ped

It's 2021, every bass should be made to feel special

OK the legend that is Franco at Meridian has fixed it, I've asked what the details are so will report back. Hopefully fixed for good this time!

Oy oy oy what's going on with the middle one!

Weird that TC got it wrong in their manual but maybe the online one is out of date

Thanks, yes I have seen those and similar power bank devices. Honestly I rather like the simplicity of an internal battery when the situation allows. There's something nice and gadgety about it and decent designs can achieve super battery life with plenty of headroom if it's in the brief (for example my EWS Stormy Bass Drive which sounds amazing; it steps the 9V to 16 and still draws only 15mA and all inside a TINY enclosure) I only really use effects at home for messing about so the simplicity of plug 'n' play is a bonus. I've been using my 3Leaf Wonderlove for weeks now with a 9v batt on a short cable external to the pedal and it's working really well! Fairly illogical I know but it stops me being so much I suppose

Fusion Urban double gig bag is great. Very rigid and easy to wear, I didn’t find it very difficult with two basses to be honest. https://www.fusion-bags.com/products/fg-double-electric-bass-guitar-gig-bag Now though I quite like being limited to one bass when I go somewhere.

They’ve all been fake since 1965 😂

I’ve got the U500 2x10 combo. I’ve only used it once or twice in the studio. It seemed excellent to me with some very useful tone shaping via the different voicings (which alter the range and centres of the EQ) and mixed with the different power section emulations I was able to set it up to sound great with the basses I was using at the time (the Ken Smith now owned by Scott Devine and a P bass I still have, which are at opposite ends of the tonal spectrum) One thing I was especially pleased with was the compressor which seemed to work very well, allowing a ‘bass straight into amp’ job when necessary. The whole thing is a manageable single person lift over short distances but not super light. Build quality seems great although the mini switches might be a worry for some. Speaking of which I completely forgot to try the drive/chorus/octaver effects Saying that I don’t have a vast experience with amps but the last thing I used before this was a Mesa 400+ and it didn’t feel like a step backwards!

I like the 760FX Deep Talkin' flats on my P - they are the lightest gauge

Yes there's always more to it. Always read the small print!

I think that's better than getting frustrated and annoyed so that it spoils the whole experience. I try to be Zen when I order something too and it must be really disappointing, but looking at it this way is probably more healthy. At the end of the day it's been made, it's out there and they have your address, and if it doesn't arrive or reaches you in other than perfect condition, you're covered. You're more than welcome to adopt my SB1 for the interim!

No probs, it’s not 100% foolproof but a very good indicator. An e-commerce site that I use for buying watches found a scammer was emailing customers and directing them to a spoof site so they always reminded you to check the site was the proper one with the padlock. Many browsers now will warn you if the site isn’t secure.

To the left of the address, you can see that in BC too. If the site you’re sent to doesn’t have that then it’s potentially not the proper site

Not a scam - you can check the reverb site is genuine by looking for the padlock next to the url 🔒 Its fairly normal these days, and the reason you should have a separate PW on every site you use

Thought so. Weird! I do have pedals that size which fit a battery though but perhaps they’re a bit taller.

Can this pedal be powered by battery? it says so in the manual, but everything online says it can't be, and the rear plate of the pedal isn't user friendly to remove (using torx screws!). I'm guessing they've left in the section from the full sized pedal in the mini manual? Cheers

I suppose the best comparison I can make is with P basses, having played and owned several at different price points, from £70 to £2000. The cheaper basses always sounded fine, or near enough fine with some basic tone shaping. The difference to me is mostly in two areas: - The feel. Somehow the better instruments felt like they were more complete, as a single item as opposed to some hardware screwed down. Mostly apparent in the neck, where the cheaper instruments often had sharper edges, frets and generally rougher/drier feel. This however doesn't mean the instruments weren't fun in a different way - playing a cheap bass can be a thrill of it's own. - The setup. A cheap bass that allows a super low/flat setup is possible, but luck of the draw - and it may shift and need constant adjustment. The better basses I tried (not necessarily the most expensive) were able to support a wider range of setup because of better fretwork and hardware. This is obviously personal taste because some people like a super high action and to be honest there' something quite rewarding and fun about spanking a plant with strings miles off the fretboard. So with regards to @DiMarco's point about switching to a super cheap bass and noticing the difference, my experience was that I didn't notice the incremental changes going UP in quality over a long period, but busting down to a £70 bass was definitely an eye opener, in that I was amazed the bass was even playable at that price and that I could probably make it more playable myself, but going back to my normal bass felt such a step up. In some ways it's amazing how much variation is possible with a relatively few components screwed together, but I think a vast amount of the money in expensive instruments does (or should) go into the final setup and being built in a way that means the instrument works as a whole. As a result you get less variation from one copy to the next and a better reputation for cranking out winners. If you don't, it can be the death knell of your brand. That's not to say that some companies use a higher price point to alter the perception of quality, as discussed here - but in such a specialised niche as this, mud sticks.

I kind of love it 😊

Same as this one? https://thebassgallery.com/collections/bass/products/soame-custom-p-bass-inventor-mki

Appropriately stormy pic ⛈

They didn't say - they have some other EWS stuff on their site so I assume they're a stockist and may be able to get one for you if not.

Well it's here and I just gave it a whirl. I have only tried it with my Jazz (70s spacing, I think they sound amazing with distortion) and will give it a try on the MM and P bass later. So far it's exactly what I was after. The gain control goes from basically a clean to full grit response with a lot of adjustment and musical options between. The tone control and EQ switch offer more tones - it sounds great cranked halfway, tone down a little for that fat grind and opening up the tone and backing off slightly puts you in djent territory. I was worried that the lack of a blend would be problem, having found that I needed one previously die to loss of bottom end. Glad to report that the low end is retained completely and the signature 'rasp' of the bass comes through the drive sound really nicely - I've actually never found that a blended sound works well in a mix so I'm happier to rely on 100% pure driven sound that retains the character of the instrument. All in all it feels like a superbly engineered pedal which is very cleverly designed with the bassist in mind. The frequency switch is subtle but does absolutely what you'd like it to - at first seeming to change the scoop slightly but becoming more apparent with adjustments to the tone control. Even at extreme settings I can still hear my bass and control the drive with adjusting my attack. One thing I often find frustrating about overdrive/distortion pedals is how they often sound great on the low strings but lose their power going up the strings, sounding a bit thin and buzzy. This responds to the input so nicely that you can plus higher strings and adjust the drive by playing differently, and even when whacking them at full power you lose none of the weight and detail of the note. Really happy with it - great service from Bass Direct and a great, well designed little pedal. It even came with a battery!! BTW I paid £100 and postage. Cheers ped

Cheers

Dunno what you're all on about, the audience won't notice. It's all in the fingers, anyway! Mic drop