MrDinsdale

I think the HX One is a tough sell against the Stomp in terms of value for money. If I was in the market for a delay/reverb or something then it’s a pretty tempting proposition. Especially compared to some of the boutique stuff out there.

One thing Helix has which stuff like the GT1000core is missing is a healthy community sharing patches etc. It’s worth having a look at some of the supporting stuff.

Even if it was at end of life, it still sounds great and does more than enough. You could hold out and try to get a bargain if people start upgrading to a new shiny product. It still seems to be doing well, it could be a couple of years before a new version is out and even longer until a Stomp sized replacement is released. Or it could be tomorrow.

I’d think of the HX as a utility pedal, you can pop it on your board and hook in your favourite dedicated pedals with the fx loops. Even if you don’t use many of the fx they’re there should you need it not to mention all the EQ options there. That’s how I use the Boss GTcore, I’ve come to terms that it’s mostly acting to normalise levels for different instruments, noise gate and EQ stuff. It’s there if I ever want a looper or to experiment with different effects. Having access to all those fx and options is an excellent way to curb GAS issues too. Not really an answer to your question but hopefully a useful counterpoint 😂

Active basses can be quieter than passive basses, it completely depends on the preamp and pickups. Many active basses have passive pickups, it’s the preamp that is active. Stuff like EMG has active pickups and preamps. You can also use active basses and preamp pedals. Some people don’t like having many preamps/eqs in the signal chain as they might mess with the transparency of the tone etc or have multiple eqs interacting/fighting with each other. I’ve used all kinds of combos but I’ve landed on passive mid output pickups and a stellartone tone pot or similar. I’m very keen to try the Lusithand NFP preamp though which acts like a Wal. I actually have 2 preamps in my signal chain always on, the Jad freer Capo and EAE Model feT. That then runs into the front of my amp. This gets me a great basic tone which I can then layer grit to. Just do what sounds good and fits the context.

No issues up until the OxEAE Fuzz which is kind of untested. The Halberd and Dagger are perfect, loads of snarl but never really looses the bottom. I push the mids quite a bit too which helps.

I have a similar thing where I just seem to gravitate towards drives. I’d pick up modulation and time based stuff and never used it. Now I have the Boss GT1000core which can satisfy any modulation, delays, looping and reverbs etc then some preamps and drives that I love. While I don’t really use anything more exotic for band stuff it’s really great to have all those effects at your fingertips incase you do want to go off the beaten track and experiment.

There are some great videos on YouTube that will help you with eq in the DAW. I wouldn’t rely on a pedal as you’ll more than likely need to tweak it as you introduce more instruments etc.

Well I just finished stringing up my BB734a with some steel diamond round core Newtone strings and gotta say they’re excellent so far! I’ve been using DRs for the last couple of years, I’ve tried a few other brands but nothing has competed. Not only are they cheaper but they’re made over here too and I don’t give any money to Amazon etc. Will see how they pan out over the next couple of weeks and how quickly they loose the shine but I’ll be ordering more very soon.

I’m now running a guitar (right) and bass (left) board as it got annoying having to tweak settings etc. It’s good having the GT1000core upfront with easy access. Makes it much easier to use the looper and tap tempo etc if needed. On the guitar board I’ve got the OC5 set up so Direct signal goes to the OxEAE then Channel 1 on the Dwarf. Then using the other output from the OC5 with the -1 and +1 signal to Channel 2 of the Dwarf. Really cool, means I can run them through separate signal chains and prevent it messing with the OxEAE texture control. Boss stuff gets a lot of stick but they make some great gear.

Heck! That’s an amazing haul. I think there’s just about every pedal I’ve ever gassed over on one of those boards!

Yeah that’s fair, I guess it depends what you want out of it. In most cases I suspect a more subtle preamp like that is going to be more use in real world settings outside of YouTube demos. For me the passive mode sounds great so the active doesn’t do enough to warrant the hassle of dealing with batteries.

I really fancy Morningstar’s midi loop switcher. Being able to switch physical pedals on and off would be a game changer.

Nice I’ve got the Disaster Area midi baby, the Morningstar stuff looks awesome and a way more practical layout. I think I’m gonna take my fuzz off the board to make room for my midi foot switch and expression pedal.

It’s incredibly superficial but the fret markers on the 734a are delicious. Coupled with the matte finish on the headstock👌otherwise I’d have gone for the 434. I would love a p34 although I need something that is nice but not too nice that I can still throw it around a bit. A 2nd hand 734a even with tweaks sits right in the sweet spot. I definitely have to be in the right mood for the Dibble videos but can’t not watch a review for something I already have 😂 Even while the preamp is a bit underwhelming the rest of the bass is excellent!

Was watching a review of the BB734A last night by Johnny Dimble: Gotta say while I love mine I definitely agree on the preamp, I’ve used passive mode exclusively as it sounds better to my ears. I was actually contemplating switching it out for something different like the Lusithand but it’d be a hassle trying to fill in the empty holes. Is the neck pocket identical on the 434 and 734a?

Wouldn’t say I’m close to a Slo Loris but I’m definitely starting to get something interesting. Playing around with the internal pedal stuff in assigns. Stuff like having oscillating values on the slow gear fx gets some almost tape warp vibes, especially combining with some of the chorus fx. I’ve seen people using the Int pedal on the slicer too to oscillate back and forward through the patterns to create a glitch effect. Very cool!

I’ll be sure to give you a shout. I totally get what you mean, I find myself forever flip flopping back and forwards between pedals vs multifx. 2nd time GT owner here. The way I see it is that even though I’m using a fraction of its capabilities, I still have the other 90% to play with should I ever want to experiment. It helps to reduce the urge to by more stuff too, buying a boutique flanger when I can probably get something in the ballpark with the GT makes it a really hard sell. Mostly…

I like effects (mostly dirt) but trying to scale down from a RB 3.0 pedalboard to a 2.1 was an interesting exercise. Trying to achieve your desired sound with half the pedals was waaay easier than expected. Handy if we ever do a pretty heavy tour and I want a lighter/cheaper board to take. That being said I like to do some experimenting too and having a slightly bigger board with more options is great. The Boss GT1000core and MOD Dwarf are currently doing a great job of minimising my lusting after new modulation and delay pedals.

I think my next thing with the GT is to sit down and try to emulate some cool effects. There are some really cool boutique pedals out there like the Non Human Audio Slow Loris that I love the sound of but could never justify purchasing. Thinking it’d be fun to see if I could get an inspired sound out of the GT. As it stands I’m really not making the most of it for bass, I only use it to set input levels, noise gate and tuner currently. Just need to spend some quality time. Just watched the Justin Chancellor gear walk through and tempted to recreate some of his more out there tones. His board is 50% boss anyways!

I’ve always preferred their Alpha Omega/Omicron range, it’s the only DG dirt sound I got on with. There’s a DemonFX one too I think.

EAE OxEAE Fuzz, absolutely monstrous. Not something I usually gravitate to as there isn’t so much room in the band for it but it’s a load of fun.

On IRs I’ve tried a few and what I found was that for home practice and recording the Shiftline free pack has some excellent sounding cabs. For live though they always seemed way too bass heavy. Now I’m more than happy enough with the Capo preamps HPF, even for higher gain stuff. TBF I gave the concert preamp a go last night and it’s actually much better than I remembered. Still can’t imagine swapping out my Capo anytime soon but will have to build a patch around it.

Nice work! Yeah the preamps never really seemed like a strong point of the GT1k line which is a shame because it’s pretty solid otherwise. Have you uploaded any patches to Boss Tone Exchange?

One thing I always struggled with was getting a good x-over with the LPF/HPFs. It always sounds like it’s boosting or cutting, really need to do the same and try to find a sweet spot. Super powerful unit. I agree on the delays, I have so little use for them. Master delay is more than enough for my needs. If they could fix the preamp/ir block issue and allow input presets to be set to one of the 5 knobs so I could quickly select the right input level I’d be sorted! Oh and custom labels on the footswitches!