Al Krow

+1 ^^ My ideal back up is a passive pull switch on active basses, and failing that a spare 9V battery in the gig bag and quick check on battery voltage tester (cost just a few quid) before I set off.

That's a very good point and question! I'm feeling exactly the same as your first sentence - so much so that I messaged a BC buddy of mine who is a pro bassist and was doing around 300 gigs a year pre Covid to ask him whether he took a spare bass to gigs, and he said "pretty much never" and was pretty relaxed on the basis that he looked after his gear carefully (which I do too). Made me feel a whole lot better with my measly 30 or so gigs a year...

Nah you're quite correct. Fixed 😁 PS is it about time we had an update from you on the Broughton new super HPF thingy...

Hmmm...then why send PMs to folk you don't know at all titled "No debate" with a view to shutting down one side of a discussion? As you say integrity...

@Bo0tsy good shout on the expression pedal.

Someone recently mentioned they were thinking of swapping their Mastotron plus OC2 'synth' combination for one of these... ...must admit it feels a little bit glitchy to me and has some very limited voicings, so I'd be tempted to stick to the Mastotron + octaver down of your choice (probably a COG T16)

Just revisiting this excellent thread that started me down the road of getting a great sound out of my Euro 5LX. One thing that we didn't touch on and I've not yet been able to find is what the EQ bass and treble centre points are on the Tone Pump - anyone know this? Oh and I came across this clip of the Spector Euro 5LX while looking into the EQ point - and I think he's captured that the Euro 5LX sound, which I'm loving, very well.

Excellent summary. On the EBS BassIQ Blue Label - Effects - Basschat, the OP and myself ended up having a discussion on very similar lines about UI and SA C4 and coming to a virtually identical conclusion. The UI on a £60 Zoom B1-4 is really already very good and Boss have also upped their game with their latest models such as the RC-5, so it can be done. Word on the street is that SA are aware of the point and may well address it in their future pedal design. UI / workflow / live usability are all key features which can make a difference between a great unit and one that's a PITA that you want to abandon. In relation to this thread, very similar points have been made as to the pain so many of us put up with in trying to programme our (mostly former!) Alesis SR18s.

Yes bang on the money on all of that. But with all the most-vulnerable groups vaccinated (or at least those willing to be vaccinated) within the next three months and a target date of 31 July for all UK adults, combined with MUCH lower susceptibility and/or likely herd immunity amongst the younger members of society, we can start to be quietly confident (with the science to underpin things) that we won't have another national lockdown in 2021 after June 21st; and that Covid-19 mortality rates won't be not any significantly worse than the 'flu in the second half of the year and something that we learn to live with and we all start getting on with our lives again. For the sake of the nation's kids, let's hope that is exactly how it turns out.

I envy the fact that you've already done more gigs than I'm ever likely to do and I suspect had a huge amount fun along the way. Obviously you were risking irretrievable damage to your "brand" at every gig by having gear that you've been able to rely on and had clearly managed to look after. But sometimes it's good to live life on the edge, eh?! 😁

Some very impressive additions in the past couple of days! Looking forward to getting your feedback on how they sound and play.

There could well be some truth in that, certainly for a few months while pubs get back on their feet. The bigger chains are tapping shareholders for cash but obviously smaller pub operators aren't in a position to do that. I suspect that there are going to be a lot of weddings - all those postponed as well as the ones planned for this year, which will likely be paying as much as they have always done. And it's clear that the demand for live music hasn't gone away! Festivals selling out after map to end England's lockdown announced | Festivals | The Guardian

Nice little run through of the 121 settings on bass with fixed filter settings (even more variety available on top of that by adjusting the filter dials) - but gives a pretty good intro to the pedal on bass.

@Tech21NYC can you shed any light on the EQ center points for the VT Bass DI for us please and in particular if some versions have 500 Hz and others 1kHz center f for the mid EQ?

You bought it!! Congratulations - feels like you have a real collector's item in your herd and in such great condition! Love the neck through. Look forward to getting your thoughts on how it sounds. What do the 4 preamp knobs cover in addition to the pup selector switch? Is it purely passive?

That's weird, the manual online and the review by Ed Friedland both also say 500 Hz for mid EQ centre. And the predecessor VT Bass has the same EQ points as the VTDI, which you might also expect. So I'm struggling to think that Tech 21 would put out a different version of their best selling VTDI pedal without labelling it as the Mk2 etc.

Oh I missed the obvious one - I should really have started the list with this! you can do everything on a 5 string that you might be able to on a 4 string, but not vice versa.

Here's the Krow list... Some key reasons for playing a 5 string: allows you to play a number of songs an octave down, as compared to a 4 string, particularly those in Eb, D and C (I've not come across too many in the key of B); it makes swapping to a different key a whole lot easier; there are a bunch of fretboard positional benefits from a 5 string and you'll be surprised how often you make use of the notes on the low B string further up the fretboard as well, not just the low Eb and below; avoids needing to get a drop D tuner or retuning the bass mid set; you can spend much less time faffing around looking for the perfect octave-down pedal; the low B string provides a thumb rest and avoids unsightly wear marks next to the neck pup; your band-mates (and of course the audience) won't notice you're playing a 5 string and not a 4 string unless you actually point it out to them. Key reasons for not playing a 5 string: 4 strings can be slightly cheaper (but usually by no more than the cost of a set of strings); 5 string necks tend to be a little heavier and can result in additional neck dive and the basses also a little heavier overall as a result (but there are plenty of lighter weight 5ers and a decent strap should deal with any difference between a 4 and a 5); 5 string necks are a little wider or string spacing can be a little narrower to compensate; you may be considered to have joined a deviant minority.

Right you have me completely stumped now! 😂

Another VT Bass DI user (and fanboi!) here - love the way it "peels off a blanket" from the bass tone even with rigs where you might not expect any blanket to be present! You sure about the mid centre point freq? My understanding is that the centre points on the VT Bass DI are: LOW (±12dB @ 125Hz), MID (±12dB @ 500Hz), HIGH (±12dB @ 3.2kHz)

It's my pleasure to start a formal feedback thread for Gary. Just bought a pedal from him which was in the excellent condition he described. The whole transaction was very smooth, with great comms from Gary. I'd have no hesitation in buying from Gary again and I'm very happy to recommend him to fellow BC'ers. Cheers, Bas

Dunno if any you are able to point Alex in the right direction? My old Spector Euro 5LX - Items Wanted (NO TRADES) - Basschat

Well I've been intrigued by the whole HB value / price point and done a bit more research on these basses. The one that got my attention was their flagship BZ 4000/5000/6000 NT range - around £300, partly because it has a classic Peavey Cirrus design with that lovely neck through. This was a really helpful "warts and all" review (albeit of the 6 string sibling). Few comments worth noting - it's a heavy bass with no passive tone control; the finish a little less than perfect (air bubbles / some wonky frets) -although that does not impact its playability. Vol spike when switching from active / passive. Tuners come for a bit of stick and weakest piece of the jigsaw from comments elsewhere seems to be the preamp. But actually that is all weirdly reassuring: as a lot of us have been wondering how HB can make such fully featured basses for the prices they do! If it had been a little lighter, it could make for a fantastic project bass. Still looks very good value, but I'd hesitate to fork out on one despite the bargain price.

But all this talk of HB basses though (and not just here)...very tempted to get the flagship BZ-5000 with it's lovely neck through design, B stock delivered to my door for < £300. Seriously?!! Here's the 4 string version for the OP: Done a bit more research on these basses...this was a really helpful "warts and all review" (albeit of the 6 string sibling). Few comments worth noting - it's a heavy bass with no passive tone control; the finish a little less than perfect (air bubbles / some wonky frets) -although that does not impact its playability. Vol spike when switching from active / passive. Tuners come for a bit of stick and weakest piece of the jigsaw from comments elsewhere seems to be the preamp. But actually that is weirdly reassuring: a lot of us have been wondering how HB can make such fully featured basses for the prices they do! If it had been a little lighter, it could make for a fantastic project bass. Still looks very good value, but I'd probably still make a bee-line for that Yammy TRBX 304 in the FS.

I've owned both a Sire (P7 Mk2) and a few Ibby's and can recommend them both highly as brands. If that's a key criteria for you - I'd suggest worth also checking this out: Yamaha TRBX 304 White - Basses For Sale - Basschat - and, personally, I'd be tempted to go for that in preference to both the basses on your shortlist, but I don't think you're going to go too far wrong with the either the Sire or the Ibby as your first bass.