Osiris

Absolutely, rounds all the way on the JMJ! It didn't sound too bad with the stock flats, and I say that as someone who doesn't really care fort flats, but once I fitted some rounds it really came to life, much more clarity and definition without being bright or shrill, and it still have those thumping lows. I'm not one for a Marcus Miller high end but it just sounded a little suffocated with flats, but rounds open it up to a more full range tone.

I also have both a JMJ and a Lionel and the JMJ out-Precisions the Sandberg by good distance, IMO. The JMJ does that big, fat classic Precision sound but I find the Lionel has its own voice, definitely Precision favoured but with its own thing going on too, there's an edge of that Stingray clarity but without the overpowering nasal mid-range thing that Ray's do. But the pickup is 10-15mm closer to the bridge on the Sandberg which probably accounts for much of the tonal difference. To get it to sound like a P I find I have to play just in front of the pickup but then I find the stings a bit too flappy, but that's still with the stock strings on which are a gauge or 2 lighter than my usual preference. I'll change them eventually which may well change the feel and tone of the bass.

Not the fretless version but I did briefly own a fretted one. A very well made bass and the passive pickups were fantastic, very punchy and clear. However, the reason I very quickly moved it on was because of the way it hung on a strap, it puts the first fret in more or less the same place as a 34" scale bass which for me was a deal breaker as a wrist injury means that I can't play a 'normal' scale bass for more than a few minutes without cramping up. So despite it being a 30" scale, it plays and feels like a 34" scale bass when on a strap. I don't remember any balance issues with it but because of the issue above I didn't play it for more than a few minutes. Shame as it seemed to be an otherwise cracking bass.

The LMB-3 is a great pedal and often overlooked but it's quite possibly my favourite compressor pedal I've ever used. I'm a bit of a compressor nerd and have been all around the houses with compressors having tried many pedals, analogue and digital, single and multi-band, cheap and cheerful to some boutique stuff. But I started with one of these years ago and realised around 3 years ago that I was trying to get everything else to recreate the punch that only the LMB-3 delivers, so when I had the opportunity to pick up a new one for a bargain price I grabbed it and have never looked back! There's a sweet spot on the threshold where it keeps everything in check but when you dig in it adds a grin inducing punch that I could never get from any of the other units I tried, the Bus setting on the Darkglass Hype Luminal was the closest, but there's just something about the humble Boss that has seen off all the competition. I usually keep the Enhance control right down and only dial it in to around 8 o'clock for my darkest sounding bass.

There's a little more information on this video, although not much but it also includes a brief bass demo too. I'd love to see a Bass the world video giving this a detailed run through 🤞

What are your thoughts on the Doc Lloyd Photon Death Ray? I don't usually get on with optical compressors but the reviews of that model intrigue me.

The Zoom multi fx units carry a choice of a few different compressor models and several different types of compression to play with. As Sumone says they won't compete with high end dedicated units but they're still more than capable in their own right and well worth the time and money exploring the various options. Speaking as a bit of a compressor nerd, I used the DBX160 model in the Zoom MS-60B for several years as my gigging compressor of choice!

Yeah, either completely off or just a touch, no more than 8 o'clock on the dial for one of my darker sounding basses. That only leaves the ratio and threshold controls to worry about as the other control is the output volume. It's very quick and easy to dial in a great, punchy sound. I think it often gets overlooked as it's a Boss and some people tend to gravitate towards more boutique (read expensive) units, some of which are great IMO, but the LMB-3 is still an excellent little pedal in its own right.

Cheers for the info. Seeing as you're already using a couple of Boss pedals I'd add the Boss BC-1X Compressor and the Boss LMB-3 Limiter to your list. Both simple to use, great sounding pedals that are widely available and, most importantly, both sound great. The LMB-3 is actually my go-to pedal that I alluded to above. It's a FET based design so very quick in its action, but is very clean and adds a pleasing punchy quality to your bass tone that I haven't been able to get from any other compressor, the only one that got close was the SS Bus setting on the Darkglass Hyper Luminal. Just don't use the Enhance control on it unless you want additional hiss and a weird synthetic artificial sounding high end. But other than that it's possibly the most underrated compressor pedal out there, it's very simple to use and just sounds great. You can pick them up used for very little money. The Boss BC-1X is a newer digital multi-band compressor with a simple 4 control layout and very useful LED metering. It's arguably a more transparent sound and has a bit more apparent low end that the LMB-3 (not that the LMB-3 sucks the lows out but more likely the band that deals with the lows on the BC-1X is causing the lows to be compressed separately which makes them sound a little 'bigger') probably a bit more of a studio sound, for want of a nebulous description. It costs a bit more than the LMB-3 but still comes in at well under £200 new. So of these 2, go for the LMB-3 if you want a big, bold punchy bass tone, and go for the BC-1X if you want more of a studio style compression.

On it, Boss. That's pretty much the compressors job description 😉 Compression is widely misunderstood and there's a lot of urban myths surrounding it but you say you've done your homework and that is the most important bit as it'll help you understand what to do with the right pedal once you have decided which one to go for. There are many different types of compression and while they all do the same job, different circuit types do it in different ways and have different characteristics that you may or may not like. So the first thing to do is decide what type of compressor your looking for. For example, a lot of guys like optical compression circuits on bass. Optical designs are inherently slower and have a gooey feel in their action. They can also impart varying degrees of colour on your signal, something you may or may not want. Another common design is the FET based compressor which inherently has a much quicker response and is great for taming the initial note transient if you're a slapper or play aggressively. There are other types to consider too. Then you have single and multi band options, analogue and digital, transparent or coloured sounding. Do you want control over your attack and release times? Do you want to be able to blend in some clean signal or allow some of your uncompressed lows through to stop the high end getting dulled? Do you want a million parameters to tweak or just a simple one knob (fnarr) design, or something in between? Does it have to be a pedal? What about a rack unit? And then there's you as a player, what style of music do you play, what bass(es) you're using. Are you using something like a Sansamp or other pedal that's already adding a ton of compression to your sound? Do you need metering or have you already got your ears tuned in to hear the compression in action? And this is all off the top of my head... There's so much to consider and it's very easy to go for the wrong compressor your needs which can then put you off for life. There's some good recommendations above, but what works for someone else may not work for you. But what I would suggest is picking up a cheap Zoom multi fx pedal, something like the MS-60B or the B1 Four, as these have a few different compression models in that cover a few different compressor styles. Have a play, preferably at volume with the band if you're in one, and get a feel for the characteristics of each type to see which works best for you. Once you've decided you can then start narrowing down the choice of the millions of options out there. It's a rabbit hole that I got lost in for years, but I learnt a lot from trying as many different options that I could get my hands on and I now know what does and doesn't work for me. And my go to compressor these days is neither expensive nor complex but I know that it will give me exactly what I want every time I plug into it - which is always!

As far as I understand it, these are based on the Russian made so called 'Civil War' Muff pedals made in the early 90's by Sovtek, either for or with Electro Harmonix. The various Sovtek models, including the Green Russian and Tall Font, supposedly all used the same circuit design but there seems to be a lot of component - and tonal - variations between even supposedly identical models. I'm sure I picked all this useless information from one of Josh Scott's excellent videos! Anyway, the Sovtek built Muffs are generally said to be lower gain, less fizzy with deeper lows and a less severe mid scoop, and therefore are considered to be more bass friendly than the other Muff variants. This does seem to be the case based on my very limited experience, I bought a Bass Big Muff years ago and it didn't work in a band setting, there was no note clarity or definition, just a fizzy, scooped, blurred mess which put me off Muffs all together. But after doing some homework on the many Muff variations (fnarr), I recently picked up a Green Russian based clone that has an onboard 3 band EQ and it's a totally different beast to the Bass Big Muff. It has a much smoother fuzz character, it's never gets spitty or fizzy even when ragging the treble. The option to boost the mids completely changes the character of the pedal, and, despite not having a clean blend there's still plenty of usable low end. And from looking at the spec of the Sovtek Deluxe, it does all this and more. As you say, this model had passed me by too, there's not a lot of information about it online so it's great to read your initial impressions of it, and hopefully your thoughts once you've got to know it better too, especially as I could possibly see myself picking one up at some point further down the line. 😁

I was only asking on the off chance that you were likely to whip the bass out (ooh err) and stick it in (fnarr) a hard case and that the gig bag might then be surplus to requirements 😉 Those Sandberg gig bags are excellent quality and I've been trying to get my hands on another one, and while admittedly I haven't looked for a while, they seem to be difficult to get hold of. But at the risk of causing marital strife I shall crawl back under my rock 😀

@ezbassdoes this help?

I doubt it, Private. I have both a Mustang and a Lionel (not a superlight model but it still weighs next to nothing) and their overall dimensions are very similar, there's only a negligible difference. So if the Mustang works for you, I'd say the Sandberg would almost certainly work too. Of the 2, the body contours on the Sandberg make it the more comfortable to wear on a strap, and from your profile picture I tend to wear the basses in a similar position. Oh, and enjoy the new bass Fretmeister, they're fantastic things! And being a cheeky sod, if you ever decide to move on the gig bag I'd love another one 😁

@Old Ozzie GuyI know you are talking about passive HPF's but this has just appeared up for sale a few minutes ago. I have one and it's a fantastic piece of gear. No idea of the specs but it doesn't really matter to me as it works in practice to tighten up the subby lows without sounding like an artificial cut off.

No. You don't. To either. I don't know if you're a troll or simply have a raging messiah complex, maybe both 🤷‍♂️ For example... Well said, that man 👍

Cracking basses, I love mine. But I'd suggest swapping out the stock flats for a set of round wounds - I use standard 34" guage strings on mine without any bother - as rounds open up the top end clarity and make it sound more like the Precision tone. Mine sounded a little suffocated with flats but really came to life with rounds.

Most of my gigs these days are with in ear monitors and I use a DJ stand/table thingy for my little 2U rack that houses my wireless systems, so I usually have my board next to it up out of the way off the floor. I'm not a big effects user so most of my board is always-on pedals (preamp, compression) and those pedals that get switched on and off (tuner, drive) are done by hand between songs as I don't currently need to switch anything in or out mid-song. It also has the added benefit of being out of the way of our singer who's as blind as a bat and tends to walk all over whatever is on the floor no matter how many blinding LED's it has 🙄😀

Just got in from gigging and it was the first official gig outing for my sea foam green HB Gotoh Mustang whatever the model number is. I have to admit that even though it's still in the honeymoon phase that bass exceeded expectations in terms of tone and performance. I'll try and keep it brief-ish as I need to go to bed but I'm still wired! It's still pretty much stock other than having been copper shielded and a new scratch plate (my Homer Simpson design to replace the naff tort plate that came with it). The strings are still the stock ones, no idea what they are but they're lower tension that I usually use and were comfortable to play and sounded great. It's not unnecessarily heavy, a complaint made against a few other HB models and it was comfortable to play over a 2 hour+ set with a wide strap. Balance was spot on, no neck dive. The neck is slim and comfortable to play, the couple of slightly rough fret edges having been dealt with weeks ago. The frets are jumbo sized which are chunkier than I'm used to but took no time to adjust to. The biggest gripe leveled at this model is the lack of a pickup blend option but not only did I not miss it, it never even crossed my mind that I needed it playing a set that ranges from country rock to 80's cock-rock to synth pop to contemporary dance numbers. It just sounded great whatever we played. I'd sunk the bridge pickup down a touch and raised the P up a bit to give a sound that is biased towards the neck pickup but it still had a chunk of that hollow-both-pickups-on sound but with a bit more low mid thanks to the extra dose of the P pickup. I left the tone wide open all night and it was clear and defined without getting abrasive in the top end. For me, the best thing about the bass is the pickups. They're not just good for the price, they're fantastic pickups full stop, IMO. Deep, clear lows that don't get bloated, plenty of mid range detail without getting muddy and sweet top end that is clean and clear but not shrill or overly bright. The gig was on in ear monitors, no backline. Through the PA at sound check the bass sound was excellent, big and punchy and defined but not overpowering, and the sound sat with the guitar and keys perfectly. Giving the pickups a gentle squeeze of compression enhanced the punch and overall sound in a way that left a big grin on my face all night. They also sang nicely with a touch of low gain saturation from my drive pedal which added an extra dimension to the tone. My preamp pedal had minimal tonal adjustments for the room but the bass doesn't need any extreme EQ settings to make it fit in, it just worked as it is. My main gigging basses cost several times what I paid for the HB but the cheap and cheerful little thing held its won against them. I only really bought it as a 'stunt bass' for more rowdy gigs but I can see it becoming a regular gigging machine. It's a ridiculously good bass for a pitiful asking price and the pickups might well be my new favorites ever regardless of price.

I don't mind white pearl so much, it's the red and brown tort monstrosities that make my eyes bleed 🤣 but each to their own. Same here, not fussed about the fake road worn look of the JMJ but it's the neck and the pickup that make the bass something special, IMO. Mine is the black version and I've kept the white plate on it as my other main gigging bass is all black with a black plate too, as is one of my other basses, so I've kept the white pearloid plate on the JMJ for a bit of variety. But I can see that Matrix cascading numbers image looking perfect on it. Need to ponder... 🤔

Bugger you, Tim, I'm hankering for a new scratch plate for my JMJ too now 🤣🤣🤣

Mine has seen a couple of rehearsals too and it will be making its gigging debut tomorrow night. I bought it as a stunt bass for the more rowdy venues and it's always a lively gig where we're playing! Likewise, I've adjusted the pickups in mine to roughly 60:40 neck:bridge to give a good balance of low end and clarity. It has performed excellently and sounded great at rehearsals using backline at sensible volume, our drummer isn't a really heavy hitter, but the gig will be on IEM's although I'm not expecting any nasty surprises in terms of how the bass will sound or perform on the night. It's a late finish too so I'll report back somewhat bleary eyed at some point on Sunday.

Yes, optical comps are inherently slower than something like a FET based design which is my preference when it comes to compressors. And the way you describe it catching the boom part of the notes requires a slower attack as it's that part of the note than blooms - and can sometimes boom - after the initial transient spike, and it's these spikes that I like to control. Having been all around the houses with compressors (multi-band, clean blends, analogue, digital, racks, pedals etc) I'm back with the humble Boss LMB-3 Limiter, it just works for what I want. It's a simple design without a lot of control but it just does what I want it to do and it adds a real punch to the sound too!

I'm intrigued by your comment about this working more like a limiter, how quick is it at catching initial transients on staccato notes? I've never really got on with optical compressors because the attack times are usually too slow for my tastes, and being quite an aggressive player at times I find that they often let through a lot of spikes especially on shorter notes or the opening note of a phrase. Is that the case with the Ampeg? This particular pedal sounds great, IMO, in the demos I've heard online so I'd like to try one out at some point, but I'm kind of expecting to have that typical slower attack that you get from optical comps which doesn't work for me. Does the release control feel like it's also controlling the attack times too? I'm interested on your thoughts especially if you're using it more like a limiter.