Osiris

Have we had Bruno Ars yet?

Not the design but the finish. Sunburst and/or tort are disgusting enough on their own, but when combined they are truly hideous 🤢🤮 Just add gold hardware for the holy trinity of awful bass aesthetics!

Can I respectfully ask that you give this a read - Killed my tone (ovnilab.com)

Compression is very much a misunderstood concept, you really need to understand compression to get the most from it and to apply it correctly. That cannot be overstated. When done properly it's often invisible, in so far as it's not obvious, although it can be. The subject has been covered many times on BC already so it's worth doing a search if you want to know more, although there is some ongoing misconceptions that keep cropping up. Better still, take a look at sound engineering sites online as you'll get a more objective overview. I've never heard of compression reducing overtones before, I'm not sure that's true. Compression is for controlling the overall waveform as well as signal spikes on the signal, including but not always the transients. As for the guy on YouTube with his acoustic guitar, it sounds like he didn't know what he was doing 🤷‍♂️

That's what I was wondering too. Are you going for that scooped mid range sound, i.e. lots of lows and highs but with not a lot going on in between? If you are then I suspect that's where the problem lies. While a scooped sound can sound great when it's just the bass playing it's often the last thing you actually need to get the bass to be heard in a band context. Most of the audible frequencies of the bass are in the mids, so that's where you need to shape your sound. IME the sounds that work best with the band are not usually very exciting on their own but you need to be able to sit in the mix with the other instruments for the bass to work as part of the whole. And from memory - so I'm happy to be corrected - the bass control on the Tone Hammer is centred at 40Hz which is a very low frequency, and if you're boosting the bass control lots all you are doing is putting a big strain on the speakers, especially a single 2x10, and not really getting anything audible, or of much use, out of the speakers.

Alice in Chins

Dido has been playing this game for years.

Dad Kennedys

It's obvious difficult, if not impossible, to know what's going on without actually hearing your setup. But a couple of hints in the above post reinforce my suspicion that the BDI is the problem i.e. backing off the bass off and running the treble flat out as well as getting a more usable sound from a different amp. There are other ways of getting a top end bite to your tone without a massive mid scoop (which again is what I suspect the problem is). But if you really want to use that sound then you might just have to learn to live with it. You can use multi band compression as a sort of EQ, I have done this in the past with the TC Hypergravity. But this is where you need to understand the ins and outs of compression to set it up so it works for you. If you were to go down that road you could compress and boost your highs while using separate bands for the lows and mids. What it would sound like on the other hand... Again I'm second guessing here so could be way off the mark but it might be better to set up a bass sound, regardless of compression, that works with the other instruments you play with, rather than having "your sound". It might not sound great on its own but it'll fit in and make the whole band sound right. And yes, I speak from experience here 😃

Is it a compressor that you're looking for? The short answer is possibly. The long answer is more complex. Skipping over the OC-2 issue for the most part, it sounds like the make up gain from your SD compressor is helping to compensate for the volume drop there. I don't have an OC-2 and haven't used on for 25 odd years so can't really help any further with that. But my stock answer regarding compressors and their use is, if you don't know much already, do your homework. I cannot emphasise that enough, there's a lot of misunderstanding and misconceptions about them as well as some outright nonsense written about them - even on Basschat unfortunately. But to get the best out of a compressor you need to understand what they do and how to best apply compression. And that takes time as compression is (mostly) subtle. The impression I get is that a lot of people treat a compression pedal as an effect because it's a stomp box, right? But they make much more sense when thought of in terms of shaping your sound, so more in line with using tools like EQ , high pass filtering rather than an effect that will dazzle or impress anyone like a filter or synth pedal. Someone far more clued up than me on compression said that you need to think like a sound engineer rather than a bass player to use them properly, and that perfectly sums it up! Having got that out of the way... What do you feel is lacking from the SD? That might help identify potential replacements. If you're just looking for a volume leveler you might be better off with a limiter, for example. The Spectracamp is a great little pedal and infinitely configurable, off the top of my head there's something like 48 individual parameters to tweak. And if you have the understanding they are incredibly powerful. There's also the new Source Audio Atlas that is making me all moist around the nether regions, if nobody else! But being brutally honest, I suspect the inconsistency between your strings is down to the BDI21. Like the Sansamp Bass Driver it rips off it has a baked in huge void in the mid range which sounds sexy when the bass is played in isolation but is pretty much the last thing you actually need to get the bass to sit in the mix. The audible frequency range of the bass guitar is predominantly in the mid range frequencies and scooping them, especially as extremely as the BDI21 does, is in essence turning much - but not all - of the instrument down. As well as the absent mid range I also find the inherent sound of the pedal is too overly compressed anyway, certainly for my taste, so adding even more compression on top is unlikely to help. My suggestion would be to switch the DBI off and kill it with fire to see how things sound. If you still want that edge to your sound try something like the TC Electronic Spark Booster, the 4 knob version not the mini one. That way you can add some grit to the sound without completely f@cking it up making the sound difficult to work with. All IMO, of course 😃

Ooh, I keep looking at those Sire shorties and this is the only colour I like them in, bagsie first dibs if you (and if the girls let you of course!) ever decide to move it on 😁😎

FWIW I use 34" scale strings on all 3 of my short scales and have never had any issues stringing them that way over the past few years. That's both on my string through body Mustang as well as through bridge stringed basses. Yes, you in variably have an extra winding or 2 around the post on the machine head of the E sting but I've never had any intonation issues or had a string snap when I've taken them off to clean the fretboard. There's no other reason for doing this than I've got a stockpile of D'Addario 34" strings from when they were on offer a few years back! No doubt someone will be along shortly to tell us why loads of fluffy kittens and polar bears will die because of me doing this but it works for me and has done for several years

Having had a number of dealings with Mark over the years, in person, over the phone and by email, I can't see him being too concerned about anything that has been said in this thread, he's very forthright and also has a very strong I know best attitude. That's just my opinion of him and I'm happy to be corrected on it. If you agree with him then all is well, if not... Nobody can deny that he's done really well for himself and that BD is possibly the most successful bass specialist shop in the UK right now. But it's clear from this thread that he has lost several sales over the years because of his attitude. Pre-covid this may not have been too much of a worry for him and he could perhaps have easily swallow those 'loses' for want of a better word. However, with everything going on in the world right now (and without getting sidetracked into what and why etc) and with the cost of pretty much everything going up peoples disposable incomes are going down proportionally. At a guess a significant percentage of his customers are hobbyist players (rather than pros who earn a fortune from music) and it's the hobbyists that are perhaps being, or more likely to the ones who have to prioritise where their disposable income is going. While he may currently be king of the hill there are other options out there, which from what I understand are offering a consistent, higher level of customer service. There are several people on this thread who have already said that they will no longer buy from BD, myself included. With all this in mind, I do wonder how sustainable his business model is and how it's likely to fare over the next few years. But I can't realistically see anything changing any time soon.

There's nothing up, it's how they operate, unfortunately. To put it politely their customer service is variable from excellent to downright obnoxious. My first visit there more than 10 years ago the owner said something offensive, I can't remember what now, to the guy I was with who was looking to spend 2 grand on a new bass. My mate walked out saying something along the lines of "I'm not giving that arrogant c**t a penny of my money" without buying anything even though something had caught his eye. But even so I bought a few things from them over the next few years including 2 or 3 basses, an amp plus smaller odds and sods without any issues. But around 5 years ago I had an issue with a commission sale through them that they made no effort to remedy nor offer an apology, their attitude was one of total apathy, an attitude that I have repaid in kind by not using them since.

That's what I was hoping to here. There's not too many videos on YouTube showing the pedal off, and those that do tend to focus on some of the more off the wall sounds the pedal can produce, which are pretty cool but not really of a lot of practical use for me. But if it can do a capable valve-like drive then along with the other options on tap it becomes a very attractive option 🤔

How are you guys that are using these finding it for basic, non-sci-fi type drive sounds? I'm not really an effects guy as such but this has caught my eye - although mainly for the utilitarian stuff like the flexible compressor, various EQ options as well as high and low pass filtering, and I could probably make use of a couple of the more synthy type sounds for some of the 80's synth pop numbers my band plays (I appreciate that it's not a synth pedal as such, and I have no real interest in those) But I was wondering how well it can cop 'normal' drive tones, more your low gain touch of drive thing rather than balls out distortion? There's a big thread on talkbass about the pedal and as usual, there's a host of conflicting opinions as to how well the Ultrawave can deliver more traditional drive sounds. If it can pull them off - and from what I can make out it's more down to how well the user crafts them rather than starting with a usable~ish drive tone and fine tuning it to taste - then it covers a lot of ground in one pedal, and that's what appeals.

Let's not forget aluminium too. The chaps out in the colonies can't pronounce that without sounding like they've had a stroke. Rip that off, Daddy O.

Mine's named after Lionel Blair. Hope this helps 👍

It's a shame that it's in turdburst otherwise I might have been tempted to buy it for the all maple neck to swap out with my all black Lionel and had this as a(nother) backup, but I couldn't live with that finish.

Some interesting comments on the Boss LMB-3 there 😀 For balance, I have had 3 different ones over the years* and none of them have had any tone suck. My old Boss TU-2 started to suck tone but it was some 20 years old so I assume a component was on the way out, a similar thing could be happening with your LMB-3, perhaps? *I've been gigging them on and off for 20 odd years but I keep selling them on thinking that oh it's only a Boss, I'll get something 'better' i.e. more expensive, but I eventually end up back with another LMB! For the record, I have been through quite a few different compressors, from a couple of rack units to numerous pedal comps both analogue and digital, and have done the whole multi-band and parallel compression thing too. But there's just something about the Boss that works for me - although it may not work for everyone. It's the punchiest compressor that I have ever used, it's not totally transparent but not overly coloured either but it's that punch that it delivers that I have never been able to replicate with any other compressor. They're cheap as chips, simple to use and, IME, sound great in the context of a live mix. And certainly no noticeable tone suck from any of the units that I have owned! As a few others have already said, the Cali is the holy grail of comp pedals and is arguably in a different league to the LMB, but that doesn't immediately make the Boss, the MXR or any other comp not worth bothering with. Having used a Cali, it really is a fantastic pedal but is very coloured, something you may or may not want from a compressor. The only reason I didn't end up with one is that I didn't like the colour of the Cali when combined with my pre-amp pedal, and having been through a shed load of pre-amps over the years the one I have now is the absolutely perfect so I'm loathed to go though the perfect pre-amp pedal merry go round to compliment the Cali! But on its own, the tonal magic of the Cali is part of its appeal. But the Cali is also a more complex pedal and you really need to understand the principles of compression to get the best out of it.

The mind boggles as to what you asked them...