Al Krow

Sometimes - e.g. the 11.0cm 4.3" straps I mentioned which I've only found on Thomann. Bloomin' marvellous and a gig game-changer for me! Yeah it was a real shame, particularly as the replacement bass they sent (which also took much chasing and gnashing of teeth on my part!) was heavier than this original one.

Thanks for that - did you manage to measure the steepness and cut off frequency of the 1001M internal HPF? If so, I'd be very interested in getting the details off you as a fellow 1001M user. I've managed to slot my Thumpinator underneath my board - prompted by this thread! Turns out I needed to raise the clearance just a touch at one end of the board to accommodate, but a couple of small sticky felt pads did the trick. It will be working in series with my amps' internal HPF to clear out the sub-audio crud and should also benefit when I'm going directly into a PA. Is it the case that most powered PA speakers (aka FRFR) don't have HPF?

P bass vs J bass 4 string vs 5 string Fingers vs pick To compress or not Rounds vs flats and now... BC Zombies vs BC Vampires. Hmmm. now there's a thought!

Where it's stuff that you definitely know you're not going to return then it totally makes sense not to exclude overseas retailers. I think where there's a risk that you might not like the item or of it being damaged (e.g. like this headstock of a bass I bought from Thomann recently, which was damaged instore before being sent out rather than in transit as the packaging was fine), then it's just good to be aware that it can take much longer to get your money back or a replacement - and put that into the mix when making a buying decision. I'll certainly still be getting my favourite bass straps from Thomann - they've been some of the best bits of kit I've bought over the past 12 months - made some of my heavier basses so much more comfortable to play over a couple of hours and hopefully very little chance of getting damaged en-route.

No, please let's not! I suspect the tones on the "worst bass sound" thread are likely to be most folks "f$$$ me wot a racquet!" I think @Stub Mandrel was just seeking to rile a few Zombies and other living-dead amongst us. 😁

PS if she does have Covid - sorry to hear that and I hope she makes a swift recovery.

Great strategy. I find chocolate works well, too, but my better half gets suspicious if I buy flowers for no particular reason 😁

Great retailer, great value, fantastic range of bass gear. But boy are refunds now taking a LONG time! Courier collected an item exactly one month back with a delivery address to a warehouse in Bury St Edmunds. Should take no more than a few days tops to get there. They then ship it back to Germany - over which we have no input into or sight of what is happening. One month on they state that the item is likely still in Customs checks and they have no idea where it currently is and ask me for tracking on their courier they have booked (which obviously I don't have any details of or ability to track myself). Ugh! So if you are returning stuff to Thomann worth bearing in mind it may take MUCH longer than it used to to get a refund. Shame - I've only had good experiences with Thomann over the years, but this issue with returns is not great and is making me rethink about switching to UK retailers, unless I've previously bought the item from Thomann and I therefore know 100% I will want to keep it but also only if the likelihood of it being damaged in transit / their storeroom (which was the case with a B-stock item I recently bought from them).

I see you've managed to solve the age old Yamaha vs Spector conundrum AT! Great result!

Fyi - my actual question to Max was: "Quick query. I believe the Thumpinator cuts below 28 Hz. Am I correct that it is - 24dB/octave or is it operating at just -12dB/octave?" So it's fair to deduce that his response was implying it was a 24dB/oct cut which would also tie in with the effectiveness at preventing speaker excursion shown in Phil's charts above (although I guess could possibly have been e.g. 18dB/Oct etc. although that would less likely in terms of components?) Not sure why he was being so coy, though - if it does cut at 24dB/oct that's very welcome given its purpose!

Yeah I think I was getting confused with the reissue 1.5 guitar version. So the original and best bass version is still the one to get. I think there was one in the FS recently - I hesitated and it got snapped up! Tbf my little Pigtronox Octava is punching way above it's weight (and price bracket!) in terms of full spectrum overdrive / fuzz duties. But if another vgc used Xotic BB comes up I really should give it a spin and A/B it against the Pigtronix.

From @bassfan 😆...

I've been thinking about getting another BB, too. But it will probably be one of these... 😁

Very sensible. And, yes, you've certainly had a good haul recently! (ok not if you've reset your clock to AT time) 😁 Just wanted to make sure he was back safe. I mean it's getting dark early, the coastal paths aren't particularly well lit and we hadn't heard back from him a while...😁

So....how was the walk? 🙂

Thanks for that. I think it represents a step up from HX Stomp in a number of areas: the most critical IMO is its DSP, which can make quite a difference at the margin in terms of the quality of the fx sims or as their sales pitch puts it: "delivering a more detailed, organic sound with richer tonal dimensions" 😊 My understanding (tbc) is that the Ampero II tri-core chip may provide double the DSP of the chip in the Helix units (which were originally made available in June 2015 i.e. over 6 years back, when Helix Floor was launched). HX Effects and HX Stomp have one of the HX chips. Helix Floor and Helix Lite, two. In other words, if I've got that right, we're being offered something with the processing power of Helix Lite in a HX Stomp sized box. the colour display is both larger and has a touch screen, which are both welcome improvements on the HX Stomp and the HX Effects (and indeed over the GT1000 Core); I've seen clips indicating we will be able to "draw" desired EQ curves which is a very neat feature (again tbc); Obviously the software / fx sims available is going to be absolutely key to a great multifx and Helix have got several years quality fx patch development under their bonnet and have ironed out most of the glitches in the software. But Hotone have been building up their library and credentials in this area, too, over several years now. So I think Hotone may well be offering quite a significant upgrade over the HX Stomp at the same price point. Definitely got my interest!

Let us know how you get on and whether he manages to sort it for you. This thread has got me thinking about moving my Thumpintor off my home "creative" board, given that I'm not playing at much volume there, and putting it as an always-on pedal underneath my little gigging HB board which I've recently put together...turns out there's enough clearance for it 👍😄

Yup that does sound faulty. Max at sfx is a good chap - why not get in touch with him and ask him to check whether there's an issue with it. You never know, he may even offer to replace it.

Seen a couple of YT clips of the Ampero II where the initial reaction is that it's being compared favourably with both the HX Stomp and GT 1000 Core, but with more detailed comments to follow...certainly looking forward to finding out exactly where it excels / falls short of these other two market leading mid-range multis which are its direct head-to-head competitors.

I've been super tempted to get this. I've got a sim on my Zoom B1-4 which sounds great, but doesn't manage particularly with low end notes (on low E and B strings) - I'm guessing the real thing won't have any such issues? (And it obviously also has my all time favourite BB moniker 😁) Any significant difference between the Mk1 and Mk2 versions of the BB?

Even better! I mean what better guide of which one to keep vs move on eventually, than the "which one do I reach for when I don't want to get my BB PH** trashed at the next local pub gig?" test?

The 1024 has higher-end pups which are harmonically richer (which I really prefer) vs the 424 which has flatter pups (which plenty others really like / prefer); The 424 pups are 'hotter'; Both have laminated bolt-on necks and body-through stringing; Upgraded body construction on the 1024 (spline jointed body, body through stringing, metal nut) vs 424 (single piece body, normal stringing, plastic nut) - I think I've got that right, although I'm sure someone will be along shortly to correct me if I haven't. I'd actually recommend getting that lovely 1024x in the FS (can't believe it's not shifted yet!) and A/B'ing it with your 424 and then moving on the one you don't want to keep as, whilst I would go for the 1024 every day of the week, others would do the opposite!

I put the question to sfx who make the Thumpinators back in 2019 and received this response which was instructive: "I do not publish the slope of the micro-Thumpinator filter. The only thing I can tell you is that the micro-Thumpinator cuts at more than 12 dB/oct." All the best, Max [sfx] Phil's charts in the post above really do demonstrate how effective it is in reducing unnecessary speaker excursion in the sub-audio range. Be interesting to know if any amp's HPF are comparably good? My guess is that a few may be, particularly where they are an advertised feature, but many are not given the additional component cost etc. Perhaps worth pointing out that it's not either / or - a Thumpinator in series with the amp's HPF should work in tandem to eliminate unwanted low end. I do like where the Thumpinator cut-off is set i.e. just below the low B fundamental on a 5 string. Perfect for us 5 string players - although I appreciate we're going to be much more focussed on the 1st and 2nd harmonics, it's nice to know that the fundamental is still in there!