Al Krow

+8,388,607** ^^ More seriously, Dave, you've just completely nailed in that pithy phrase what playing bass, BC and making music with our bandmates should be all about. Nah, just joshing. It clearly will be your best purchase in 2019, just technically not quite yet! Another waif and stray for you Si...😁

Haha indeed yes! Obviously in the form of some bass gear...(ideally, something with plenty of knobs) 😁

Wow, that is high praise indeed! And as a very contented BF SC owner, I'm in complete agreement that the Fearless F112 is the finest 112 cab I've had the privilege of owning and playing through.

@Kiwi I appreciate that you're a mod and can therefore make up the rules as you go along and also that you have some in depth views on the nature of 'wood'. However your best bit of kit in 2019 is something that you haven't even tried yet?!! Not sure that should be allowed - well not for another few weeks until it's popped through your wooden door anyway! 😁

Ooops EBS, I think you're on the wrong thread! This is the one you're after 😁 @Sibob I think the worthy winner of your challenge has potentially just self-identified himself!

@razor5cl congrats on the milestone b'day and already having such great taste in basses! It seems to me the future of BC is assured! Your Ibby GVB 36? Or was that last year? I think we've somehow managed to so far be the only two BC'ers fortunate enough to get our hands on this little gem of a pedal. And having started the thread by dissing a Boss pedal as my worst purchase of the year, I've gotta also admit that the Boss SY-1 has been the most easy-to-access bringer of a LOT of fun purchase this year (and a lot of cool synth sounds too!)

Something both soooo wrong and yet soooo right about that pic, Dave! 😁

Wait, so you got a bass with 3 knobs and one pup and he got a bass with 2 pups, 5 knobs AND some cash whilst leaving you thinking he's a bloody great bloke? 😁

I do completely rate him, if I'm being honest. He's one of my all time hero bass players. Clearly could have done with a decent accountant, though from what you've just said! How the hell do you go bust with all the royalties of being an ex WHO band member?!

Well at least his bank details are now a matter of public record if you fancy scamming him.

Haha, Paul, did you just manage to: a) choose three items that are your sole favourite? b) not post pics of any?! Come on buddy, you know which bass of mine didn't make it to the top of the tree; so go on push yourself, if you had to save one of them from a fire (if only to preserve status with your fellow bassists) which one you gonna keep? Actually tbf that "fire test" is not a very good one as, come to think of it, I would defo keep the other bass simply 'cos it's worth a lot more 😂 A decent HPF used well, gotta agree that's a great choice. And serious respect for not buying anything bad at all - you're a more discerning bassist than me by a mile!

Happy to get the ball rolling... My best purchase for the second year running has been a bass. I'm actually only one bass (net) up this year but there's been quite a churn in the Krow 'bassment' with 7 in and 6 out during the course of this year. A bit of close run thing between two basses for me, but I'm not going to go with the one that cost the most despite it being a wonderful piece of craftsmanship with a crystal clear tone, but the one that I can't put down and just love the look and feel of despite it having a 35" scale when I am much more used to 34", a 2-band EQ, when I much prefer 3-band and a lovely quilted maple top when I've never until now been into such a finish! I guess it's turned a number of preconceptions about basses on their head for me. And, ohhh, that punchy growl... My worst didn't hang around too long before it got moved on. I was told, in no uncertain terms, by a bunch of previous owners whose voices I really should have listened to that this particular pedal was pants. But I wanted to try it out for myself, ah the folly of age: my fellow BC'ers were not wrong in the meh-ness of this little wonder, which promises a lot but delivers so many of them so very disappointingly!

Following on from the same topic a year back which seemed to garner quite a lot of interest from fellow BC'ers, thought it would be good to run this again this year. Posting a little earlier, to give folk more time to participate - appreciate that there are still six weeks to go before the end of the year with Black Friday and Xmas goodies still ahead, but nothing to stop folk changing their minds between now and then. As with last year the only "house rules" are that it's bass gear and something you bought (or at least arrived) in 2019. Oh and pics of the treasured or offending item are very welcome!

Only was a lot 'cos you had to pay VAT and Customs (like the rest of us) 😁 Slander. I'll have you know that me and dB have held onto some of our pedals for a good fortnite, some even a few days longer. Very generous as ever Andy. I suspect it will be that rather gorgeous Alembic rather than any Tech21 kit that proves the pull for me!

I love how clear that Ric tone comes through at 0.11 in. Amazing fun playing in front of such a large / appreciative audience!

Haha. I personally would stick an HPF on every effects patch for Helix, Zoom or other multi, as standard.

Forget pedals, wait till you see the basses he's not sold!

Great thanks Phil. It seems to me that the mechanical points you cover are additionally beneficial / bound in with the sound tightening and speaker efficiency impact of an HPF. Maybe worth going as far as to say that with a well tailored HPF, in terms of choosing an appropriate initial cut off frequency, there are plenty of upside benefits and there is actually very little in the way of downside.

There's a much broader point there Luke. Guitarists and pedals are like bread and butter. Bassists and pedals are more often just toast.

I don't entirely follow that stoo. The HPF will be cutting the amount of low f waves being produced by the cab. The lower resultant speaker cone displacement gives rise to less kinetic energy and friction ie less heat. But I could be missing something fundamental / basic here. @Phil Starr any thoughts?

Just came across these guys: JPF Amplification is a guitar, bass amp and effects pedal repair company based in Denmark Street, London. 11 Denmark St, London WC2H 8LS Tel: 07706 712 029 Email: [email protected] Hours: Monday-Saturday 11.00 am – 7.00 pm I spoke to a chap called Frank just now; gonna try them to see if they can get my poorly Tech 21 Red Ripper back to health. They will charge £24 plus parts if they can repair and nothing if they can't.

I think -12dB / octave (but I could be wrong on that). If you set at 41Hz you would only be attenuating below 41 Hz and will have cut by 12dB anything at 20Hz ie an octave below. A 41Hz cut should not be touching 50Hz. If you want a decent cut at 50 Hz, maybe set the HPF to cut at 80Hz, certainly no lower than 60 Hz.

Disagree on this one, Dave. You can literally feel the difference standing next to your cab from the difference of the pressure of the air flow on your legs with an HPF engaged or not. The impact depends on the steepness of the cut, most variable HPFs only deliver - 12dB / octave. A steeper -24dB / octave will be more effective and I think the Thumpinator delivers that or close (although Max at SFX has decided it's a trade secret!).

Yup, the Thumpinator is an "always on" pedal focused on delivering just (ii). HPFs with adjustable 'engage' frequencies can do (i) and (ii).

PS in terms of terminology, in case anyone's confused: low cut (i.e. cutting the low frequencies) is delivered by a HPF (i.e. a high pass filter which allows the high frequencies to pass) high cut = LPF