Osiris

I used to use a Zoom MS-60B (pretty much the same effects as he B3 but in a smaller format) as a tuner, high pass filter and compressor and never had any issues with it when regularly gigging with it over 2 or 3 years. I also have a B3 as part of my home practise set up, one output goes into my practice amp, the other into a little mixer so that I can play along to tracks or a drum machine and mix the bass in with them. The B3 is set up similar to the MS-60B but with an amp model to simulate a more backline sort of sound. Again, no complaints with the B3. Like you I'm not really an effects guy, I'm more interested in getting a usable sound and in my experience the Zooms deliver. Yes you can get 'better' quality modelling with more bells and whistles with something like the Helix Stomp but that obviously comes at a price, but the Zooms performs well considering their price.

Absolutely love the intro to this track but once the band kicks in it just falls to bits.

You'll always be my special Mildred, you know that

Thanks for the offer, I can pass it on to the others if you like?

Oh, sweet baby Jesus, NO!

No, I need take some time out for personal reasons. I've been gigging pretty much constantly for more than 30 years now and I just need to take a break. I've got no intention of doing anything else musically for the foreseeable future, but that's not to say that I'm never going to play or gig again. I'm guessing Harrow would be a long old commute for you up to sunny Northampton 😀

Struggling to keep the Jama habit under control.

I'll be leaving my band, Candy Slam, shortly after 9 years of service so they're on the lookout for a replacement bass player. If you're interested please contact the band directly through their Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/Candy-Slam-106587331438/ The details; Candyslam are looking for a permanent bass player to join us from Jan 2020. Start date has some flexibility and our current bassist can be on hand to help you settle in with set list etc. Gig audio is also available. We are a 5 piece, female fronted pop and rock covers band, our set list includes The Killers, Blondie, Sterophonics, Donna Summer, Belinda Carlisle, Foo Fighters, Robbie Williams and many more. We currently have 23 gigs lined up for 2020, mostly pub gigs around Northants and Leicestershire, we also take bookings for parties and corporates. We are looking for someone of a high standard who enjoys playing varied styles of music. We run all the instruments through our digital desk, so being able to DI from a modeller or preamp would be required. Also a set of in-ear-monitors and belt pack would be an advantage although not essential. Front woman still uses a wedge monitor, so there is still some sound on stage. We take our music seriously but our main reason for being on stage is to have fun and to entertain. If you are interested or know someone who might be, please contact us by Facebook messenger or talk to us directly if you already know us. Look forward to hearing from you! Cheers - Candyslam

Yes Please Short scales especially Mustangs, Precisions, Jazzs, P/J's, passive pickups, Ric's (looks and sounds but not the necks), black hardware, chrome hardware, block markers, round wound strings, matching headstocks, thunderbirds, old 80's pointy BC Rich things in ludicrous colours Meh Active pre-amps No Thanks Sunburst (absolutely f@cking minging), tortoise shell scratch plates (equally minging), Sunburst and tort combined (is there anything truly more disgusting?) Gold hardware, Stingrays, Ric necks, flat wound strings, ultra light strings, fretless, anything with more than 5 stings, anything that weighs a ton, Turdburst

Likewise, I recently picked up a Fender Downtown Express pre-amp, it's a cracking sounding unit with a great EQ and drive section but it's a shiny anaemic gold colour, that subtle shade of yellow you only see in the contents of discarded plastic pop bottles by the side of the road. And as if that isn't awesome enough, the font is white. On a shiny washed out gold background. Really?

Failing that, what about marking the daft knobs with some tippex, a marker pen, a sliver of electrical tape or something similar? Something that can easily be removed should you decide you don't like it or wish to sell the amp on? But yeah, shiny knobs and fascias might look cool in the shop but are useless on stage.

I've seen something similar on YouTube (can't remember what video it was now) where they used a flat (rather than a round) shoe lace to wrap around the shaft below the knob and then pull the lace up slowly but firmly to remove the knob. Is there room to squeeze a flat shoe lace around the recess? More innuendos are available on request.

Oh, and; d) if you drop something on the laminate floor and take a chunk out of it you can saw a couple of inches off the finger board to patch it up with.

That's cool, I never really kept up with the band after Powerslave, although I've always had a soft spot for Steve's playing and tone.

Likewise, I was baffled why you were comparing the Stomp to a couple of synth pedals on a thread about the Steve Harris signature pedal, it's not like he's known for using synths himself (other than a brief flirtation on Somewhere in time, but that's a 30+ years old chip set). @krispn and @Wolverinebass have already covered anything more I'd have to say in regards to the Stomp.

Let's flip that on its head, shall we; Can the Future Impact v3 or the Boss SY-1 do the myriad of utilitarian and more exotic bass and guitar sounds? Studio grade amp simulations? A wide palate of studio grade effects? Can you even tune up using either one? Or can they just do an array of amusing - but ultimately of little real world use - bleeps, squeaks and farts?

Is that a fan? Are they trying to make us think that someone is about to defeacate over it?

I'm not really an effects guy but I do insist on having a compressor on at all times. I recently picked up a used but immaculate GLX bass limiter pedal off eBay for a tenner. It's a blatant clone of the Boss bass limiter, of which I'd used one for years, so I was expecting a slightly noisier version but as it was bought for messing around with at home any background noise wasn't an issue. It not only performs as well as the Boss (which is highly regarded on Ovnilab) as a compressor and limiter, but it actually has less inherent noise. The Boss has a slight dip in the mids when activated and that dip sounds a little more pronounced on the GLX to my ears but in a good way, it helps add clarity through my mid rich practice cab. The enhancer control is much more usable than the Boss which is unusable beyond around 10 o'clock as it's so noisy but the GLX will happily give you more high end sparkle without too much hiss at higher settings, although admittedly I only use a little myself. The controls are identical and in same order as Boss, and have a reassuring amount of resistance when turning them. It's housed in a solid metal casing. No idea what this would have cost new, it looks like they're not in production any longer, but it was presumably cheaper and easily out guns the pedal that it has ripped off. But based on @BrunoBass's post above I'm intrigued by the cheap and cheerful Joyo Dyna compressor pedal 😀

Another vote for the Ibanez Talman from me too, I have the short scale one, a black TMB-30. I was singing its praises on another thread just last night; But in defence of the Ibanez Talman, I get that the design is a bit marmite, indeed it's a strong contender for the most ridiculous head stock design of all time, but it's a huge amount of bass for very little money. At least mine is! The neck is a chunky P like affair but feels great, and I say that as someone who prefers something slimmer. The body too is reassuringly sturdy but admittedly weighs as much as a housing estate. Mine has had around £50 in upgrades spent on it; New pickups (the stock P wasn't bad but the bridge was weak, I swapped them out for a matched set I had in my box of odds and sods, no idea where they originated), New pots and Jack, New bridge as the stock was a bent bit of tin foil, really it was very flimsy. Shielded the cavity and rolled the fret board edges and job done . The bass as a whole is very well made, no sharp fret ends, no gap in the neck pocket, the paint job is flawless, the scratch plate fits perfectly and doesn't look like it was cut by a porpoise. I've seen basses that cost many times more that are not as well built. A few £ and a couple of hours work and I have a bass that I regularly gig alongside a couple of others that each cost 10 times as much.

Nice rambling review, @Bleat good effort 😀 But in defence of the Ibanez Talman, I get that the design is a bit marmite, indeed it's a strong contender for the most ridiculous head stock design of all time, but it's a huge amount of bass for very little money. At least mine is! The neck is a chunky P like affair but feels great, and I say that as someone who prefers something slimmer. The body too is reassuringly sturdy but admittedly weighs as much as a housing estate. Mine has had around £50 in upgrades spent on it; New pickups (the stock P wasn't bad but the bridge was weak, I swapped them out for a matched set I had in my box of odds and sods, no idea where they originated), New pots and Jack, New bridge as the stock was a bent bit of tin foil, really it was very flimsy. Shielded the cavity and rolled the fret board edges and job done . The bass as a whole is very well made, no sharp fret ends, no gap in the neck pocket, the paint job is flawless, the scratch plate fits perfectly and doesn't look like it was cut by a porpoise. I've seen basses that cost many times more that are not as well built. A few £ and a couple of hours work and I have a bass that I regularly gig alongside a couple of others that each cost 10 times as much. But it sounds like I need to check out a Bronco all the same 😀

Cheers, Chris, it was a quick and easy transaction and a pleasure. It's the way we do things on Basschat!

Just received a guitar gig bag from Chris that he was offering free to a good home. Dealing with him has been an absolute pleasure, the bag was well packaged and he kept me informed every step of the way. What more can you ask for 😃

Thank you. I had a quick flick through it yesterday (unfortunately without a bass to hand) and there looks to be some great content in there. Not bad for a freebie!

Have a listen to the few clips of Father Christmas playing through the pedal scattered through this thread. Steve Harris sounds like none of those. Hope this helps.

Done!