Al Krow

Zvex Mastotron? (There's one in the FS at the moment on at a very fair price). Also worth checking out this thread, which seems to cover similar territory:

Great stuff Lozz! Who are the main song writers in your band? How much of your material doesn't make it onto your albums?

Ah I've just seen the two BF threads making reference to peeling tolex, so I now know what you're referring to! Hope you manage to get yours sorted satisfactorily (and that I don't face anything similar on my BF SC down the line!) Must admit I've been very tempted by TKS cabs, given their excellent reputation; but their power handling / output suggested that I would likely need two 112s in a full band situation to punch through, and I've enjoyed the convenience of a one cab solution. Dunno if that is a fair shout regarding the TKS 112s?

Where from?

Berg CN212 vs Fearless F112 (brief shootout comparison) Set up my Berg CN212 and Fearless112 for a direct head to head comparison using an AB/Y pedal connected up to my Mesa M6 amp. Amp EQ set flat, gain at 9am and master volume at 10am. Comparison done using my passive Yamaha BB P35. First (expected!) difference is that a 2x12 4ohm cab is a fair bit louder at the same amp settings than a 1x12 8ohm cab. Adjusting the master vol to 1pm for the F112 equalised the volume - bear in mind that the Mesa M6 is pretty non linear in terms of its volume output. With the volumes equalised the Fearless was actually surprisingly similar to the Berg, which for me is a massive compliment to the F112 given how good I feel the Berg is! In terms of nuances the Berg was a tiny bit more mid-scooped compared to the Fearless and the F112 had a touch more mid punch and clarity - which is something that the F112 is perhaps already 'famous for' and facilitated by a dedicated mid focused 5" speaker. The Fearless seems to be jumping through home use hurdles fairly effortlessly. Given its quality in terms of mid punch range, I can't see it being anything other than excellent in a band mix - will report back once I've had a chance to put it through its paces with a full rock band.

It really is an excellent cab, I agree, Chris. Right up there for me in terms of the cabs I've played through. As mentioned above it surpassed my former VK 210LNT in terms of fullness of tone / clarity and articulation. The only other cab that has gone toe to toe with it in terms of sheer sound quality was my Mesa PH 212, but that really was simply too heavy for my back to ever contemplate lugging. However ... ...

My BB P35 came with D'Addario EXL170-5 nickels 45 to 130 guage. They're excellent and not outrageous in terms of price (around £25) - highly recommend. I'll certainly be sticking with them for my Yammy BBs and Ibby SRs (fretted).

Haha. Ok that explains a few things...

And you know that exactly, how? 🤣

My pedalboard recently developed an annoying whine. The cause turned out to be the Roland midi cable plugged into my FI which was picking up interference from my underboard PSU. Midi now unplugged and the whine is gone, so I'll just connect up the FI to my PC for downloading software updates and patches and leave disconnected at other times.

Have to you agree with you!

@dave_bass5 you really liked the BB425 a LOT when you first bought it off me and it was probably the main reason you went for the P34. Having had both now for a few weeks, seems from your comments above you're starting to lean more towards the P34, particularly in a band mix? It was a no-brainer for me, in that I immediately preferred the harmonically richer tone delivered by the BB1025 over the 'flatter' 425 P pups so held on to my 1025 as a mainstay gigging bass. The P35 is, for me, a refined 1025 and I like it a very great deal. I think you touched on this same point, when you said your P34: "...never had such a perfect tone from a P bass. In fact I’d say there is a bit of that jazz snarl in there, and that's just from the neck pup." @AndyTravis - just following up on the neck shimmy discussion above, is this something you've done on your Yammy BBs?

"Sounds big" "Punches through your standard function set" Yes, absolutely! Screenshot of Nathan playing his BBNE2 from the following gig with Eric Clapton in Tokyo. Treat yourself to a listen through a decent pair of headphones

Sounds good! But is it as 'musical' on SSR? Tbf in terms of 'musicality' which I suspect could well translate into live usability, the Ottobit seems to trump the rest of the field. The Red Panda offers a choice of three waveforms. Not sure either the FB or the Scrutator does? Although the LP/BP is a nice alternative feature.

PJS = PearlJam ('r') stinky poo/superb (??) PJs = pyjamas Oh dear, this is going rapidly off topic...😁

MHS = matching head stock headstock BHS = British Home Stores (now defunct) NHS = National Health S😂ervice Just in case any of our international BB players on this thread were wondering...

A really useful post on another thread, that I've taken the liberty of reposting here:

So you're selling your red 424 and want to replace it with an orange BB. Couldn't you just leave yours in the sun for a couple of years to fade instead, while you travel around the eastern home counties brandishing a Status?! 😁

In terms of all the well known 'kids on the block' - this is not a bad summary of the options:

The Red Panda and both newer (6 knob) and older (5 knob) model Frantabit also have expression pedal control; with the newer model 6 knob Frantabit having enhanced expression control. Not sure that the Scrutator has a jump on either of these pedals on that score? But the Malekko does win on price! Scrutator - around £189 Thomann Red Panda Bitmap - £229 G4M IE Frantabit - around £240(??) imported from the US? Did you also go for the Mooer? Have you been able to put it to good sonic use?

Arriving late to the party in terms of getting a dedicated bit crusher, having made do with my Zoom MS-60B. Have also gone for a Mooer Lofi as an entry level dedicated pedal - it's a bit better than the MS-60B, but not massively so. Useful to have pointed out to us that knobs seem to be labelled the wrong way around on the Mooer: The bit crusher (small knob) is not particularly useful - pretty much just adding white noise. The sample rate reduction (big knob) has a 'usable range' going anti-clockwise from 5pm to 1pm (any futher than 12 noon anti-clockwise and you rapidly get into a beyond human hearing frequencies). My own preference being in the 3pm to 4pm range which does add something to the low E and B strings But it has whetted my appetite for bit crushers! Clearly a lot of love for both the Scrutator and Frantabit on this thread. There was also one mention of the Red Panda Bitmap which does also look really good! Wonder how @ben4343 got on with his?

Here's my latest incarnation. 3leaf GR2 won the filter wars (against stiff competition from a MXR BEF and Fwonkbeta). My trusty little Valeton OC-10 and a TC Spectracomp have also both been moved on too as I'm using octave down a bit less these days having gone pretty much exclusively 5 string and the Helix Stomp providing multi-band compression should I want it. In their place a bit crusher (or more accurately a sample rate reducer!) in the form of Mooer Lofi and a Tech 21 Q\Strip (which was part ex'd for a Yammy bass). Board feels like it's taking on a more settled composition, although I suspect that the Mooer is going to be the start of a slippery slope for me into the world of sample rate reduction, which does sound pretty juicy on the low E and B strings! All currently still for 'creative' home use, with a little Zoom B1X-4 still strutting its stuff for rehearsal and gigging duties.

Very high current consumption on this pedal (compared to most) "Gets hot with long use" "Starts losing volume / cuts out" => sounds like circuits frying to me.