass, b-social or Dr. Green pedals. Some of those were great ideas, but weren't that well implemented. Which is the tragedy in this case. I mean, I played the Geezer head and thought it was rubbish. You could have got the same sound with a mild fuzz pedal which obviously wouldn't cost £1100 either. I'd like them to do well, but they seem confused about what they're doing. I certainly don't get it.

Personally, I'd imagine that the alpha would suit you better.

Even then pretty much a third of it is pants.

I very much doubt it. Not after such a shambolic pitch.

Midi has been around for nearly 40 years. It just annoys me when they proclaim "midi functionality" when it'll be nothing more than turning the distortion on and off. Maybe possibly even changing the cab IR, but I doubt it. Come on!! A manual with no implementation chart isn't indicative of something that's worth considering as it suggests a lack of functionality. If that thing had proper midi presets I'd get it. It doesn't, so therefore it's not as good as my trusty Tech21 PSA1.1. If I can't change the distortion, eq and fx settings of the preamp and outboard gear with one foot controller button press then it's just not flexible enough. Just my take on it. Quite a few of the things I do these days need that level of flexibility. A couple don't. If I didn't have it for some of the more involved projects I'd be stuffed with some of the effect chains I'm using. Darkglass are making great stuff. This is a bit of an omission.

Personally, I'd be going alpha omega ultra. The B7 is too fizzy for me. In theory the X7 should be better than the dug pedal because of the two filters, but the distortion sounds wrong to me in a way I can't quite describe. The alpha just sounds better to me.

U2 haven't done that since Achtung Baby. Everything from Zooropa has been a 30/30/20/20 split.

You know, this post reminded me of something hilarious. I was actually a chronic alcoholic until just over 10 years ago when I had that moment where I realised that maybe drinking 2 bottles of vodka a day wasn't conducive to continued life or sanity. I still wake up with the itch every single day. However, about a year after I stopped one of my friends asked me if I was still not drinking. I replied that I was still sober. She then said that she knew how I felt. I enquired as to what was going on in her life that would be such a problem. She then said "Yeah, it must be awful. It was so difficult for me when I gave up meat." Now some would be offended at that, comparing someone's trendy vegetarianism (which she soon after stopped) to in effect what is a horrific addiction and illness, but I had to go to the toilet as I was laughing so hard I thought I might be sick. This gear challenge for some people is difficult. I understand that. However in the grand scheme of things there are much more important things in life to worry about. Ooooh, look!! A new Darkglass amp!! 😲

A grand is what I expected. At least it's not £2500 like for the Tech 21 Dug amp which isn't even remotely amusing. I'm much more inclined to this with several caveats. Okay, Darkglass aren't doing rack gear, but at least sell some ears or a mounting kit so we can do that if we wanted to. Seriously, midi presets. Just implement them! Not just channel switching, I mean recalling the position of every knob or fader. Think about that. It then becomes much more than an "on/off" 2 channel amp. Tech21 did this in 1989 with the PSA. Yes, that long ago. If I ever replace that, I want something that's got the same functionality or better.

Quite. It doesn't specify in the manual.

I can see your GAS has brought you to the "bargaining" stage of grief.

I just wait for the trail of wreckage as people drop like flies after seeing all the cool stuff at NAMM.

Well, if you can put midi presets on a pedal, just saying that you've at least one customer here.....

Well look, it's not what either of us want which is midi recallable presets. So you can rest assured you'll be disappointed. I can't understand the reluctance to implement this. It makes gear so much more flexible.

Maybe that's harsh, but taken objectively they've had much more misses than hits. I really liked the Mag range actually as I found it very easy to get a good sound out of. I have nothing for or against Ashdown personally, but I wonder how long it'll be before that series of pedals get consigned to the dustbin with all the masses of stuff they've done that just hasn't worked. 18 months maybe?

To be fair, ashdown's stuff is always hit and miss. I thought the Geezer head was crap when I played one. It was nothing you couldn't get with a mild fuzz pedal. Even Tech21 who have an immensely solid line of pedals aren't charging this. Ashdown are stuck in the mid 2000s. They really haven't moved on and with the B Social negative feedback (did anyone really buy one?!!) this makes me wonder if their ideas are a bit depleted at the moment.

How come they don't make a double humbucker neck through? They make a neck through stingray. Just seems like a strange omission.

This is exactly what I meant. How it works in practice is as you describe. Sugesstions are entertained with the player having final say over their own parts. Dictatorships aren't tolerated.