SumOne

Only one way to tell for sure. I've got no will power, am impatient, and it's payday tomorrow so have just ordered one from Amazon (Not Amazon's biggest fan but free delivery and returns with instant refunds makes testing out pedals quite hassle free, hassle free for me anyway- not so sure the retailers would agree).

Anyone here tried the EBS BassIQ Blue Label? https://ebssweden.com/content2/effects/ebs-bassiq-blue-label/ Seems pretty good with controls for threshold, q, attack, and switches for 2x up modes, 1x down, and Full Range, Band Pass, and Low Pass filter options. Analog, true bypass, and "Trim pots are found inside to set the Gain output level of the pedal, a High Pass mix-in trim pot sets the level of high frequencies from the bypassed tone to mix in with the effect. A third trim pot decides the Range of the envelope effect in the pedals UP-R mode setting. " It's £170, at that price it'll need to be better than things like the M82 and the emma discumbobulator v2, but it's cheaper than the Aguilar Filter twin and Mr Black Fwonkbeta, or EarthQuaker Spatial Delivery. On paper it seems to have more control/versatility than them while also being smaller (perhaps could do with having a clean blend like a couple of them have?).....but how does it sound (and feel to play) in real life? Always difficult to tell by comparing youtube videos. .....or better off spending that much on 2nd hand Spectrum or Wonderlove?

^^^^ Cheers, that and a current doubler should do it for me.

^^^ Nice one. The power supply is something I'm looking to change too. Not so much because of the big extra plug in the wall (which is a bit of a hassle) but mostly because of the long straight power connector that goes into the Helix unit which means I can't fit a pedal above it on my board - I want a 90 degree one. My pedal power supply unit only goes to 500mA so the solution seems to be a current doubler (which will be a bit under-powered but hopefully fine), a 2.1 mm to 2.5 mm adapter and center positive to center negative adapter......haven't found any one cable/adapter that fits the bill yet and it doesn't seem the best idea to have all those adapters so I'll stick with the Helix power for now. Edit: In-case anyone tries that- I think Helix things are just center negative like most pedals, so it's just the high mA and 2.5mm size that needs to be considered.

@Doddy nailed it. With that many pedals I'd start considering something like the Boss ES-5 to turn multiple ones on/off at once, and to re-route them. Or a cheaper option is the Brightonion dual reverse lopper.... which I just so happen to be selling in the sales section

Sorry if this has been posted before by does anyone have Amp sim IRs they recommend that work with the Helix Effects? Ideally free ones to start with. The way I understand it is that most IRs are cab + mic sims (and searching around - most are aimed at guitar), but I already have an analogue Bass Cab sim pedal (Bass Simplifier) which is good for that, so is there such a thing as a good Bass Amp IR? I assume they are basically a combination of Comp+ EQ + preamp/Distortion + FX which I can re-create with different effects but that would take up 4+ blocks so I guess a good IR could reduce that down to 1?

Nice. I was torn between the Stomp and Effects. I have a cab sim pedal so I went for the Effects which arrived yesterday. I'm impressed and will be keeping it- it's bumped a few pedals off the board which I think the Helix covers quite well, I'll probably keep others that it doesn't seem to do so well....but they might go too if I can tweak the Helix to sound as good good as them:

Helix Effects arrived today (very fast free post service from GAK - ordered Saturday, arrived Sunday). First impressions are that it's great, I expect I'll keep it and there will be a few of my pedals up for sale to pay for it.

I'll soon find out (HX Effects arrives Monday), but I assume amp and cab sims in the Stomp are basically things that can be done (in theory) with the HX Effects via eq, comp, distortion and fx, or by importing an IR with them set? I have a Bass Simplifier (preamp/cab sim/DI) and moving the mic is pretty much a sweepable tone knob, and 'resonance' seems to be a bass boost + slight reverb, a 1x15 cab is basically eq'd for more bass and less highs etc. Perhaps there's more to it though.

Have gone for the HX Effects. I make full use of returns policies lately so it's easy enough to just try out - if I like it I'll have a few pedals for sale in the next week or so to pay off the credit card!

Nice one. I'm gonna go for it. Just got to decide between the HX Stomp vs HX Effects.

Nice one, yeah since posting that I read backwards and have seen the same sort of things asked. It looks like the Stomp can mostly do what my Preamp/DI , Freeze, Tuner, Chorus, and Compressor do, and selling them would fund it (I wouldn't be selling overdrive, fuzz, envelope filter, octaver as it doesn't seem to do them so well). I reckon I'll go for it.

I'm trying to not be in the market for new pedals but I'm thinking if I sold my tuner, compressor, Freeze, Chorus, preamp/DI then I can minimise my setup and raise enough ££ for an HX Effects or the Stomp (which at only £30 more with amp and cab sims seems better in theory, but I think I'd prefer the interface of the HX so I can't decide between the two). Do they sound as good as those individual pedals though? I know it does lots of additional things too so that's a bonus, but they're the main things I'd want it for. e.g. Does it's Chorus work as well as a dedicated CEB-3 with the low-filter? Is the compressor as good as decent compressor pedals adjusting attack/release/ratio?

@TheGreek it's tricky as it would be a shame to stick with a Bass that doesn't sound/play/fit quite right when there is potentially one out there that does, but there is possibly also a certain amount of 'grass is always greener'; always chasing after something slightly unobtainable, a collector mentality, and the fun of getting new things (I'm speaking about myself here - I've bought/sold 4 Basses in the last year). I also bought/sold about 10 fuzz pedals last year before finding the best one for me, but once I got it I was actually a bit disappointed with myself for spending so much time and effort on something so trivial. I found in the end that the £20 Behringer super fuzz doesn't sound all that different or less enjoyable to use than fuzz pedals 10x the cost. Personally, I'm now trying to focus any dis-satisfaction I have with my sound and playing experience on needing more practice and band playing time rather than getting new gear. I'm sure I could get a Bass that makes a better P style thump, and another that has a better B string, and another that's easier to slap, or a better compressor, but probably the best use of my time is to practice more with what I've already got.

109 Overall. I'd expected to do better at beat alignment as I've spent about 20 years DJing beatmatching with vinyl, seems it's easier to do that with a banging 4/4 than with a beatless orchestral waltz though!

I got annual membership for Scott's Bass Lessons when the first lockdown started last March and found the combination of that and working from home with it easy to pick up the Bass for quick breaks has meant a lot of short bits of practice time when I wouldn't usually have been able to. The 'payers path' part of those lessons has been quite addictive working up through the levels. Having paid for 12 months membership has been incentive to make use of it, and to try and get through as much of it as possible in the time.

I recently got my first Sandberg - a california tm5 sl. The build quality on all the important things is good and it's my favorite Bass I've owned. Great playability and sound. I'd recommended it. However, to be honest there are a few minor things that aren't quite up to the quality of my previous more expensive Dingwall or cheaper Ibanez. Battery compartment pokes out a bit and has the sort of opening you get on a £10 toy, slight gap where the neck meets the body on one side, pickguard raises up at one part, pots don't all have the same resistance, needs tuning a bit more often.....all minor things though.

Thanks for the SBL Functional Theory and Sight reading lessons, I keep going back to them when I feel I should be focussing my practice and knowledge rather aimlessly playing riffs and noodling!

I just got a Sandberg California TM5 SL and it's my favourite Bass I've ever owned. I'm loving the thump of the MM pickup, and the warm tones that can be got from the Jazz pickup, and blending between them, good slap tones too, and nice muted sounds in passive with the tone down, and big dubby bass that can be added with the active EQ. Good neck and fretboard (although I've never understood the need for position markers down the middle of the fretboard- can't see them when playing), good ergonomics, comfortable and nice to play. And 3.3kg?!? I never had much of an issue with Basses being too heavy but it's so much nicer to practice for hours with a lighter Bass. I worried low weight would mean neck dive but I don't notice it doing that, not any more than any other Bass I've owned. My only gripe is a bit of a gap (only about half a mm) between the neck and body where it joins on one side - it doesn't seem to cause any issues though, and the pickguard raised up in one part, and generally the hardware doesn't feel quite as high-end as the Dingwall Combustion I traded it for (or even my previous Ibanez which was half the price). And in an ideal world I'd like a mid EQ with 3 way mid frequency switch - that's one of the best features of the Ibanez SRMS805 and I think it's an option on the Lakland 55-02 via an internal switch. I say 'favourite' rather than 'best' Bass I've owned because the Dingwall Combustion is objectively a better engineered Bass, but it didn't have the variety of tones I was after and was more effort to play; it was 4.5kg, had a slightly uncomfortable reach down to B & E string 1st frets, and it ideally needed plucking in line with the offset direction of the pickups rather than vertically down the strings for consistent tone (if you plucked vertically down from the B to the G you'd go from being in front of the pickup on the B to behind it by the time you get to the G) . But if you were after a high quality well engineered Bass for something like session recording or technical stuff that prioritises note clarity and hi-fi tones, and great sustain, fast playing with lower action, and more consistent string tension and timbre then the Dingwall is the winner. What it comes down to for me though is what's comfortable and fun to play and gets the sounds you want, and for that the Sandberg is my favourite. Some Basses feel like an piece of engineering, others feel like they have character and should be named- this is one that needs a name....Maroon 5 if someone hadn't got their first, or perhaps Sandburgundy.

Nice one, yeah looks like 19mm is just about be do-able. I had a 16.5 Ibanez that was too close, and now have 19mm Dingwall that is good spacing for me - considering getting a TM5 but the string spacing is my only hesitation....that and the fact I'm also considering a Lakland DJ5 or 55-02, anyone here have experience with each of them that would recommend one over the others?

With the TM5 it seems string spacing can be from 18mm-19.5.mm. But does anyone here know if you could have the 19mm+ spacing between all strings? It seems like the obvious answer is yes, but I've been caught out with this before on an ibanez - individually strings could be moved the maximum distance apart, but having all five of them that far apart meant the B and G were were easily slipping off the edge of the frets.