dannybuoy

Quite like this one:

I tried the non-mini 66, and found it good for adding an aggressive edge to pick playing but didn't like the tone of it as a touch-expressive fingerstyle drive so sold it on pretty quickly. I've tried almost all the pedals mentioned in here and made my own opinions on what I did and didn't like... someone else with different gear, playing styles and ears would probably choose a different set of pedals entirely. Some brief comments: [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]EHX Soul Food - sounded like a nasty cheap overdrive with the redeeming feature of a clean blend[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Bearfoot Blueberry - sounds like God playing through a cranked tube amp[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Wren & Cuff Phat Phuk B - more of a boost pedal, adds a very subtle warmth; this can be coaxed into overdrive by tweaking the trimpot but it sounds brittle and nasty when done[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Solid Gold Beta - creamy, dark/muffled, boosted bass; sounds a bit grainy like a tubescreamer with tweaked EQ[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Xotic BB Preamp - like a bass friendly tubescreamer, very touch sensitive and can go from clean to heavy drive by plucking strength alone. Come to think of it, this is what I used when playing [/font][/color][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]fretless in a rock band due to expressiveness and is worth a look.[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Darkglass Vintage Microtubes - very nice but very different to the others in terms of feel; sounds like running your bass through a guitar amp and blending with your clean signal. If you think some other ODs are mushy, give this a go. I had one but replaced it with a Pike Vulcan as I found the VMT too dark and the Pike to have pokier upper mids.[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]DHA VT-1 - lovely gooey warm tube drive, sounds a bit nasty/farty with the gain pushed past low-medium though[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Tritonlab FET Overdrive - not tried![/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Catalinbread SFT - this was my main OD for a long time until the Blueberry replaced it due to sounding very similar but just better. Note there are two versions, old one with the white knobs is much darker in tone.[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]MXR Micro Amp - not tried this either but isn't this just a clean boost pedal?[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Another one for your list - Rodenberg 808B, available for a good price from Bass Direct. Not tried it, but heard great things about it and seems similar to the BB Preamp.[/font][/color]

Definitely, it would be like upgrading your dinner from pedigree chum to fillet steak!

I thought they had the SPB-4 Steve Harris pickup?

Check out the Blueberry at 0:25 here: http://youtu.be/13XHY7GlAXo And 6:25 here: http://youtu.be/qEsOlOX993A If those sounds are too hairy for you, that gain control goes lower still. Also in my experience, the Tone Hammer turns to mushy fuzzy mess with the gain past half way - lovely at low gain, but certainly not one that I crank the gain on!

Agreed that blend is unnecessary here. The Blueberry, Tone Hammer, etc have bags of low end without one... And they work some magic in how they compress and colour the signal which would just be diluted by blending. A blend is necessary for pedals that are mainly about distorted mids (e.g. Darkglass Vintage and Pike Vulcan) or when you have high gain distortion / fuzz and you need to bring back some of the thump to the note attack.

My go-to pedal to pair with a Precision and flats for low gain drive is the Aguilar Tonehammer. What was it you didn't like about the Blueberry? Cos that would've got my recommendation also!

Either pedal would work, the standard VT or the DI. The character control is a midrange boost before the clipping stage - it doesn't affect the lows, but I can see how some would say that since cranking it makes your tone very bright and clanky! Btw, the compressors on the Zoom aren't bad at all. Wait until you get your hands on it before reserving judgement. The BB Preamp model is probably the best place to start for a warm overdrive. You can also coax warm drive sounds out of a B7K if set carefully so try that too!

Hard to judge the tone from the demos as you don't know how it was recorded. It didn't sound much different to what my BB1025X sounds like with fresh strings on to be fair.

Good to know! But I still suspect they are in the minority and expect many boutique Jazz basses would still suffer from a bit of single coil hum.

Unless the tech has moved on significantly you may find those particular things lacking... The B2 had a decent slightly dirty tube preamp model but I could not find anything similar in the B3 (or the fx list for the B3n) - there are lots of amp models and distortion pedals but not a basic tube pre. The Darkglass B3K / B7K models sound very promising though - but they are not what I'd choose for a warm valve sound. I've had to fall back to analog stuff like the Bearfoot Blueberry, VT Bass and Aguilar Tonehammer for that. The octavers in the Zoom units I've had were all terrible in my opinion, in terms of both tone and tracking. Here are the effects bundled: https://www.zoom.co.jp/sites/default/files/products/downloads/pdfs/E_B3n_FX-list.pdf#overlay-context=products/bass/b3n-multi-effects-processor

SFT was my go to but the Blueberry blew it out of the water. I have the BB still and like it but not as much. Low Blow I've not considered, but I remember very much looking forward to its release only to be disappointed by the demos!

9v pedal for blues/rock? I implore you to check out the Bearfoot Blueberry. I've tried dozens and it slays all.

Whatever sounds best, probably a bit of both with any delay/reverb/modulation after the pre and everything else before it.

I guess it might depend on the environment, what you were plugged into etc... but the bridge pup on my BB1025X is pretty quiet in terms of hum. I usually flick between the neck and middle positions and don't hear any extra noise added when going to the middle position. Soloed, the bridge pup on my Jazz seems to be a bit noisier.

Is it acceptable on a Fender Custom Shop Jazz? It's exactly the same amount of noise you would get from one of those with the bridge pickup soloed, surely.

They all look ugly compared to the current lineup!

I don't notice much noise with mine in the middle position at least (I never use the bridge pup soloed) and I have a dimmer switch in my room that makes most things buzz. I don't think it's shocking on a bass that costs a lot... it's only the standard amount of hum you'd get from a single coil pickup. There are plenty of basses more expensive than this with single coils that also hum. You could solve it by putting a humbucker at the bridge but that would change the tone of the pickup; you could also do something funky with dummy coils, but I can't recall one single production or boutique bass that uses that method.

[quote name='Barking Spiders' timestamp='1490352682' post='3264489'] Of late I've been googling to see what function bands are out there that play funk. Thing is it seems to me the definition of funk is being stretched to include setlist numbers that might just about be bordering on funk and soul while some are not funk at all e.g. Sex on Fire and Happy. I spose if you need gigs you've gotta offer recent chart hits. I guess a setlist that includes covers of tunes by Trouble Funk, Fatback Band, Ohio Players and Graham Central Station isn't gonna land you any spots. Shame [/quote] It's a shame the function bands that want to specialise in a particular genre feel they have to do the same songs as your generic band. There are plenty of poeple out there that would book a proper funk band, even if the crowd don't know the songs that well they would probably be familiar with a few hooks and if the music is good and played well it will get people dancing. Saying "we are in the entertainment industry so we must play these songs" is like saying all restaurants should sell burgers and chips.

If Sex On Fire is on the playlist, I'd wager that Dakota and Chelsea Dagger are on there too?

From the BB club thread on TB: "They are discontinuing the current BB lineup. The next ones are already fully designed and functional models are all up and ready. Probably be in stores very very soon. Sadly they wont be a minor update but a totally different version from what I heard today. 1000 series equivalent will be active. 400 and 2000 will be passive."

Interesting! I wonder if there will be a 434/435/2034/2035? I've always gassed for a 2025X as an upgrade to my 1025X, here's hoping a discounted one might appear somewhere...