Woodinblack

Agreed that if you needed the routing options the full helix provided, you would hard pressed to find something to touch it. I would imagine most don't though. It does however remind me that having ruled out a helix as I like my amp, with a helix HX I could go chanel -> CTM100 -> effects send -> HX -> HX -> Effects return, which would cure the only real issue i have with the CTM, that i can't easily choose to overdrive the preamp because i want to do some clean songs. But.. the cabling...

I am a day behind, and I agree, finding the time for an hour video can be tricky, but something is changing. I was playing a gig on saturday an I was looking at my fingers. I was fretting with the index finger and my little finger was a short way above the string ready to go down. As I was very much in the flying finger camp, something is going in! And I can say I was also muting.

Thats it! Well, I wouldn't let go of the RH450 either. As good as the CTM100 is, if you just want to pick something up and go, its hard to beat and a fraction of the weight! Thats the other trouble of getting the latest thing, the 'oh we have this in stock, you can have it tomorrow.. no, next week, no next month'. If only companies could give you an actual date and stick to it.

I am sure I have said, although I have sold one recently. Its not a secret, it used to be in my sig but it got too long. I have a SR1000, 5005, 1605, SRF705, ICB305, ATK305, Thunderbird, Squier CV P Bass, Maruszczyk Elwood, Fireman, Dean 8 string and Spector Q5? Technically there are a few more in states of being built, being used for parts etc, but they don't really count. So 12, but I would be happy to sell the ATK, ICB, Spector and thunderbird if I could be bothered, so I am sure that only counts as 8. Guitars, I honestly don't know - I have a yamaha RG, PRS SE, Ibanez SA36, Peerless tonemaster, Two acoustics, Indie tribal, and some more I can't think of. I would happily sell all but one electric and one of the acoustics, I really don't use them much. Did I mention the keys? The Roland Gaia, Yamaha piano, Waldorf blofeld, Bassstation, Roland Juno DS. Or the Akia EWI? Oh I have tons of stuff, but I still feel if there was a fire and I lost every non living thing in the house apart from one bass, and I walked out with the 1605, I wouldn't be unhappy. So yes, if I wanted a full helix I would faff about it for a while then go out and get one, but TBH, if the B3 had a decent drive on it, I would probably be happy with that. If I played guitar in a band now though, I would almost certainly have a helix or even a stomp on order, they are fantastic with that. And if I owned a decent PA with bass, maybe I would have one for the bass too, at the moment I do love my CTM100 a bit too much for that!

Maybe I will change my mind eventually, but if I give it 3 months, @Al Krow will be selling his and moving onto the next thing and I can grab that

No, but equivalent to second hand. Getting tempted though (not for the grey import, for an actual second hand)

The guy who is selling most of them on ebay seems to be selling them new boxed, but with a long wait, so I am guessing he is grey importing them from somewhere.

Seems the prices are roughly: Helix: £800 Helix Lt: £550-600 Helix HX: £300 So some below those occasionally. The Helix Lt at < 600 also seems tempting!

Now I have been looking more at the HX effects and what with my B3 being a bit poorly, it is starting to get a bit tempting. Damn you basschat with your constant GAS!

Well, I know nothing about football, but the answer to that is pretty easy, you kill all the other teams. I don't know why they have to complicate it - what are the chances of being better than some kid growing up in a country in abject poverty with absolutely nothing apart from a football? As to Greta Van Fleet, I think their music sounds ok, guitar / bass / drums, all in sync and doing the right thing. Yes, its derivative, but then Zeppelin weren't going to be the new Yardbirds for nothing. Personally don't like the sound of the singer - more Vince Neil / Axl Rose than Robert Plant, but I am sure there are some that will. Good luck to them for trying.

I had a combination of fun with a bit of annoyance. We hadn't gigged for 3 weeks and due to the guitarists new job, we had also only had one practice, so was expecting a few cockups. Arrived in a place where we had played before, but where we normally play there were a load of tables so we set up facing them. Turned out even though we had been hired at pub gig prices (and cheap pub gig prices too), it was a private party, which was a bit of an annoyance. All set up, then the guy who's party it was came up and said, oh bands usually set up facing the other way (L shaped room, we were at the join, so 90 degrees). So we had to move everything round. Thanks for saying earlier. They had also said that they knew they weren't paying much but they might pay more for us to play longer later. Did 2 1 hour sets, which is short for us, it was very busy, a lot of dancing in the second half, usual d'head who thinks he is the life and soul of the party but generally just messing up things for everyone, dancing with his trousers down (come on mate, this is a family party there, no-one wants that). Luckily while dancing with his trousers down his ankles he went flying and hit the very hard shiny floor, sadly not enough to knock him out but enough so that is going to hurt in the morning. Anyway, after the second set, we stopped, then the wife of the party guy was talking to the singer, in the mean time we all went outside so the drummer could smoke, by the time the singer came out with 'they will give us another £100 to do another hour', the spirit had died. I would have done it, the guitarist was annoyed about the party thing so didn't want to, and the drummer was knackered and didn't want to. And frankly, if they hadn't cheaped out in the first place, or offered us the money at any point before the end, we would have done it.

That really would be bigger and more expensive than a LT, or even a SH Helix full, so no, that wouldn't make sense to me! The only advantage I could see in that is you would get the scribble strips, but my eyesight isn't something that would give much of an advantage to!

Oh I am sure it will be a great fun thing. Those effects I was saying about - I have no use for them for the current music I am playing, and to be honest, after playing with the VST for a while, I switched to guitar, where obviously there is a lot more scope for entertainment. Having said all that, looking on ebay the Helix FXs are going for not much, and seeing as I am still going to have to go through an amp (not got the space / don't want to take on getting a new PA with bass bins), it is starting to look quite tempting

Thats the problem I had - if it was £700 and the LT was £750, the LT would be a no brainer, due to the number of blocks. I haven't used a helix but I used the Helix VST here, and enjoyed playing it for the 15 days free, but every patch that had the wow factor was above 6 blocks, normally 2 chains of something. I am sure the stomp would be good, but I wouldn't be able to get over I was somehow being cheated, like when I bought an electron rather than a BBC and eventually had to take it back

haha - I don't know, its rude to count

I am always pleasantly surprised if the guitarists amp doesn't fail, he doesn't break a string, he doesn't have a lead (normally his fender replacement lead he insists on using) die, doesn't forget his strap or something else. I don't have a problem with any of my stuff, never had an amp fail, always have a spare bass but only needed it for an audition (and only because they hated the tone of the bass). I carry a lot of spares. Mostly, it has to be said, to give to the guitarist when his stuff fails!

Agreed, I have been thinking for ages of making one, it is just the way of working out how to control it without tap dancing that is the issue! Just that if that was your only reason, it would seem a bit over the top. But I guess one persons expensive is anothers bargain. I still haven't got to the stage I could justify something like a helix for what I do. I have enough difficulty trying to decide if I want to upgrade the B3 to a B3n

Same here - beautiful thing. If they made a decent 5 I would have one of those although it does have that 'headstock plummeting' look to it.

If you have that much space and money to dedicate to it, wouldn't you be better getting a helix LT?

I just joined another band, and it’s more sort of Motown and jazzy than I am used to, not the sort of music I have ever really listened to. So I made a playlist of the tracks they sent and listened to them on a loop when I was out walking, in the car etc just so I knew the songs. then break them down. Some songs are barely roots and fifths, some are way more complicated but the most important thing is the structure, stops, starts, changes. As we have established on here, no one listens to the bass player anyway, so the only time anyone notices what you are playing is when you mess up. No one cares as long as you are playing notes in the right key unless it’s an iconic line. but then I am not a note for note player, which turns out to be good with son of a preacher man!

Pretty well exclusively 5s, although I have a P bass, and ibanez sr1000 and a thunderbird. I generally don't gig any of those, but the P and sr I don't really want to part with and the thunderbird, well, its a thunderbird. If I could get a 5 like it I would but there doesn't seem to be one. I tried a 6, but the neck was too big and when I gigged it I messed up a few times. Having said that, when I was first playing live, going from a 4 to a 5 caused me issues, so I played only 5 for a while, now it doesn't cause issues if I play a 4.

Oh I haven't seen them for ages!

I guess. I had never heard it before and actually, it was hard finding a version of it on youtube or other streaming services, so I wasn't sure it was the right one. Luckily all these sort of things are pretty easy but makes me realise the term standard is fairly subjective.

Thats a third of the time it takes the b string to do one cycle - I couldn't feel that.

I can't remember all that he said were standards but some were: Sunshine Day (rang a bell from somewhere - maybe a car journey in childhood on the radio?) I'm Coming' home - Mel Torme (never heard this before) Mercy Mercy Mercy (never heard this before) Midnight hour - Wilson Picket - at least I had heard this