Baloney Balderdash

So who of you use one or more tube preamps (or pedals effective functioning primarily as tube preamps) as part of your setup, what do you use, and how do you utilize them? Personally I love my EHX Black Finger, which is a tube driven optical compressor, that features two Electro-Harmonix 12AX7EH tubes (what this units came with from stock, but after trying out several other tube brands this is still my favorite, which I've put in pretty much any tube device I own utilizing 12AX7 preamp tubes), operating at proper high 300V plate voltage, that I have used as an always on part of my setup for the longest time. Currently it functions primarily as a tube preamp, with just the slightest compression dialed in from the optical compressor circuit (beside of course the subtle compression that the tubes themself provides), which is to say a fairly moderate threshold with a relatively long attack time and a very low compression ratio, the input gain dialed up to where the input tube is driven to just on the verge of breakup, adding a really beautiful harmonic depth and complexity to my signal. A fairly subtle effect, mind, that you only really notice when it is turned off, but it does really bring extra life, depth and harmonic complexity to my signal, and transform my tone from just sounding pretty great to an outright amazing sounding one. And actually, rather than having it placed towards the end of my chain, as you usually otherwise probably would with a tube preamp, I use it as pretty much the first pedal of my setup, with just a Xvive Undulator tremolo placed in front of it, the latter never actually engaged and exclusively used for it's really effective buffer, as for some reason the Black Finger was designed with a rather low input impedance, I believe something like just 150kOhm or so. I did experiment with placing the Black Finger later in my signal chain, but found placing all the way up front of it really works best for me and the rest of my setup, making it part of my base tone, fed to all following pedals in my setup, sort of effectively functioning as if it had been an onboard active preamp. Here's the specific settings on my EHX Black Finger that I currently use: Pre Gain (input gain/threshold (though as far as i understood somewhat interacting with the Compress control)) : Noon position (as said driving the input tube to just on the verge of breakup) SQSH/Norm (Squash=long attack, high compression ratio/Normal=more subtle compression) : Normal mode Lamp/LED (optical compression source, Lamp=longer attack time, more low end, fatter tone (contrary to what manual states the top end is compressed more and the low end less)/LED=shorter attack time, flatter response, more neutral tone : Lamp mode Compress (compression ratio (though as far as i understood somewhat interacting with the Pre Gain control)) : 8 o'clock position (just a smidge above minimum position, minimum position translating to practically no signal going through the optical compression circuit at all (except for what the full 500kOhm resistance of the pot allows for), which is to say that my guess is that the setting I use would translate to something like a just 1.5:1 ratio or so) Post Gain (output/make up gain/master volume) : Slightly above unity And this is how it looks (this is actually a photo of the backup EHX Black Finger I recently bough, just in case something should ever happen to my old one beyond repair, the new one (well, used new old one, as these pedals unfortunately are out of production) a lot more pristine and clean looking than my old one that I use currently): I should probably add that this is part of my main "amp-less" setup, with my basic "clean" tone, beside the Black Finger, also being composed of a subtle spring reverb, delivered by a patch on my Zoom B1Xon consisting of a really subtle plate reverb with a short pre-delay going into an emulation of a Fender type spring reverb, this being placed second to last in my signal chain, right before the NUX Melvin Lee Davis Preamp + DI that ends my signal chain (that is of course before my headphones or poweramp + FRFR PA speaker), using the Anguilar Tonehammer amp emulation that this pedal features, and an Ampeg SV212 cab IR simulation, which also comes stock with the pedal, with an added HPF set at 40Hz and a LPF set at just below 14kHz, as well as a subtle, relatively low gain, drive mixed with clean signal. Also using this with my main instrument of choice at the moment, my just 28.6" scale 4 string Ibanez Mikro Bass, strung up to accommodate a G standard tuning, that is 3 half steps above regular 4 string bass E standard tuning.

Awesome! Thanks. Will definitely consider this. Might take a while before I decide and gets around making a template though. But nice to know it is doable, and as said, regardless I think you offer an amazing service for people who desire to personalize their instruments (which I am a big fan of). Oh, and just to know my options and limitations, are colored transparent pickguards and option as well?

This seems like the obvious solution to your problem. This way there will be no need to unattach the pedal from the board when needing charging, and no risk of harming the battery or pedal by leaving it charging all the time.

All I know is that Les Claypool found them with his metal detector in a gold digging competition with Robert Trujillo, who in the meantime had been lucky to find two silver J pickups, and then they had an epic slap battle on their respective basses, which had respectively been equipped with their respective findings...

That's their signature pee marks, to know the player of it is Sandberg property. Because the standard headstock pee mark might get ignored by less delicate dog noses, and also the body pee mark is harder to just tape over without it looking equally stupid.

I own both, but by far prefer the previous generation B1Xon and G1Xon to the B1X Four and G1X Four, just a lot more tweakable and customizable (for one you get more tweakable parameters per effect, plus the X versions of these pedals, that is those equipped with a build in expression pedal, which by the way is genuinely great, can be assigned to control any one parameter of any one effect per patch, at whatever direction or range you wish, whereas the newer X Four pedals limits the use of their build in expression pedal to merely a handful of dedicated expression pedal effect models), and honestly in my opinion sounds far better too. Mind I wouldn't use any of these for pitch shifter/octaver effects or amp/cab sims, and the drive models, while not sounding bad, kind of has limited use and does have a somewhat digital flavor to them, but most of the remaining effects (that is the equalizers, compressors, filters, modulation effects, delays and reverbs) are actually genuinely excellent, and many of them, dialed in right, as good as pretty much any. Another advantage of the Zoom units that utilizes Zoom's previous generation of digital effect models (that is the B1(X)on, G1(X)on, and the still in production Multi Stomps, the MS-50G, MS-60B and MS-70 CDR), is that you can use the unofficial third party firmware hack program "Zoom Effect Manager" (just do a Google search, the most recent one is Version 2.0), to load whichever of these units with whatever effects from any of them you wish (something Zoom ought to have made possible right from the start anyway in my opinion). Love my G1Xon, loaded with my own custom selection of effects so much I bought a B1Xon as backup, as well as a G1on (also own MS-70CDR, and as said a B1 Four and G1 Four, but the latter two will doubtfully see any more use, ever).

Can't speak for that though, haven't tried it. But other than in terms of weight and output power, judging from the specs at least the The Box PA 502A that I suggested, and that I actually got first hand experience with, seems superior (even if it is the same brand, and even if it says "Pro" (even if it's actually about 50£ cheaper than my suggestion)). The The Box "Pro" line of PA speakers oddly enough seems to be inferior to their series of PA speakers that the PA speaker I suggested belong to (PA 108A, PA 110A, PA 302A and PA 502A) judging from specs, in all aspects except for being slightly lighter and a good deal louder, and maybe looking better as well. Worth noticing is also that the "Pro" series got digital preamp and Class D poweramp sections, whereas the The Box PA 502A got an all analog preamp and a SS poweramp section, and better low frequency response as well. At least I can only vouch for the The Box PA 502 and 502A that I actually tried and use, and non of their other offerings. As said though that one is no less than amazing, and not just for the money, so guess it kind of would be strange if their other products are pure crap. Perhaps have a look at the The Box PA 302A, which is the 12" woofer version of the one I suggested.

Looking at the specs the QSC K12.2 is not significantly lighter (only 7kg lighter), and got a low frequency response of 50Hz (-10B), vs the 45Hz (-3dB) (and I can attest that the low frequency response is impressive, but punchy and tight) of the 400% cheaper cabinet that I suggested (the active version that I mentioned that is, The Box PA 502A, to compare apples to apples). Also digital preamp/Class D power amp vs. all analog preamp/SS power amp. The QCC K12.2 does play louder though (1000W RMS/2000W peak vs. 300W RMS/1200W peak). But well, it's your money.

Not sure, but I am thinking if he might just had been talking about practicing fretless on a fretted bass, rather than about this technique?

This might seem obvious, but are you absolutely 100% positively sure that you actually soldered the ground wire to the sleeve of the jack socket, and the hot/lead wire to the tip, and not the other way around? Cause your issue sounds very much identical to what I experienced when I once made that mistake. Does the buzzing get even louder when you touch the strings or bridge of the bass and somewhat quieter when you don't? (I assume you didn't actually mean that the noise stops when plucking the strings, as your headline otherwise kind of suggests) (Also be careful with the gene modifications, it might improve your band mates productivity on the short term, but have totally unpredictable, potentially fatal, longer term consequences. Hello, Frankenstein!?!... Don't come running and say I didn't warm you! )

Not what I am talking about. It's not that kind of rattling noise from the string repeatably slipping off the fret due to it not having sufficiently firm contact to it when not fretted properly (and I don't think my description of it really would suggest this was what I was talking about, honestly). You need to be really precise about your finger placement though, or that is exactly what you get instead. You also need to apply just the right amount of pressure for it to work, neither too light or too firm. However I just checked with reverb, and the subtle spring reverb I use as part of my basic clean tone does definitely enhance the effect I am talking about. As said like a lightly palm muted note, but with some extra harmonic thing going on, and now when I tested it again, a better way of describing might be sort of a harmonically rich metallic flavor added to the attack, somewhat resembling that of a kalimba, just not as pronounced. I guess overall it's a relatively subtle effect, especially without spring reverb added, not a great deal different from just palm muting, but with reverb it does give it that extra harmonic metallic attack, as said, somewhat resembling that of a kalimba, just not as pronounced, that I think, despite being relatively subtle, is a pretty interesting flavor, that you can't really get any other way I know of from a bass guitar. I suppose subtle flavor might actually be a better way of describing it than an effect. Sort of a subtle extra harmonically rich clicky metallic attack that separates it from how regular light palm muting sounds.

Yeah, the drive being foot switchable on the Aguilar Tonehammer seems pretty pointless, as it will cause a huge volume jump. Great for adding some tube like grid and extra harmonic complexity/depth to your basic "clean" tone though, as an always on thing. But yeah, being foot switchable seems pointless and frankly a bit misleading, and as I understood OP wouldn't really work for what they had in mind. I should probably add that the NUX MLD Bass Preamp that I suggested got the same issue, blendable drive control that works great as an always on thing for adding grid and extra depth/complexity to your clean signal, but causing a volume jump that makes it useless as an extra effect for driven parts and the separate dedicated drive footswitch pretty pointless. I mean sure you can balance off the volume difference with the gain and blend knob, but that kind of defeats the point of the drive actually being adjustable as you will then be stuck with only a few predetermined settings that actually works for this.

£219 £299 for the active version. Probably not if size and weight is an issue though... Edit!!!: Seems like I misunderstood the quoted reply, never mind, however I can still warmly recommend the The Box PA 502, as a cheaper, but genuinely great, alternative, if weight is no issue that is.

Why not just cut it after 'You don't have to play..." , and take the night off? I am pretty certain, which is clear if you watch the rest of the video, that he meant right notes, as in the notes that strictly theoretically fit the key, and specifically in the context of improvising, which is what this video is about. And I am pretty certain he didn't mean that you can use whatever notes you fancy to play any song in the world, regardless of how it was actually written, and no one, including your bandmates, will be able to tell the difference anyway.

If weight is no issue the The Box PA 502 passive FRFR PA speaker, featuring a 15" mids driver/woofer and a 1.7" high mids/high frequency tweeter is absolutely amazing, and not just for the price. Sounds really clear, well defined, articulate and well balanced, and with a tight but impressive low frequency response that is better than anything else in that price class, and honestly most higher end PA speakers as well, regardless of price. Frequency response: 45 Hz … 18 kHz (–3 dB) 35 Hz … 20 kHz (–10 dB) Which is better low end response than even most dedicated bass cabs, even most higher end ones. Pretty decent sensitivity too, 96dB @ 1W/1m, which seems about average of what one can expect from a speaker/cab with that kind of exceptional low end response Just astonishing great value. As said though the downside is that they are quite heavy (25.5 kg (~56.22 lbs)), and that they can only handle 300W RMS (1200W peak). I think it's an exclusive Thomann brand. https://www.thomann.de/gb/the_box_pa502_fullrangesystem.htm Comes in an active version too, the The Box PA 502A.

This is really growing on me, amazing preamp/IR loader/DI, astonishing value for the money: The NUX NBP-5 Melvin Lee Davis Bass Preamp All digital, but really high quality at that, 32Bit A/D converter and signal processing, and a just 1ms latency. If you want something all analog, including the build in cab sim, I'd recommend the Tech 21 SansAmp SH1 Steve Harris signature bass preamp, which also sounds amazing, and is far far more versatile than it's name might otherwise suggest, however also twice as expensive as the NUX.

Probably. Also come to think of it might also have something to do with me running it through a subtle spring reverb effect, or rather that the reverb might enhance this muted harmonic effect and it actually not being all that noticeable without. Haven't actually tried with the signal of the bass completely dry.

Yes.

I recently discovered that if you fret a fretted bass directly on the fret, or rather ever so slightly behind, so that your finger kind of both fret right behind and on the actual fret, you get this quite unique sound that kind of sounds like partially/light palm muting, but not quite, kind of like partially/light palm muting but with harmonics added, kind of as if you get both the fretted note plus the harmonic of the given fret, but then partially muted, if that makes sense, and I was wondering if anyone else utilizes this technique, and if it got an actual name?

As I mentioned, the EHX Black Finger does seem to divide the waters, yes. You'll have about as many complains about noise as people saying their unit is dead quiet (or that the noise issues are rather minor and totally secondary to how great they think this pedal otherwise is), which I guess might be credited partially to how it specifically has been used by these people respectively, but also unfortunately to be fair partially to the fact that Electro Harmonix are not exactly known for consistency and great quality control. Now I wouldn't expect anywhere near half of this forum's members to actually have tried one, and even less love and use or have previously used one as part of their main setup, but sure there must be at least some, it isn't THAT rare, and also it does seem to work particularly well for bass and have an actual dedicated fan base of people who love it. I've seen plenty of threads on this forum that got stuff that is much much more rare, actual rare stuff, as topic receive a far more replies, while I'd claim that the Black Finger doesn't actually really qualifies to be called rare, uncommon for sure, but not to the extend of being obscure or even just rare (at least that is my impression judging from web material on it, including mentions on various forums and blogs, as well as amount and frequency of used sales adds featuring it). I wouldn't even call fans of it rare, but, as it, as said, really does seem to divide the waters, perhaps people (that is to be understood out of people who actually tried it first hand) who doesn't either hate or love it are a rare breed. The Black Finger, together with the English Muff'n, are by far the most common out of that, sadly discontinues, big box dual tube series of EHX pedals, the other pedals of that series though sure I'd say probably would qualify within reason to be called rare. Do another search on it and have a closer look and you will see this.

Really? No one else?

This sends me right back to my late teenage years, though it's still just as great a song, if not even better, as it was back then when I first heard it for the first time. In fact one of my all time favorite songs (great video too) : From the masterpiece of an album "You're Living All Over Me" by Dinosaur Jr. from 1987.

The DC resistance is actually quite similar to the EMG Geezer P, that is not particularly high and actually pretty average for a P pickup, but the magnetic field of the Model P is much stronger, which is why it works great further away from the strings and has a hotter output, not because it is overwound (as is otherwise commonly the case with most other hot P pickups on the market). Also I found it totally unnecessary to mess with the height of the individual pole pieces, even if I guess it is nice to have that as an extra option, the 4 height adjustment points a P pickup inherently gives you was easily enough to make it possible to balance the output between the strings perfectly.