dannybuoy

Order from donnerdeal.com if buying new, cheapest by far!

My SFT is my nearly-always-on pedal! Set to low gain, it sounds like it's just on the edge of drive like when you start to push a speaker past its limits, warm compressed and woolly, like a sheep in a vice.

[quote name='Sean' timestamp='1401291515' post='2462125'] Yes, they are the same pickups. [/quote] Yet have different model numbers and prices! ...?

Stepping up from the 4 series, you get the spline-jointed body, stiffer quarter-sawn neck, nickel nut, better pickups and bridge, and PERHAPS better fit/finish/fretwork.

Chopped up and folded old style mouse mat, or a dishwasher sponge are popular options.

[quote name='MoJo' timestamp='1400849179' post='2457500']My BB414 does the job perfectly[/quote] I've never had a string break either, but I have had the jack socket fail during a practice on my BB415!

I've got the Sub Ray4 - sounds awesome, every bit a Stingray, although the preamp is very loud. There's mods listed over on the Talkbass forums showing how to remedy that.

If going the sansamp route, I'd recommend the VT Bass over the Sansamp BDDI / BDI-21. Smoother and tubier and without the gaping hole in the midrange (unless you dial it in with the mid control of course).

Yeah I would look at octavers. The Boss suffers from a volume drop when set to 100% wet, but you could boost that with a bit of overdrive to dirty it up. The Pearl octaver does a similar sound to the Boss but with an added dirty octave up, or the Aguilar has a filter control that you can open up to make it sound more raspy. Also the Iron Ether Subterranea would worth a look. You could also approximate it with a bit crusher, maybe get a cheap Zoom multi (MS-60B or B1on) and mess about to see what you come up with - they have quite a few synth models built in too.

Nice work!

If you want to cycle through patches with the footswitches rather than turning individual fx on and off, check out the B1on. It's stupid cheap and in some ways it's better than the B3 (newer effects, up to 5 fx simultaneously, built in expression pedal on the B1xon) if you can sacrifice the DI and USB audio interface.

T45 eh? Hmmm...

Thanks for posting! Trying to register on ozbass to see if he's up for a UK tour box!

You are starting on the long but glorious road of your tone quest which usually results in pedal addiction. I'd keep an eye out for a VT Bass, SFT, BB Preamp, Darkglass Vintage, or COG Knightfall in the classifieds!

Unless he meant Road Worn?

[quote name='Pembo' timestamp='1400874947' post='2457875'] I've never tried any overdrive pedals, but always imagined them to turn tone into just a distorted 'electronic/digitally sound, or do they still provide that warm dynamic breakup? I just play a BB414. Best budget bass i could find, for styles i play. [/quote] Totally depends on the pedal. There are plenty of overdrives capable of adding just a hint warmth and fatness at low settings. Some overdrives are more vintage sounding, boosting the bass and low mids whilst rolling off the top end. Others are good at adding extra growl and top end sparkle. There are some that are flexible enough to do both. Depends which direction you're leaning towards! And the BB414 rocks! I played a BB415 for years before moving up to a BB1025X. Reason I asked is some pedals don't play well with hot/active basses. The BB is pretty hot for a passive instrument, so I use the SFT on 18v to give it more headroom for example. And regarding the amps - the Orange may be labelled as a one trick pony, but it's a very good trick. Sounds so much fatter and louder than the Streamliner 600 IMHO, I had both for a short time but it was no contest. Then again lots of people prefer the Genz also! Moral of the story, at the end of the day the only way you'll know is if you try out all this gear yourself. That's why so many of us are gear tarts on this forum, buying and selling used is like a way to rent stuff out to see what you like!

By used, or import, and you can sell it on without taking a loss! The Behringer BDI21 is actually pretty well regarded compared to most of their range, and you can't go wrong for the price!

If the SA450 is anything like the LMII, it'll be a clear relatively flat sounding amp that will take well to tone shaping via pedals. DHA VT1s pop up used on here cheap quite often too. Great if you want to add a bit of 'valveness' without overly colouring your tone like a Sansamp can. A Catalinbread SFT is my always-on pedal though! What kind of basses do you play?

I always thought they looked alike (take the 's' off https to get the video to embed btw)! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uBOtQOO70Y

Or a GK MB500 or MB Fusion!

Fender bought them and killed them off. There are a few places that still have them going cheap - check out Bass Direct, they have 2x Streamliner 600s going for £399! http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Streamliner_4.html

If it was fine for an hour at those settings then started to sound bad, you've probably knackered the driver. If anything inside the amp would've cooked itself you'd be more likely to be looking at a dead/smoking amp!

These amps tend to have a habit of going pfft. Mine has done so once, and got it repaired for nowt even though it was out of warranty, although I had to pay PMT £25 to cover the courier. I'd make sure I had a backup!