dannybuoy

Apart from the Ampeg Micro VR or PF350 which are surely worth a look simply because they are Ampeg, I thought the Fender Rumble V3 with the vintage switch pushed in, or the Aguilar Tonehammer with the drive control nudged up reminded me of the warm tones I used to get from my old Ampeg B200R.

My feedback mod was literally a wire connecting two transistor legs with a switch in between. I've had a feedback loop box like the one pictured, it doesn't work with all pedals and the end result was slightly different to the feedback loop I added to my BBM. But definitely worth getting one for exploring what sounds you can get out of it! Hard wiring the input to the output with a pot and momentary switch will work in many cases, but try it out with a probe before you solder anything!

I thought it was unlimited as there was only one version? I could be wrong of course.

Yes, a Zoom B3 on a daisy chain is a recipe for disaster when it comes to noise! Many digital pedals are, certainly everything by Zoom and EHX that I've tried. I can't recall what the Source Audio stuff is like in this regard.

I added a feedback loop to my Bass Big Muff here: https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/112212-bass-big-muff-volume-and-feedback-mods/ There are a few different places you can create them, try a wire with probes at either end and work out what sounds good!

The reason that neck extends so much further it is largely due to the bridge position. On the other hand this makes palm muting easier which is something to consider if it's a technique you might use! I don't know what other basses you've tried Al, but a simple Fender P with flats is a wonderful thing. Less low end and more 'woody' than the BB. I was thinking about what that term 'woody' actually means, and to me it means that the sound coming out of the bass is similar to the natural unplugged acoustic tone of the bass. It makes sense to me that this is best achieved with a single pickup, to avoid the scoop and interaction you get from combining pickups, placed at the same position where your fingers pluck the strings. In other words, a P Bass (or JC)!

But it comes with a built in tummy cushion! Looks like you could peel it off and use it as an emergency rain hat too.

I know! There is one on ebay for a lot less, but still. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gretsch-G6136LSB-White-Falcon-Bass-2012-with-Gretsch-Case/253608310087?hash=item3b0c3bb547:g:qDwAAOSwglZZbytk

Here you go Al, this would like nice next to your Nathan East BB: https://www.richtonemusic.co.uk/product/gretsch_g6136lsb_white_falcon_bass_tv_jones_thundertron_pickups

The Chowny CHB-2 at least has it's bridge pickup in what I would consider a 'sweet spot' where I could happily use it soloed - not too thin, not too woofy/undefined. Then blend in some of that neck pickup to fatten things up if required: What's your favourite colour Bas? Surely that has to be a factor!

My reason for not wanting a TM4/VM4 - I love the Stingray sound, the standard Basic is similar but with the pickup slightly further towards the neck, which for a flatwound funk bass I think is a good thing. I certainly wouldn't want that MM pup to sound any thinner by moving it towards the bridge, also I've never heard a sound I liked from a MM pickup blended with any other pickup - always sounded too scooped for my liking. Sometimes less is more! (back to your chosen topic - although waffling about pickup preferences is surely semi relevant in any 'what bass should I get' thread! :D)

Sure, if the twin pickup bass has one in the same position as the equivalent single pickup bass, it’s a no brainer to go for the two pickups. But for me, most twin pickup basses have one pickup too far up and the other too far down. They might sound great blended together, but that results in a very different tone to a single pickup in between those spots. Like a P Bass vs a J Bass with both pickups up full, both very good but very different. Not a semi hollow, but it’s the reason I bought a single pickup Sandberg Basic over the TM4 version for example!

Oh and don’t just discount Epiphone based on your perception of the brand, the JC is good enough for these guys: http://cheapthunder.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Epiphone

First choice I would make would be the pickups. Quite a difference in tone between one central pickup (Jack Casady) and two pickups (nearly everything else). I would lean towards the JC, and put a Hipshot or Babicz bridge on to replace the stock 3 point one.

My previous band was the other way around - I went to their gigs so often I ended up befriending them and joining the band several years later!

Ok, I'll play! Clean bass, then adding the layers of Diabolik, Octabvre Mini, MXR Bass Envelope Filter, MXR Carbon Copy: https://1drv.ms/u/s!ApKsVfvGwYkOiqkL9mVycX-u9kCMAA Chain is in that order, octave after the fuzz to keep the low end clean. Recorded direct, no amp or speakers involved.

The EQ is placed after the distortion, but the character control is effectively a midrange control before the distortion. So if you boost character, you boost mids. But this allows you to get more upper mid grind without having to push the gain so high, then pull the mids back afterwards to try and flatten everything out again! E.g. try character at 3 o'clock, mids at 10 o'clock, blend at 11 o'clock.

Indeed the blend knob is a bit of a revelation when it comes to exploring grindy tones from the VT. As a low gain tube amp sim it's best to have the blend all the way up, but high gain with the character at noon or below turns to mush as a result of too much low end being fed to the overdrive section. Solution - whack up that character control to send predominantly mids to the overdrive section, then redress the balance by cutting mids and backing off the blend. It's a good way to approximate the sound of the new Tech21 DP-3X pedal if all you have to work with is the VT!

It's important to try and listen to your sound in the context of the rest of the band, which is hard to do effectively at high volume rehearsals. I like to play along to studio recordings with different combinations of basses and preamp pedals into headphones to figure out what works best. The last couple of bands I've been in have had a very thick distorted guitar tone (e.g. Les Paul into a cranked Orange tube head). Here I've found it best to use a scooped tone to provide a pillow of low end to underpin the sound, but with a bit of crispy gain up top to add clarity and fill out that upper midrange where the guitarist and vocalist don't often tread. I used a BB1025X with both pickups on which is naturally scooped and growly anyway, into a Darkglass B3K, although the Tech21 DP-3X is my weapon of choice for this tone now. If I'm playing at the jam night down my local, totally different ball game. Often more then one guitar, but usually thinner sounding, and often a higher pitched female vocalist. To slot in here I stay out of the upper mids, go easy on the deep low end and fill out the lower mids with a P-Bass or my Sandberg Basic (a bit like a Stingray), both of which are wearing TI flats. Either straight into the amp or via a low gain drive pedal of a totally different flavour to the other setup. Full range OD with no clean blend is the order of the day here, something that produces a guttural roar from below rather than grind from up top when you dig in, e.g. SFT, BB Preamp, Beta, Agro.

Have you tried the Sub'n'Up? Heard good things about the latency on that, and with it's built in EQ and modulation you could do the 12 string emulation perhaps better than anything!

Finger and thumb, pinch technique! Quite hard to route the upper string through a separate FX chain using that method though!

If you can find a used MkI that is. The MkII isn't quite as good by all accounts and only exists because of EHX's lawyers!

This is the first time that a (mainstream) band has used an octave up in conjunction with that though to pull of such an authentic sounding fake guitar from the bass. Those guys might have great bi-amped tones, but they don't sound like guitars. People are shocked when they find out there is no guitarist in Royal Blood! Anyway, enough of a thread derail this has been!

Good sounding low latency polyphonic octave up still eludes a lot of manufacturers, even the £1K Line6 Helix is nowhere near as good as my £50 Mooer Tender Octaver, which is ripped off of the EHX POG. Then it's not just fuzz you want but a Fender guitar amp sim, even better if over stereo outputs with a bit of delay to simulate his wall of amps (I use a TC Mimiq to cop that). But an extra fuzz stomp of course would be welcome as well as +5th, whammy divebombs... It could definitely fit in a Flyrig-sized device though!

They would make a killing. Fender could give it a go, or otherwise Tech21 as they've shown their prowess squeezing a complex chain into a small pedal with the dUg pedal. But it's the octave up that makes or breaks it and you'd really need EHX for that bit!