Greg Edwards69

I'm afraid not. Wish we could, but we'll be sitting around a pool in sunny Spain instead. PS, how was the Venue on Friday. We played at The Garrison on Saturday and The Castle on Sunday. Absolutely melting! Saturday was one of the warmest gigs I've played.

Sorry, chap, wife's been struggling after a minor foot op and didn't fancy standing all evening. Not to mention I was gigging last night and again this afternoon so needed a night off.

I don't think they are particularly heavy, I think is just the ergonomics that make them appear so. The 4 string BO Thumb is 7.7lbs and the 5 string BO I had is 8.14lbs. Not a lot different to a typical Stingray or Fender, perhaps even a tad lighter. But yes, the tone is stellar.

I may have to drag the wife out

I used to play a 5 string Thumb BO for a number of years. It's a fine sounding bass, and some might say, a more defined growl than the Stingray and had one of the best necks I've ever played, and one that only gets better the more you play it. But, and it's a big but, the ergonomics (or 'geometry' as you say) are not for everyone. With a tiny body, big chunky neck and short upper horn, it's rather unbalanced and neck heavy. Some people recommend a wide grippy strap but all that did for me is ruck up my shirt. Others have no such issue with the instrument. You could say it's a rather 'marmite' issue - people are either fine with it or can't deal with it. Personally, it got to the point that I was in pain for a couple of days after every gig, so it had to go, as much as I loved the instrument. I went in a completely different direction and now play a Yamaha Attitude Ltd2 (essentially a hot-rodded P bass). Totally different tone, feel and ergonomics. Funny thing is, when I pulled out the Thumb last year to sell it after languishing in a gig bag for 8 years, I just couldn't play it very well. Felt totally alien to me. So anyway, to sum up. Great sounding bass, well built, brilliant neck. But please do try before you buy, preferably on a strap for a whole gig.

Helix for me. Much easier. I guess you have to ask yourself, how much of your tone comes from the amp? And how much comes from the cab too, to a certain extent. Also, if the amp does play a part in your tone, but not the cab, can it be used without a cab plugged in? FWIW, the next helix update will include an SVT-4 Pro model. Could be a good replacement for your SVT-7

I used to use Pod Farm for practice at home and the odd bit of recording. I didn't care for any of the bass amp models and much preferred the console emulations

Oh yes, I'm quite aware of that and it's history. It's my main reason and argument for not using cab modelling with the helix and my Headrush speaker. Like you say, most recorded and live bass sounds we hear are either DI, straight into the desk or from the amp's DI. It's rare you'll see a bass cab miked up as the only source, it's usually mixed with a DI if it is. My previous amps have been pretty neutral sounding and I generally eq for the room rather than a specific tone - that what my pedals are for. I haven't really been a fan of amps that imprint a certain colour on every bass that's plugged into them - hence I've never really explored bass amp modelling. That said, I'm loving the tone of the GK 800rb model in the Helix, it just works for me. A judicious and precise hi cut and it's there. And I can use the global eq to compensate for different rooms acoustics. It's certainly made my life easier. Having the confidence that the sound I get on stage will be replicated fairly accurately through the FOH will make a big difference. None of this pre/post DI nonsense. If I need to adjust my stage sound for the room I can do that without interfering with the FOH sound.

Absolutely. I've been aware of amp modelling for some time but just didn't 'get it'. I didn't quite get the value of running an amp modeller into a bass amp and cab which has it's own voice (even when using the fx return). An frfr speaker was the missing link and now it all makes sense. I've now got a bunch of classic amp sounds at my fingertips (or toes) and I know they'll sound pretty much identical to the real thing.

Great stuff. Bright Onion built me a custom kill switch with a phase switch for my EBS Billy Sheehan pedal. Transformed the tone. A lot cheaper than buying the revised EBS pedal that features the phase switch. For enquiring minds, the Sheehan pedal has two channels, clean and drive which were purposely designed to be out of phase to accentuate the mid range. It also has a compressor circuit after the two channels are mixed together along with discrete fx loops for each channel. Unfortunately, it's either all on or off. So a few of us enterprising fanboys stuck an ABY switch in the dirty loop so we could leave the pedal engaged with its compression and switch the drive channel in and out at will. But that out of phase tone just didn't work for me all of the time. Great for Sheehan style shredding, but not as an all round drive. I asked Bright Onion to build a kill switch but with the LED reversed, so that it comes on whilst bypassed (drive on) and off when engaged (drive off). The phase switch was the icing on the cake. Totally transforms the tone. IIRC the price wasn't far off a bog standard branded ABY pedal. Certainly a lot cheaper than the Radial Bigshot ABY pedal I was eyeing up that would also work.

Update. Finally had the chance to use my Headrush FRFR-112 at a band rehearsal at the weekend with the Helix LT. Result? Very happy. It was just a 'technical' rehearsal with three of us as one of the guitarist and both vocalists weren't available. So just guitarist, drums and me. The drummer had a new toy he wanted to try out too (roland drum pad and sampler thing). I needed to check the headrush was going to work, so seemed like an ideal opportunity to try these things out without interference. I've mentioned before, we're not a loud band, and I previously used a single markbass 1x12 with a Carvin head running at 300w@8ohms. Before the Helix arrived I had issues with boom and mud I just couldn't dial out. It was much better with the helix's hpf engaged, but now with the headrush, much better. The low end is controlled, still fat and deep enough even at high volume. I had it set a volume I felt I would normally gig at and it was fine - didn't even break a sweat. As an experiment I turned up the wick to a sort of volume I'd never play at, and where my previous rig would get 'woolly'. Again, absolutely fine. The natural roll-off around 50hz really helped. In fact, I was able to turn the hpf on the Helix (which I also had set at 50hz from before) off without negatively affecting the tone. I found I prefer the tone of the Helix amp sims without a cab sim. To my ears, they just seem to kill the tone too much and don't 'feel' right (amp in the room syndrome perhaps). The key is a high cut instead around 3-4khz to simulate a real bass cab roll off. This, for me, more closely represents a DI from an amp going straight to the desk. Hopefully, this will translate nicely to FOH when we try that. FWIW, I also tried my backup preamp, a Valetone Dapper Bass straight into the headrush. Sounded fine. Sure, it's not as refined as the Helix, but it simulates a bass amp with 3 band eq and I'm sure it will get me out of a jam if need be. It may even suffice for the odd small gig with a short set where I need to travel light. Both of the guitarists use a Helix as well, each through a Yamaha DXR10, so I tried my bass through that as well. Not quite as deep but again, will get me out of a jam if the headrush fails. Likewise, my Headrush will be more than adequate to share as a backup to one of the Yamahas. Lastly, as another experiment. I remembered the smaller headrush FRFR-108 rolls of the low end around 70hz, so I set the hpf to that frequency. More than adequate for rehearsal, so I'm almost tempted to pick one up for rehearsals and small low volume gigs.

Same here. Both of the guitarists in my band use a Helix with a Yamaha DXR10. Now I've joined the Helix party, we're looking at changing the way we run things to get everything through the FOH and IEMs as so far we generally use the FOH and IEM's for vocals and have everything else coming off the stage. Even so, we've only used small amps and cabs. Personally, I've been using a single Markbass 1x12 with a Carvin/markbass head running at 350w @8ohms for the past 10-15 years or so. Never had to turn it up even halfway for the loudest of rock gigs, so I think the headrush will perform similarly. Once we get everything running through the FOH, it could be I don't even need that, and IEMs will suffice, or at least the FRFR-108 for rehearsals. I'd keep the 112 regardless, just in case as I sometimes dep with other bands.

Of course. Not sure when our next rehearsal is, but I’ll post a report here afterwards.

I managed to pickup a used Headrush FRFR-112 on ebay last week for a good price (£229). Yet to play it with the band, but I'm positive it'll be fine - sounds great at home so far. One of these, or its (cheaper) sister product the Alto TS312 might be fine for you to jam with a drummer and guitarist. Don't quote me on it, but you might be able to get away with the smaller Headrush FRFR-108 / Alto TS308. It should be loud enough but might lack depth at volume.

Question, what happens if you plug the bass straight into the QSC on its bass amp setting? Is that loud enough?

Pah, so much for "Professional Music Technology". They really ought to change their name. I used to like them when they were a small company, but they got too big and greedy.

My 121H traveller may be joining that list soon. Hardly a fad thing though, had it well over 12 years - it's one of the original traveller cabs before the redesigned them to stack better with other cabs. Only selling as I've just ordered an active frfr solution to go with my helix and I can't see me ever needing a proper amp and cab again, not to mention, we haven't got the storage space for both!

That’s interesting Phil. I’ve experienced the ‘one loud note’ phenomenon a number of times. This explains why.

Do you have or have access to an hpf? I use a markbass 121H traveller (the old design) and have found using an hpf to be a revelation. I too find that the cab can sound a little dark sometimes and can get quit boomy in certain environments which is near impossible to dial out on the amp head alone. FWIW I used to use a LMII head and couldn’t get on with the eq centres, so switched to a Carvin BX700 which has a ton of eq options, but sadly not an hpf. However, I could cut 50hz and boost 80hz which improved things somewhat which I could never do with the LMIIs limited eq section. But some rooms still proved to be an issue. I recently started using a helix - the global eq with hpf was one of the main draws for me. I’m using a GK amp sim straight into the fx return of the amp head, with a little low cut with the hpf. Wow, what a difference. Tight, fat bottom end without the flab and mud.

Yes, I've head that too. Trouble is I've heard some people say the Headrush is a simply a rebadged Alto without the mic pres, and other people say otherwise, that it has actually been retuned with DSP and internal baffling for guitar and bass. I'm not entirely sure who to believe. However, this made for interesting viewing. They seem to prove they are different and the Headrush is louder, warmer and 'thicker' all settings being equal.

Does anyone have any experience with the Headrush FRFR 112? Recently fallen down the Helix rabbit hole and looking to replace a Marbass traveller 121H (1x12) and Carvin BX700 head - all running at 300w. Ideally, I'd love to be able to walk into a gig, bass on back, helix on one hand and powered speaker in the other. Both guitarists in my band also use a Helix with a Yammy DXR10 and we don't play that loud - just as loud as an unmiked sensible drummer. At the moment, we rely on stage amps to fill the room and occasionally we'll mic the bass drum but that's it, however, we are looking at running into the PA (2x DXR12, no subs - like I say, we don't play crazy loud). Even with my meagre rig, I've been asked to turn down (my Yamaha Attitude really does kick serious donkey without much help!). Also looking at the QSC K12.2 which seems popular amongst the bass fraternity. Just wondering if it's over two times as good as the price suggests. Has anyone done a direct comparison? FWIW, last couple of time playing I ran the Helix's hpf up to 50hz without issue and could possibly have gone a couple of hz higher, so I'm almost confident one of these will have enough low end for my uses but would like some reassurance. Band is a covers band that plays a mix of rock and pop at pubs and weddings.

That's certainly interesting. I have an old style MB Traveller 121H cab and thinking about replacing it with a couple of BF one10 cabs, thinking that I can get away with a single one10 for rehearsal and small gigs and use two for louder gigs. Can I ask why you've moved from BF to MB?

How about the rolls mini crossover? The inimitable Billy Sheehan uses one to remove the low end in one of his signal paths. It's not a pedal, so would be an always on unit.

I wonder if this could be made into an iOS or android app that would interface directly to an zoom unit? I'm not fussed about extra hardware based control - but the touchscreen interface looks awesome!