Al Krow

So in the spirit of the thread, if you had to save one of your 2025 purchases from the proverbial fire ie your "best", which would it be and why?

+1^^ @Bluewine - really great to hear your band in action. As Lozz said - a really good sound, and some nice footage too!

Ah latency and tracking are very much intertwined, so all good! Are there particular timestamps on the video you could helpfully point to for us, so we can get a better idea of what you are referring to?

Thanks Luke! What's the issue with the C4 tracking, for those of us who have never owned one?

You've got a very good ear, Darren, did you come to a conclusion?

That would have been me earlier on this thread and I did get ticked-off for pointing that out, haha! However in a live context I won't be messing around with patch settings / trying to create a new patch from scratch mid-set, so as long as the display is visible and telling me which of the 99 available preset patch nos. I'm on, I would have thought that would be fine. And probably a lot easier to read than remembering which dot accounts for which of the 8 presets on the MXR for me.

This ain't bad at all! Currently easy enough to spot AI on YouTube (and not least 'cos this ones being honest about it!) given the static cover. Obviously we don't have the same cues on Spotify.

The internet is not going away! Enjoy using it or don't. Spotify has been a massive blessing to music listeners all over the world. It would be great if it paid bands better, for sure! It seems to me that streaming is to music, what libraries are to books. Don't think anyone is arguing that libraries are evil, and everyone should buy all their own books? It's certainly not either/or: I love listening to music on YT and Spotify. I also love regularly gigging and being by paid decently by venues who know the worth of live music as part of what they offer their customers.

This ^^ And this too! ^^

Streamed music has already dealt a blow to most bands' hopes of making decent money from their original creations. AI assisted / generated music music is just the next nail in that coffin. Live music is where it's at for most bands and solo artists looking to make a living from their art. Yes there's one hologram providing superb entertainment, at vast cost and albeit with some incredible session musicians actually playing the music, but an average punter going down a busy pub doing live music at the weekend ain't going to be fobbed off with anything but a live band or solo act. What we all should be campaigning against is the ridiculous infringement of copyright laws that our Govt seems to be wanting to wave through for AI companies to train their large-language models on, and which is theft pure and simple.

Not sure I'd ever find a use for anything above +1 oct anyway with our material!

Two excellent YT clip reviews

Amazing - thanks! 7. I couldn't pick out the younger Mick Jagger from the pic and the drummer looked unfamiliar to me, but makes sense!

Ditto ^^ My only "regret" is that I'm liking it so much, I'm already tempted to move it on...to get its bigger sibling the XS-100

Been asked by daughter (who's a music teacher!) to help research the above slide which she wants to include in a lesson. Going round clockwise - pics not hugely clear, but where I've got to is: 1. ?? Elvis lookalike 2. Chuck Berry 3. Beatles 4. Freddie Mercury 5. Beach Boys 6. Black Sabbath (obvs, haha!) 7. ?? Band with Ronnie Wood in? 8. ?? C&W star 9 ?? BB King If you recognise any of 1, 7, 8 or 9 please share your thoughts!

Cheers - I'd best check back in at 11am on Tuesday to see where it's got to!

Is it living up to expectations? I know you've had same fantastic basses over the years!

I've had a lot band related purchases and very little purely bass focussed, this year. Tops for me goes to the RCF 932A PA speakers which were an upgrade from our previous RCF 912A and 732A sets of speakers (which me and one of singers respectively had). The 912As - excellent on bass, 732As - excellent mids for guitar and vox. The 932As provide the best of both worlds. Managed to pick them as B-stock for less than the cost of my bass backline and we put the whole band through them, none of us using backline, without needing a sub-woofer even for the smaller outdoor gigs we were doing earlier in the year. Worst - none so far, fingers crossed. (I did buy a Fuzzrocious Lil Fella which I've not really used due to finding some great drive and fuzz tones on my Boss Multifx, and which I'll probably put up for sale at some point but not because it's been a disappointment). @Acebassmusic - my Elrick Expat in action (through the 932A). Lovely bass!

OMG I love that Elrick! I've had mine (the "cheaper" Expat Czech made one) for 4 years and totally love - fabulous bass and my mainstay for gigs.

That's a lot of "best" 😅 You got one from that list that you would opt for above the rest if you only had one?

Agreed. Also I've not really figured how you play synth keys and a bass at the same time! And, more importantly, whether as a bass-player, there's actually much demand or expectation for any of us to be a keys player with a different skillset? Maybe surprised at hearing this from me, but once the next software update goes through on the FI v4 VIP (not sure when that's planned - waiting to hear from @Quatschmacher re. timing), I've got a feeling from the comments @LukeFRC has made in his recent excellent review that the FI could actually be the better pedal with better display, many more presets, and midi connectivity. So, if you're getting frustrated waiting for a MXR that's maybe another option and only £20 more new.

No massive rush - the plan is to see if I can pick up the XS-100 used too, when one becomes available. And then upgrade for an all in cost of maybe £90, rather than £130 via Andertons and get a bit more use out of my XS-1 which is barely a month old and already much loved! I've got a midi pedal to get to grips with in the meantime and I'm a complete novice when it comes to midi!

Do you think you might end up going down the synth keys route at some point then? What were the pros & cons that made you all decide to stick with a bass pedal instead?

Well it's somehow already the start of November and following on from the same topic we've successfully run since 2017 - a chance for some useful hints and tips with Xmas goodies still ahead, and, of course, nothing to stop us changing our minds between now and year end! As with previous years, the only "house rules" are that it's bass gear and something you bought (or at least arrived) in 2025. Here's the last thread in the series from 2024 as a reminder of some of the goodies we bought then. Obligatory GAS inducing pics please!

Nah, Andertons slap on a £25 "courier charge" for the privelege of doing an exchange.