Time for a board, but I'm cheap . .need advice

[pbass2]

I have a few effects I use only on rare occasion, but I figure I might as well 'board 'em up for ease of set-up.
The effects are:

-TU-12 tuner(OK I use that one all the time
-Xotic TriLogic bass pre(also gets heavy use)
-Boss SYB-3 synth pedal
-Moogerfogger MF-101 (no expression pedal, but might wanna add one)
-A yet-as-undetermined distortion pedal of some kind

That's pretty much it (I have a BassPODXT Live but I friggin hate the sound of it). My DIs(JDI and incoming REDDI) will remain separate, off the board.

For recording, I want to be able run a straight clean line out obviously through one of my DIs, and then a separate line for the effected signal(Mooger, etc.). Of course, I don't want the tuner in line with the clean DI signal(I don't care if it's in line with the other effects).
Do I need a Bassbone? What's the best way to approach this as cheap(and good-sounding) as possible?
I MAY want to use this live too, so I guess I'd want it to be versatile enough to switch things around if I didn't have the luxury of two lines to the house. The Bassbone looks great--no doubts about the Radial stuff, but maybe I don't need all it's bells and whistles? Any thoughts?

[SFjonstarr]

I'm more used to seeing the tuner at the begining of the chain (pre clean DI) so you could cut both sends to the house while you tune. This is for live stuff of course. It doesn't sound like you really need to buy anything else for what you're trying to do. I would probably put the DIs on the board. Then you could run bass > clean DI > XLR to board + throughput feeding pedals > output of last pedal > Second DI + throughput to amp.

[pbass2]

That makes sense. Yeah, for live it's not such an issue (in fact, I'm OK if it's all just inline going to the board and the amp the same---most of my live gigs are with a backline, and very little set-up/soundcheck time) but for recording I don't want the tuner in between the bass and the clean DI. I guess I could just re-route/swap things around for live vs. studio.

[SFjonstarr]

You could always just pull the tuner (or anything else not in use) from the chain entirely when recording. For recording you want the least amount of stuff in line as possible to maximize signal to noise ratio and eliminate varibles that could go wrong or have problems.

[pbass2]

Originally Posted by SFjonstarr

You could always just pull the tuner (or anything else not in use) from the chain entirely when recording. For recording you want the least amount of stuff in line as possible to maximize signal to noise ratio and eliminate varibles that could go wrong or have problems.

True, which is kinda what I have been doing(and I usually run my tuner off of the Thru jack on my DI---no mute this way though which is a drag--In fact, in my own studio, I almost never track with any effects--I will track the bass and then do a send to any outboard effects afterwards, or just use plug-ins), but I'm ready for a slicker(slightly) set-up to take out with me, so I can engage the effects when needed quickly/while playing, and/or run a separate effected line in addition to the clean one. Also, I want to be able to mute while tuning, but still not have that Tuner in the clean signal path. I guess what I want is not so simple after all . . . .

[SFjonstarr]

You could try an AB-Y pedal. You would plug your bass into one side and your tuner into one half of the other side and the other plug connected to your clean DI. Then when you hit the switch you would have signal going to the tuner but not the DI send. When you hit the switch again you would be sending to the DI but the tuner would not be in the chain. It would be a hardwire bypass and not too expensive to boot.

[SFjonstarr]

Now that I think of it, Radial makes an AB-Y that is quite highly regarded. I think they just came out with it in the last year or two.

[pbass2]

That's it--this must be what you're referring to:

http://www.radialeng.com/re-hotshot-abo.htm

That's in my budget!

[SFjonstarr]

That's the one. It looks like it might be just the thing for what you're trying to do. On a side note which DI do you plan to use with which chain? I'd probably go with the Reddi for the clean send and the radial for the effected. Either way would have it's benefits I suppose.

[pbass2]

The REDDI is showing up on my doorstep today--very stoked to try it.
I agree, I fully expect to use it for the clean send, and the JDI for the effect send.
I've had nothing but great results with the JDI--I love that thing--will always carry it with me. I actually use it even in situations where I could plug directly into a lo-z input on a mic pre--I've A/B'd it both ways, and I think it imparts a subtle warmth and even-ness. But in my own studio my front end has some nice Summit tube units so I'm getting my warm goodness there. The idea with the REDDI was so I could have some tube warmth also when I go to other studios where I don't know what they've got. From all reports, I think it's gonna get used ALOT, both at home and out and about.

[SFjonstarr]

I think I'll probably wind up getting the Reddi furthur down the line a bit. It looks like it would be incredible from looking at the internals. All the clips I've heard have sounded great. That's interesting that you would prefer the Radial to the mic pre's inputs. It makes me think that the Radial input must be much higher impedance than the mic pre's. That's the only variable that would seem to offer a real up in quality. When you have a higher impedance input off a low impedance output (like a bass output) having the input impedance be ten times or greater than the output gives serveral advantages. You get a more optimum voltage transfer, less heat and the resulting crosstalk due to less current, and less distortion and noise. I think its especially noticable when using piezo pickups, which have a higher output impedance. I think most of the reason I've shunned piezos in the past has been because of the problems you get from bad impedance matching.