dave_bass5

[quote name='EliasMooseblaster' timestamp='1406975036' post='2516344'] +1 - almost caved a couple of years ago on the '60s P except I didn't like the "fiesta red" ( = pink) finish. That black one with the block inlays...I probably shouldn't be allowed in the same shop as one of them! [/quote] My thoughts exactly. I love my CV's but hate the look of the P. I even got a VM for its looks over playability (as it now has my CV Jazz neck on it). Guess money will be laving ym credit card very shortly :-(

The last three P pups in my Squier CVP have been Wizard Thumper, Fender 62 Original and Fralin. All sounded good and all seemed to be in the same ball park. Considering the Fralin costs almost twice what the Fender costs i m not sure these boutique pups are always worth it. There are differences between most pups but i think a lot of it is so minimal that its not worth paying too much unless you really have to.

I got one of the standard Deluxe models last month. Sonically its all that its cracked up to be, but i really feel it looks cheap and, dare i say, not worth the money. I appreciate these things are not made in bulk, but to me it looks like the parts were brought at Maplins. I do think the special edition is going to look better, and wish i had waited now. I suppose thats the price you pay for boutique effects. I dont regret getting it though, its really been an eye opener to me. Best pedal of this type i have ever owned.

The beta sounds interesting but I'll wait for the final release ;-).

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1406123656' post='2508542'] That statement could be taken in a number of ways... [/quote] Not really, at least not to those that know me ;-) [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1406123656' post='2508542']Thanks very much for the offer... are you not constantly using yours, though? Where are you?[/quote] Well, the plan is when the new amp arrives (again) ill not need it, so i dont plan on using it for at least a few gigs. Ill probably use it next on the 1st -2nd Aug and then hopefully not for a while (or ever). Im in central London but can post it to you. Si. My DG is a Vintage Tubes Deluxe. I didn't want to get a fuzz box as such, just something to warm my Markbass amp up, and this it does really well. It can do proper fuzz/OD but its not as wild as the BK's apparently. Its really added something to my tone, without sounding obviously like a OD effect. The Era knob really makes a difference, and i just love how this works with the levels knobs. Its very easy to get different tones out of this box without the overall level changing. I can go from clean to really dirty without any real volume increase. I could never do this with my BDDI.

Mark, ive said it already but try a DarkGlass out (mine if you want). Ive found so many new tones in my VMTD that its made me a "dirt" convert overnight. [url="http://www.darkglass.com/products/microtubes-vintage/"]http://www.darkglass...otubes-vintage/[/url]

[quote name='freelancesam' timestamp='1405964673' post='2507040'] Thanks for the replies, panic over! I spoke to the production company and they're putting in an amp with a 8x10 cab so should be fine They did ask for a spec sheet (including amps) a month ago but I didn't know mine was going to explode! [/quote] Let us know what you think of the Ashdown :-)

I never really got on with my STL600 and 1212L. Im not sure what it was but i felt it just didn't do it for me. Good luck though, i know loads of people love them.

Ive bene using Claytons Acetal for a few years but recently deicided to try a few other brands/weights. Ive tried a few Chicken picks (really nice but a bit too clicky sometimes), the usual Dunlop tortex ones (yellow and purple i think), V-pick which i really liked but it felt a bit sloppy in my hand, and ive finally settled on Gravity picks. so far ive only used one (1.5mm) but i have a couple of the XL 2.0mm on order. The Gravity picks aren't cheap but the tone seems more solid, but without too much note attack. i can/do definitely play faster with the heavier picks. I have to put a bit more effort in but the notes just seem more defined and clearer compared to my old 1.9mm picks, portably due to the material.

Yes, not cheap. I went for the deluxe one as i wanted an almost direct replacement for my BDDI. The EQ is worth the extra cost for me, although to look at it you wouldnt think it cost this much. My budget at the time was for a new head so i didnt mind too much, but now i also got the head the DG will have to go soon.

Oh yes, the microtubes is a very, very nice box.

I'd like to give the VT another go, Fran has offered to lend me his, but at the moment im going through a very nice amp change that might mean i dont need anything else to dirty up my tone. Having now used the Darkglass VMTD (which i except ill be selling soon) i can see just how coloured the BDDI is/was, but i must admit its been the easiest of the lot to use.

I got a Paradriver a couple of years ago for the same reason. I loved it but found I kept playing with it at gigs. I just couldn't settle on a plug and play tone like I did the BDDI.

I did for a long time, but now I've seen the light and doubt I'll use mine again.

The first few times I used mine (actually a BDI21) I had the blend right up. This put me off using it for a few years. It was only by accident that I had it turned down when I was giving it another go, and bang, there was the magic.

Oh dear, we don't normally see jokes like that other than on Christmas Day ;-) I did actually play some of the trees by Rush, but other than the guitarist it went over their heads. Peasents.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1405331572' post='2500769'] Mmm... what are the best trees for metal? [/quote] :-) Can you slap a tree ;-)

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1405330296' post='2500738'] Exciting! When does it arrive??!?! [/quote] Ordered from Thomanns last night so hopefully before the weekend. [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1405330711' post='2500749'] The GK Fusion is a [i]very[/i] different animal compared with the GK1001. It may as well be an entirely different brand - the variations between the two are huge, so I wouldn't worry about that at all - rate the Fusion on its own merits. If the 800F is anything like the 500F it'll be plug and play, so no issues with not using effects. Sounds great as-is. [/quote] Cheers Mark. I wouldnt say i hated the 1001, just that i preferred the SA450. Ill reply to your PM later but point taken about the outdoors gig. The only thing i will add is that ive done a few over the past year and this one was a lot easier to get the tone i was after, and without the usual fussing about i normally have to do. Im putting it down to not using the BDDI more than anything else. Maybe the different trees made a difference :-)

Had a really good gig on Sat. We played outdoors at a small pool party and I had the best tones I've had a for a long while. I think the issue might be the BDDI. Using the Darkglass instead gave me a very clear, articulate tone that filled the mix a lot better than the BDDI does. I even used a very dirty tone a few times and everything fell in to place. The EQ is voiced just perfectly for me, and there was no mud or lack of definition in the low end. I doubt I'll keep my BDDI now, but I expect I'll also get rid of the DG as well, although I do,want to try it with the new head. The DG is a lot more versatile than I first thought, and the way they have implemented the leave knob almost gives a two channel amp set up. Although I came away very happy I have gone ahead and ordered a GK MBF800. I think my heart was set on this a while ago so I feel I have to give it a go. The added output should mean I can run it cleaner than the last GK head I had, and hopefully mean I can stop using any other effects. We are playing a faily large room on Sat so hopefully I'll know straight away if the new head will work.

Yes but IMO that limits the EQ too much. For what it's worth I stuck with the BDDI because of the way it handles the mid freqs. I like, or did like a slightly scoped tone as my cab is already quite mid heavy. Saying that I only had the blend on about 9 or 10 o'clock so it was only just colouring the tone. The EQ was normally slightly boosted in the bass and treble, with presence always off.

I've had two BDDI's and until recently couldn't gig without one. I don't use it for drive much, just to add a bit of depth with the EQ and a slight edge when needed. A lot of people don't like the BDDI tone at first, but the trick is to keep the Blend back. This way you just mix a bit of the Sansamp SVT emulation without losing the tone of your bass. The EQ stays active no matter what. I never got on with the VTBass either, I thought it was a bit to much for my needs. I aslo had a Paradriver which should have been even better but turned out to be something I couldn't stop fiddling with, so sold it and got my current BDDI. I've very recently got a Darkglass VMT Deluxe that works a bit better for my needs. It's similar but rather than try and emulate just one amp it emulates eras of bass head. There have been two versions of the BDDI, the Mark II has a few more features (and switches), although both sound the same. The MKII is more versatile when it comes to hooking it up to a PA etc, but doesn't offer any extra tone options. There is also the much, much cheaper (£30) Behringer BDI21 pedal that gets a lot of love. It's a slightly more digital sounding copy of the BDDI, but in a band mix I've not noticed any difference. It might be a cheap way to try this effect out to see if it suits.

A cab change could well be on the cards later, maybe next year, but i doubt it would be a MB cab. Based on nothing other than one really bad experience with a MB I doubt I'll ever own another, but there other other makes I'd like to try at some point. As it's Thursday my latest plan is to use the Darkglass and F1 this weekend, then quite possibly get a GK Fusion 500 (and sell the DG). As much as the Carvin BX700 does appeal to me I like the idea of smaller and 3 tubes. From what I've read just having the one standard tube is not much more than a gimmick. Let's see what Fridays plan will be ;-)