Osiris

I used to have an SR500 (and still own an SR1000 prestige), the necks are so comfortable to play on the SR series. They really are superb basses. I only sold my 500 as the Bartolini pickups were too civilised for my uncouth tastes

I've just got back from a hurried meet up with John to buy his Trace Elliot transit B pre-amp. Although we only met briefly he's an absolute gent to deal with. The pedal was in immaculate condition as he'd described it in his ad. Now to see if his thing can change my opinion of Trace Elliot after growing to hate my old SMX rig with a passion

And yes, Florence is flipping you the bird @Al Krow

True. Just because you cannot hear it working in the same way you can hear something like a drive pedal or a delay, that doesn't automatically equate to it being pointless, or mean that it is not performing an extremely useful task.

@Les Elvin Compression is a really useful tool, and despite what has been said earlier in this thread, it definitely has its place in a live situation as well as for recording. The trouble is that it is a subtle effect, if you are thinking of it as an effect like a chorus or drive pedal, then it is not at all obvious when set up correctly. They are used to control the dynamic range of your bass signal. As such, they are not always apparent - but that doesn't mean that it is not doing its job or isn't working. The job of a compressor is to keep your signal in check, not to wow the audience with a sonic gimmick. If you trawl through some of the other bass chat threads on compression you'll see there is a lot of talk about about the subject including a number of widely repeated misconceptions e.g. compression killing your dynamics. They don't. Not when they are set up correctly. But if you have time, read through some of these other threads because there is some great information in there that may answer your original question. And here's the obligatory link to the most valuable resource on bass compression on the net - http://www.ovnilab.com/ I'd definitely recommend you read the FAQ section before going any further - http://www.ovnilab.com/faq.shtml Compression is a bit of a dark art and if you want to use one it's worth doing some homework to get an understanding of what they do, how the various controls interact with one another, and how to set one up to its optimum settings, so it is keeping the signal spikes in check whilst still giving you control over your dynamics. Once you have found the right settings, they are hugely rewarding in terms of what they can do for your bass sound. Some are transparent and will keep everything in check and stop the big spikes in your playing overloading your amp, some can colour your sound in a useful way, others will give your sound a real punch - where every note from the highest to the lowest will stand out in the band mix. Some will do all of these things. For the record, a decent compressor is an essential tool for me, it is the only bell or whistle in my rig. Bass into a compressor into my rig. That's it. And you don't need to spend a fortune either, the various Zoom pedals have some cracking compressor models, the Boss LMB-3 (which is actually a compressor and limiter) and the TC Electronics Spectracomp are all excellent compressors that don't break the bank.

The F being for Frail, I assume?

Cheers @ped 👍

Thanks for reply. Wow, yes please, I'd love to try the bass squeezer pedal. What a generous offer, thank you. And I'd be more than happy to review it and report back my impressions too. Thanks again!

Ain't that the truth. Moaning about various various ailments and afflictions becomes mandatory from about 40 onwards I managed to catch Black Sabbath on the 13 tour, and for a bunch of old blokes with drug problems older than me (I'm 47) they have still got it. Their performance puts many of the younger bands to shame.

Cheers @Cuzzie. I like the look of the Squeezer, I currently get great results from a digitally modelled dbx160 compressor so the Squeezer is really tempting. @BassicsBod Does the BPA-1 use the same compression circuit as the Squeezer?

Cheers @Cuzzie Yes, it has to work in a band context or it's no good to me. I couldn't get the BDDI to work at all with the band for some reason - and I'm quite happy to accept that the reason is me I'm more than happy to give it a good going over (ooh err) but I do like gear that's quick and easy to use so that problem solving and EQ'ing to the room on a gig is a quick and painless as possible. Too much faffing about on stage invariably results in getting the look from Liberace in Keyboard Corner.

A question for all you guys using the dug pedal; when the eq is flat and it's on the clean channel only with the compression backed right off, is the inherent tone more compressed than when the pedal is bypassed? The reason I ask is that although I like what I've heard of the pedal on YouTube clips, having previously owned the BDDI and VT bass I found that they both had way too much baked in compression. The fundamental tone of each was great but no matter what I did with them the sound was just too squashed for my tastes*. I'm curious to know if this also applies to the dug pedal? *I use compression as an integral part of my sound but even with my comp out of the signal path the sound was still too heavily compressed to my ear. I appreciate that drive adds compression but I've used other drive units that do not squash like this. Blending in more dry signal didn't seem to help either with the BDDI. Obviously the dug has its own built in compressor but I don't want it adding further squash to an already flattened signal. But hopefully this is not the case? I'm hopefully soon ditching my backline and moving over to IEM's and am looking for something like this to use as a pre-amp, tuner and compressor as it's everything I need in one box. What are your guys thoughts and experience of the inherent compression (or not) of the pedal?

If you find a more aesthetically appealing cover and want shot of the current monstrosity beauty then please give me a shout

The FretFX look great on the Thunderbird I recently picked up a new Mustang PJ which is a cracking little bass, but the top edge fret markers are the usual small white dots, but on this bass they straddle the maple neck wood the pale Pau Ferro fretboard wood. The trouble is that the Pau Ferro, although darker then the maple, is still more pale than rosewood. The result being that the fret markers are really difficult to see unless there is plenty of ambient light, which there rarely is on a gig. So something like the FretFX would be a great solution for me. It's Either that or taking a black marker pen to it, which is something I'd rather not do just in case I ever move the bass on in the future. Or ask @Happy Jack if he'd cut out some of the magic roundabout style flowers from his table cloth so I can use those as fret markers instead. No chance of missing those on the gig

Another vote for the Magellan 800. If you want a silky smooth, mid rich, valve like drive - rather than modern scooped clanky distortion, the Magellan delivers it to perfection. I'v been gigging mine for about 18 months now and can attest that it works brilliantly in the mix too, you don't lose the bottom end and don't get the top end fizz either (and I have a cab with a high frequency horn). And the clean channel is simply huge too

I've got the Battalion too. As a clean pre-amp and DI box I think it's great. The EQ points are more sensibly voiced for gigging that the specs might have you believe, the bass shelf cuts off at 200 Hz giving you control over the bass you can hear frequencies, rather than the bass you can feel lows. Likewise the top at 2 Khz end is good for brightening things up without getting too shrill. But if you want those ultra highs that slappists like you might be struggling. The mid frequencies also give a good level of control at useful frequency centres. The drive doesn't really wow me personally, it's more of a distortion than overdrive to my ear, even at lower gain settings. But drive is a very personal thing so you may well love it especially as you say you want a gnarly distortion - it does that easily enough. There's plenty of control available for the drive section to find what works for you. The compressor doesn't wow me either. I'm a bit of a stickler for compression and although I don't generally have an issue with 1 knob compressors like some of my more esteemed brethren do, I find it very dark sounding and it takes some serious EQ'ing to add the brightness back. But from what I'd read on Talkbass according to one of the EHX engineers who posts on there, the compressor is voiced to work with the drive section, and together they do seem to complement one another even if the sound isn't for me. I also have an LMB-3 and that is on the board alongside the battalion (plus a tuner) as I much prefer it for compression duties than the built in EHX one. Despite these gripes I do rate it highly. With the EQ set flat it is completely transparent on the clean channel, no colouration or tone changes, you get out what you put in. The DI is noiseless too. I've no personal experience of the Hartke but I know @Cuzzie rates his highly, but it's worth bearing in mind that he and I like different bass sounds, he favours a more bright mid scoop, which I believe the Hartke does very well, whereas I'm more into more vintage mid rich sounds - which the battalion excels at.

Sounds like it was crazy ride at the time! Unfortunately my rig was nowhere near as capable as yours proved to be. After that I had a Marshall silver jubilee monster rig with a 2x15 cab and matching 400 watt (I think?) head, which was absolutely phenomenal. With the silver/grey tolex it looked like it was straight out of stonehenge, albeit it a touch taller than 18 inches

That's the same amp model that I had but my rig was forever farting out at any band level volume. I had different cabs, a 1x15 and 4x10, both with the same Laney blue stripe log that yours have in this shot, so maybe it was those that were the weak link?

My first proper rig was a Laney, back in the late 80's, it was the first thing that I bought once I was earning my own money. It was a 150 watt Trace Elliot clone with a 12 (?) band graphic and various other bells and whistles plus matching 4x10 and 1x15 cabs. Unfortunately it was utter crap and would fart out at any serious volume which has put me off them ever since. But from the amount of positive comments above I really ought to give them another go some time.

@nonkel26 The Genzler Magellan 800 sounds like it will fit your needs perfectly. It's powerful, loud, versatile and punchy. I've been gigging one for more than a year now and cannot fault it. See my review here and to see how it compared to some of its rivals, including the DarkGlass and Tone Hammer here. And if weight is becoming an issue it might be wise to consider downsizing from your 4x12 cab too to a neodymium loaded cab, which will significantly reduce the weight but not the volume.