SumOne

Yeah it's similar to the BEF (x2!), I seem to remember that going a bit more extreme - more quack and resonant big peaks that could do with a compressor after it, the Robotalk is better behaved (not sure that's necessarily a good thing from a filter or not though)....it is possibly just down to me now using quite dark/thuddy tapewound strings though - I used steel strings when I had the BEF.

Quite a few pedal changes lately, I'm liking this lot: Switchblade Pro: Very useful - great if you've got a pedal with volume drops or needs a clean blend, or want to engage more than one pedal at once or bypass them completely when not in use, or want to change the order of pedals, or run pedals in parallel, or boost your clean signal...or probably more I can't think of right now! Loop A: Robotalk 2 - only got it today but first impressions are it's really good. 2x envelope filters in one and each channel has more control than a lot of singe envelope filter pedals have. EBS DPhaser - the best Phaser I've owned, lots of control (and quite a few internally adjustable controls) and lots of usable funky sounds. MXR Brown Acid Fuzz - my favourite fuzz. Loop B: Zoom B1 Four - only recently got this but so far I'm impressed, it's good value for money even if just using for Tuner + EQ + Chorus (the main things I wanted it for) but also includes Preamps, Looper, Drum loops, and FX like delay that I don't use often enough to need separate pedals for. Being in a Loop B of the Switchblade Pro means I can do things like use the Zoom for EQ ahead of pedals in Loop A, or use it after Loop A pedals to do things like add delay). VT Bass - Good tones and 6x presets to add the final stage of EQ or overdrive. I bypass it if using things ahead of it that I want completely unaffected (like the MXR Fuzz or some Zoom preamp settings), I'm not using the VT FX loop because if you bypass the VT presets it also bypasses the FX loop. I like the VT Deluxe but I think I might replace it with separate pedals to give more flexibility and to have a DI after the compressor: A dedicated foot-switchable programmable EQ (a Source Audio EQ v1 was for sale 2nd hand for £80), dedicated simple Preamp/Overdrive pedals (like the One Control pedals or the Solid Gold FX Beta which I already have but has been sidelined due to boardspace), and a simple utility type non-preamp DI after the Compressor. FEA Opti-FET Compressor - the best compressor I've used, footswitchable sidechain is great. I put it at the end of the chain as it adds a subtle bit of tone enhancing that gets lost if other things are after it.

Ah, that's a shame. I guess it's not such good value in that case.

If you could only choose one filter pedal - get one that gives you two! I just got the Xotic Robotalk 2 and it seems decent. Two bandpass filters that can be combined, each with independent footswitches, volume, decay, sensitivity, resonance, and there's a clean blend. (Ideally I'd like a up/down sweep switch, and low pass/bandpass switch...but that's probably being greedy).

As always from Harley Benton this looks like good value: (EDIT: Don't listen to me, check out the posts below from those that actually know!) https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_custom_line_bass_di_expander.htm?sid=cc29ebe2215ef12e2a2a0c2a4f34f245

Yeah that's all good, but it needs a separate DI box at the end - which is kind of what I'm concluding, that ideally I want separate footswitchable preamp/eq/od/effects/compressor pedals that I can turn on/off individually and use in different combinations, and a separate utility type DI that is always on at the end chain as it isn't any type of tone enhancer and works well with any combination being before it.

That sounds exactly what the VT Deluxe is great at. Something I've found useful is this post 10 years ago on talkbass by Tech 21: Nov 18, 2011#7 tech21nycCommercial User

Exactly! Unless you go for an open bar attitude and make yourself feel ill.

I think the combined DI/Preamp thing might just not be for me because after a few more days mucking about with the VT Deluxe I've found it still has some of the same issues as other DI/Preamps in how it plays with other pedals. One example is I want Fuzz and Chorus un-affected by the VT preamp because it muffles the Fuzz a bit- but with the VT Deluxe it's impossible to have a preset with a true clean/unaffected tone (it can sound very close to a clean tone but then when you put the fuzz signal through it you realise it is always colouring it), you can bypass the VT presets and still use it as a DI but that means it's FX loop is also bypassed so to get this Fuzz>Chorus>DI combination with no VT preamp colour the Fuzz and Chorus can't go in the VT FX loop and they can't go after the VT (as it's also the DI), so they need to be before the VT and the VT presets need to be bypassed: Fuzz>Chorus> VT Preamp & DI ....but that means it's not possible to use that Chorus after the VT preamp tones which is something I also want to be able to do. It's not a big deal and isn't unique to the VT Deluxe - in fact, it has a lot more flexibility to get around this than most combined DI/Preamp pedals but I think it's potentially a similar issue when using things like octavers and envelope filters going into modulation and delays and sometimes not wanting any preamp colouring while also wanting to be able to sometimes have preamp colouring/OD with modulation and delays after it. That's solved buy having separate DI and Preamp pedals: Fuzz>Preamp>Chorus>DI, or Fuzz>Preamp>Chorus>DI.

I got a Bass Clone today but I think that was a bit of a rash buying decision now I've used it a bit as it sounds fine but I think something like the Zoom multi-FX pedals get pretty close to the sound and it's not something I want to use all that often or do lot of tweaking to once set. I think it will be getting returned/replaced with a B1 four.

Sold a FI pedal to Bas and everything went well - you can deal with him and know it's all good.

Yeah, I don't expect they will ever be within my means...and even if they were I'm not sure I could justify spending that.

Or if you have £1k burning a hole in your pocket there's the Noble or REDDI. I think I'd expect more from them than a DI/Preamp could ever do if I spent that amount though.

Thanks, I'll open it up and to try to see if there's any clues about what the existing ones are. Oddly enough, I must have an American doppelganger as I just found that someone else was considering this about 9 years ago and didn't seem to get resolved but then someone resurrected the thread it a few weeks ago to see if it has been done (it doesn't seem to have been and Tech21 gave a warning to not try it yourself!) https://www.talkbass.com/threads/changing-led-colors-on-vt-bass-deluxe.893889/ ....still though, I'm keen!

I like preamp pedals (probably as I don't have a good amp!), they all seem to be quite different from each other as far as features/tones so there's potentially a lot to get through. I've had Sansamp BBDI v2, EBS Microbass 2, DHA VT1 EQ, Bass Simplifier, (and the smaller overdrive/preamp pedals like the Crimson Red and the Solid Gold FX Beta) and all were really good but quite different. The issue I had with all of them if using at the end of the signal chain as a preamp was how they played with other pedals e.g. you can get a great tube type overdrive tone with the BBDI but if you have something like a Fuzz or Envelope filter ahead of it lots of their tone gets muffled so you need to turn down the blend when using them and then turn it back when you want the sansamp overdrive. You can get around that knob twiddling a bit with the Bass Simplifier having 2x FX loops and the Microbass A/B (or A+B) channels and FX loop but there were certain issues with doing those things and I found myself still having to either adjust the preamp pedals depending on what other pedals were being used with them or leave them in quite neutral settings to not keep needing to fiddle about. I've just got a Sansamp VT Bass Deluxe that solves that issue for me: 6x presets all easily accessible on footswitches without menu diving, and a foot-switchable FX loop. So can do things like run an envelope filter ahead of the VT and then have a VT setting to reduce the highs and add a bit of overdrive to it, or can put Fuzz in the FX loop and have a setting so the VT feeds it more mids, or settings where the VT is running a dubby EQ or an Overdrive (it has good overdrive tones). ....probably after a few months something else will catch my eye though!

My 00Funk clone build has stalled for the time being, something's not working and I think it's where I burnt the pcb trying to remove a diode, or the other mistake I made was accidentally resting the side soldering iron on a component while I was soldering the pots on to the other side....or it could be any number of things! I'm thinking it might be best to just buy the pcb and on-board components again but will step back from it for a bit. I'm not letting that hold me back though! It has given me a taste for this hopefully simple mod: I've got a VT Deluxe and one slight issue with it is that all of the LEDs are red, I would like them to be different colours to make it more obvious what is on - particularly the A/B inputs. Given that different colour LEDs = different voltage drop I'm guessing this isn't just a case of being like changing a lightbulb though, but with Red being 1.63-2.03 volt drop and Green being within that range at 1.9-4 .00 (or Orange being close at 2.03-2.10) would it be possible to just make that swop without having to also change other things like the resistors?

Just putting this seed of an unfounded prediction out there seeing as I have a v3 and am fickle with buying/selling pedals all the time: The v1/v3 will be sought after classics and anything after them won't be as good for some reason (cost savings or availability of a certain chip or something). The v1/v3 will be like the DOD Meatbox, or original Mu-Tron III, or MF-101....prices are only going up!

If there is a pedal that says 'let's groove' on it and makes that sound I'd want it too....unfortunately I don't think there is one. You could get a second hand one of the cheaper synth pedals for a roughly similar sound (EHX Bass Micro Synth 'sub' setting, or the Boss SYB-5). But cheap bass synth pedals are pretty annoying for poor tracking and latency. Or an an octaver like the OC-2 sounds similar enough. The C4 and Future Impact are going to probably be the best for getting the sound and having good tracking and low latency, they're expensive though.

Nice one. Now I'm tempted again!

Helix Stomp and Dual Switch up for sale on here, not for any particularly good reason other than I'm fickle and must want something to do with my time! I think I just like trying out new pedals too much. (And I need to fund my new Bike & Ice Cream hobby).