Al Krow

Although I make that one pedal too many in your list for my little gigging board, at least you didn't drop your mic 😁 (And nice post btw!)

“Always I have lived with two sounds, one political, one musical” Mikis Theodorakis, freedom fighter, composer. R.I.P.

Well it's been two whole days (plus 1 hour and 30 mins) since a new piece of gear turned up at Krow dungeons. I'm already waaaaaaay ahead of you, buddy! 😂

Maybe I've been fortunate: zero amp failures in 7 years of pretty active use, although I've very been recently persuaded by fellow BC'ers to take a spare amp to function gigs, together with a jack to DI lead to go straight into our PA as a couple of back up options "just in case". Tbf the longest I've had any one particular gigging amp has been 4 years, before wanting to try something else. Older models are generally going to be more prone than newer kit, in terms of wear and tear, and valve (power) amps seem to feature quite a lot in tales of breakdown woes. All my gigging amps have been D-class and were either been bought new or no more than a couple of years old used, which probably explains not having any breakdown issues with any of them so far, touch wood!

Just came across this on eBay and the angled heads are going to provide a useful space saving on my pedal board: DC BLACK CABLE LV POWER SPLITTER 2.5MM - 1 x FEMALE IN/2 x RIGHT ANGLE MALE OUT | eBay Oh and if you want more than one, do it via the "Send me" rather than the "Quantity" and they can then pass on the postage saving to you.

Well paid function gig in Brixton on Sat 9th Oct. Couple of rehearsals in Bethnal Green E2, beforehand. Female lead vox to share lead vocals with our male lead singer.

I totally get where you're coming from and maybe it's just the way my brain works, but I do like to also try to understand why certain things work they do - either from the manual and/or the insights and clarity provided by fellow BC'ers or, in this case, the useful additional snippets provided by Tech21 themselves. Must admit the fact that their cab sim is core to their sound and should be regarded as 'always on' was a really helpful tip and not one I would have gleaned from the manual. @dannybuoygot to the same result by trusting his ears, which is your recommended approach. But I'll be bearing that in mind when using Tech 21 pedals in future. And all part of the fun and pleasure that 10% to 20% that our gear brings to party. The 80% to 90%, of course, being in our fingers and time spent on the fretboard rather than the keyboard (which I have spent far too much time on these past 5 years)! Now back to the task of trawling through StarNow to see if I can find another female dep to cover for the dep who has pulled out of a well paying function gig in early Oct...ugh! Any suggestions welcome - please PM me!

No denying it's a big brick of a thing! I can't (at this stage) confirm or deny whether it makes the cut though...😄

Just wondering whether the boom you were getting on your BB2 could have been dealt with by cutting the bass EQ on your bass or amp a touch, rather than reducing the overall volume? I can't remember now whether you've held onto your BB2 or now moved it on?

Well you and @bassfan currently definitely have the two best guesses 😁and you're ahead as you've had a very decent stab at a sensible signal chain. My bad - I originally incorrectly posted it was 5 pedals plus the B1-4. It's actually 5 including the B1-4. So which pedal are you going to lose from your selection?

I really don't recall you saying that, last time we were in the pub? 😁

A BC'er very recently twisted my arm and persuaded me to upgrade my Boss WL-20 wireless to a Shure DLXD6 wireless. In terms of pedals for gigging (we play standard pop/rock covers) I've been happily just using my Zoom B1-4 as a 'standalone' micro pedal board since the end of lockdown. But the Shure is a much heftier beast than the WL-20 and it made sense to set it up on a small 'gigging' board with the Zoom B1-4 and a few other pedals and keep the rest on the larger 'creative home use' board. With a bit of pedalboard tetris, I can fit 4 other pedals onto my smaller board together with the B1-4 and the Shure. (Alas, sadly not quite enough space for a Thumpinator hpf underneath, so that will need to remain on the larger board and I'll make do with an hpf effect on the B1-4). But it got me thinking - which of my pedals would I really want/like to use for gigging? Proved to be quite an interesting and useful exercise! My starting point is these two boards and a recently acquired Tech 21 YYZ: For a bit of fun if you fancy it(!), have a guess which 4 pedals I decided to "save from the fire" besides my Zoom B1-4? Bonus points for working out the signal chain I've used. Please also feel free to share which 5 pedals you would have gone for (no prizes for that - lol!), what order you would put them and why. I'll limit any comments to your personal choices so as not to give the game away! Assuming mods are ok with this - £10 prize (PayPal f&f) for whoever is closest. Closing date : Sunday 12th.

Yes indeed - and sometimes (more often than not in fact!) there's no right (or wrong) answer because a particular pedal is not for you, whatever setting you have it on! I suspect pretty much every bass player has moved on far more pedals, over the years, than they have currently on their boards. All part of the fun, particularly when you can buy used from a trusted cabal like we have on BC, without suffering much, if any, financial loss.

Thanks @Tech21NYC - I've now had chance to play using the cab sim on the VTDI now and found the following: In line with your comments, the cab sim provides a more rounded / 'pleasant' tone than when not engaged. No cab sim = harsher more brittle tone I associate with taking a DI out from an amp without the coloration provided by the cab speaker. Previously I had 'bite' always-on, but going forward it will be the cab sim always-on and the 'bite' engaged just for cleaner tones with the 'bite' off for dirtier drive settings; the bite is effectively doubling-up the treble enhancement of the distortion taking it into 'sharp' / RAT territory (which could, of course, be what's wanted on occasion). The overall impact of engaging the cab sim and disengaging bite on dirt settings gives a fuller, warmer drive that I like a lot! This little exchange has been really useful and not something I would have easily gleaned from the manual, and further enhanced the high regard I hold the VTDI in and the uses I will be putting it to! The irony of this little side-track discussion is that the YYZ doesn't have either the 'bite' switch or a cab-sim and from my perspective it's just had the bar raised in terms of competing with its VTDI sibling. But I'm still very much looking forward to putting it through its paces.

Yeah I've gone through 25 basses of which I still own 11, but I'm not and never will be Peter Hook! So I'm still with Mr Beserk on this one. Just put the thing on a wall - I mean that's all a fan is ever going to do - it won't be getting used down the Dog'n'Duck!

I can't imagine he's short of a bob or two? I'm with @gobasserk on this one! Maybe he does genuinely prefer his new signature bass to his old 1200S?!

Best not check my review then 😁

Nope - one of the new Marquess range; I'm a little bit blown away by how good it is!

Just bought an HB bass off Thomann (above the £135 limit that Alan mentions above). A couple of my BC mates have asked me whether there were any hidden costs in importing from Thomann? My experience is that they really seem to have got their shit sorted! I simply paid the all-in price quoted on their website and they dealt with all aspects of importation with no further costs e.g. customs handling charges etc. They used DHL to courier, who gave me a 1 hour delivery slot on the agreed day of delivery and arrived within the first 15 mins of that slot. Couldn't have been more straightforward.

I guess glitchiness in pedals is like marmite - you either love it or hate it. Personally, I can't stand marmite! 😁

Harley Benton – Marquess 5: Quick Review This bass is good and at its price point it’s excellent value. Sound & electronics You immediately notice that the pups have considerable punch and that’s without being particularly close to the strings. Each pup has a separate volume control to allow you to use them individually or blend them to taste. Both pups deliver a very nice touch of growl. The neck pup is warm and full; the bridge more gnarly as expected and blended together they deliver a sweeter, slightly mid-scooped, tone. 2 band EQ. Bass set to ‘neutral’, or a very slight cut to tighten up the low end, is good; you certainly don’t want/need to be boosting the bass. The treble has a good range from vintage when rolled off to bright when maxed to deliver a slap ‘zing’, should it be required. Very slight high pitched whine from my rig when the treble is boosted - similar to what I get on some of my other basses e.g. Spector Euro 5LX, but completely disappears when set to ‘neutral’ or cut. It has no problems in belting out a meaty low B - entirely consistent with being a 35" scale bass. Comfort, design and playability The first thing I did was to weigh the Marquess because some HB 5ers have been known to weigh more than some minor planets, which would be a deal breaker for me. I had a good feeling about this one as it didn’t feel too heavy in the box and that was confirmed when it weighed in at just 4.2kg (9.2 lbs). Yaaay! The strings are 17mm spaced at the bridge which I’m very used to as it sits between my Ibby SR Premium at 16.5mm and Yamaha BB at 18mm and is, in fact, actually the same as my Spector Euro LX – but I appreciate that 17mm may be too narrow for some folk who prefer a 19mm spacing. The bass is comfortable to wear, but has a fair bit of neck dive which can sometimes be a feature, particularly of 5 string basses where the neck : body weight ratio is higher than on a 4 string due to the broader necks on a 5er. But when compared to my recently acquired BB 2005, which is a little heavier at 9.9lbs but which has almost zero neck dive, this is probably the Achilles heel of the HB for me. The bass was well set up straight out of the box with a very comfortable action and no noticeable fret buzz. The dusty end of the fretboard going up to the 24th fret is very accessible. Comparison This new bass reminds me of my Spector Legend Custom with its similar 2 band EQ set-up. I liked the Legend a lot and it gave me the confidence to upgrade to a Euro 5LX that I absolutely love. Except I prefer the Marquess to my former Spector Legend (which was a little too heavy for me and I ended up moving it on). The HB is both lighter and has punchier electronics; the Legend Custom’s EMGs always felt slightly anaemic, certainly in comparison to the pups on the HB Marquess. IMO, other than the neck dive issue on the 5 string, HB have delivered a very decent product particularly at the price point.

For pedals, just get yourself a Zoom B1-4 and be done with it. Fits very nicely within the new "basic as possible" regime! 😁

I have to disagree with @Mudpup that a 210 won't be able to cut it live - if its got sufficient power handling capability (and efficiency, articulation etc), a decent 210 should be absolutely fine with a full band, and that was certainly my experience with my former VK210 LNT.