dannybuoy

Put two boards together today that will likely stay put for a while whilst I offload a bunch of pedals! I’ve run out of Velcro though so some are just being held by cables/gravity. Also ignore settings as they’d not been adjusted after put them together. Rock board. A bit of a squeeze and can’t quite reach all the buttons on the DP-3X, but it’s always on so no biggie. I’ve found the DP-3X to be so touch sensitive that I don’t need an extra dirt pedal, I just have to exercise more control! I do like to run a wah before it and delay/phaser at the end though, and that would pretty much just be more board if my band had not imploded. So since I’m playing mostly by myself, I’ve combined this with my faux Royal Blood style setup; ABY switch goes to the wah then the dUg on one side, and Tender/Whammy/Joyo/Delay/Phaser/Mimiq on the other. With the stereo doubler on the octave up and the bass panned central, it sounds amazing through headphones. I want to try a stereo phaser in place of the Phase 90 now! Funk board! VTDI is a very versatile pre, and there are great synth sounds to be found from running the Octabvre 100% wet into the BB Preamp and Fwonkbeta, or even both filters combined.

My mint & boxed Cali is now for sale should you feel the desire to acquire both...

Have you looked inside to confirm there isn't a trim control already there? Worth a look if not!

I have both and have owned the Keeley, Diamond, and EBS beforehand. I thought the Cali was the comp I was searching for, with the blend and HPF letting me even out the tone but still let of a lot of low end thump through. But it has been dethroned by the underdog, the Spectracomp. The stock preset at 8-10 o'clock on the dial is just perfect for me. 6 knobs on the Cali was always pretty taxing to dial in just right, just enough rope to hang yourself and too many knobs to think about. The Spectracomp is like someone took the most advanced multiband compressor on the market and got a top studio engineer to tweak dozens of parameters to perfection for typical bass use. They nailed it. No noise that I can detect with the stock preset either (others may vary) unless you crank the compression knob. Last time I A/B'd them, the Cali was noisier in fact, however it wasn't a fair test as there were other things in the chain and the Cali was on a daisy chain with a couple of analog drive pedals. Of course this is but one opinion and there are plenty who will think the Cali slays the TC. You'll only know for sure if you try both out yourself!

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!