dave_bass5

Ive now had 3 rehearsals with my Spectradrive, and used it a lot at home with headphones. Ive decided....to send it back lol. Nothing wrong with it at all, it really does do all it says, but ive found my BDDI creeping back in, to the point where last night it was on all the time and the SD was only used as a comp. To me, having two preamps on my board just seems pointless, so in a complete U turn im going back to how things were before. Spectracomp and BDDI. I really cant get away from loving the BDDI, and ive used one on and off for 15 years. Im just used to what it does. Now it has the Mid control its even more versatile. Over the past week's rehearsals ive been re evaluating the pre amps i have. Ive been using the VTBass DI, BDDI, Q/strip and SD in various combinations along with my AS and TCE Helix. The best tone, for me, was Spectracomp/BDDI/Aftershock. Compared to the other 3 the SD sounded the less coloured, but that seems to be something im not looking for. This is the same reason i dont use my Q/strip at the moment. The OD on the SD is ok, but it changes the overall tone too much, even when set low (there are new tone prints for this, but they are high gain). for me it worked ok as an on off effect, but not as an always on. The VTBass DI sounds great, but not quite as full and deep as the BDDI, and i just like the BDDI tone more. For home use the above applies as well. Im happier using the BDDI in the B3n as its closer to my live tone. No point hooking the BDDI up to the SD, that again defeats the object. So yeah, feel free to mock ( @Al Krow, im looking at you :-) but i had to give it a go. Nothing lost as ill get a full refund, and that means someone can get a well looked after B-stock SD from G4M.

ive got 3 Snarks and an even cheaper clip on tuner. to be honest none are bad and for live work all work just as well. In fact my planet waves headstock tuner lives on my main bass. I love how small it is.

I only knew about it from reading the reviews before i got mine. i too prefer to fiddle rather than read.

Lol, it also has a manual, sometimes its a good idea to read it :-) First thing i did when i got mine was to put it in to Bass/strobe mode, and its never been changed since. I used to use my Peterson stroboclip to set intonation, but the Polyclip is more than up to the job IMO.

A bit late to the thread but wanted to point out If you set the turner to Bass mode polyphonic tuning isnt even an option.

I've gone round in circles this year. I have the VTbass DI, Q/Strip, BDDIv2, TCE Spectradrvie and two Zoom boxes. All sound really good, and all have USP's, but ive come to realise my fav is the BDDI. its the one i keep going back to.The more i use it the more i notice how versatile it is, especially the latest version. I should add, im not saying its the best, just my all time fav.

It can make a difference health wise though. Having a bad technique can cause wrist strain etc.

I only want to at least have it on headphones. The other outs I don’t care about. Only the headphone out will give stereo anyway so I can’t personally see much use for a mono out unless it’s just for monitoring like above.

The Aux in does go to the output jack, not the XLR

Nice one. I did the same, although it was just a rehearsal. Not much to go wrong really. Hope you enjoy it.

I came across this on Talkbass (im spending too much time there lately) Its a free program for Windows/Mac that allows us to go deep in to pedals like the 60B and edit the tones in real time. Looks pretty cool. I should say ive not yet tried it myself, but will do at the weekend. http://tonelib.net/ Original TB thread here https://www.talkbass.com/threads/free-editor-for-zoom-pedals-b1on-b1xon-ms-60b.1334064/

Yes and no. You get one knob per tone print, and at the moment at least, you cant edit these using the app/software.

Agreed. I got a much nicer OD last night. Although i have no idea whats going on under then bonnet of the tone print, i found the Gain control makes a huge difference to how the OD knob works. Backing the gain off made for a smoother OD, and one i could see me going forward with as an always on tone.

Ah right, but if its secondhand its not a New amp :-)

Yep, aware of that, although I’d probably not worry too much about that side.

I promise you i will not be buying a new amp at any point. Ive had my MarkBass F1 too long to stop using it. Believe me, ive tried. I am seriously thinking about trading my MB800 for a BH though. As i dont use the GK i wont lose anything if i dont like the BH, and ill stil have a back up to my F1 (which is also red).

Oh I’m sure it is. It looks high end. I’d take my Q/strip over that mid knob though. I was only commenting on the BH heads as i like the EQ in my SD, and this has come from the BH EQ. I’m not actualy looking for a new head as such.

Hmmm, doesn’t really appeal to me. Thinking about trading my GK MB800 for a BH800 now though. That will be the only way i will get another head. I need to get a few more rehearsals or gigs (more like the former) under my belt with the SD first though.

Yeah yeah, and John Taylor uses them as well, which really doesnt help the GAS. Luckily i have that EQ sorted already, so my money is safe........for now.

We need to stop talking about the BH heads right now. I dont need a new head, as I already have one too many, but those BH550/800 heads do look attractive now i know what they are based on. You all know how GAS works lol

Just got tracking info from G4M. My new TC power supply will be delivered tomorrow. Thats very good service. I think the PSU alone costs abuout £29. I feel a bit guilty as I doubt I’ll ever use either of them, I’ve been using my 1 spot at home, but it’s nice to have the correct PSU I guess.

Amen to that.....

Dont get me wrong, im not knocking the Cali, just making a point that no one NEEDS to spend that much to get a good comp, but we are willing to pay what it takes for something we want. If it doesn't workout, then we can sell it on, but we have to give it a go first otherwise we will never know....Mr Krow lol. The Cali has a good rep, and because of its heritage i think people take notice of it so do try it Some move on, others dont. I dont think the SD will ever achieve cult status, or possibly be used by 1000's of people (although web forums are not a true indication IMO) like, say the Sansamp stuff, but there must be 1000's of pedals out there that people spend a fortune on, that wouldn't suit the majority of us. £185 is a small price for me to pay for the conveniences ive listed. Your right, i have spent a lot this year. i work it out at around about £800, just on pedals alone. I have a drawer full of 'mistakes' that i really should sell (no, not the draw itself I would assume there will be a Spectradrive owners club over on TB, they like that sort of thing, and if not ill start one lol. Cheers. All those points were just relative to me. I must admit before getting it i was hoping for, if not better, different to how its turned out. My first post on here about it said i wanted it for home practice. This still stands and for this i cant knock it. My comments about the B3n were just observations. Im 100% happy that the SD does what it does. I cant really mark it down for not having something its not be advertised as having. Battery would be nice, digital effects other than tone prints would be nice, a bit of reverb on the headphone out would be nice, lots of missing things would be nice, but then we are talking about a different box. The things that impressed me the most were how much better my basic clean tone sounded, and how much better my other boxes sounded after it. This, to me is its killer feature for live use. It can colour the tone by using Spectracomp and OD, but even with the SC turned right down, and the EQ set almost flat (if that exists, maybe it doesn't) the low notes had more clarity, and the higher note more punch, than with the box bypassed. I even found i was backing the Low off a bit, and rather than just having less low end, it seemed to be more adding clarity to those notes, without losing the heft. Again, this is all how it sounded to my ears and its only the one rehearsal. The fact that all this takes up one space on my board means it works for me. I can guarantee i will still have this box at the end of the year, along with my Aftershock.

Just saw this over on Talkbass. Im not sure if it goes in this forum or the Recording one, but it can be moved if needed. https://neuraldsp.com/products/darkglass-ultra-plugins/

Oh, just heard back from G4M, they are sending out a UK PSU for it.