One amp to suit them all...

[BigRedX]

6 minutes ago, thodrik said:

That is a really great practical set up and when you state it like that it also is a wise financial investment. 

Also it works as a replacement for both the guitar and bass rigs. 

And in one of the bands I'm playing with, I'm using a Bass VI for alternate "bass" and "guitar" parts. If I was still using traditional amplification, I'd need to have the bass modified to have two separate outputs and have both bass and guitar amplification on stage. With the Helix I just select a different patch when I go from a bass part to a guitar part.

Finally selling all my previous amplification and effects more than covered the cost of the Helix and FRFR.

[Frank Blank]

1 hour ago, Lfalex v1.1 said:

Saving? 🤣

Fair enough.

[thodrik]

12 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

Also it works as a replacement for both the guitar and bass rigs. 

And in one of the bands I'm playing with, I'm using a Bass VI for alternate "bass" and "guitar" parts. If I was still using traditional amplification, I'd need to have the bass modified to have two separate outputs and have both bass and guitar amplification on stage. With the Helix I just select a different patch when I go from a bass part to a guitar part.

Finally selling all my previous amplification and effects more than covered the cost of the Helix and FRFR.

That sounds like a brilliant set up.

I think a Helix is in my future. However, I am still stuck in the 'old school' mentality at the minute and generally go weak at the knees when I see a 'bargain' Mesa, Orange, Trace or Ampeg rig on the BC Marketplace. In lockdown though my thinking has certainly changed and just from messing around with things like Bias FX and Amplitube I am really starting to realise just how far things have come since I bought the original Bass Pod in about 1999!

The last time I was considering buying a Helix, I ended buying a used Mesa Big Block 750, matching 6x10 (essentially my dream set up 10-12 years ago) and a Mesa Rectoverb 50 1x12 guitar combo. The total cost for all of that gear was about £1700, so in terms of 'new RRP' cost comparison it was technically a complete bargain. However is a boutique 6x10 a bargain at any price in terms of practical considerations? The answer is 'no', though I still love that cabinet as it essentially filled my lifelong goal of owning one 'big' cabinet in my lifetime. In terms of practical use I am absolutely confident I would have got far more practical use out of a Helix and FRFR, as well as saving a load of floor space!

The main benefit of buying the Mesa 6x10 is that I have started doing weights in order to be able to physically fit enough move the cab, which has resulted in me getting in much better physical shape, so there is that. 

[lemmywinks]

5 hours ago, thodrik said:

I am really starting to realise just how far things have come since I bought the original Bass Pod in about 1999!

 

Weirdly the other day I was saving an old band CD from way back when (the disc is starting to fail and the only other rip was on a long dead external hard drive) and although I hated it at the time the two songs I recorded on a Bass Pod still held up. The ones I did via a mic'd up Hartke combo made me cringe though!

[thodrik]

19 minutes ago, lemmywinks said:

 

Weirdly the other day I was saving an old band CD from way back when (the disc is starting to fail and the only other rip was on a long dead external hard drive) and although I hated it at the time the two songs I recorded on a Bass Pod still held up. The ones I did via a mic'd up Hartke combo made me cringe though!

I know what you mean. There were great tones in the Pod for sure but you had to work for them rather than rely on the preset tones.I ditched the Pod once I got a Sansamp Bass Driver, not because it was better, but just because of how quick and easy to use it was!

[peteb]

6 hours ago, thodrik said:

The main benefit of buying the Mesa 6x10 is that I have started doing weights in order to be able to physically fit enough move the cab, which has resulted in me getting in much better physical shape, so there is that. 

Win-win