Boodang

Yes, make it headless, then 99% of strings made you won’t be able to fit!

So, in response to ‘the best pedal of 2024’, here’s a spot for the worst! Not necessarily the worst made or designed (although they’re not excluded), just not right for you. I’ll start with the Line 6 pod express bass. I think it’s a great pedal but… not for me. The amp modelling is good but all the effects I can do better with my analogue pedal board (although considerably more expensive). Also, can’t update the pedal without having a line 6 account… can’t download the editor without an account. What a faff! Although the editor is cool. Will I be using it in future… hell no and I’ve sold it to a mate already. More of a disappointment is the Earthquarker Blumes… because I had higher expectations I guess. I’m sure for some it’s great, just couldn’t get a good setting for me.

I worked in a shop once where the boss would make decisions for financial reasons knowing it would royally p!ss off some customers. To soften the blow he would give a fake telling off to a member of staff in front of said upset customer, the member of staff would be under instructions to be suitably chastised. Now I’m not saying the boss wasn’t genuinely upset, I guess I’m just cynical (although it is a standard trick of the trade). And it is Xmas, so bah humbug!

Roger Dean prints I take it. Very nice.

A home turf gig last night at the Brit Club for our blues band Purple Haze (a two minute walk for me). Considering a lot of people have gone home for Xmas we still managed a good crowd, even people who were going out on flights early in the morning turned up, so we seem to be getting a bit of a following. Played for two hours, one hour of which was new material, mostly old blues standards, kept the fav Hendrix numbers in of course. On the MM bass I replaced the electronics with just a Delano Xpure (I know I know!) but in my opinion the raw sound of the pickup is an improvement! The fretless jazz got an outing as well. New Charles Guitar trem on the Strat, so lots of wammy use as the guitarist made the best of it, plus new compensated saddles on the Tele. All sounded good and have to say Charles Guitars make some good parts. Did a slowed down version of Hey Joe with an almost country beat (Otis Taylor style) and slide guitar which went down a treat. Last gig of the year and a fun one at that.

Do it! Use the whole thing as an excuse to vlog said 'dramas' on youtube. That could prove more profitable than the gigs.

Warm Audio Mutation Phasor II into an Aguilar Grape Phasor. WA does slow Phasor rates well, the Aguilar does the higher rates well, run both together and it sounds almost like an envelope filter, only imho much better. My latest go to funky setup.

Aguilar Octamizer into a Mr Black Fwonkbeta. Funky synth sounds.

Cog T65 with an Idiotbox Blower Box distortion in the loop. A most viscous synth sound!

I’ve just bought one of these, mostly because it has knobs and doesn’t look like I need a phd in programming to operate. I’m not seeing much on the forum about them but I am seeing a few people sell them! So, a few observations. The amp modelling is good but all the effects I can do better with individual pedals… but then some of my one trick pony pedals cost more than this. However, the one thing I’m struggling with seems to be input gain. Without adjusting anything on the pod I plugged in my MusicMan and on the ‘round’ amp setting it was so distorted. Pressed ‘alt’ to adjust the gain and I had to turn it down to one red led so it didn’t clip. Now has a nice B15 undistorted tone. Does this thing have very low input headroom? My MM is not standard; pickup goes straight to a Delano Sonas xpure, no eq and the output is not hot by any means. Anybody else come across this issue with input sensitivity? I plug this into an xr18 so I can see the input levels, and out of the pod, without clipping the settings, it’s low. Consequently I’m running it thru a xotic super sweet to use as a clean gain boost. How have others found this pedal?

Since installing a Behringer XR18 in my practice / rehearsal room, I use that and the powerplay controller for remote monitor mix into Focal headphones. Flexible solution that covers just practicing through to recording the band.

Steampunk morris dancing…. Surely some pictures are in order!

A pleasure! SCF was the first pedal I ever bought, had one on the board ever since. Sort of pedal you keep and a bargain at that price.

TC Electronic SCF. Looks like Andertons have one on sale for £70. I’ve got the original and reissue, both awesome. Does subtle to extreme, the pitch mod mode is great.

Internet hiccup I think!

Sorry... Multiply post was outside my control!

Yep, we had the same keyboard issue recently. Our keys player doing rehearsals with a cheap keyboard but all the outputs work, no issues. He turns up at the gig with his posh keys, all outputs busted except the headphones. Theses keys play better he announced. I was unprepared lead wise for this (I seem to be the one with all the leads!), and we had limited setup time on a stage shared with other bands, so in the hurry ended up just sending one side of the stereo to FOH. Consequently weird unpredictable sounds from his keys. If the patch was in mono, great, in stereo it was fading in and out as he playing. Not the greatest especially as it was going through a decent pa at an open air gig.

Yep, we had the same keyboard issue recently. Our keys player doing rehearsals with a cheap keyboard but all the outputs work, no issues. He turns up at the gig with his posh keys, all outputs busted except the headphones. Theses keys play better he announced. I was unprepared lead wise for this (I seem to be the one with all the leads!), and we had limited setup time on a stage shared with other bands, so in the hurry ended up just sending one side of the stereo to FOH. Consequently weird unpredictable sounds from his keys. If the patch was in mono, great, in stereo it was fading in and out as he playing. Not the greatest especially as it was going through a decent pa at an open air gig.

Yep, we had the same keyboard issue recently. Our keys player doing rehearsals with a cheap keyboard but all the outputs work, no issues. He turns up at the gig with his posh keys, all outputs busted except the headphones. Theses keys play better he announced. I was unprepared lead wise for this (I seem to be the one with all the leads!), and we had limited setup time on a stage shared with other bands, so in the hurry ended up just sending one side of the stereo to FOH. Consequently weird unpredictable sounds from his keys. If the patch was in mono, great, in stereo it was fading in and out as he playing. Not the greatest especially as it was going through a decent pa at an open air gig.

I use an ekit when volume is an issue. I bought a LD Systems Icoa 15a (about £350) to put the kit through and I have to say it's awesome. It gives a full sound at low volumes but is capable of being pushed, I did a small open air gig, about 200 people, going just out the LD and it worked fine. We even put the bass through it as well for the small gigs to save on gear carrying and it works fine. One thing I finds that helps, is editing the ekit sounds. I have different eq settings in the brain for each of the kits I use that take into account the type of speakers it's going through.... there's a big difference between going into a PA with bins to going through a small speaker like the Icoa. Took me about a year to get the hang of the editing, if the kit has sample layering it really helps. Good luck.

Wow! Brilliant.

For practicing I just use a Behringer mixer and headphones but when I want to amplify, normally when the the band mates come over, I use a couple of LD Systems Icoa 15s. These are great because they will play at low volume with full bass but you can take them to a gig and they’re as loud as you want before needing to go into a PA. 300 watts and approx £350 each. Not exactly monitors but definitely dual purpose when it comes to rehearsing/gigs.

I play a 1 string bass, it’s much more versatile than my zero string bass.

I've recently started a Hendrix tribute / blues band, and these are a must! I can feel an expensive xmas present coming up.... if I can find a pair in my size.