BigRedX

And here's some photos of the gig:

I did my first gig with the Barracuda last night. On the whole it went very well. However a couple of the songs exposed the problems I'm still having with the narrow string spacing at the bridge end of the bass, and actually being able to play the correct string which mostly happens when I change picking style from all down strokes to alternating up and down. The bass (and for some reason my playing) came in for quite a bit of praise, which was very gratifying. Having had this bass for a couple of months now, I'm now a lot closer to knowing what I want from my ideal Bass VI: The nut width on the Barracuda would be fine if the strings utilised the whole width better. The current width is more comfortable for me than the Squier, but a few more millimetres between the high and low E strings wouldn't go amiss and there would actually be room for this on the Barracuda with a new nut. The string spacing at the bridge is definitely too tight. I'd be looking for Squier width as a minimum but again a little more space would be more comfortable. Not a lot I can do here. While it might be possible to get a new bridge plate made with wider spacing, that would put the high and low E strings well outside the range of their pickups pole pieces. For the music I'm currently playing with this bass I'm definitely going to need more flexible pickup routing. At the moment I'm considering dual outputs and a ability to route each pickup to either output (or turn it off). However my favourite selections are bridge or bridge and middle for "guitar" sounds and middle or bridge and neck for "bass" sounds which means I might need two pickups at the bridge... Anyway the specifications for a custom build are slowly coming together.

First gig with using my Burns Barracuda Bass VI playing with post-punk influenced Hurtsfall. Very much a last minute booking and one that saw me frantically fine-tuning all my Helix patches two days before the gig. A couple of the songs could have done with another evening in the rehearsal room to finesse their structure but on the whole everything went really well. Loads of nice comments about both the band, my bass and my playing!

A note to anyone who uses the computer editor for their Helix and not the controls on the unit itself, at some point in the last year Line6 changed the name of the editor program from "Helix" to "HX Edit". So when you download the latest version, it doesn't over-write the differently named older one, and if like me you've made a shortcut to the editor, using it will continue to bring up the wrong version which is missing a lot of the new functionality including the ability to assign parameters to the Snapshot functions. I spent a very frustrating couple of hours at the weekend wondering why my version of the editor didn't correspond to the instructions in the "Pilot's Guide", and ended up downloading and applying all the components again (Updater, Firmware and Editor). This brought up the right (newer) version of the editor and suddenly everything seemed to make sense! However the next day when I called up the editor from my shortcut it had gone back to the old version! It wasn't until I spotted that I now had two versions of the editor and the shortcut was pointing at the old one that I realised what was going on. So check your Line6 folder in Applications and make sure you only have the most recent version of the editor program or you could be in for a nasty surprise!

It looks as though the sunburst hasn't discoloured in the same way under the clear portion of the sticker, so even if you could get it off without damaging the finish, it's previous presence will always be noticeable.

I'd only consider changing my pick if the alternative reduced the volume difference between pick and finger style and the tonal differences between the two picks was negligible in the overall band mix. For me choice of pick material and thickness is the biggest tonal difference I can get without changing the EQ on my multi-effects. I certainly wouldn't consider using compression to even out the volume difference between pick and finger style. I find that bass line played with a pick tend to be busier than those I play finger style and I normally need to back off my compression settings give each pick-played note the right amount of definition. If your pick playing is louder than your finger style, compression in this case isn't going to help you.

I've always found it strange that most bassist appear to play louder with a pick than finger style as my experience has always been the reverse, although TBH the difference for me isn't massive and is mostly down to the fact that my finger style tone is slightly more bassy which tends to make it appear slightly louder in the band mix. I've always used programmable multi-effects, because I find that I need to make tonal changes to go with the change in technique - for me the choice to use a pick or fingers is as much to do with "feel" as it is to with tone.

There are no transparent sounding bass guitar cabs.

But if they are successful then PayPal might become unduly interested in the transaction with consequences for both the buyer and the seller. After all we know PayPal don't like losing out on their fees.

You might find a problem with this if the Credit Card company does their due diligence, as PayPal Friends & Family is for sending money for friends and family not for buying goods and services. As far as the CC company are concerned the money arrived at its intended destination and that is the end of the transaction.

Thanks! It looks as though these can have the cable entry/exit point at any angle to the plug so that will be exactly what I need. And thanks again.

Ha, ha, ha! It's quite an interesting design bass, but it's nothing like an Ovation Magnum.

It's PayPal Friends & Family. That offers no protection at all.

There are so many things wrong with this transaction from both the buyers and seller's PoV that I hardly know where to begin. 1. Why did you wait 3 months before making a claim? IME irrespective of where in the world the item was posted, if it's not with you within a month from the posting date it's never going to arrive at all. 2. Why did you pay using PayPal Friends and Family for what is obviously a transaction to buy goods? F&F offers no protection to the buyer. 3. Why did the seller not insure the items for the full amount? As a seller I never send anything with getting it properly insured. That is factored into the selling price in the first place. All the prices you quote are in Euros, so I assume that the item has come from somewhere outside of the UK. Where? Unfortunately some European mainland countries have notoriously dodgy postal services. For those countries I would never buy or sell without knowing that the items was going to be delivered by a reputable courier service like FedEx or UPS. Personally I'd take what is being offered while it's still on the table and chalk it down to experience.

Their version of the Breadwinner isn't very accurate to the original. There was for a while have a version of the Magnum I bass on the Eastwood site (it's not there any more) that had so little in common with the original Ovation model (nothing except for a similar shaped body IIRC) that it was laughable.

If you can get your hands on one, you should definitely try a Pedulla Buzz. For me it's the best fretless I've ever played that wasn't my custom made Sei.

Not really. In the first place I think we all subconsciously alter our playing technique to counteract any bass that sounds different compared with what we are used to. And while different basses might sound different when playing solo, in the context of a live band mix the only real difference between them is the output volume rather than any tonal variation.

All the metal bodied DIN right angled DIN plugs I've seen are very chunky. I've had plastic bodied ones in the past that could be configured for up or down cable exit, but I thinkI'm going to need left and right exits for the Helix and Adrenalinn. This is the problem with the original MIDI spec that allowed manufacturers to cut corners and use DIN connectors instead of the preferred XLRs. You have use cheap badly made plugs for can be the most critical connection on hi-tech equipment.

Have you played any Shuker Basses? I ask because although I think that all of his original design basses look stunning, I've yet to play one that I even remotely liked the feel of.

Which Thunderbird did you have? IME the various different types are all very different when it comes to sound. AlFAIK all the current Thunderbird pickups being made by 3rd parties (Lull, Thunderbucker etc.) are modelled on the various types used by Gibson in the 60s and are completely different to those fitted to any Gibson Thunderbird made in the last 30 years. Mike Lull does a Fender-shaped bass fitted with his take on the 60s Thunderbird pickup and IIRC @Happy Jack owns one of these as well as a Lull T-Bass so maybe he would care to comment on how similar (or not) the two basses sound (in his hands). EDIT: of course both Lull basses have bolt-on necks, so if you believe that this makes a significant difference to the sound compared with the through neck construction of an original Gibson Thunderbird, that's another variable to consider.

AFAICS (knob jokes aside) the Ned Callan and the 6-string Shergold are probably the most sensible suggestions so far, and most certainly fit Eastwood's method of working which is to take an instrument that not only is no longer being made, but no-one else is currently making anything similar.

I think what I'm going to do is cut a bit of board slightly smaller than the internal measurements of the XL case and see if I can work out a logical location for everything I need complete with all the relevant plugs. At the moment it's going to be the Helix, Linn Adrenalinn, two Sony wireless receivers, a 9V PSU, maybe a second expression pedal for the Helix, and mains distribution for everything. I can see I'm going to need right angle plugs for almost everything to get it all to fit. Can anyone recommend some good (preferably metal-bodied) right angle DIN plugs that can configured for cable exit in any direction?

AFAICS the other two feet are under the front of the expression pedal to give the Helix a bit of support at that point. And as mrtcat said they much too far from the edges to be any use for fixing the unit to a board. @intime-nick the fixing plates look fantastic. How much are you going to be asking for a set?

Second hand Pedulla Buzz

The cases look great but the sizes seem to be all wrong for what I need. Ideally I need something slightly wider and less deep than the XL version. 44cm is far more depth than I need for just the Helix, but I don't think enough extra to allow me to fit other stuff behind it with all the plugs and cabling. And 74cm isn't quite wide enough to fit the Adrenalinn next to the Helix unless I turn it sideways which I don't think my OCD will allow! How much do I need to leave around the edges in order to be able to lift the pedal board out of the case easily?