Geddy Lee pedal

[Al Krow]

30 minutes ago, Dosi Y'Anarchy said:

I think I paid £170 for mine in the States (when you convert it from dollars) and that included the state tax.  If the cheapest I can get it now I'm back at home is £230, and that's from Thomann in Germany then I think something must be up.

I also bought the q-strip whilst in the US last year. Think I paid around £160 (from Prymaxe, might have been b-stock), the cheapest I can see it is £270 now.

As far as I'm concerned, Tech21 can charge as much as they want for their products but what I dislike is the massive hike in price when not buying in the US. 

But isn't most of that price hike just shipping, £12 'handling charges', customs duties and 20% VAT? 

[Dosi Y'Anarchy]

You could be right, it's possible I just don't notice the disparity with other manufacturers.

However, as an example, the EQD Plumes is $99 in the States and £105 on Andertons.

The YYZ is $199 in the States but £250 in most places here. I'll agree, it's probably not such a big difference but it's still a bigger difference than with some other brands.

It's still a great pedal. I feel its more of a principle here though. I could be looking at things wrong though and not taking certain things into account.

Edited August 13, 2019 by Dosi Y'Anarchy

[ezbass]

I’ve just seen video from Australia where they are selling them for $399 AU. An online calculator informs me that this is equivalent to around £223. Hmm 🤔 

[artisan]

Just got one of these from gear4music on Saturday,£236 on my vip account 😁

Used it on Saturday night & am very impressed indeed.

I play classic rock so always have overdrive on my bass,previous I used the drive on my MT900 head but was never over happy with the sound,but with the YYZ I dialed on a glorious tone that really thundered through.

When coupled to my Darkglass AOU it proper kicked donkey 😁

Even the drummer commented on it 😲

 

Edited August 19, 2019 by artisan

[dannybuoy]

Great example of the YYZ pedal on a track here:

 

[Al Krow]

Really liked that track including the bass line. 

Not come across these guys before, but I'll be looking out for them going forward!

[dannybuoy]

It's Tim Starace, the bearded chap who's posted many many vids of Rush covers with various Tech21 preamps. I just assumed he was in a Rush cover band or something, but was pleasantly surprised by that track also. I'll be checking the album out later!

[Al Krow]

I'm actually really tempted by the pedal now - if that is indeed what he is using on those tracks, has he confirmed that?

What are your thoughts about getting close to that sound on Helix? As you can tell by that question, I'm also balking a little at the £249 price tag!

[prowla]

10 hours ago, Al Krow said:

Really liked that track including the bass line. 

Not come across these guys before, but I'll be looking out for them going forward!

Tim Starace frequents some of the FB forums - top bloke!

They started as a Rush tribute and are now doing their own stuff too.

[Al Krow]

11 minutes ago, prowla said:

Tim Starace frequents some of the FB forums - top bloke!

They started as a Rush tribute and are now doing their own stuff too.

Yup I've exchanged messages with Tim on TB before. Does seem like a good guy / really talented bass player! (See also my earlier July 16th post above with a YT clip of him). I hadn't put 2+2 together about him being the bass player in YYNOT, but all makes good sense! 

[prowla]

I didn't mention it in this thread, but I tried on out in Wunjo a couple of months ago I set all of the controls to 12 o'clock, plugged in a Ric and into a Markbass amp, and it just sounded spot-on.

My only gripe was that £250 is a lot for a pedal where you're not even going to use the knobs...

If I get one, I would probably paint over the finish, rather than have Geddy staring at me in perpetuity!

[prowla]

Just now, Al Krow said:

Yup I've exchanged messages with Tim on TB before. Does seem like a good guy / really talented bass player! (See also my earlier July 16th post above with a YT clip of him). I hadn't put 2+2 together about him being the bass player in YYNOT, but all makes good sense! 

The singer is rather good too - she has interesting nuances to her voice, rather than just trying to be Geddy.

[Al Krow]

1 minute ago, prowla said:

The singer is rather good too - she has interesting nuances to her voice, rather than just trying to be Geddy.

Yeah, great that she's doing her own thing. Have to say my immediate reaction was that she came across as a bit Amy Lee (Evanescence) Lite. I'm probably being unduly harsh though...

5 minutes ago, prowla said:

My only gripe was that £250 is a lot for a pedal where you're not even going to use the knobs...

You, me and the rest of the world mate! 

[prowla]

(I quite like Evanescence...)

[dannybuoy]

1 hour ago, Al Krow said:

I'm actually really tempted by the pedal now - if that is indeed what he is using on those tracks, has he confirmed that?

What are your thoughts about getting close to that sound on Helix? As you can tell by that question, I'm also balking a little at the £249 price tag!

Yeah he stated so on the TB thread. Most likely recorded direct from the pedal.

Is the Sansamp model available on the Helix yet? If so I'd try a clean signal EQ'd with a bass boost and treble cut, in parallel with a HPF (the tight switch) into a parametric mid boost, into the Sansamp. Might be able to skip the mid EQ if the Sansamp is modelled after the v2 with the mid control AND that pedal has the mid control before the clipping section like the YYZ (I've no idea but it's easy to tell by seeing if boosting/cutting mids gives you more/less grit).

£249 is rather expensive yes. I don't know if @tonyxtiger has any left at the discount rate. I got mine from US eBay for about £170 delivered, no customs charges and took a week - but you take a gamble on whether the seller marks the package value down! Quite a few do by default, they must realise it's good for business!

 

Edited September 25, 2019 by dannybuoy

[Al Krow]

Aha so you avoided 20% VAT and Customs duties on top, which accounts for a big chunk of the difference. 

Thanks for the Helix tip, I'll give it a spin. 

I do have a Tech 21 Red Ripper - wonder if it might be better to use that as my starting point. 

What's happened to the days of getting a decent bass pedal for £100 eh?! 😎 

 

Edited September 26, 2019 by Al Krow

[prowla]

In mitigation of the price, I've spent more than that faffing around buying other pedals which haven't quite been right...

[Al Krow]

52 minutes ago, prowla said:

(I quite like Evanescence...)

Me too. What's not to like? 😉

[Cosmo Valdemar]

I'm itching to try one of these, and have been tempted to get one on drip several times, but I'm struggling to imagine what it could do that my DP-3X doesn't already.

Edited September 25, 2019 by Cosmo Valdemar

[Cuzzie]

1 hour ago, Al Krow said:

Aha so you avoided 20% VAT and Customs duties on top, which accounts for a big chunk of the difference. 

Thanks for the Helix tip, I'll give it a spin. 

I do have a Tech 21 Red Panda - wonder if it might be better to use that as my starting point. 

What's happened to the days of getting a decent bass pedal for £100 eh?! 😎 

 

Ripper is massively different to Geddy

[dannybuoy]

35 minutes ago, Cosmo Valdemar said:

I'm itching to try one of these, and have been tempted to get one on drip several times, but I'm struggling to imagine what it could do that my DP-3X doesn't already.

It's quite different, the YYZ has less sizzle and a lot more midrange, and doesn't have the same low end punch as the DP-3X due to the lack of compression.

IMHO the DP-3X is the way to go if you want the bass to help make the entire mix sound bigger and better. YYZ if you want the bass to be more of a lead instrument rather than a supporting one.

[Cosmo Valdemar]

1 hour ago, dannybuoy said:

It's quite different, the YYZ has less sizzle and a lot more midrange, and doesn't have the same low end punch as the DP-3X due to the lack of compression.

IMHO the DP-3X is the way to go if you want the bass to help make the entire mix sound bigger and better. YYZ if you want the bass to be more of a lead instrument rather than a supporting one.

Good to hear from someone who has tried them both out! I should have worded my post a bit better. I meant that my Dug really does hit the spot, particularly with my Rickenbacker - it pulls off a great Ric-O-sound impersonation with that thick bass running underneath the grit on top! I'm sure I'd love the YYZ but it's expensive to find out... I realise the YYZ is voiced differently, but is it going to do satisfy an itch that the Dug isn't already…

Edited September 25, 2019 by Cosmo Valdemar

[Cosmo Valdemar]

Well, I've ordered one! It arrives tomorrow...

[ezbass]

Exciting times, looking forward to the review.

[prowla]

So far the best bass pedal I've tried/used/owned is the Sansamp Bass Driver DI (BDDI).

I debated getting a Bass Fly Rig, but I'd need to do a good comparison. Two things prompted me to consider it: 1. my chorus pedal seems to have stopped working, 2. I've been tidying up my pedalboard and that seemed to offer a neat solution.

I have a VT Bass pedal and it's OK.

I tried the YYZ and liked it, but it's pricey and I don't necessarily want to sound just like Geddy Lee.