Painy

I just got a new overdrive pedal (EHX Soul Food) which I tried out on Saturday and there is a short tapping section in one of the songs we play. That part stood out clearly in a way it has never done before so I'd say it worked. Bear in mind this is a drive pedal with a blend between the clean signal and the driven signal which lets you roughly approximate the way Billy's signal path works.

[quote name='Stag' timestamp='1437323678' post='2825081'] Painy, how do you actually have space to operate pedals at Bierhaus? [/quote] Normally you'd have no hope but as of next week's gig there, we're using their bass bins instead of ours so I'm gonna fill up the space we'll save with pedals 😄!

Well I got to try it out last night and I absolutely love this pedal! I found that pushing the drive right up and rolling the treble right back with the blend at 12 o'clock gave me a lovely smooth, warm low end growl with my P bass that sounded so good in the mix. Funnily enough it didn't seem to agree quite as well with my Jazz for that always on sound, but they did go together nicely for a dirtier sound. Drive and treble both at 3 o'clock and blend all the way up - wasn't quite at Lemmy levels of dirt to be fair but it was plenty nasty enough for my needs and the bass intro to Ace of Spades was somehow much more recognisable than it had been previously played clean. Overall I'd say that it's lower levels of grit that this pedal does best but it can still step up for dirtier sounds if needed.

Excuse the rubbish camera phone pic. 2x Behringer BVT4500H heads (pretending to be Ampeg SVT450H heads). Ampeg 2x10 which used to be a BA500 combo until the amp section died. The section of the cab which housed the amp has been cut off but the top is still waiting for me to get around to re-tolexing it. Ampeg SVT15-E Classic. Fender Modern Player Jazz Bass V. Nothing fancy but last night it sounded immense!

The old combo has now been cut down to make it just a 2x10 cab so there's no weird hole through the middle of my rig anymore and it's ever so slightly less ridiculously tall now.

[quote name='dudewheresmybass' timestamp='1437041300' post='2822978'] I'm using the ehx glove for that lemmy drive tone (in my situation it nails it!), and the bsf as always on grit. [/quote] Dammit, does that mean I'll have to GAS for a Glove now!? Oh well, at least they're not too pricey.

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1437001951' post='2822830'] I'm not sure it would be the right noise for Ace of Spades, its strength lies in lower gain sounds. But with the treble knob up a bit you do get a pretty dirty sound, who knows? Let us know how you find it! [/quote] Cranking up the treble was what I had planned. To be fair though, either way, it's gotta be better than the fully clean sound I've had to use till now.

Just ordered one of these from GAK as I needed a distortion pedal for when my band covers Ace Of Spades (just doesn't quite work with a clean sound). After watching the various YouTube demos and reading this thread though, I'm now thinking I may actually use it as an always on pedal for warmth and growl and just crank it when I need a full on overdriven sound. Should arrive tomorrow so looking forward to having a play with it at Saturday nights gig!

[quote name='fretmeister' timestamp='1436729871' post='2820329'] I've got the Cliff Burton wah. For it's purpose it is excellent. For anything else it's pants. [/quote] Ah well in that case, seeing as we don't cover Anaesthesia or For Whom The Bell Tolls, it probably wouldn't have been the best choice for me anyway .

Cool, thanks. Just had a listen to the Bass Soul Food on you tube and I reckon it could be a winner. Just need to hope like it as much when I actually try it for myself !

So if I go for the separate pedals option does anyone have any suggestions for a drive pedal (new or used) for around the £50 mark? I've just been looking at the germanium 4 big muff pi guitar pedal and really like the idea of separately switchable overdrive and distortion which can be layered. How well do you think this is likely to work for bass or is there a pedal available made for bass with a similar dual function that anyone can suggest?

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1436632376' post='2819686'] Go for separate pedals - I don't know of any decent fuzz/wah combos where the fuzz is useable standalone on bass, and the EHX is terrible. [/quote] Pretty much what I feared about using the fuzz from these pedals on their own. Sounds like the EHX is half the price of the Morley for a good reason then.

I'm quite liking the big bold swirls in that tort!

Quite a while back now I stripped right back to a simple bass/cable/amp but I'm finding that there are a couple of effects I really miss. I need to be able to add a bit of dirt - mainly for when my band covers Ace of Spades - and I'd also really like a wah pedal again. I am however, as always, on a bit of a budget. I'm considering a couple of options and was hoping for people's thoughts or ideas for possible other alternatives. Firstly I could try to pick up a second-hand wah cheaply and add a separate drive pedal (the TC Electronic Dark Matter pedal has caught my eye at under £40 New). I think this would probably be quite versatile particularly with a dedicated pedal to control the dirt. Another option is the Morley Cliff Burton tribute power fuzz wah. Love the sound of the fuzz and wah together but not sure how usable the fuzz would be on its own. It would also mean pushing my budget a bit further than I'd ideally like to. The last option I've looked at so far is the EHX Crying Bass fuzz wah. Same concerns about how usable the fuzz alone would be. I'm also unsure how I'd get on with the operation of the wah as it is one of their 'next step' pedals. It is however around half the price of the Morley. So, Any advice?

There's a scene backstage on the RHCP Psychedelic Sex Funk video where you see Flea using superglue to fill up a hole he's worn in the side of his thumb by slapping, before wrapping it in electrical tape. Not so much a recommendation by the way as an example of how it can be a problem for experienced slappers too!

The contrast of the bright maple between the darker body and matched headstock just looks stunning. I think these are actually really good, underrated basses but their looks always seem a bit nondescript to me. This looks to me now though like something that came out of the custom shop. 1st class job there!

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' timestamp='1433259268' post='2789502'] Probably because he thinks that the 1x15 will give better lows and the 2x10 better highs. [/quote] To be fair, there is a reason that adding a 2x10 cab to a 15 will often give you more top end although it is nothing to do with the size of the cones or even the construction of the cabinet - in a lot of speaker ranges (the Kustom Deep End range included) the cabs with 10s routinely include horns or tweeters but the cabs with 15s often do not.

[quote name='4-string-thing' timestamp='1433676591' post='2792970'] I can't help thinking you may have been better off spending the £200 on getting the Ampeg repaired.... [/quote] I'm actually getting married next week and with all the last minute arrangements, looking after 2 littluns under 2 and working full time - plus living out in the sticks miles away from the nearest amp tech - I've not had any time to take it anywhere to get it fixed and just placing a quick order with Thomann just seemed easier. I had actually planned to take the amp out of the combo anyway to reduce its back breaking 95lb weight and build a head box for it but that was going to cost a fair bit in materials so I kinda saw this as killing 2 birds with one stone.

[quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1433674007' post='2792933'] Can we expect to see a bicep development photo diary from you any time soon? [/quote] Well to be fair, carrying one in each hand from the car is a bit like a farmer's walk in a strong man competition

A few weeks back the amp in my trusty old Ampeg BA500 combo died at a gig and after it's intended replacement which I bought from here was brutally murdered in transit by myHermes, I had to look for another replacement within my very limited (£200) budget. The problem I had was that (as I was planning to continue using the old combo without the amp as just a 2x10 speaker cab) the new amp had to be able to run down to 2ohms like the old BA500 had (4ohm 2x10 & 8ohm 1x15 = 2.67ohms). Anyway, this is the solution I came up with:- 2 x Behringer BVT4500H heads at just £98 each (thank you very much Thomann) with each head running a cab. By linking the preamp out on one to the poweramp in on the other, they're both controlled from one preamp with the other head becoming a slave. After a first attempt at gigging it all last night my thoughts on the amps are: On the down side- These amps really are not all that loud at all given the 450w rating at 4ohms. To get to similar volume to the old amp set on 2 (my normal gig volume) this was set on nearly 7. Still plenty loud enough but nowhere near as much headroom. Bearing in mind though that's running 2 of them! The controls, and particularly the graphic eq , feel distinctly cheaper than the Ampeg. They are pretty heavy and again I now have to carry two of them about. On the plus side though- The sound! For a while before it died, my old amp was gradually losing bottom end for some unknown reason, but last night it was back in spades. When I hit the open low B with the bass set at 7 it felt like my lungs were going to fall out of my bottom! For the first set I did think it was lacking a little zing and sizzle in the top end but then remembered that the horn was turned all the way off on the cab. After turning the horn back up (to just over halfway) for the second set though - just wow! Classic Ampeg SVT tone! Overall I can happily live with all the downsides in exchange for Ampeg tone and a 3 year warranty for second-hand Ashdown money. The only other thing is it's, er..... A bit big!

I bought an amp from Steve and he was really helpful and accommodating. Unfortunately the courier that delivered it were not quite as conscientious as him and managed to damage the amp in transit. Again though Steve could not have been more helpful in getting the problem resolved fully and was an absolute gentleman in all the dealings I had with him from start to finish. Definitely one of the people that make BC a great place to buy, sell and trade!

[quote name='deepbass5' timestamp='1433080800' post='2787607'] Can someone explain to me how a passive treble and a passive bass control works ? [/quote] Cut only maybe?

I think the reason that Adam Clayton's many and varied signature basses are so widely ridiculed is that none of them are what could actually be described as his signature model i.e. synonymous with the player in the way that say a black P with mirrored pickguard would be associated with Phil Lynott. His basses are signature models only in the sense that his signature is printed on them. It seems to be a case of whenever he happens to get a new bass then the manufacturer - whoever that may be - puts his name on the headstock to shift a few extra units at a premium regardless of whether he will ever actually be seen playing live or in the studio with it. Right, I'm of to scribble my name onto my Fender Jazz that I bought a few months ago despite having played Warwicks exclusively for the previous 10 years

[quote name='RandomBass' timestamp='1432938158' post='2786510'] Blimey, two of the buggers, eh? Should be an interesting setup. Let us know how it pans out. Cheers Geoff [/quote] Well As we speak they're sat in the delivery lorry at parcelforce's local depot so looks like they'll be delivered on Monday in time for my gig on Saturday. I'll get some pics at the gig and then put up a NAD thread.

After my sister's mother in law passed away, one of the grandchildren 'innocently' suggested disco inferno to be played at her funeral which was to be a cremation.