thisnameistaken

Fair enough, I can imagine the bypass on most of those isn't too clever. The bypass on the OC-2 sounds OK to me though, I never had a problem with that one.

That tune doesn't sound right with one sax. Didn't think the bass tone was great either, a bit too clean and hi-fi for AWB.

I think Fender charge too much for what are bare-bones basses, and their quality control isn't nearly good enough to justify their prices. I have owned a Fender in the past, but it was such a bad experience I'll never buy another new - I want some other poor sucker to have to road-test it first. For the record I currently own a Warwick and a Musicman.

[quote name='Huwberry' post='401890' date='Feb 6 2009, 11:34 AM']That sounds like it might be the problem... only thing is, how the hell is it fixed?![/quote] Sorry, I don't know. Assuming it is a fault, I don't even know who (aside from EHX themselves) could fix it for you. There might be someone in the UK who could do it, or maybe not... I take it the warranty has expired? [quote name='Happy Jack' post='401929' date='Feb 6 2009, 12:31 PM']Will using a daisy-chain cause serious bodily injury or damage the unit? Back OT, will it prevent the filter sweep from sweeping?[/quote] IIRC the XO BMS can't be daisy-chained because it has a positive ground (most 9v pedals are negative ground), so it will just short the power to everything. Whether you or your pedal will get hurt I don't know - I'm not going to experiment with mine to find out for you.

[quote name='ritch' post='401758' date='Feb 6 2009, 09:02 AM']No - I would say that the trim pot on the underside of the unit needs adjusting. Sounds exactly like you are not getting a strong enough signal into the pedal to trigger the filter.[/quote] If he's hearing the tone set at the start freq. slider then it sounds to me like the filter sweep is triggering, it's just not sweeping. The BMS won't output that frequency unless you pass the trigger threshold.

Chet Atkins, Joe Pass, Django, Johnny Marr, Graham Coxon, Andy Summers, Tom Morello, etc.

[quote name='Huwberry' post='401204' date='Feb 5 2009, 04:26 PM']I'll try to describe the problem further - I'm pretty sure the issue is with the 'stop freq' fader. If I set 'start freq' to minimum and 'stop freq' to maximum, the filter gets 'stuck' at the low frequency - if that makes any sense? I can also manually sweep by adjusting the 'start freq' fader, but moving the 'stop freq' fader has no effect whatsoever.[/quote] That sounds like a knackered BMS to me. When the filter's not sweeping, the tone of the filter is set by the stop freq. slider, not the start freq. You only ever hear the sound of the start freq. slider when the filter begins to sweep, so if that's all your hearing (never the stop freq. tone) it sounds like something is seriously wrong with it.

Sounds like it's not getting enough signal to trigger the sweep. Is your bass turned up, and are there any pedals before it in your chain? Maybe something could be lowering the input level or messing with your attack? I'm assuming you know how it works and you've adjusted the preamp gain appropriately, given that you've had it a year.

But the design of a Wal is still understated. Yes sometimes people put "look-at-me" tops on them, but that's the choice of the customer. It seems it's more the bad taste of the customer than the ego of the luthier.

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='400602' date='Feb 5 2009, 01:10 AM']Maybe my GB's dont look like what they cost[/quote] Good! The "difference between M&S and Saville Row" analogy isn't quite right, because most people who go to a tailor for a suit will get a very well-fitted, non-flashy suit. Whereas most people who buy a custom bass go completely the opposite way and end up with something heinously graphic. And frankly - and I'm not picking on anybody here because I've never met any of you and I'm sorry if the generalisation upsets anyone, but - frankly it's often total anoraks who buy these basses, so you end up with a "cocktail dress" bass on a "train spotter" bassist. Ewww.

I always think the proportions on Goodfellow basses look a bit off. The back end looks fat, but overall they look sort-of thin. It's very disconcerting. To be honest I don't think I'd ever have a bass built for me because - after 20 years of playing - I don't really think I'd know what to ask for. I'm very happy with the ones I've got but, for example, while I definitely prefer the feel of the neck on my Warwick to my Stingray, I couldn't describe the difference between them.

A related question: Do those of you with really expensive basses actually gig them? I don't think I'd want to take a bass worth £1000+ out to a pub gig. I suppose with vintage gear it's a bit different, because I wouldn't mind if it picked up a few scrapes, but a shiny new quilt-topped thing with matching wood knobs wouldn't look too clever with big dings in it.

[quote name='BigBeefChief' post='400082' date='Feb 4 2009, 03:44 PM']So, custom bass players out there - why did you go with Shuker/ACG/RIM etc?[/quote] Because Fender doesn't make basses that look like a lottery winner's dining table?

[quote name='Stewart' post='400084' date='Feb 4 2009, 03:46 PM']To my mind it's voltage control (of oscillators, filters and amplifiers) that's key feature of a synthesizer[/quote] I think that's how a Theremin does work, it just uses the capacitance of the performer him/herself to adjust the voltage of the oscillator.

[quote name='leschirons' post='399344' date='Feb 3 2009, 07:57 PM']If the guy is good, plays his stuff on a bass of some kind, then he's probably a good bass player.[/quote] I don't think anybody's suggesting otherwise, they just think his "Richard Clayderman Of The Bass" routine is a bit tired.

Wish I could sell my soul for £20...

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='399445' date='Feb 3 2009, 09:46 PM']I've been drifting into the same territory after watching the "Official EHX Video" here: [url="http://www.ehx.com/products/bass-micro-synthesizer"]http://www.ehx.com/products/bass-micro-synthesizer[/url] It doesn't explain what a synth IS but it certainly gives a good idea of what you can do with it.[/quote] I'm never quite sure whether to call that a synth. I suppose it is, really, because it does produce the octave signals, but it's a very simple kind of synth. Not that it doesn't sound good - it sounds awesome. I'm keeping mine, I've just got an Octavius Squeezer on the way to do all the cleverer stuff.

[quote name='MythSte' post='399387' date='Feb 3 2009, 08:35 PM']Not quite, a bass synth Takes the signal from your bass and manipulates it, rather than a straight electric wave signal.[/quote] Just for completeness' sake: Some bass guitar synth FX do totally replace your bass signal with an oscillator-generated signal, they only use your bass signal to determine what note to generate. The Robot Factory Pulse Synth is one example, so's (in hard-sync mode) the Moog FreqBox.

Some nice pedals anyway. In a way I wish I'd got a smaller board. I've sold a bunch recently to pay for a new synth pedal but it means I'm going to have a big empty space staring at me and I'm sure I'm going to be GASsing for delays and pitch shifters and other fun stuff I don't need...

I used Rotos (Swing Bass '66) on every bass for years except for a period where my band got a DR endorsement. They're good strings, very bright, can't remember ever having a duff set and I must've gone through hundreds of them. I just recently bought my first non-RS66 set of strings for about ten years, to put on a fretless. Still using RS66s on my Thumb.

I wonder if they'll get Nigel back.

[quote name='five-string.co.uk' post='398298' date='Feb 2 2009, 08:29 PM']Been thinking about joining the fretless community for a while now.[/quote] You make it sound like we all live in a retirement home for '80s Bassists.