thisisswanbon

A very long and very expensive journey with a lot of bass casualties along the way 🥲... Hopefully this is the destination though 🤞 I get it though, given the P is where it all started you'd expect it to have been surpassed - horses for courses 🤷‍♂️

I'm glad you didn't! 😂... I feel like Fender get alot of stick on the youtubes "sire showing fender up" etc, but truthfully this feels a level up from the two Sires I have.

Thought I'd try the stripped back board again... without the slight tube compression from the Sushi Box space heater my c4 levels were a bit all over, and I'm not totally sold on the Taylor Shift. As someone in GAS recovery though, I'm fighting the urge to automatically sell off my big board, 3 Leaf Octabvre, SA Ultrawave and aforementioned Space heater to buy preamps and octavers I don't need.

Another day, another NBD! First, a bit of back story... I'm Paul, and I'm a GASoholic. I've been playing for around 22 years now, and in this time can only think of two times I've truly been happy with a bass... First was an Aerodyne P around '07, which I let go for peanuts as I was convinced I needed a jazz bass in '16, and second was an EBMM Sterling 5 which developed a faulty pickup, but PMT would only refund (both pictured below) Other than this I've had premium, budget, mid range, headless, short scale, fan fret, four string, five strings from Ibanez, Yamaha, Rickenbacker, LTD, Spector, SBMM, Nordstrand, Sire, Squier, Sandberg, Fender, Charvel, Harley Benton... you name it! Every time, I find something I'm not fussed on, and either move on at a loss, or modify past the point of no return - whether it be neck profile, knob placement, active pickups, inherent mid scoop, perceived low end loss or ergonomic issues and so forth... Most recently it's been a Sire Z7 which I was convinced would push me through the mix, but I struggle with the weight and preamp and the cycle resumes... After weighing up my options I decided I'd like to try a P, but that it was time to grow up and a Sunburt P would be the way to go... no luck in the local stores (as usual) but then I spotted Greeneking's P on the FS section... After a couple of messages and an impulsive post xmas cross country drive, I arrived at Peter's house raring to give it a try. It didn't take long to decide it was for me, and off I went 1 bass heavier... And here she is! A fender Player II P... nothing fancy, and couldn't be any more opposite to the basses I've had in the past (P's are so boring, right?) But it totally clicked, and I'm in love! It plays like a dream, the neck isn't as fat as I remember Ps being, and it's light but it still roars and has that P weight to the sound. Ive played this bass EVERY night since I got it, (often into the early hours before remembering I have work tomorrow 😬). It's just so good in every way! I had a Mex Fender P back in 2010 and it was a DOG and put me off both Ps and Fender, but I've gigged this now around 6 times and each time I've been so excited to play it... For now at least, it feels like a forever bass! If you made it this far... thanks for reading!

I can't believe this hasn't been outed yet! Talk about anticipation!

I've been really interested in the bassrig '64! As a master of synthy stuff, have you tried running your C4 into it for FOH? The cab sim colouration is the only thing that scared me off getting one!

I love the idea of a blendable analogue cam sim!

I do! I was hoping the Taylor Shift would dethrone it and I could move it on - but not convinced that'll be the case now

Honestly, I'm on the fence with it. It does the OC2 voiced thing better than the Octabvre, which had me really excited... but gigged it last night and it just felt lost on the mix, it just didn't have the same presence as the 3 Leaf. This is going from my in ear mix and gauging the rumble from the subs; we use any line array RCF Evox 12 set so it's very directional with very little bleed to the stage. I'd have to hear the actual sound out front to be sure, I'm hoping some videos emerge...

Managed to squeeze one last pedal in for 2024! Cali76 BC Arrived at 16:00 yesterday, lashed it onto the board and off to the gig I went... tuner running in batteries now until a more suitable solution sussed. Think I had the input gain set too high, but certainly liked what it added... Also sussed out to record stems from the desk, so may be able to do something with recordings if its a help to people making pedal decions 🙂

TL;DR version: Bought loads of gear, some great, some crap. New-to-me-old Tonehammer still the best. 👌 I've bought (and returned/sold on) ALOT of pedals this year, but only a few have kept their place on my board. I feel like there's a clear cut winner for me, but some honourable mentions too... The best of these HAS to be the Aggie Tonehammer (V1). Bought used about 2 months before V2 was announced. Hugely late to the party with this, but it offers SO much! Between the clean side (which still adds some sauce to my ears) to the AGS drive/amp sim (without cab sim! 🙌) it's exactly what I've looked for since going ampless. Honourables: *Celebrity Pedals Taylor Shift OC2 clone from a small builder. Seems excellent but not having been gigged yet keeps it from getting top spot. May well be the thing that gets me to move my Octabvre Mini on. Gregori is really approachable and patient with questions, so it's great to support a business like this *Jam Bass Rattler MK2 Man, what a versatile drive! Currently using it for low gain grit, even when not musically appropriate! It's just so organic and full sounding. Covers so much ground too. Of all the pedals on my board, this is the one I could do without... but I can't bring myself to boot it off. *Sushi Box Space Heater Doesn't do alot, literally has gain and level settings; but it really does add a tube warmth and bounce. It's subtle, and punters and the band probably wouldn't notice it not being there, but I do. (Side note, you can feel the heat coming from it so I know it's at least heating the tube up 😂).

I had one of the little tone x one pedals for a bit and quite enjoyed it, you're right though - much better than any amp sim ive tried in helix etc... just didn't like the software. How do you find the Empress? Having sold every compressor I've tried i still fear I'm missing out on something and fancy another shot at it... 😬

Bought a P bass from Peter today - made the drive to collect and Peter was very accommodating, bass immaculate as described and kind enough to show me some of his bass collection. As many others have stated, highly recommended and wouldn't hesitate to deal with again!