SumOne

You must have been unlucky because I think London gets an unfair reputation for always raining (or an old reputation for being foggy/smoggy). The smog was due to industry and coal burning that stopped over 50 years ago and it's not really all that rainy on average: Compared to European cities London has fewer rainy days and less rainfall than places like Amsterdam, Brussels, Cologne, Dublin, Hamburg, Helsinki, Moscow, Munich, Moscow, Oslo, Paris https://www.currentresults.com/Weather/Europe/Cities/precipitation-annual-average.php none of them particularly have a cliché of always being rainy. Any time Paris is in Films it's sunshine, cut to London and it's grey and raining. And compared to the other places "(London has 557mm or rain per year and) 106.5 days of rainfall per year on average.....There are more rainy days in Miami (at 135) and Orlando, Florida (117) than there are in London. New York City clocks in at 122 days and 1,268mm of rain (over double the amount of rainfall of London). Washington DC, Rio de Janeiro, Sydney, and Mexico City all have more rainy days on average in any given year than London. https://www.zmescience.com/ecology/climate/rain-much-london-well-not-much-really/ And Auckland is on more too at 136 days and 1,210mm or rain (over double the rainfall of London). And likewise, no film is ever shows Miami or Sydney or Rio as a rainy scene - always sunny apparently. I think it's something Londoners need to realise that as far as cities go it's always quite comfortable temperatures and isn't really all that rainy. I don't hear it being a thing that people in Sydney or Rio or Paris or Auckland are always complaining about how rainy it is there but it seems to be a London mindset that it's a rainy place and everywhere else less so.

Yeah I jumped the gun a bit and returned it to be replaced with a Laney Digbeth pedal which I like so I'm not too fussed, the Nux does seem good though.

I prefer the sound from fingers vs plectrum, and the connection/feel, and the muting, and skipping strings, and being able to quickly switch to slap/pop. I'm gonna work more on thumb but it always sounds quieter and less defined and slower when I do it.

I owe the Nux an apology - I think I had been trying USB cables that don't transfer data. There doesn't seem to be any way of distinguishing the difference by looking at the cables and I've amassed a big knotty pile of them but I tried to plug in a Zoom pedal that had worked before and it wouldn't connect - which is when the penny dropped and on the 3rd cable (one I hadn't tried with the Nux) it worked.

Yeah, it's mostly 'want' rather than 'need'. I guess 'the job' to get done can be quite different for someone wanting to play 70's slap to someone wanting to play low-tuned Doom or someone playing 60's Motown so I suppose having different Basses is a bit like having different cars, or bikes, or shoes....they all get the same basic job done, but some are better at specific jobs than others and just make things a bit easier or more fun - not really needed though.

Cheers all. It looks like there's no Basschat group-think so as with most of these things the conclusion is probably 'try yourself as it's all personal preference'. I'm gonna keep the 5 but might also get a cheap 4 and muck about with different tunings/hipshot/pedal etc. I've always been a one Bass person but should probably get over that mindset....it's a slippery slope though!

It's decent enough - seems a good quality sound without hiss. Fine for home practice stuff playing along to something and hearing both on the headphones which it seems aimed at whereas something like the Bass Simplifier seemed to cater better for serious monitoring while recording or playing live. Aux can be heard via the headphones but not via the output so that's useful for things like playing to a Aux click track you don't want others to hear, not useful if you want to play backing music out of the output along with your Bass. The Aux isn't that loud - I had it on full via my phone volume and it was quite loud on headphones for home use but probably wouldn't be loud enough in a live situation. Likewise with the headphone out - it doesn't have its own volume (need to adjust the preamp output volume) and doesn't get that loud - so it's fine for home practice stuff, probably not good if you wanted to use it for live monitoring as you'd have to adjust output volumes to get the correct headphone volume.

@BigRedX I've probably got too much time on my hands and am looking for an excuse to buy something new! My main thinking is that a 4 string is slightly easier for slap (slapping the B string is always a bit too thuddy - get rid of that and the E is a bit easier to hit without having to avoid the B, wider string spacing for the others too) and slightly easier for 90% of my other playing that doesn't need the 5th string (fewer strings to mute). For the occasional times I need to go lower than E perhaps a hipshot drop D covers it. Buy yeah @Al Krow I think you're right. I've spent the time getting used to playing a 5 and I'm probably just as well off sticking with that. @fretmeisterI think a bad case of GAS is my trouble. Perhaps I'll be able to justify a new toy without getting rid of the 5, I could get a cheap 4 specifically set up as a good slapper.

Cheers @uk_lefty and @BigRedX About 90% of my playing is fine on 4 string with standard tuning (Reggae/Ska, Funk, some Blues and Rock) but I do like occasionally playing Doom/Stoner type metal that needs lower tunings so I suppose standard tuning with a hipshot for the occasional drop D is quite a good compromise so that E string is only made a bit slack 10% of the time when dropped to D and I don't have that extra 5th string sat there as a thumb rest for the 90% of the time when it's not needed. I have spent a few years learning how to play 5 strings properly so perhaps I'm making life hard for myself now considering learning how to play with one string just occasionally drop tuned to mess with my muscle memory of notes and chord shapes. Keeps me busy I guess!

I'm considering going from 5 string to a 4 string with a hipshot drop D tuner and wondering if others have made this move and liked it/regretted it. Does adding the hipshot make the headstock too heavy and un-balance the Bass? Does using a hipshot and changing from E to D mean that the intonation is out for that string, does it mess with the neck tension/truss rod settings etc? Do you need to get specific (e.g. higher tension) E string so it also works when moved to D? I've got very used to the patterns of standard 4 or 5 string tunings- does switching just one string occasionally from E to D take a lot of getting used to? My thinking is that while I like my 5 string I've noticed that the B and C are rarely used but when I owned 4 string Basses I found that the low E wasn't quite low enough sometimes. Benefits of going to a 4 string with hipshot for drop D would be one fewer string to mute, wider string spacing, generally lighter basses, being able to slap the open E string without the B string getting in the way (having the open E for slap is partly why I'd go for hipshot rather than just down-tuning). I would miss the efficiency that the 5th string adds (e.g. playing the low F on the 6th fret of the B string rather than 1st fret of the E string) and playing high up the B string makes some nice almost double-bass type tones but I don't think I'd miss the low B and C much. In the end I guess it's down to personal preference and this probably just an excuse to get new gear but some experienced opinions would be useful.

If this has already been posted then it deserves a reload, if it hasn't - we'll it has now:

Welcome. I'm a fan of Daft Punk too - some great basslines, I've been trying to learn this:

I got a Laney R500H Amp and it's decent (it's nothing special, but has been reliably pushing out quite a loud clean sound and has a decent EQ) so I didn't hesitate too much to get a Laney Digbeth Preamp which I'm impressed with: It has an aux in and headphone out, FX loop, XLR (pre/post and ground lift), jack output and link output, foot-switchable 2 channels (A/B/A+B) with clean channel and a decent sounding tube drive channel (reminds me of the BDDI - but it has been a few years since I owned one), good EQ, no crackly dials or hissing. Looks good and seems solid and well built. If was trying to pick faults: It is quite big, the dials look cool but are a bit tricky to read, and a specific volume control for headphone out could be handy. Considering the features and the £150 competition I'd say it's a winner.

I don't think you'll have any nasty surprises - it does everything as expected. I suppose the tone of the tube drive is a bit hard to know until you plug it in to your setup, it's been a few years since I owned one but it feels similar to the sansamp BDDI as a fairly dark/growly sort of overdrive that I just use on quite low settings.

After more playing around with both I actually think I prefer the slightly less polished more throaty/rough sounds of the MXR, but the tracking does let it down a bit. If buying new I'd probably go for the OC-5 as it's cheaper and has the +1 and poly sounds and tracks better but seeing as I already have the MXR that I was planning on selling for about £75 the new OC-5 is a £50 increase for me that I don't think I can justify that so will return it to Amazon for a refund (or if anyone wants to buy it from me at the £123 I paid rather than waiting for new stock then give me a shout).

@SloppyChops I've only had it for a couple of days so perhaps I'll notice things that annoy me over time but so far so good, it holds it's own against any other Preamp/DI I've owned and seems pretty good value at £150. (Edit: Actually minor issues are that although the dials look cool they aren't that easy to read, separate headphone volume control could be useful if monitoring while also playing out via the outputs - rather than sharing the same volume control, and it's quite big). It's well built, good EQ options, a foot switchable tube type overdrive (that I like on mild settings), good connections: headphone , aux in, link, output, XLR pre/post with ground lift, and FX loop. No hissing or crackling or other build quality issues - it feels like it'll be reliable. I suppose the things it's missing that a lot of the preamp competition now has is amp/cab sim and IR loading - I'm not too fussed about that and could put something like a Mooer Radar in the FX loop if I become fussed about it. This video gives an idea of the sounds:

Other members of my household are more into pop than me but I've always got time for Robyn

Bought a pedal from Mike and it was all good - good communication, fast postage and all as described. Thanks!

After singing it's praises the Nux annoyed me by not connecting to Laptops (Mac or Windows 10) so I've returned it and replaced with a Laney Digbeth. First impressions are it's bigger than I expected, looks good and seems well built, sounds good, lacks the IR and editing features of the Nux (which I guess is a plus point if things like Laptop connections, firmware updates etc. annoy you ) but gains an fx loop and more hardware controls.

Fight! The OC-5 wins on tracking and the solo vintage setting -1 Octave. The MXR 'growl' sounds close, but like it has a sore throat, but it also has the mid boost button and the 'girth' voice and perhaps sounds a bit better for subtle mild octave mixed in whereas the OC-5 is better for full-on stuff.

Which reminds me:

As the seasons turn gloomier my music taste seems to follow suit. Can't go far wrong with Electric Wizard to kickstart the doomy part of the year!

I found a similar sort of thing with the Vintage Microtubes (non-ultra), I assumed it was vintage as in 60s Motown and Blues kind of thump that you can add a bit of light overdriven tubey breakup to but I got the impression that it's 'vintage' in terms of metal, or perhaps in terms of vintage punk/garage rock sort of stuff - too clanky for me.