Al Krow

*Sigh*... and there was me feeling really pleased with the whole 'fretting' thing, given the angst you've just had over the height of the frets on your P34... Wasted, I say, totally wasted! 😂

Right time to 'FESS UP peeps: so who is still in the running since 1 Jan with no new gear and who has come crashing out? Despite Sibob finding inspiration for this thread from my inability to go 9 days without a bout of GAS, I sensibly pulled out just before the start of the year but kinda feel ready to play now. Bit like 'Just a Minute' with 15 seconds left on the clock! Besides I've managed to follow quite a strict one in one out policy this year: I've managed to match my net increase of basses with an exactly identical number being moved on of... ...used bass pedals 🤣

Hopefully @Woodinblack will be along soon - usually has some useful wisdom on all matters Ibby

You're going to end up fretting about this, mark my words 😁

Haha! Applies equally when your favourite beer isn't Guiness but you quite enjoy a curry! Life's too short, not to, right? 😁

Well it's by no means a daft idea! The single key limitation of the SY-1 is its lack of presets. With 500+ usable sounds it would be great to be able to easily capture them, but you would still need to remember which setting did what and adjust manually. Recording via midi doesn't really address the issue of lack of presets! But anyone who has a Focusrite (or similar) interface + DAW should already be able to do what you & SM are saying, right? The Future Impact has midi connectivity (but no USB); the Source Audio C4 has USB (but not midi); the Boss SY-300 has both.

How well a bass balances really does make a massive difference, doesn't it, to how comfortable it is to wear / play. And having a sculpted body doesn't hurt either!

Hi there! The consensus from us Ibby fanboys is that there is quite a step up in the quality of the pups between the Barts on the SR Standards and the Big Single Nords (which are just great) on the SR Premiums. There is no change in preamp between the different Ibby SR ranges. It's the Barts that are being too polite. If you can get hold of an Ibby SR Premium you'll immediately notice the difference.

Actually, for once...phew! I'm just about to run out of rack space and as the Greek has helpfully defined for us, that defines 'enough' basses doesn't it? So I guess I'll be leaving you 4some lovers to part with the readies on this one then! And I'll hopefully manage to avoid being caught hook, line and sinker this time around! 😁

Remind me what it is that you're looking to achieve with all this midi and USB compatibility you're after? And is this something that can be relatively easily done via your Focusrite? Fyi the SY-300 does already offer midi & USB port. I understand it has the same synth engine as the SY-1. It will, however, set you back a tidy £507... I'm kinda happy to miss out on the midi and USB port, use my Focusrite 6i6 and pocket the £332 saving!

Yeah! And just when I informed Mrs Krow I'd bought my final bass. How she laughed ☺️ But are they going to be doing a 5 string version?

Cheers buddy. Almost identical to yours (well what did you expect from a fellow WHU fan? ☺️ ) but yours has the perfect - from my perspective anyway! - 3 band EQ and PJ pup configuration. Just weighed and it's coming in at 10.1 lbs, which is bang on the same as my Yammy BB which I regularly gig. That's a nice surprise I guess the difference in woods between ours is going to explain the difference in weight if yours is heavier?

They totally do that, don't they!!

NBD - it's arrived! 😀 Spector Euro 5LX Having taken more of a shine to my mid-range Spector Legend Custom than I was expecting, my appetite was definitely sharpened for one of the higher-end models. When this one came up at 'sale' prices at Andertons, I found it hard to resist! Mine has a quilted USA maple top and the body is alder with a walnut strip in between the body and the top. The neck has a 3 piece maple construction. EMG 40-TW pups, as mentioned above, and 2 band EQ, but with pull selector on both individual volume controls to switch from humbucker to single J. Very quick initial thoughts: Not particularly ever been a quilted maple person, but I could definitely get used to this. And the sculpted back on Spectors is a real treat. Liking the tonal palette of humbucker / single J options, although I'll need to be mindful of the volume change when switching between the two if I am doing this mid-set. I'm immediately drawn to solo'd J bridge for a more aggressive tone and either humbucker for fulsome punch: the humbuckers aren't shy retiring types by any means in the terms of their output! My two Spectors definitely bring something different to the party compared to my Yammy PJs or even my Ibby SR Premiums. And although selling a Squier Bass VI to mangoT has turned out to be an expensive pastime, I can't say I'm regretting it 😊 ... and I hope you'll excuse one more belated pic, just wanted to capture the walnut strip between the body and the top which is a really nice touch. Amazing how differently the camera records the colour, depending on the light!

Knock £12.99 off for shipping. That leaves £60 for the bass. Does that imply around £10 to £15 for the pups? I didn't know anything vaguely decent existed at that price point? Although if the "snug fit" of the pups is anything to go by, we're likely to be getting what we pay for! In my experience it's defo possible to pay too little for stuff. I'd be very concerned for anyone starting out on bass that this could be one of those occasions. Loved the quality of the review btw ped. But, genuinely, would you recommend it to someone starting out?

Spot on. Just had 15 mins sorting out a pretty decent patch on HX Stomp. => Two 'dual pitch' effects in parallel (totally pants in series) with pitch shift on one set a 0, -12 for octave down and the other at +7, +12 for 5th and octave up to create a Fishman 5-8 patch, does the trick nicely. [Aside: the ability to do a decent pitch shift without significant latency is something my Zoom multis have struggled with, and placing effects in parallel is simply not an option. So it's at this more processing-hungry end where the newer HX kit really comes into its own]. Can thicken up / make more aggressive by combining with fuzz. Job done! And actually that would work really well on tracks like Bruno Mars' Runaway Baby - sounds a lot fuller than something like the Digitech Mosaic with its single octave up. Although tbf I've still not found anything that tracks as well and with minimal latency on the Stomp as the Mosaic if you're looking for a polyphonic single octave up (e.g. to get a 12 string guitar effect), so the Mosaic continues to survive for another day - sorry @bassfan

That's perhaps the most damning with faint praise comment I've come across all year. Brilliant!

Well as you'll see from the pics when it arrives a bit later, it's clearly not a very good one as it may force me make use of the mid EQ dials on my amp which I resolved I would try to avoid needing to do with active basses. FAILED On top of that it has two EMG 40TW pups which require a push/pull pot for switching from single coil to humbucker, so the BT and BQ onboard premps you've been raving about aren't recommended for this, as the balance control included with the system can't then be installed. FAILED It weighs over 10 lbs and is 'NOS' from the serial number dating it at almost exactly 3 years old. FAILED. My head has clearly been mango-tango'd with! 😂 ...although there is a rumour doing the rounds that Spector basses with EMG 40s have a fantastic mid-punch and won't require any further mid boost?

Oh dear...apparently DPD are going to be dragging (I hope not literally!) something to my door this afternoon. I really thought I was just selling a Squier Bass VI a few weeks back and thinning the herd but I've now ended up on a Spector quest instead. How did that happen? Conclusion: be very wary of selling @mangotango any gear whatsoever, chaps; the consequences are unforeseen and it could just prove to be an expensive decision! 😂

Dosi - do you know what the Quint Machine, which I think was first released in mid 2014, is like in terms of tracking and latency with bass? If it's good on both these counts then this could be a very interesting alternative to the Digitech Mosaic on my board, particularly at Thomann prices. The only decent reviews I've seen so far have been on guitar and, let's face it, tracking the low notes on bass is a whole different string game! The tone report review is pretty glowing: https://tonereport.com/reviews/t-rex-quint-machine

Well that's 3 out of the first 4 posters on this thread now accounted for then! 😀

On a more serious note, could you not do what you are wanting to achieve by routing the output of the SY-1 via something like a Focusrite interface?

Then aren't you just left with a thru midi connector and a USB 2.0 port? 😂

Haha - that's definitely going to split bass-land right down the middle! I think there are as many folk who prefer the jack placement on the side as they do on the top / front!

It's been around since 2015 :) It isn't however cheap as chips!