SumOne

Yeah, I love synth Bass sounds but I'd had multi-FX pedals with Synth and a Boss SYB-5 and they were enough to put me off using Bass Guitar with synth pedals as they weren't enjoyable to play (latency and tracking issues), needed to heavily modify playing style, and the sounds were really dated- a cheap kids keyboard would give them a run for their money. I came to the conclusion that Bass guitar's strengths are mostly in producing clean Bass guitar tones, perhaps add chorus, envelope filter and distortion or some combination of them to get synthy but no point trying to sound exactly like a keyboard synth that can do so much more so much better for cheaper. ....however! I then got a Source Audio C4 followed by a Future Impact and they are a whole different league. Can't notice latency, tracking is really good (you do still need to be quite 'solid' with each note), and the sounds are often as good as keyboard synths. They're still not as practical as using a keyboard but aren't far off for monophonic stuff (which I prefer) and I find it more fun and creative playing a Bass than a keyboard so I'd recommend them mostly for the fun factor.

I'd agree with what's already been said but I've been through quite a few overdrive pedals including the Spark, Mojo Mojo and Vintage Microtubes and find that generally it comes down to your setup and personal taste (hence me getting through a lot of pedals to try them out) as it's is mainly 'what's your favourite sound' which is very subjective and quite difficult to compare like-for-like via youtube videos. The reason I got rid of them were: Spark had no mid control and I had another pedal that did similar low gain OD and included mid control, Mojo Mojo was a bit 'grainy/synthy' for me compared to the Blueberry Bass Queen Bee that replaced it for me, Vintage microtubes added a bit of higher frequency 'clank' that I wasn't keen on. My favourites have mostly included EQ with mid control (ideally sweepable), but those tend to be bigger and more expensive DI/Preamp/OD combination pedals. A smaller/cheaper OD without EQ (just 'tone' control) that I'm really liking at the moment is the Solid Gold FX Beta - it's similar to the TC Spark style, a bit darker, and a flick of a switch to also have higher gain OD. For a brighter higher gain OD I liked the Way Huge Green Rhino Mk5, it's a tube screamer type OD with useful frequency controls. Personally, I buy quite a lot second hand as they are built to last and they hold their value well so you don't really lose much £ buying/selling and trying a lot out....I suppose that's a bit of a faff but it seems to have become a hobby within a hobby for me!

First time at this so this time next year I might have built a Chunk Systems 00Funk Envelope Filter clone (JedsPeds 'Funkin for Ja Morton' kit).

The thing I've learned is that my top priority should have been to get a Bass that is comfortable/light and fun to pick up, and get a home setup that makes that easy to practice - even if just for a few minutes at a time. Getting that practice time in is much more important than obsessing over Alder vs Ash etc.

Almost all of mine. I guess when done well the album art reflects the music.

Yeah, they're great. It got me thinking:

What is your favourite album art? I'd probably change my mind tomorrow, but off the top of my head right now my top 3 are these: .....clearly I've got a thing for hand-drawn cartoonish stuff! And the best ones give a good impression of what the music sounds like. Perhaps streaming and digital files means the artwork is increasingly designed to be seen as a thumbnail on phone rather than 12", but vinyl sales are fairly strong and I think that's partly down to people appreciating larger-scale album art so hopefully it's something that'll stick around.

I ordered 'Scientist meets the Space Invaders' and incorrectly got sent 'Scientist wins the world cup' which I was ready to return it but I gave it a listen and it's excellent so will be staying (and I'll still get 'Space invaders' at some point). I really like that early 80's transition from classic 70s Roots dub into more digital sounding stuff - like the opening track (riddim also used for 'Two Bad DJ, Can't take another World War'). I've also got 'Scientist Heavyweight Dub champion' which I'd recommend. 'Scientist Rids The World Of The Evil Curse Of The Vampires' sounds good too.

I've realised this isn't a fault: It only does it when scrolling through 'Favorites' where I have previously assigned a particular FS when I saved the effect as a Favorite - it remembers what FS that effect was assigned to and always puts it there (I'll be re-saving my favorites without a FS assigned because I don't find it to be a useful feature).

I did find the BDDI reduced mids but suppose that's the nature of the tone its aimed at giving but I ended up adding an eq pedal. I guess the para driver is the answer for those that want more mid control, EQ for mids and a mid shift:

Cool, I'll back everything up and do a reset if it keeps doing it.

Good luck! Just a few years ago people would be completely amazed to see an iPad wirelessly controlling all the things a Stomp and C4 can do (well, people would still be amazed now - it still seems futuristic).

The simplest thing is to put the C4 into the Stomp FX loop and independently control the C4 patches with a DMC controller going into the C4 USB input. Your iPad>Bluetooth> Stomp 'Midi in' commands would be unaffected (but it also means it wouldn't affect the C4 - other than changing Stomp patches that could do things like turn the FX loop on/off). Alternatively, I think it is probably possible to go iPad>Bluetooth> Stomp 'Midi in'> Stomp 'midi out/through' > Neuro hub > C4 and have the iPad software programmed to send midi messages that change Stomp presets while also being fed through the 'midi out/though' to also change C4 presets at the same time. I haven't done that though so I don't know exactly how to go about doing it.

If I have say, an overdrive assigned to FS1 and Chorus on FS2 and I'm on FS1 with the effect engaged and soft touch to scroll to the next overdrive model in the list to hear what it's like - when I select the new overdrive the FS automatically gets assigned to FS2 (or sometimes another random FS) rather than staying where it was on FS1, so I then need to re-assign it to FS1. Not a big deal but a bit annoying, why is it doing this rather than staying on the FS the original was assigned to? I can't find anything in the manual about this, perhaps it's linked to the 'learn' function and it's trying to be clever to match the FS I've assigned that particular effect to in other presets?

Yeah, I did own the EBS BassIQ Blue Label briefly and quite liked it - ideally I'd would prefer for the internal trim pots to be external....is better than not having it at all though.

Yeah, I'm heading that way! I don't get why more envelope filter pedals don't have the clean/FX volume controls, that's one of the best features of the M82 and seems pretty rare. In fact, there might be others but I think it's just the M82, Seamoon, and Spectrum/C4 that have clean blend and output volume controls (or separate FX and clean volume controls). Surely being able to control the output volume on an effect that on certain settings gets louder/quieter than unity and being able to blend clean/FX levels to get the sound you want are important things? Plenty don't even have output volume controls, I'd be much more keen on getting things like the Maxon AF-9, Pigtronix Envelope Phaser (v2), Emma Discombobulator, 3 Leaf Proton, DOD FX 25 (or, as mentioned in this thread there's the 'B' version which gets a clean blend- but no output volume control and it's below unity?!), or I'd perhaps have kept things I've had like the Fwonkbeta, EBS BassIQ Blue Label etc. if they had clean/FX controls or a mix and output volume control. Rant! If anyone makes an M82 equivalent with a band-pass/low-pass toggle and an up/down sweep toggle then they'll have me at the front of the queue!

Yeah, I really like the MXR M82 but I've owned then sold 3 because I always end up thinking there must be something out there that does the M82 sounds while also having the 'down' sweeping sounds (and because the grass is always greener!). I'm yet to find anything that fits the bill though: Spectrum, Fwonkbeta, EBS BassIQ Blue Label have all come and gone in-between M82's. I think something like the 3 leaf GR2 or Chromatron might be the answer as they have features of the M82 like clean blend, sensitivity, decay and then also having sweep up/down. If I had unlimited board space and budget for 4 filters I think I'd go for: MF-101, M82, Mu-Tron, and a Pigtronix Envelope Phaser.

Am trying to learn Daft Punk 'Voyager', it's just a repeated couple of bars - but quite a tricky couple of bars to make sound as good as this guy:

The Abyssinians 'Declaration of rights'

Ah nice one! I didn't know that, will investigate. 🕵️‍♂️

I've kept my Solid Gold FX Beta OD and MXR Brown Acid Fuzz as couldn't quite get the Stomp to sound as good as them, it does get close though. But it was taking at least 2 blocks to get as close as I could to replicating each of them (EQ + OD, and could probably get closer using other things too) so it starts impacting the block space available (and footswitches) for other things the Stomp can do at the same time.

Yeah, in theory the Stomp can replace most pedals (or at least get pretty close to their sound) and it's footswitch limitations can mostly be solved by using presets, and that external dual switch is well worth having. It's main issues are: not great at envelope filters or synths, I like a compressor with some visual compression indicator and hands on control, and block space can be an issue (I've had it maxxed out at 5 if using certain things) so it can't always replace everything that could be done with big chain of pedals. So I'll be keeping a compressor, synth, and favorite od and fuzz pedals. I'm happy with it, even just as a modulation, delay, eq, amp/cab sim, tuner it would cost about the same to have them as separate pedals.

Another alternative tube preamp/OD is the DHA VT1, added bonus being it has sweepable mid EQ. And there's one for sale on here: A downside is the size of them, but most of these pedals with tubes are big. There is also the MarkBass vintage pre, they seem to have similar features but are £400 new. I'd like to get a smaller sized equivalent but it seems like an expensive game: WR Goliath look good but at about 500 Euros they are a lot more expensive than I'd want to pay, or the Sushi Box London Underground X looks decent but seems impossible to get hold of so I guess they'd cost a lot with demand so high. So all things considered I'd get a DHA - apart from the fact that I wouldn't as I just sold one because it was too big for my pedal board!