Greg Edwards69

I have to agree. I prefer beefy necks (my number 1 is a Yamaha Attitude and I used to play a Warwick thumb), but the neck on my 2020 CV 50s P feels quite fat and comfortable, even if Fender call it “slim”.

Oh that is sad news. I remember briefly chatting to him with my brother at a guitar show in London IIRC. He came across as a lovely, knowledgeable and humble guy. Music journalism has lost a great talent.

I too wear glasses but I’m not as optically challenged as your good self. That said, there are occasions that I find the helix screen near impossible to see, mainly outdoors in daylight. I’ve been considering it a while, but as I use BandHelper, I really ought to play with its midi features. This way, choosing a song on my easier to read tablet would automatically load the correct preset and/or snapshot.

This. I don't enjoy the cab blocks at all. I've said it before and I'll say it again, but I find a simple eq block works much better for bass IMHO. Just a simple high and low cut around 5khz and 55hz respectively bring an frfr speaker into typical bass cab territory. It's also more representative of sending a traditional DI to the FOH from an amp head.

Expensive yes. But If I had the spare income, they would certainly be on my shopping list.

I've said it before, but as long as your expectations fall within the realms of reality, you'll be fine. If you're used to using a 1x12 or 2x10 combo without pa support, a high powered 1x12 frfr will perform similarly. I've used my headrush 112 without PA in an average pub without PA support and it was fine. Same here. I sometimes wish I was the sort of bassist who is happy with just a P bass > cable > amp. It would be a lot easier. But I'm not that person.

Yes, this is a key question. Personally I went from a single markbass 1x12 (121h traveller) cab (with a Carvin head and a Markbass LMII before that) and in terms of volume and low end, I find my headrush 112 performs similarly. But it will perform very differently if you are used to anything bigger.

The quoted specs state 48 - 19,000 Hz (-3 dB). Only -3db at 48hz. That's pretty similar, if not better than my Headrush 112 which handles bass perfectly well IMHO. Indeed, it behaves similarly to my previous Markbass 1x12 cab and 'feels' like a proper bass combo behind me. As long as expectations are realistic, I think this Harley Benton speaker may perform perfectly well for the OPs use. IME, an hpf is invaluable with these type of speakers. You may find really don't need as much low end as you think you do. I often run the low cut on my helix around 60-80hz. Clean's up the low end beautifully, protects the speaker, no flab but still "bassy".

The simple pitch works great for bass IMO. I have a handful of patches saved for special tunings A BEAD tuning being the most useful and a couple of song specific tunings. Latency is barely noticeable. Tone wise it’s not perfection, but it sounds great in the mix.

No I don't believe he intended it to be racist. Just to merely be offensive in a juvenile way. This article sums it up well for me, particularly this paragraph. "It’s obvious what the problem is, the song is a disgraceful act of gratuitous juvenilia, relishing on the ability to offend rather than a considered analysis of the subject at hand. The issue is indicative of the defence that the band have chosen to use over the years: “I never would write that song now,” Jagger said in an interview with Rolling Stone in 1995. “I would probably censor myself. I’d think, ‘Oh God, I can’t. I’ve got to stop. I can’t just write raw like that.’” In Keith Richards’ Life, Jim Dickerson says ‘Brown Sugar’ was written in forty-five minutes, “It was disgusting,” is the conclusion. " https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/rolling-stones-brown-sugar-racism-jagger-richards/

I mentioned something like this, regarding songs like 'Brown Sugar' last year on the Essex Cover Bands' facebook community, at the height of the George Floyd debate. I got swiftly reamed out for being overtly woke and too sensitive. Facebook can really be a cesspit of human kind sometimes. (FWIW, I haven't played that song for years as it's incredibly cheesy, and just gets the dad's up on the dancefloor embarrassing themselves.) I don't think of myself as being 'woke' or a snowflake, but I am conscious of the current affairs climate we live it today as many of us are. But the best comment I received was that I shouldn't be playing Brown Sugar anyway. Not because it's racist, but because its a crap song.

Sorry Woody, but I quite like “Don’t start now” and it’s good fun to play. So much so, we’ve added it to out set list recently. apparently the original so track is keyboard bass and not a actual bass guitar at all. It’s quite convincing though IMO. .

More shocking still, 'My Girl' by The Temptations didn't even crack the UK Top 40. Only peaked at 43.

Off the top of my head I’d have to go with Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer”. Great tone and a fantastic groove. I never get bored of playing this one.

Never to rehearsal, but I usually take a spare to a gig. At least, I always keep a set of old strings in my gig bag and a roadie wrench! I've never snapped a string, but I had one unravel at rehearsal when the sharp edge of the tuning post cut through the windings. I found out much later that DR coloured, coated strings are not meant to be trimmed down, which I did. So my bad. Only other issue I've had is a strap button working it's way loose but I manged to get to the end of the set without changing bass, then fixed it in the break (so much for straplocks if the button works loose!) I've since abandoned installing straplocks and just use a rubber washer and leave the strap on each bass - there's much less chance of a screw working loose if I never replace it. Touch wood, I've never had to use a backup bass due to a failure, but I bet if I didn't take one, then sod's law I'd need it. Spare backline however... After a catastrophic failure after my old Markbass LM2 suffered a small drop I started taking a spare head to gigs. Then I replaced the spare head with a flyrig type DI to go direct to FOH if need be. Now however, me and my two guitarists each use a helix and frfr speaker, one of them also bring a helix stomp as a backup which was can all use, and each FRFR speaker has multiple inputs, so there's spare channels everywhere, not to mention we now also go direct to FOH as well depending on the gig.

In essence, a zero fret does the same job at a nut and should be treated at such, but the the same caveat when filing it down - "you can't put back what you take away". The fact that you mention the action feels great when capo'd at the first fret and too high without the capo tells you that the trussrod and neck are fine, it's just the zero fret that it too high. As far as measurements go, I find Fender's setup specs to be good for pretty much all basses. They suggest 0.22" clearance at the first fret (about 0.5mm). A good way to quickly check nut height (or zero fret) is to hold the string down at the third fret and gently push the string against the fret fretwire. You should hear a metallic 'clink' without much pressure, and the string barely moving. If you feel you need to apply significant pressure it's too high, if it's already touching the fret it's too low.

Fender Urge was Stu Hamm's signature Fender bass. There was a several variations IIRC, in both medium and long scale varieties. I believe his main bass was a 32" with a Split P in-between two J pickups. A veritable plethora of tones! I believe he wanted 32" so that it felt the same as his previous Kubicki Ex Factor basses.

Oooh, I see fender has thrown a new inexpensive option into the mix (although at 32" it's not a true short scale). That MM type pickup could work rather well in its design. Could be a good option for those wanting to try something different, or just to have a play with at home. https://www.notreble.com/buzz/2021/04/06/squier-unveils-the-affinity-series-jaguar-bass-h/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+bassistscom+(notreble.com)

This is my thinking too, but it depends on the users needs. Cab blocks and IR’s are the sound of a mic in front of a single speaker, not the sound of an actual cab. If you’re used to the sound of a mic’d cab in the PA and fold back and don't hear you actual cab on stage behind you then go for it. For those of use who are used to going direct, or use back line to fill the room, then I would urge you to avoid cab blocks or IR’s and try a simple eq block instead. I use a simple high and low cut that brings my frfr speaker into bass combo realms - honestly it sounds like a real bass combo/ half stack behind me. Likewise, If you’re used to sending a DI signal then a sound engineer will normally top and tail it with hpf/lpf and eq it anyway.

I think I read somewhere that switching the Stomp's input to Line works well to reduce the input gain in lieu of the input pad that the larger Helix devices have.

The way that behaves depends on the bass. Active bass volume controls don't affect the tone, passive basses however are a little more picky.

That's what I mean. Perhaps I didn't word my reply very well. What I meant to say is that your bass' output might be a little hot and therefore overdriving the input. Seeing as the Stomp doesn't have an input pad, and that you're using a compressor before the Stomp, you could use the volume control on the JHS compressor to reduce the signal level going into the stomp. Think of it like a global input gain control.

It could be that your bass has a hot output. The larger Helix devices have an input pad setting, to accommodate this, but I don't think the Stomp does. Perhaps just turn down the volume on the JHS compressor so that it doesn't hit the Stomp so hard.

The new Rochester comp is particularly good, even straight 'out of the box' but it can take a bit of work to dial in to your preference. A few other people have commented that compressors have been one of the weaker effect in the Helix, some being nothing more than gain stages. That said, I quite like the Deluxe Comp too - tweak the threshold to suit and it's pretty much good to go. I haven't tried it, and I don't have a real amp any more, but I wonder if you used the 4 cable method if you could use your Ashdown's preamp as a switchable block. Then you could have the best of both - Ashdown and SVT at the press of a button. (FWIW, I love the SVT model. It's pretty much perfect even with all the eq set to neutral.) I don't use cab blocks at all. Remember, cab blocks and IR;s are the sound of a mic'd up speaker in another room. They are nt representative of a cab sitting a few feet away from you. Unless you regularly mic up a traditional bass cab when you gig I'd urge you to try a simple eq block instead. Most recorded and live bass tones are a simple DI from an amp head, straight to the desk, an eq block simulates this rather well. A cut around 5khz on top and around 50hz on the bottom brings it into typical bass cab range and still sounds lively and almost like a real bass cab behind you (if you're going into an FRFR). Not to mention it would make a sound engineer quite happy with that signal going into their desk. When bass cab's are mic'd up, they are generally mixed with a DI signal too, so if this is your preference, you may want to dive into the cab block and adjust the wet/dry balance, or create a separate path for the cab. If you're going into a real bass amp and cab, then the choices get even more complex. I'd advise bypassing the cab block to your onstage amp and any of the above going to FOH, if you're using it.