dannybuoy

The SM57 is a good all-rounder, but doesn't capture the deep lows - blend it with a lowpassed & compressed DI signal though and you will have them back again! If it's for the studio rather than live that should be easy to sort out. Be careful of buying cheap ones on eBay though as there are a lot of fakes around since they're so popular. Otherwise, all the really good dynamic mics that get recommended for bass use are well over £200, although you might be lucky enough to pick one up used - Shure SM7B, Sennheiser MD421, Heil PR40, Electrovoice RE20. Some might suggest using a kick drum mic, but I would avoid that, they usually have a massive mid scoop, and you don't want your bass to be EQ'd the same as the kick.

[quote name='ratman' timestamp='1398334596' post='2432966']I have the Vintage Microtubes. So far, with my gear, it seems like a limited (almost one trick) pony. I'm going to give it a fair chance to see what it can do but if it doesn't do it for me I'll be selling it.[/quote] Ah, see the B3K is also labelled 'Microtubes', hence the confusion. I would've thought the Vintage would be at least a two-trick pony with that Era knob! The Deluxe version would probably suit more due to the EQ, but it's nearly twice the price and I don't need the DI. PM'd to see if you're up for short term swapsies with something of mine... To be fair, most drive pedals are 'one trick ponies'. Depends if you like that trick or not that counts, and that's why we have so many different ones!

[quote name='horrorshowbass' timestamp='1398110450' post='2430609']I'm leaning towards the B3K for the grunt setting especially.[/quote] All the grunt does is cut lows going into the distortion circuit (at least that's what it sounds like to my ears). Then you blend some lows back in with the blend control. The drive can sound a bit bloated with full bass going into it in fat mode, and more cutting and guitar like if switched to the thin or raw modes. I preferred it on fat - and the Vintage is probably baked in with a similar tone, sending full range into the drive circuit.

Nothing yet, he just announced on Talkbass that he will soon be announcing an announcement: [QUOTE name='Darkglass']Thanks guys! I have a ton of ideas for later this year... so I'm super excited! There's lots of cool stuff coming up and I can't wait to show you! I'm also working on some minor tweaks to the current pedals (nothing drastic, just subtle improvements)! More to be announced soon![/QUOTE]

Same as those on the B3 / MS-60B, although the lineup is a little different, this new one has a few effects not on the B3 and vice versa (full list can be found on the Zoom site). All the effects are pretty good, except the pedal wahs are terrible (pedal controlled Moog LPF sounds ok though!). The expression pedal has nearly all of it's usable travel in the first half of the sweep and the second half does nothing which is pretty frustrating. Pedal whammy is not bad, but not tried a real Whammy to compare. The distortions sound OK but not as good as the real thing. Amp sims - I've not tried through a decent loud full range system to be able to comment, but I don't think they sound very good through headphones or my amp - plenty of people are using the B3 as their gigging preamp though so with the necessary tweaking and powerful PA I bet it could sound pretty good. Compression, filters, chorus, flanger, delay and reverb are excellent. Phasers are either too 'analog'/subtle sounding or too digital/extreme sounding for my liking. Synths aren't bad either! For £59 it's a bargain, even if it doesn't go on your gigging board, there's a lot of fun to be had.

Are you talking about the B3K or Vintage? The B3K is a bit of a marmite pedal. Some people rave about it like it's the ultimate pedal for everything, but really I find it to be a bit of a one trick pony. I see you play a P bass - I don't think that's a good match, the B3K sounds better with a Jazz/Ray I reckon.

I don't want one [i]that[/I] badly.

Mine too. Couldn't resist at £59 for the B1XON! Will probably use it mostly for the drum machine, looper and headphone amp with aux in. But some the fx are very usable, especially the filters and compressors. By the way, update the firmware from the Zoom site and increase the effect count from 75 to 100!

[quote name='Count Bassy' timestamp='1398291591' post='2432676'] I would have thought that, if anything, increasing the non-speaking but stretchable length of the string would tend to increase the compliance (perceived as reduced tension), but I can't think that an extra few mm will make a significant difference either way. [/quote] In theory, as long as friction didn't get in the way, you would be correct! If you have more string length behind the saddle, if you did a string bend, that extra length could slip over the anchor point, providing more give/compliance. I could see this happening on a bridge with smooth round saddles, but not on a bridge like my BB1025X where the strings sit on a sharp fulcrum that digs into the string windings.

B415 bridge is staggered like that so that you have a bit more adjustability and to ensure the silks don't sit on the barrel if it's adjusted right far back. Nothing to do with tension. They could've just made the whole bridge longer, but I reckon they did it this way as a gimmick so people would believe it offered them better tension.

If the grain is going to be visible, then ash every time.

I've not weighed my BB1025X but it's noticeably heavier than the BB415 which it replaced. I think they can all vary though, Precisions from the same production line can vary by 1 - 2 lbs for example.

Here's a group for London promoters/venues on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/London-Live-Blacklist-Good-n-bad-London-Promoters-Bands-Venues/187959254586136 This was the norm when I was gigging around London with other unknown originals bands. In fact we were lucky to get any money, most would pay £1 per head after the first 10 or 20 people came in to see you. But living in the outskirts and working in central London, I already had a travelcard so it was free to get around town, and there was usually a house amp or cab available. When there wasn't, I had a Promethean combo just about light enough to lug on the tube, as long as the head was removed and put in the bass bag. I didn't mind so much as I didn't know any different, and took the viewpoint that most of the gigs were like a free rehearsal.

http://www.thomann.de/gb/yamaha_bb_1025x_bl.htm http://www.thomann.de/gb/yamaha_bb_1025x_tbs.htm Available in 2-5 days? They have the non-X version in stock now. Or if you want the brown, 3-10 days from Musik Productiv: http://www.musik-produktiv.co.uk/yamaha-bb-1025x-cb.html I'd call/email to confirm those estimates are accurate though!

Darkglass Doug just announced that there will be a forthcoming announcement announcing a few tweaks to the existing product line, so if you were thinking of buying one it might be worth holding out to see what those improvements are!

No maple boards I'm afraid, but: Yamaha TRBX504: Retrovibe Vantage V4W:

I think the 5 string Precision and Jazzes have the same neck - quite wide and chunky. Too wide for me in fact, that I went for a Yamaha BB instead!

Owned the B3K briefly before returning it. I found it too scooped, with weak lows and a fizzy top end that I couldn't adjust without upgrading to the (overpriced) B7K. It does one particular sound really well that fits with a Jazz / Stingray or other agressive bass played in a metal / industrial band. I've not tried the Vintage but like what I hear from the demos. Sounds like this would suit a more traditional rock tone and would be my choice between the two for the kind of stuff I play.

That should do the trick! Definitely with a shot if you already have it at your disposal. Try the octave into either the distortion/synth1/synth2 models, then a smidge of chorus/delay at the end.

Combining a fuzz and octave will get you in the ballpark, or a modern synthy distortion pedal like the Tech21 Red Ripper or Source Audio Multiwave Distortion. Then a dash of reverb / delay / chorus would help too... Ultimately you'd either have to spend a lot on separate pedals or get a multi. I recommend trying out a Zoom MS-60B or B3!

Make that me three then!

http://youtu.be/zM8cJyT6K6s

Keen to try the pickups, but like yourself, not so keen on the bass!