uk_lefty

Being a singer, especially for covers is very hard!! I tried it myself a few times and realised exactly how hard. It's not just remembering the queues the words and being in tune but getting the right emphasis on the right words and syllables... Hopefully the singer has taken your push in the right direction positively and recognises he had a decent band behind him. A band better than his current level of ability deserved.

No doubt I'll be back to multis in a year or two!

Last night the band worked on one new song (I say "new" it got requested at a gig once and we jammed it nicely) then worked on some details for other established songs. The verdict is in: Boss OC-2 hard to hear in the mix in a rehearsal room but I think its going to really bring something playing live through big PAs. Keeper. Duality Fuzz. This made everyone happy. I love how flexible it is to get a "soft" fuzz after the octave for a synthy sound or a full on modern tear your face off screaming fuzz and everything in between. In the mix it can act like a hairy overdrive too. Not just a keeper, an absolute winner. I'm glad I pushed the boat out for this, despite how much I wanted an EHX Bass Big Muff. Zoom B1 four.... Having used a Helix Stomp for about 18months I didn't expect this to be as good. It is nowhere near the quality of sound. I used some of the presets for compressor and EQ and it was.... Ok. Ok for rehearsals. I would not want to gig it with those tones. I need to get into tweaking this a LOT to get it gig worthy. I may still bite the bullet and buy a decent compressor, EQ, and chorus pedal. Also, I think this pedal is bringing noise into my signal chain. It could be that the power pack, which is a cheap unit anyway, is now being stretched a bit with nearly every 9v bank in use but there is a constant background hiss.

Have got halfway through the thread... I don't have time to edit the Zoom patches yet but will try to early next week. So far the presets sound ok, a bit of tweaking and I expect it will be much improved.

I recently started to feel it was pointless having a Helix Stomp when I was using lesstl than 1% of its capability. I was also complementing the Stomp with other external pedals to do what it could not for gigging purposes. My board was... Wireless receiver, Expression pedal and Boss SY-1 Synth, AMT bass Wah, Harley Benton tuner/ mute, Helix Stomp plus two button footswitch to change patches... I bought a Boss OC-2 just because... I will use it extensively for the glitchy synthy nature of it. You can get the octave down sound but it's the glitch that is the charm of the original. That was the moment I just thought "hang on, this is getting silly" So I sold the Helix. New pedals in: Boss OC-2, Zoom B1 four, Darkglass Duality Fuzz. Rationale... Well my band does "pop goes rock" and I have been trying to recreate some of the synth sounds that underpin a lot of songs. The Boss isn't perfect for this but I'm spending some time trying to learn it better. I also wanted an OC-2 and a fuzz to make other synthy sounds. I use fuzz as a distortion type effect to make some choruses heavier, with its dual use for synthy stuff I knew I needed a good one and after watching the Ian Allison demo of the Duality I was sold (via BC Marketplace!) This fuzz does everything!! So why the Zoom? Well... I use chorus occasionally. Not enough to justify buying a new chorus. I need a compressor because I'm not happy with the one built in on my amp and I want it at the front of my pedal chain. I want to be able to call up random effects and try them with the band without having to buy stuff. So far with the zoom... It's ok. It is NOT a Helix replacement but for someone like me who didn't have the time or patience to get the best out of the Helix it will do a job and do it well. It's also a good practice tool. Over time it may get replaced on my board by a good chorus, a compressor and maybe a preamp, but for now I'm going to see how it goes. I'm pretty happy with the set up now. Though some of the pedals I've not had long with they are coming out with the band tonight to work on details in some old songs and one or two new ones. Can't wait to hear these in the mix!!

My singer uses a radio mic and me and the guitarist are both wireless. If a gig is going well then the singer will be off through the crowd while he's singing. If the gig is going badly he might go for a wonder... I've seen that once, diving into someone's selfie... There's two songs where me and the guitarist might pop off the stage too. The guitarist likes to run through the crowd and so on whereas I just like to get a bit out front and dance around a little. I'm very wary of smashing someone's head accidentally with the end of my bass so tend to make sure I've got space. It's not contrived or pre agreed, I don't always bother myself in a lot of gigs. But if we're feeling it we will go for a wonder about.

My favourite compressor on the Helix seemed to be the LA Studio comp. Worked well with both active and passive basses, slightly better with active. I'm not a big compressor guy though, I used to rely on the one knob built in comp on my old Ashdown Rootmaster, soy compression needs, tastes and knowledge are at the basic end.

I'd love to try a Rick but absolutely no way at the prices they go for. No way in hell.

Tasty 1980 Rick I just noticed on eBay... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/125433617786?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=lWesMlFOSri&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=XRJhsZSpS5O&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

That would be my ideal P bass. But I'd probably have to get a second hand Mexican one and have a pickguard made! I'm already at too many basses, but a P would be very welcome in the fold right now!

It was a coin toss between that and Risky Business. Can you see the inspiration here? Unfortunately the band never really got going and since then I've sold my fretless Warwick and headless Status/ Washburn. One day.... One day....

And a custom shop P too. I do like both of them... About £4k ish new. Looks like a good deal for someone.

Thanks, it worked when I first got it but the output was low. No crackling or cutting in and out, just quiet. Then when fiddling around the other day it just stopped.

Hi everyone. I bought an old OC-2 off eBay a few weeks back. I used it for just a few minutes, went on holiday, came back today and.... After about ten mins messing around with various riffs I'd like to use it for the Octave 2 function just stopped. Completely stopped. The direct signal knob and Octave 1 work perfectly but Octave 2 is now silent. Is there a common or known fault with these? My mate may be able to fix it, he builds his own guitar pedals and is an engineer by trade, but I'd like to be able to give him a clue what's going on with it. I've also politely asked the eBay seller if he was aware of anything with these...

Bands I was involved in naming: Guantanamo - got our first gig purely on this name. I wanted to get orange jumpsuits too but never managed to. Cocktails and Dreams - 80s covers

Sorry, not me.

I've watched that clip loads and posted it on here a fair few times but never knew the full story. Thank you!

I toyed with this... Mainly because part of the reasoning is that I want the sound of my amp 99% of the time so a preamp/ DI will either be cluttering a signal chain or adding/ cutting frequencies unnecessarily. I'm in a quandary really. If I spent proper time with my Helix I could just get it to do most of what I need it to.... I just don't know if I can get the time to do that.

That would be an interesting question for a non-bassist! I think we are all too biased to answer correctly. I personally love Jaco and don't find him too much on the Joni recordings or live work, if she didn't want that style she should have hired someone else is my view.... But I fully get why anyone would say the opposite!

That has got all the knobs.

That's not a meltdown. This is a meltdown... https://youtu.be/O3cBp_Bf43M

This looks right up my street, thank you!

I'd love one but they are pricey!