Al Krow

Downer about the Ciocks - they're usually considered to be very reliable and the two I had (before replacing with my cheap and cheerful Harley Benton IsoPro PSUs) never gave me any trouble, so that does sound like a bit of bad luck. The bit that particularly caught my eye about your post was you playing in front of a crowd of 6,000 - fantastic! Was that at a festival and are you guys regularly playing to such big crowds?

Fixed 😊 Did you end up getting one or both? Just to clarify I am very much NOT saying there is no difference at all. Maybe best I summarise where I have landed on this 2024/5 vs 1024/5 topic : the 2024/5 is the recipient of two sonic treatments which are designed to give the bass a "played-in" feel from day 1. A 1024/5 will also get a played-in feel, after it's been err...played-in, which comes for free from using the bass; the 2024/5 is MI-Japan vs 1024/5 MI-Indonesia. The cost of labour in Japan is significantly higher, which will lead to a higher product cost. But Indonesia has got a pretty good rep for making quality basses e.g. Ibby SR Premiums costing £1k+ are MI-Indonesia; pretty much everything else about the basses are the same - design, pups, woods, preamp and bridge; for the record I have not heard the 2024/5 A/B'd in a blind test with the 1024/5, played by the same bass player with a full band - that would be a key test for me. But tbh I'm not expecting to hear anything much difference between two pretty identical basses played by the same bass player and if I can't hear any difference, I sure as heck wouldn't dream of paying three times as much. Others are free to come to a different conclusion and spend their hard earned cash how they wish! In case any of you have never so much as laid eyes on either a 1024/5 or a 2024/5 - here's a decent A/B "bedroom" comparison of the 5 string versions. Recommend a good pair of headphones and to just listen without watching the clip - can you tell them apart (even without a full band blaring)? I guess my thinking these days is that once we have "good enough" kit, spending more money on gear is not going to make us sound any better. That will instead happen only as we become better bass players by spending time on technique, practice and, if we get the chance, regularly playing live with capable bandmates.

I've popped the question on timing to SA on the TB forum - be interesting to see what they say. But an expanded C4 with with a decent visual UI plus all the stuff you have to buy as extras currently under one bonnet would be a great bit of kit. The C4 has got a better synth engine / core synth tones from what I've heard from @Quatschmacher's clips than the SY-1. (Although he would probably still say that the FI is still the top of the pile in terms of synth engine). Where the SY-1 completely excels is in with its polyphonic glitch free tracking, which is just outrageously good!

My guess is that the unit is actually a clone of the Genz Benz Streamliner 900 rather than an Ampeg - given the design clues in terms of front panel look and also layout of the knobs which pretty much mirror the Streamliner's. If it is, that's quite a pedigree unit it's been modelled on (I'm basing that on the huge amount of love that unit got on bass forums, particularly BC). If it is a faithful Streamliner clone then the bass centre will be set at a more useful 55 Hz rather than a too low 40 Hz, but the 4KHz for the treble would still be as you suggested.

They're totally still widely available! 🙂

The other bit I've gleaned is that the SY-200 has 3 new modes compared to the SY-1: dual - combines lead & pad sweep noise ...looking forward to finding out what these deliver!

I'm interested to find out just how much more tweakable the 171 presets are on the SY-200 as compared to the 121 presets on the SY1. There appears to be an additional (and important) resonance parameter on the SY-200 in addition to the existing tone / depth which are already available on the SY-1; but what that is going to be able to deliver in terms of usable sounds will be key for me as to whether I'll be upgrading to the SY-200 in due course.

Question to fellow 1001M/T owners - have any of you chaps managed to suss out what the bass and treble EQ centre points are on the amp? Couldn't find any clues in the manual on this.

The difference of mid centre points in a full band context is going to be pretty subtle: I personally set and leave the mids at 450 Hz - that's a good centre point for me based on previous experience. It's more the interaction of the bass and mid volumes that I'll be focussing on.

Cheers Cuzzie - I agree the availability of the semi-para mids on an amp at this price point is yet another really neat feature, adding to the fantastic value its delivering. However finding the sweet spot EQ, for me, will be more a case of taking it to a few more gigs and getting comfortable with how its sounding with the band, particular bass, venue and playlist. This was my the first gig outing for this amp and I'm sure that you'll appreciate that tweaking EQ mid-set to find a sweet spot (with ear plugs in) and first time this particular band has played live after 18 months wouldn't have right at the top of my "to do" list! 🙂 I know some folk will happily spend ages faffing around with gear at rehearsal(s) but our focus, with just one pre-gig rehearsal, was very much making sure we were on top of the 35+ songs we were running through. But the overall mix on the gig sounded good from the feedback we got and the audience seemed to be having a very good time - so that was a big tick. We had a really fun time and it was great to be out gigging again. How did the 1001M fare on your first after-18-months outing?

Cheers Andy. I appreciate that Ricki and I going into an in depth discussion about two Yammy BBs is a bit off topic on this thread... 😁

Soz mate - don't follow your logic at all here. If the "instrument", i.e. vocal chords in this instance, the singers are using are the same - which they are not, no two singers have the same vocal chords, albeit siblings can sometimes come pretty close - you're now talking about how the singers are using their instruments. The comparison would be to say that a top class bass player is going to play the same bass better than Joe Average. No debate from me on that. But as I said, if you think you can hear a difference in sound from the same bassist playing a 2024/5 vs 1024/5 in a band mix, on a bass with pretty identical design, pups, woods and preamp (and assuming of course the same strings) you're welcome to spend the extra if you think it's worth it. Happy to disagree and I hope you enjoy your 2024 when you get one, I'm sure they are lovely basses 🙂

The 2024/5 and 1024/5 have identical woods, pups, preamps and design. If you can hear the difference between a 2024/5 and 1024/5 in a blind test, then good for you. In the hands of the same bass player in a band mix I certainly never could! And you're welcome to spend 3 times as much on one, as the other. Maria Callas and KJ have completely different set of vocal chords. You could just as easily compare Mick Jagger with Paul McCartney singing the same tune or any two well known vocalists - we'd be able to tell them apart in a band mix no trouble at all. It's a pointless comparison.

@Ricky Rioli not really sure of the point you're making - are you saying you'd rather get a BB 2024/5 instead of a BB 1024/5, despite it costing three times as much for a pretty identical piece of kit? You're of course very welcome to, but not something I would ever do. I would, however, spend more than the cost of a BB 2024/5 on a Ken Smith every day of the week.

Yes agreed, as discussed at length on here previously. But the fact one costs three times as much(!) as the other for sonic wood treatment to give it a "played-in feel", which should come naturally anyway from playing the bass in, and being MIJ instead of Indonesia, still makes no sense to me. And it never will - which is why I have a 1025 and not a 2025. But there you go!

Would the parallel between a BB NE2 and a BB 2005 be a BB 2025 and a BB 425? I didn't suggest the BB 1025 as it seems to be almost identically spec'd to the 2025 - I've never understood Yamaha's price differential on those two models!

Another +1 for the Zoom B1-4: it will give you a very decent chorus and phaser. The MS60B is also good but, having had both, IMO the B1-4 has a much better user interface, excellent built-in tuner plus headphone amp capability, useful drum machine and to cap it off is cheaper! I don't particularly rate the octave down / up on the Zoom pedals, they are ok but nothing special. Here, I'd recommend a Boss OC-5, which is outstanding and will deliver the classic OC-2 sound on octave down plus additional octave up (either alone or simultaneously - try doing that on a Zoom and you'll get a mush!) If you can get a Valeton OC-10 that's great value on the octave-down front, but they are pretty thin on the ground since they stopped production.

Took my 1001M out for a "proper" spin at band rehearsal last night and a 2 hour gig tonight - first time since getting it a few months back. Had no problems powering my BF BB2 to hold its own with a full 5 piece band. Its core tone is definitely more gritty / "dirtier" than my DG M900. I need to spend a bit more time getting my ideal "base case" EQ settings - I was playing a passive Yamaha BB1025 tonight and maybe a sensible approach is to stick with that "threesome" till I've got the base case nailed. It was feeling a little too full on bass particularly on P or PJ, but even a relatively slight bass cut on the amp and compensating boost to the mids at 450 Hz felt a little boxy. So I'll need to tweak it a bit further to hit the sweet spot and also have a listen from the audience rather than just in the mix with the band. But overall, this is undoubtedly a kick-ass amp! Gig was a lot of fun too - crowd definitely up for letting their hair down on a Friday night!

Ok, first dibs then please!😁

Yeah - likewise, I was tempted by SY1000 and gave up for similar reasons of thought of having to put aside a bass to kit it out with the necessary interface. So the SY-1 is finally getting gigged, result! Be interested in which song you using it on and what settings? That was definitely frustrating on the FI pricing for you. But shame not to use it - in terms of quality of synth tones I think it's still the best bass pedal currently available. And I'm not sure it's too much bigger than the SY-200?

So you have the FI and SY-1 currently? Snap! 🙂

Yup $300 plus VAT & customs would put it at around the £280 mark. I guess transport may be a bit more from Japan --> UK than Japan --> US as well. I look forward to getting a used one off @Woodinblack in 12 months' time and I will finally get round to selling him my Boss SY-1 at that point so he can have a spare...😁

Looks good! Not sure it's new tech though - seems like a repackaged SY-300, which came out around 2015, in a smaller box? The 128 presets, plus the programmability of the SY-300, give it a nice edge over the SY-1. It also has the Boss visual UI which is better than the FI's and a lot better than the current C4. But in terms of core synth tones, if it is a rehashed SY-300 then IMO the FI and C4 will trump it. Assuming it has the poly tracking of the SY-1, that particular feature is awesome.

So definitely worth reading any 6 consecutive pages then... 😄