dannybuoy

Not long!

I like the Darkglass Vintage, I have the Ultra version. But it's not a great choice for this sound. The Vintage is great at layering some extra thick midrange on top of your original sound. It needs the clean blend as there's not much low end in the distorted channel. It doesn't make that bouncy rubber band sound if you know what I mean. I'd go for a tubey drive that has no blend but plenty lows without one. Another option is an alternative amp. The Orange Terror Bass for example can be picked up used for not much over £300 and will give you that sound plugged straight in!

I love the Motown sound, and have gone through a fair whack of pedals trying to get it. The Aguilar Tonehammer is the holy grail for Motown tones as far as I'm concerned. It has that bouncy rubber band effect on the peak of the note just right, and still sounds rich/tubey/3D/whatever you want to call it. It has battled everything else out there that generally gets recommended and come out way on top. Plus it works via phantom power if you're the type to just grab a DI box for the gig rather than a powered pedalboard! Here's a little clip I did recorded direct ages ago (P with TI flats, tone up full, which should have been rolled off some in hindsight!): https://1drv.ms/u/s!ApKsVfvGwYkOiqV6Q61pUu3yvWelVg The TC Mojomojo, One Control Sonic Silver Peg, Bearfoot Blueberry, Catalinbread SFT, VT Bass, and SolidGoldFX Beta all do a good job too (and roughly in that order too, the TC is well worth a bash). I wasn't a fan of the Grizzly at all for Motown, I had high hopes but it was bottom of the list for me. I also had an EBS Valvedrive in the dark and distant past, but I was chasing angry punk tones at the time (which I couldn't get from it) so would have to try it again before passing judgement!

Get a Pedaltrain Volto, or a generic USB power bank with a 5-9V converter tip. I plan on building up a mini board with either of these options, sod using batteries (which means I have to disconnect the pedals when not in use and keep multiple batteries charged) or restricting myself to pedals with a battery compartment!

The middle position is THE setting as far as I'm concerned, especially when drive is involved. I've never been able to get a solo jazz bridge pickup to sound good in my hands, even though I've heard others pull it off!

Make sure you get the full size one, the mini one is a clean boost only! I just ordered one from Guitar Guitar too, since they're on sale.

Yes, the BB is a lot brighter than the Mojomojo. The drive is a bit fuzzier, creamier, and has more sustain. It may work well for you!

Is that a VT Bass at the end there? 🧐

I used drop D even on my 5 string when it calls for it. Some tracks just call for that low open string rather than a B string at the 3rd fret. Partly because it doesn't sound the same (although I imagine if I had a fanned fret Dingwall that might negate that), but also some riffs in D are pretty tricky to play if you're constantly having to reach back to that low D. Due to this I also thought I'd make the move from a 5 to a 4 in my last band. That is, until I found a couple of tracks that really benefited from those lower notes, then there was no going back!

Lower gauges are often better for heavier music, your can coax a bit more growl out of the strings.

They did bring out new gold versions, but not sure if they have any metal shielding at the jack plug end (the first gen were pure plastic, which may be the root of the problem). Completely silent headphone practice with the dimmers on since making the switch though. Just putting one EBS flatty in a true bypass loop was proof enough for me.

They are lower profile and more flexible for sure. But I found out why my board was so noisy and it was those damn cables, they’re very poorly shielded. If you have a dimmer switch on in the room, just adding one of those to the chain picks up the buzz like an antenna!

The Digitech Whammy sounds great for dropping a couple of semitones. Barely any latency and sounds realistic. Weirdly though, it has 2 modes, and for this purpose at least, the classic mode sounds better that the new polyphonic mode. They also have a pedal named The Drop dedicated to this task, I’ve not tried it but I imagine it would use their fancy new polyphonic algorithm from the newer Whammy. If you just need drop D for a few tunes though, I’d either retune or get a Hipshot Xtender key.

Musofinder was another one I recall, don't know if it's any good these days though!

Joinmyband doesn't have very good search/filtering capabilities, I was on there earlier. The search uses Google so pulls up ads from years ago, so you just have to wade through dozens of pages. More than once too if you live on the border of multiple counties, as that's how the lists are divided up!

Malekko Diabolik gets my vote. Tons of low end, raspy but not overly harsh, very expressive to playing dynamics, slightly gated to give separation to staccato notes, and, er, well squelchy. https://youtu.be/qlXpGqW4m84/?t=300

https://www.richtonemusic.co.uk/product/dand-addario-exl170-5tp-twin-pack-45-130 2 packs for £40!

You can get them in packs of 2 quite cheap as well. A fellow convert here, after trying all sorts on my BB415 only to get a 1025X and realise I liked those stock strings more than anything else I’d tried! Still have to try those NYXLs, I have a 4 string set so just need to obtain a low B!

Here’s a couple of demos of what the S1 switch will do for you:

It does. It also makes it sound worse, so best not to press it!

I guess I got lucky, I picked one up from eBay for about a tenner and it had just a hint of green! It was a few years ago now, but if I manage to dig up a link I'll post it.

Another thing worth mentioning that eBay offer these days - if the bid winner pulls out, as well as having the option to relist, the seller has the option to offer it to the second highest bidder. If by taking part in the bidding war, you helped to push the price up a bit, then by placing a winning bid and pulling out, the seller might end up selling for a higher price than they would have done had you not participated! 😋

eBay should offer a USB breathalyser test that you have to pass before purchasing anything!

Well in the real world, where unpredictable humans are involved and imaginary contracts are not enforced, it is exactly how eBay works. I've 'sold' stuff to people who haven't paid up nor even had the decency to message me to let me know they were no longer interested. After a week of no contact I gave up and relisted it. A little annoying but no big deal. If someone messaged me to say they're really sorry but changed their mind I would have no problem at all and just realise that it comes with the territory when selling anything online, or offline for that matter.