dannybuoy

You could also try out one if those miniature Ashbory basses with the rubber strings - they're meant to sound like an upright and it'll be easy to carry around in addition to your other gear since it's about the size of a violin!

Both of those pedals are for sale used right now on this forum: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=83732"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=83732[/url] [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=83884"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=83884[/url]

Check out this demo of the Line6 Verbzilla on bass. The Octo mode is especially glorious! [url="http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=10323439"]http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseacti...ideoID=10323439[/url] The EHX Bass Big Muff is an ideal fuzz to start with. Best bang for buck out there. I see you have the Ashdown Little Bastard - it would be awesome if you could post a review or even some recorded clips of what it sounds like cranked! :brow:

If you want the Diago style brick, then I would recommend this instead, essentially the same thing but cheaper: [url="http://www.johnnyshredfreak.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=8&products_id=12"]http://www.johnnyshredfreak.com/store/inde...p;productsid=12[/url]

If you don't mind spending a little extra, check out the Wilson wahs. I'm gassing for one. [url="http://www.wilsoneffects.com/BassWahs.html"]http://www.wilsoneffects.com/BassWahs.html[/url]

I ordered from Catalinbread and avoided tax but I think I was lucky. If you order from Tonefactor you won't get taxed either .

[quote name='deej' post='774615' date='Mar 14 2010, 07:53 PM']I see you're not using the SFT in the blend loop, so im guessing it sits in the mix ok? Ive been looking whether to get that pedal but i keep hearing mixed things about it. Id probably be using it more on the low gain side I think.[/quote] Actually, the SFT is a pain to use in a blend loop because it inverts the phase of your signal! For low gain tones it sounds great by itself anyway.

I spotted that on TV the other night too. Look how skinny that neck is! The body shape reminds me of the Music Man Big Al, but uglier:

I use a Radial JDI with my VT, probably the best passive DI out there but the cheaper ProDI should suffice. Radial designed their own transformer for this model rather than using the more expensive Jensen one used in the JDI. A drawback with passive DI boxes is that they don't have a very high input impedance so aren't the best solution for plugging in a passive bass directly as you'll lose a little bit of treble. I think the drawbacks of active DIs (mainly only the cheaper ones?) is that the electronics could colour the signal or distort on high input signals like the bypass of a Boss pedal can. I've used a soundman's cheap active DI live where a sharp 'tic' could be heard every time I hit a loud note, so I pulled out my JDI and job done!

I've been playing through these pedals a lot over the past couple of days and the SFT is winning me over. It has a low-mid fatness that just sounds great with a P-Bass and flats for blues and classic rock. I say just get it! You can buy direct from the manufacturer ([url="http://www.catalinbread.com/products.php"]http://www.catalinbread.com/products.php[/url]), if so I recommend paying the extra on priority shipping as mine took 6 weeks to arrive with the cheaper option!

There's not many affordable alternatives to the Moog out there. Talkbass user Conical Johnson has designed one and is getting a batch made up - keep an eye on this thread and send him a PM if you want one made for you! [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=611496"]http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=611496[/url]

The BB has plenty of low end and a bass EQ control that can boost it if necessary. I think this is better than having a tubescreamer that drops lows and trying to bring back some of that low end via a blend control which is what the Sparkle Drive does. Just been A/B-ing my SFT and BB some more with a P-Bass and flats. Really hard to pick a winner. I prefer the slightly more natural sounding breakup of the SFT but I like the way the BB doesn't squash the sound so much, letting your playing dynamics come through better.

I have both, you can get pretty similar tones out of each. The SFT sounds a bit more muffled, I have to have the treble control at 3 o'clock to get some pleasing grind out of it. The BB has a more useable EQ since the EQ is after the overdrive section of the circuit. You can get a lot more bass out of the BB, crank the bass on the SFT and you end up distorting your lows more without actually increasing the bass by much. As to which sounds better, I'm undecided so I'm keeping both! For overdrive I run one or the other into a VT Bass, the combination of stacking the pedals gives a much more pleasing drive sound than can be achieved by any of the pedals alone.

[quote name='seymourfluid' post='765694' date='Mar 5 2010, 10:44 PM']I’ve got a musicman sterling running through an ashdown ABM500 anniversary head with a bass pod XT. I couldn’t get the sound I wanted so I bought a VT bass but then, I was colouring my sound to sound like an Ampeg SVT. You’ve got the real thing. Why would you want to buy an emulator? It’s a fantastic pedal for me but is it what you need with your rig?[/quote] I don't consider a solid state Ampeg 'the real thing'. The VT Bass can help you get some of the tube sounds of the B15 and SVT valve amps - I say go for it!

My P Bass had a useless S1 switch that lets you select series/parallel switching for the coils. On a Jazz this is a good feature, but on a P it doesn't sound too good. So I rewired the switch to let me bypass the volume/tone pots at the press of a button, connecting the pickup directly to the output jack. Loads more treble and clarity on tap and fully switchable, and it only cost me an inch of solder and a few watts of electricity! If you decide to go the preamp route, you could always try a pedal preamp (e.g. Sadowsky, Aguilar Tone Hammer, Electronix Submarine) instead of modding your bass.

[quote name='Jamesemt' post='754718' date='Feb 23 2010, 09:20 AM']yeah using a different bass. If I roll off the neck and onto the bridge pickup I get too much fret clank due to running less string tension. Never thought about lowering the pickup...might give that a try[/quote] Reducing the volume of the neck pickup and lowering the neck pickup into the body would have roughly the same effect. If you're getting more clank because the bridge pickup has more treble, then try turning down the tone control. If your string tension is too low then get a higher string guage. The DR Lo-Riders are quite tight string, you can try them in the 45-105 guage, or get something even beefier. If you don't use the G too often you could even string BEAD!