SumOne

A lot like people, when countries isolate themselves they become weird and paranoid of the outside world. The USA always had a bit of that isolationist attitude, 'world series' baseball, 'IndyCar vs F1', remaking TV shows rather than just watching the original from another country, not doing much international travel etc. And countries cutting themselves off from global trade has never seemed to turn out too well in the past...it's usually a punishment!

I would go for it at Behringer prices, but I'm also eyeing up the FI v4 so am hoping that will cover that ground once I save up my pennies. (the temptation is to wait for the small version, but the original size doesn't particularly bother me - it is probably quite good to keep my clumsy size 12s a decent distance away from the display and 'edit' dial).

Ordered mine from Andertons £69 (Gear4music have them listed at £57, but not in stock until mid April). I'm now hoping they do the MF-101 clone (BM-101) they had shown off a couple of years ago.

My favourites: SA Atlas is good for doing more extreme stuff and nerding out with a Laptop. I do kind of miss it as I haven't found other compressors that can be used as such an extreme effect, but I didn't find the hardware layout to be very good live (alt buttons and all that) more of a thing to muck about with a Laptop (and if doing that, could possibly just use VSTs). Cali 76 always sounds good. Doesn't go as extreme as the Atlas, but you know it'll be useable live and reliable in almost any setting. FEA Opti-FET is very good, they aren't that easy to get hold of though and mine developed a fault - or at least was more sensitive to ground loop than my other pedals. Markbass Compressore is good, quite big and 12v power needed though. Boss LMB-3 worked well for me - basically only used to tame big peaks, I couldn't get so many different compression effect types from it as things like the FEA or Atlas - but for what it does, it does well. I didn't get on with: MXR M87 (not bandpass, and no HPF or clean blend, I find at least one of those things is usually needed or it squishes lows too much), Earthquaker Warden (on higher settings did that first note pumping thing that optical compressors can do). Pigtronix Philosopher was alright, but more of a specific effect to add sustain than than what most people would usually expect from a compressor. Some say there is no need for compressors or they all do the same thing but I've found them to be very useful - especially live, and they are one of the more variable types of pedals and you can only really tell playing them (e.g. A youtube video can never show you how it subtly is changing your playing dynamics, you need to feel that) so it is a deeper and more complex rabbit hold than, say, fuzz pedals.

It's good to give Ibanez competition on the more affordable end of things, their EHB MS range have crept up into quite 'premium' pricing levels (£1,150 - £1,600) and left a gap in the market (although the Cort Space is good for the affordable non-multiscale headless). I feel like Dingwall have dropped the ball on this, headless for a modern looking/sounding multiscale 5 string seems to make perfect sense and the higher-end Ibanez EHB MS range have filled that space. HILS are now filling the affordable space Ibanez left.

The way I convince myself is that if I buy second hand then a Bass usually holds its value, so if I spend £100 or £1500 it is just how much £ I'm putting into that investment until I invariably get bored of it and sell within a year. So you might as well spend whatever you can afford and get the better bass - more expensive ones are almost always* more expensive for good reason. *Apart from 'vintage', but they might actually go up in value. Although, I gig quite often in grotty places so £700 is about the amount where I feel the Bass is good enough but also not so fancy that I'm overly scared of damage or theft.

I've told you a million times not to exaggerate!

I assume they just have a couple of songs that go down as far as Eb for a few notes, so to hit that note you can do a few things: just tune that E string down half a step drop the E string to a D and play Eb on 1st fret (could get a Hipshot drop tuner if it's just to hit the occasional note, then switch back to normal tuning) tune all your strings down half a step to keep the same familiar patterns tune to BEAD so you have the familiar patterns - just everything is a string lower than normal. ....Or as @Boodang says - just keep normal tuning but play alternatives to that occasional low Eb (e.g. 5th, or octave up), I'd probably go for that - it seems a bit more confusing but in the long-run I think is less confusing than the alternatives. Or, in the long-run if playing lower than E is needed a lot then perhaps get a 5 string.

Looks good, but I think just traditional black pickups would look better - matching the rest of the hardware and similar to the darker wood stripes. I quite like the blue one with the pickups matching the fret markers and bridge and 'Ibanez' logo, seems more effort has gone into it all being one coherent look: ....ideally I'd like that but as a purple/blue iridescent colour-shift. No point being reserved with this sort of bass! An issue with the EHB1005MS I had though was how soft the matte paintwork is, was really easy to scratch and dent and within about 6 months it has quite significantly worn to a lighter colour where my thumb rubbed just above the B string, so hopefully this one has a bit more protection. Or I like the look of the black one (it has cheaper Bartolini pickups though) apart from it being quite obvious the darker wood is just stuck on top. I dunno, I like them all but none are quite what I'd want looks-wise. I'll be petitioning Ibanez for a purple iridescent one though!

I'm no expert, but I think the issue is that each pedal needs their own direct earth path or the interference from things like lighting can get caught in a ground loop. The solutions seem to be: isolated power supplies, balanced cables, or add a ground lift (I assume the ground lift would need to be between the pedals, but I'm not sure). Although the Cioks is sold as 'isolated' I did have an issue with another power supply that was advertised as 'isolated' but had ground loop issues, this was what a pedal maker told me: "some power supplies advertised 'isolated' but they only have separate regulators, filters and over current protection for each of the DC output positive terminals but the output negative (ground) terminals are still bonded together - which is not a true isolated supply. You can test this using a digital ohm meter by measuring the resistance between the centre pins (negatives) between two outputs, testing without the power supply energized should show infinite resistance between the two of the centre pins if the supply has truly isolated outputs). "

Yeah, my guess is a ground loop issue. A bit slack of HX Stomp and Colourbox not to have ground lift, there is good reason most preamp pedals have one. There are things like https://www.thegigrig.com/humdinger

Yeah, the question with multi-scale is always 'how easy is it to play?' and the almost universal answer is 'no problem - it's easy' (which I generally agree with), and some people might find it more ergonomic and easier to play. What is less asked is 'does it sound better than good normal scale basses?' and after owning a few I'm not entirely convinced it makes much difference Vs a good normal scale with balanced tension strings and decent pickups etc. I'd like to hear someone scientifically testing an Ibanez EHB 1505 vs 1505MS to really show if a 35" B sounds noticeably different to a 34" and 34" G vs 33". I don't think it'd make enough difference to matter. I'm fully sold on headless though for 5 string Basses. It makes complete sense to lose that headstock weight - especially with that weight being at the end of a long neck and with 5x tuners on it, it means you can have light 5 string basses without neck dive - My Dingwall was about 4.6kg, Ibanez EHB 3.3kg, and if anything the EHB was better balanced. It means shorter overall bass length too - handy for transport and tight stage space, and headless tend to have more stable tuning. The only disadvantages I can think of are it is a bit more difficult to tune (e.g. traditional plucking with right hand and turning tuners with left hand is an odd reach-around!), can't do quick drop tuning and can't usually fit drop-tuners (not really issues with 5 strings though). The biggest downside is a lot of people don't like the look - it wouldn't fit with a band trying to look like they're a 60's rock n roll band.

I've just noticed Ibanez have quietly snuck in a 5 string SR with 18mm string spacing (instead of the usual 16.5 which is a bit tight for me). https://www.ibanez.com/usa/products/detail/sr1605dw_1p_02.html I'm not convinced on the look, but 5 string SR with 18mm spacing is a winner with me.

Mohini Dey only needs a few minutes for this:

A 'walk up' stand holds the Bass for you. Looks odd though, and must feel quite odd too play like that.

I've owned a few headless or multi scales, the main negatives I remember were: Dingwall Combustion: Heavy, big. Ibanez SRMS805: Tight string spacing Cort Space 5: Parts of the body aren't rounded. Ibanez EHB1005MS: .....not sure why I got rid of this, I think as I started only needing 4 strings for the band. It's the one I'd most highly recommend. None quite had the 'character' tone like a J or P bass or Stingray, all quite 'modern' sounding which is good but a bit non descript. But either being headless, or multi-scale, (or both), was never an issue on any of them.

Well yeah, I said (or alluded to) both of those things.

Whether it'd be right or not I'm not sure, but I do think if Europe was as united as countries like China, or Russia, the United States, then it could be a military Superpower: Europe: Population 750m, GDP $28 trillion USA: Population 340m, GDP $28 trillion China: Population 1.4bn, GDP $18 trillion Russia: Population 144m, GDP $2 trillion. I suppose that is a big if as getting all of Europe aligned to one military goal is a lot easier said than done. Europe as a region probably hoped more than most that the days or 'might is right' were past us as two world wars started in Europe didn't really bring Europe anything other than suffering, collectively had the feeling that others will realise that too and effort can be spent on better things. If Russia wasn't unpredictable and with Nuclear weapons then it wouldn't be much of a threat to a united Europe. Europe has more than 5x the population and 14x the GDP, I mean, I'm sure pretty much any European country could develop their own nuclear weapons pretty quickly if they really wanted to, I suppose they hoped the world would move towards other priorities. In fact, if it was a game of Risk or top trumps it looks like Europe would be a winner on all other than vs China for population (....India enters the room as the next nuclear armed superpower).

It's good to have these two back on (pedal) board. ...not many things quite as smooth yet powerful 'wall of doom' sounding as these two combined.

Bought a pedal from Paddy and all was good!

Yes, another problem with 'selling' the concept of international aid is that it is very difficult to measure how much it has helped to reduce risks. Would we have had more of those attacks without it? Would there have been more pandemics? Would there have been more wars that we'd got involved with? Difficult to say with certainty, but people who know about these things - like heads of the army think so.

Since this comment the UK Gov have quite predictably gone for the path of least resistance 'play to the gallery' and follow the Trump playbook by cutting international aid to fund defence. They have framed it as either/or, which isn't correct, they go hand in hand. It often seems the only reporting is NGO leaders etc complaining aid cuts are a bad idea, people might rightly say 'of course they do!', it plays right into the Trump/Farage 'woke lefties' us vs them playbook. What should have more focus is this response from the ex head of the British Army: Gen Lord Richard Dannatt (hardly a title associated with some 'woke lefty'!) "I ran Britain’s army. I know what it needs. Don’t cut aid to fund defence" "Britain’s security and influence on the world stage depend on a balanced approach – one that integrates our military strength with diplomacy and development. To wield power effectively, we need hard and soft power working hand in hand. Cutting development aid undermines our ability to stabilise fragile states, reduce the conditions for extremism and build alliances that enhance our security. Simply put, well-targeted aid prevents conflict and reduces the burden on our armed forces in the long run. Moreover, the premise that aid and defence are in competition is a false one. In reality, they are two sides of the same coin. Well-targeted development assistance helps to stabilise fragile regions, preventing crises before they require military intervention. It is aid that helps to rebuild war-torn societies, counter radicalisation and reduce the refugee flows that destabilise Europe. Without this investment, Britain will face an increased terrorist threat, more humanitarian emergencies and greater pressure on our borders. By neglecting this crucial component of security, we are setting ourselves up for greater instability, which will require even more military spending in the long term. Furthermore, the burden on Britain’s armed forces will only grow. If we cut aid, we will be forced to deploy military resources in areas where we could have mitigated instability through targeted development" And Gen James Mattis, the former US secretary of defence previously said “If you don’t fund the state department fully, then I need to buy more ammunition, ultimately.” These aren't aid charities or aid beneficiaries, or people that could be described as being lefties - these are ex-heads of UK and UK armed forces. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/feb/27/britain-armed-forces-cut-aid-fund-defence The problem with governments spending on international aid in an increasingly selfish and insular world seems mostly down to problems with communicating the nuances to voters when they are up against simple 'we give foreigners £ but should spend it at home instead' messages that initially sound correct, whereas it is a bit more complicated to explain 'we spend £ to influence the world and make it a better place for everyone - including us'

Yeah, or a more degenerate example - anything with a free bar, or 'all you can eat' there is a lot of waste. Either charge a bit for it, or have a wastage fee and it's make things more efficient. Perhaps rather than charging for Dr appointments a small fine for missed ones would work (although I guess quite an admin hassle to deal with, but you'd think all the digitisation of records and NI the government could just take that bit extra as NI from you).

They definitely should have gone with your 'Petit Four' suggestion. Looks good, main thing for me was the v4 having improved accuracy and the option of speed/accuracy option (I didn't like the octave jump thing) so I was already tempted, smaller enclosure option is a bonus. Realistically, for a gigging pedalboard I don't actually mind the bigger version as my size 12 boots in a dark pub need a big area with plenty of room for stomping error....although I'm already considering what would fit well in that space saved if I go 'Petit', something like a Zvex Mastotron would fit nicely beneath it.