ratman

The Ginger is an approximate recreation of a 1965 Ampeg Portaflex 1x12 combo. I've never had the luxury of trying the real thing but I really like the vintage vibe of the pedal. Like the Blueberry, the drive section is a breaking up valve sound. I'd say the BB is slightly hotter. The BB has the one tone (Nature) knob but the Ginger has Bass and Treble knobs which makes it a bit more flexible for tone shaping. Personally I prefer the Ginger as an always-on with subtle bite, then either going to the BB for a bigger driven sound, or stacking them for a full blown valve breaking up sound. Bear in mind that I play P's with flats, so I'm after a warmer tone overall. I just checked the VFE site and it's seems to have been updated. Peter is saying he's getting a proper job and not doing so much pedal work. And the Runoffgroove pedals aren't showing up there now. I guess you could email him and ask if he'd do a one-off job. Kits are available online if you're ok with a soldering iron.

Cheers Dan. I was using a Diago Showman up till a couple of months ago. I had it full of pedals but it was pure overkill, so I slimmed down to this with all my current favourites. The one thing left to get is a B3K which will probably replace the Soul Food. I got the Ginger made for me by VFE. It cost about £113 delivered from the States and took about 8 weeks.

It's been a while since I posted my board, so here's the latest set up. [URL=http://s1343.photobucket.com/user/bassboyherms/media/Pedal%20Board%20070216%201_zpssnook7sp.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1343.photobucket.com/albums/o798/bassboyherms/Pedal%20Board%20070216%201_zpssnook7sp.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=http://s1343.photobucket.com/user/bassboyherms/media/Pedal%20Board%20070216%202_zps2xeddybx.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1343.photobucket.com/albums/o798/bassboyherms/Pedal%20Board%20070216%202_zps2xeddybx.jpg[/IMG][/URL] The signal path is: Line6 G30, In/Out box, Zoom MS60B, Bass Soul Food, Blueberry, Ginger, COG parallel blender - Loop 1 = Knightfall 66, Grand Tarkin, GR2. - Loop 2 = DOD Octaver. In/Out box, to amp. It's fairly obvious I like my drive pedals. The GR2 is fairly new to me but it's just so good, my best giggable filter yet. The Blueberry & Ginger get used for more blues/soul/funk gigs. I usually swap them out for an Xotic BB & a Catalinbread or COG boost pedal for rockier stuff.

Very nicely cabled!

Make sure you turn it right up before you pull away

The 'which pedal should I try' question is so subjective. So much depends on your combination of rig, strings, fingers/pick, playing intensity etc. It's sometimes the case that when you see a You Tube demo a pedal sounds perfect, you buy one and it just doesn't do it for you. Also, I've got pedals that I tried that I was sure wouldn't work for me, but they turned out to be keepers. There are some good suggestions here but you'll have to find out for yourself what does the job for you. Something with a blend might be worth considering. Also, be aware that active and passive basses react differently to pedals due to impedance differences. It's a journey of discovery. Welcome aboard, and bring your wallet!

When I come to learn a new song I have a couple of passes through to get the part, riffs, stops & changes figured out. I'm not worried about the arrangement at this stage, just the small chunks. Then I'll do another pass where I'll chart it out (lots of use of the pause button here). I used to get it down on paper but now it's straight to OnSong on my iPad. This is where the magic happens for me - it has always helped me to not just have a mental map of the song, once I've made a chart I have a visual map too and I find that this helps it to sink in really quick. My chord charts are simple too - basic key info, and all the arrangement info. I like to remember the specific bass lines for songs so on a gig I'm not buried in my charts like a sight reader, I'm just using them here and there if I need them, and I can carry on have a good time on stage. Once I've got the chart done, it's once or twice through and I'm pretty much done. I'll normally run the new songs every day for a few days just to make sure they've sunk in. Some songs take a bit longer, for sure, but on the whole I don't find learning a big deal. When I was younger I took a gig where I had 7 days to learn 35 songs. We did the gig and I survived, a few dodgy moments of course, but I proved to myself that it's possible to cram a lot of information in a short space of time. Have faith in yourself that you can do it. As ever, practice is the key. It gets easier the more you do it.

It's another Bergantino HD112 recommendation from me. It's a serious piece of kit that'll handle a 5er with ease.

I've just had a B3K on loan and I really liked it. The tone I preferred was a hint of drive blended in, and I used the switches to select treble/bass/both boosted to give some nice variation of flavours. I'm not normally a fan of the scooped sound but for me it worked well used subtly. There's a whole pallette of sounds accessable with this pedal, subtle bite to full-on drive, and I'll definitely be buying one of these sometime this year.

If I haven't had a gig for a couple of weeks I get twitchy. I just love playing gigs.

As a bassist I'm available for a full time position, or deps, for covers and function work. I've got years of playing experience at high level doing this so I know all the standards - 50's to present day material. I also sing BVs. My gear is all top drawer stuff and I have a reliable van. I'm based in north London but I'm used to driving all over for gigs, South East, South West, South coast, Midlands and beyond, it's no problem. I also run my own PA and it's available for hire. I have an FBT PA system, a medium sized function rig - 3k FOH from the tops & subs, with 4 quality FBT monitors (10 auxes on my desk so lots of IEMs are no problem). Loads of mics to cover vocals, horns, drums, backline, with wireless iPad mixing. Lights & moving heads (smoke machine where it's allowed) too. It's all fully PAT tested and I have public liability insurance. PM me if you'd like some more info.

[quote name='0175westwood29' timestamp='1452205839' post='2947724'] I really do need to try that one!! [/quote] Bakerster is right, you better put a TK high up your wish list. It really is that good. It's the best RAT I've had. I got mine with the extra HPF on the dirty side, very handy. Being the pedal nut we all know you are, I'm surprised you haven't tried one yet!

Me too, I use mine for some high end bite. It sounds great stacking into my BB, 66 & Tarkin pedals.

Not another one. 2016 hasn't started well.

I've got a couple of these, they're fine for my Ps. They are well made and strong. Definitely not flimsy at all.

The JHS Crayon is a stripped down version of the $400 Colour Box, which replicates the pre amp of an old Neve desk. As far as I can tell by trawling the online reviews, the EHX Crayon isn't a copy of that, it's an overdrive pedal. So I'm not sure they deserve to be compared just because they share a name. I suspect the EHX will attract lots more buyers as it doesn't seem like a bad pedal, and it's way cheaper than the JHS.

I prefer the JHS, but the EHX will be worth trying at some point.

Do any of the Dave Hall (DHA VT) pedals have parametrics on? I'm not sure. If not, you might have to put a valve preamp & a parametric EQ in an FX loop pedal, one with a wet/dry blend.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1452511475' post='2950536'] I have several cool basses,amps and a nice effects pedal board. I'm not buying anything. Blue [/quote] This is exactly where I'm at now. And I'm very happy with all my pedals and basses. But why am I still checking the classifieds here and elsewhere just in case something interesting comes up? I guess 'fracking' sums it up. What hope is there for me??

I just bought a pedal from Tonteee. He's quick to reply to PMs and the pedal arrived fast. It was really well packed too. Definitely recommended. Thanks Tonteee

The Ginger and the Blueberry both do warmer valve type grind. Although they're great at what they do, neither of these have a blend. If you're after a bit of gnarly treble bite blended in with your clean sound to help with note definition, then the Bass Soul Food will absolutely do it. And it's dead cheap. I wasn't sold on the BSF until I used it at gig volume - it really comes alive when it's loud, and mine's not moving off my board anytime soon.

My COG Knightfall 66 still has me grinning every time I turn it on. A close second is a recent purchase - a VFE/Runoffgroove Ginger. A lovely pre amp that's inspired by the Ampeg Portaflex. It breaks up really nicely across all the strings, subtle at times, but so effective.

That'll teach me to pay better attention lol. It's the JHS pedals that I'd love to try.

The Crayon and Colour Box both look like cracking pedals.