Boodang

PS. I thought this was quite a dismissive and derogatory posting. 'Circus exhibits' and 'w#*kery'.... really?!

I've done a thread on these strings with some clips as well. They sound good when they get there but yes, took about a week of playing before they would settle down. If I broke one on a gig I'd have to swap basses. I like them enough tho to put up with that. Not a million miles away from the Obligato strings on my DB which have the same issues.

Marcus Miller, Mark King, and anyone else who slaps will be glad to know they're a circus exhibit!

You've got to have a solid foundation tone to start with but without going wild there are definitely a few fx which can favour the bass (I'm not including pre amp eq and compression in this category as that's part of your basic tone sculpture). So, not forgetting the ubiquitous envelope filter for your quackingly good funk moments, a subtly blended octaver can work wonders, and I like the Gwizdala trick of using a short delay rather than reverb on the occasion when taste and space permit. And for when an envelope is too much, a phaser is quite funky. That's my basic staple but I'm sure others have much more!

Latest string discovery for my Squier jazz... Galli Synthesis flats. Synthetic core strings. Admittedly these are on a fretless but they feel great, really buttery, and they fit my style of playing, jazz/groove, no slap, plenty of punch without being too dull. They do rounds in the Synthesis as well. Will try them next on the fretted.

Buy an Aguilar TLC compressor, Fuzzistor, chorusaurus, plus a filter twin or grape phaser.... job done. No need for a multi-fx.

Speak for yourself! Not a fan of multi fx effects. Gave up on the Source Audio 'one' series as it involved programming and not knob tweaking, let alone a helix unit!

Yeah, their blurb is still a bit ambiguous. Does that mean it's simulating just the Akai pre-amp or the whole reel unit including the affect of the tape heads as well? I'm guessing by the diode selection switches it's just the pre-amp. A bit academic as the proof is in the pudding. But if it's the pre-amp the effect will be more distortion related, whereas with tape heads, up to a point, it will be more compression.

My biggest pet peeve with pedals... putting the 9v power next to a jack socket. What a pain.

Two issues with just using a multi-effects.... despite what is said about the dsp programming it's not going to sound exactly the same, especially when it comes to analogue pedals, and consequently your not going to get that unique sound that comes with using different pedal makes. Plus, knob tweaking of pedals if more fun than digital programming.

Does this pedal simulate tape saturation or just the saturation of the Akai reel to reel pre amp? An interesting pedal all the same. I like the idea of simulating tape saturation tho, the nearest I've seen in analogue form is the Neve Design unit but it's a bit expensive to get on a whim.

It's sad to say but I remember Budgie mostly for the Roger Dean artwork on their albums.

Nice and cheesy, try the Nils Landgren Funk Unit album 5000 miles. For unlimited cheesiness the Instrument Funk mix on spotify, which has some great stuff on it like Cookin' on 3 burners and Funkallisto.

I agree about Aguilar octamizer, a great sounding, very organic pedal. As for tracking, I don't find it too bad... you have to 'play the pedal' tho. There's a good video by Ian Allison on octaver tips (posted in another thread on bc), by playing close to the neck, using the neck pickup to avoid harmonic overtones, I found the octamizer behaves itself quite well for an analogue device. Mostly I blend in a small amount of smooth filter to thicken the tone, but cranked up and a bit edgy is fun, especially with an envelope after it.

When you do get a replacement that works do post a review.... have been interested in this pedal.

PS the TC Electronic Sub n Up has digital tracking polyphony as well as a classic analogue emulation mode. Along with toneprint capability (which I've found to be v useful on their other pedals) it could be an interesting alternative and the best of both worlds.

This is the old 'digital vs analogue' octaver debate.... digital will track better but analogue will sound more organic. But it's still a matter of taste and if you like the sound of a digital octaver then it'll solve your tracking issues. I like the sound of analogue so have to adjust my playing to suit the pedal.

How much do you rely on the amp for tone control? I've ended up getting all my tone and eq from my pedalboard so instead of a bass amp I use a small PA setup for backline. If you don't need an amp with integrated eq but don't want to go down the PA route then the Toft designed Bassic A900 looks interesting.

I've got a Squier VM jazz and a few upgrades have turned it into something really special. The thing I like about doing upgrades as opposed to just putting the money towards a more expensive bass, is that you get something unique and personal. After all, a VM jazz with creamery pickups, stacked knob 60s preamp, graphtec nut and babicz bridge is not something you can get off the shelf. It might not have been the cheapest of upgrades but it plays and sounds so good I wouldn't swap it for a top of the range american model.

EMG do a passive set designed by Rob Turner that look interesting... JV52. They're split coil but alnico 5 for the neck and alnico 2 for the bridge. Inspired by these I got Creamery pickups to make me a non-split coil set with the alnico 5/2 setup. The combination sounds great on my Squier VM. A pre amp like the Audere would be good, they do a version with a dummy coil which is made to match the coil windings of your pickups, so you can still use standard single coils but with humcancelling... not necessary of course if you go with the split coil. I wanted to keep it traditional and passive, so as well as the Creamery pickups I got a Starr Guitar Systems stacked knob passive pre amp with the 'vitamin' capacitors and a series/parallel switch added.... the pickups sound nice and fat in series mode.

I wouldn't swap hipshots for them but my Squier VM stock tuners are getting replaced with these. It already has a graphtec nut installed when it went for its last setup.

See, that's what happens when you read threads with xmas hangover still in effect! Still, it made me look at Gibsons and now I want a Thunderbird!

I agree. Look at Heritage guitars, emphasis on craftsmanship and something to aspire to... they've certainly left the mass produced market to others and they seem to be doing well. After all, you look at Alembic, Wal, Sadowsky etc and they've carved out a place in the market, I'm sure Gibson could with a return to core values.

There's a channel on YouTube sponsored by Reverb called 'bass walk of the week' which goes thru the most famous lines and proponents off the style.. Paul Chambers, Ron Carter, Ray Brown etc. Really useful as it not only gives you a starting point but also an explanation of how and why the particular line works. Ed Freidland also has a great book on creating walking bass lines.