Al Krow

Thanks for clarifying, John. I was getting all excited for a moment

I use my HPF at the start of the chain to remove low end 'crud' (rather than at the end of the chain) which means that none of the later pedals on my board, or later effect sims on a Zoom patch, need themselves to be dealing with unnecessary low end stuff. There was a comprehensive HPF thread a year or so back and the AcBsPre effect sim was discussed in some detail. Here's a few comments from our more expert BC'ers from that thread relating to the AcBsPre: Jus Lukin: ...the AcBsPre, which is based on the Fishman Platinum Pro EQ. The 'depth' control [being an HPF] is for the filter, 10 being minimum cut. Depending how accurate the copy of the filter it is, it should be introducing a cut at 10hz even at 10. At 9 it is cutting from about 40hz, so is the most akin to a Thumpinator. I find that with the AcBsPre, all EQ halfway with Gain at 50 and Level at 100 gives me a 'bypassed' sound which I can use as just a low pass filter. The depth control is the HPF, and I find that with everything at zero, gain at 50 and level at 100, it is essentially at unity. Except the depth, which is at its minimum at 10! Jrixn1: The Depth rolls off the lows : - at 10 -> no roll off (full bass) - at 0 -> like an HPF fixed at 200Hz and in between : - at 5 : 100Hz - at 6 : 80Hz - at 7 : 70Hz - at 8 : 60Hz - at 9 : 40Hz (I made very quick measurements, so it's "almost" these frequencies). Opticaleye: I'm sure it's been mentioned here before but just a reminder how Fishman recommend setting up the Platinum Pro Eq depth control. This of course applies to the AcBsPre sim on the MS-60B and the B3. Depth Tighten up your sound, or dial out deep-bass feedback with the Depth control. The Depth control works hand in hand with the Bass control to bring out tight and articulate lows: 1. Start with the Depth turned up full (5:00) with the EQ set flat on your bass amp and/or PA. 2. Set the Bass control to full boost. 3. Play the bass and back off the Depth (counter-clockwise) until you hear the sound tighten up, usually between 9:00 and 12:00. 4. Re-set the Bass slider to taste. I've always found this method to be really effective.

Can't fault your choice - exactly the set up I had on my board, until this 'wretched' B1X-4 showed up, which has just survived its first outing on a function gig tonight as my 'pedal board' and tuner

That's good to know. I was under the impression it was only a 12dB per octave cut.

It seems to be going head to head with the Helix LT which is similarly priced. Obviously Helix has a much stronger brand and following in this space. But hey - in the past two years with advent of the new Helix range we've got to a stage where a lot of us are already considering replacing their entire analogue pedal collection with a digital multifx. And more competition is only going to push the needle further in that direction.

Had a Cali 76, I actually preferred the Spectracomp. Only reason for moving the Spectracomp on is that the B1-4 covers off the basses for me. Thumpinator + Spectracomp is a very good combination for what you're after. But costs a bit more. If you want budget then B1-4 will do the job. The slight noise only gets noticed if you have nothing else in the mix, no aux in, no band mates, just you soloing alone at home.

Haha, well I think you can see that the £400 is clearly there in the construction and components being used as the basses step up across the range.

+1 to Cameron and Bass Apprentice's comments above. To make up for my earlier facetious remark, here's a summary of how the BB "3 series" range steps up from the 234/5 to the 734A/5A: BB 234/5 BB 434/5 BB 734A/5A Body Solid Alder Solid Alder Alder/Maple/Alder multi-laminated body construction Neck Maple (single piece) 4-bolt 5-ply maple and mahogany laminated 6-bolt 5-ply maple and mahogany laminated 6-bolt Nut Plastic Graphtech Graphtech Pickups YGD V3 P/J (ceramic) YGD V5 P/J (alnico V) YGD V7 P/J (alnico V) active Controls VVT VVT vol, balance, 3 band EQ, active/passive Machineheads Lightweight open-gear Lightweight open-gear Lightweight open-gear Bridge Vintage style Vintage Plus (steel baseplate/ saddles) Vintage Plus (steel baseplate/ saddles) Diagonal body through stringing No Yes Yes Passive Yes Yes Yes Active No No Yes Additional features on 434/5 in red (and also appear on the 734A/5A) Additional features on 734A/5A in blue

£400? 😄 Sorry I couldn't resist...

I'm not sure that is a possibility on the Spectracomp, but happy to be corrected by someone with greater expertise. However you can very easily set up hpf + Spectracomp style compression on the Zoom B1-4 which will cost you just £70. And it will provide a ton of other available effects in addition. (It's also an excellent headphone amp with aux in and provides a really usable tuner and worth IMO getting for those alone!).

Design patents seem to be such a lottery, though. Fender don't seem to have been able to patent their iconic designs e.g. Stratocaster, Telecaster, P Bass and J Bass and stopping a myriad of clones pinching their designs. You would have thought that Sadowsky, Sandberg etc all would have at least had to pay a royalty on each bass in the same way Warwick had to with Spector (in the end) I believe. Seems a lot easier to get compensation for folk filching a melody or bass riff than it does an iconic guitar or bass design!

I am indeed the original owner, I believe (If this is the bass I think it is - you bought from @KotorTom right?) I bought yours new a couple of years back - if you scroll back to near the start of this amazingly active thread you can read my detailed review which I posted. It has a P pup punch like no other bass I've played! I've since gone on to get myself several Yammys - they are such a good bass! In terms of "wise like Yoda" - haha! More like "ugly as Yoda!" 😄

Congratulations on your BB! And I now feel like a proper BB grandad! That white BB425 was the first bass that I felt a twinge of seller's regret over - so much so that I went and replaced it, albeit with a black one!

The Yammy gig bag that comes with the mid range Yammy basses are very well made, apart from being a touch too small in length! The pic below illustrates very well the additional headroom (and we are talking actual headroom, not some wishy washy amp wattage concept here 😁) that I'm getting from the Gator.

Thanks for that @lemmywinks Appreciate this is a bit of side track on a bargain gig bag thread, but if you did want to go one step further than the £100 bags in your post above, to a more top-end gig bag are we into mono territory and looking at £150+?

Sold Dave my Spectracomp. Smooth transaction, quick payment and very good comms. Hope you enjoy the pedal! Cheers, Bas

Met up with Marcin to try out his Berg CN212. He very kindly helped me shift my gear from car to his flat and then very patiently put up with me A/B'ing my existing amp and bass through his and my cabs. End result: I wandered off with my first Berg Pleasure meeting you and thanks very much for your hospitality. Cheers, Bas

Sold my HX Stomp to Mark (posted). Smooth transaction, usual great comms and I already know from Mark that this excellent feature laden Line 6 pedal is being put to much better use than it was on my board! Bas

Mine arrived today. Reasonable quality - I'd give it 7/10. It's not flimsy, neither is it high-end and £50 to £60 actually feels like the 'right' price point for this. It'll get the job done for me, so I will be holding on to mine and using for band rehearsal this evening. (And always good to have a packing box, which the case came in, for shipping basses in for the next time one gets moved on )

John - I presume when you say rehearsal levels that was in the mix with your band rather than just simply turned up loudly at home? Agree you shouldn't notice this digital noise with pretty much anything else in the mix e.g. aux in, or other band instruments etc. Personally I don't think the Zoom UK units will be pre-production units - they will almost certainly have road tested this in Japan before exporting to the UK and US. But as a headphone amp with tuner and effects there is nothing that comes close to this in the sub £100 price bracket. And the only folk likely to ever notice this "digital noise" is going to be us bass players when listening out carefully for it and when playing an isolated bass. It shouldn't impact its live use at all. So for both the above reasons it's gonna be sticking around a while longer in the Krow pedal pantheon and I'm going to pass on my 60 day window to get a full refund from Zoom UK.

Trouble is, once you are listening out for this digital noise under the notes you can't unhear it!! I'm now finding I can easily hear it through my (decent) pair of headphones. Ugh! However if I wanted to replace it as a headphone amp with a built in tuner the only alternative on the market seems to be the GK Plex, which would cost me over £300! At which point I would be definitely be better off getting a Helix Stomp (although I never did get find the headphone output to be that great on the Stomp - I'm finding the B1X-4 is actually better in terms of volume and clarity on that score).

Yeah - there's a great irony that it is often the musicians most deserving of great equipment and who would be able to get the most out of their gear who are often least able to afford it and vice versa.

She's a complete looker Paul! Congrats mate.

Haha - the Yammy Big Butt or "BB" to its lovers. Broad Bass just doesn't have the same ring to it, does it? 😁