Hello Folks, I'm to the point right now that its beneficial to have multiple boards for a few reasons... To leave at gigs, something set up at home all the time, backup gear, & running between rehearsals and studios. Right now I'm working on my 3 board (I know some of you are shaking your heads but IDGAF) Come geek with me. All of start out the same Polytune Tuner -> MXR Bass Compressor -> 'Some kind of Darkglass' and they all end to some kind of DI preamp that has an EQ for ampless situations. Board 1 my staple and fly out. - Polytune Tuner -> MXR Bass Compressor -> Darkglass B3K -> MXR Bass Envlolpe Filter -> MXR Octave Deluxe -> Pigtronic EP-2 Envelope Phaser -> Basswitch or A-Designs KGB Board 2 - is a clone of Board 1 but bigger if I want to experiment with other pedals or use a Bass whammy of some kind. I can easily throw handful more on if I want. Board 3 is my rock board and I'm the building - Polytune Tuner -> MXR Bass Compressor -> Darkglass Microtubes X -> Darkglass Vintage microtubes -> EBS IQ set up for to release real fast -> Basswitch or Nordstrands new pre (smaller board)
I’m on board (mind the pun) with this idea. I personally have three boards, but have two to three pedals that I move from board to board (depending on the gig). I would love to have duplicates of a few of my pedals. Just so I can have permanent set ups (with slight variations- of each board) The reasoning for this is pretty straight forward I think. I know what I want my tone to sound like but don’t always want a big board. I would love to have that same tone in different size set ups.
How are you enjoying the Q Strip @TonyP- ? With all of the talk of HPFs and LPFs lately I feel I might be missing something? Best wishes, Brent
Brent, I just ordered it and a good a friend of mine loves his and if it does not work for me (which I’m not suspecting) I will use the Nordstrand pre which is killer. Board 3 is still in the works.
At one point I did something like this. I had a large board (Pedaltrain Classic 2) for gigs and a much smaller board (Nano+) for taking to practice/sitting at home. I got into some boutique pedals and didn't really want to spend the money to double up the board, so I pieced out the smaller board and carry around the large one now. It's not too much of a hassle except that I'm in 3 projects right now so I have to pack and unpack it a couple times a week.
Luckily I’m not really into boutiques (unless you call Darkglass boutiques, but I work with them). For me it’s like 5-6 days a week and I’m just over it lol... I got the last piece of board 2 from you. Board 1 at the main gig and travel Board 2 at home (get to play with new stuff). Board 3 is small and can use at rock gigs and/or leave at rehersal.
I run into an MXR compressor->MBD 1->Nano POG (this replaced the MXR)->Tech 21 Bass Boost Chorus-> Mesa Subway DI->OmniCabSim. Adding in a TAFM next week when it gets here. Makes it easy to run things straight to FOH and sound pretty much the same everywhere. I tried running less expensive versions of the same genres, but I couldn't quite get it to sound the way that I wanted it to be and it always bothered me. Definitely more than it should have, but I couldn't quite get over that I had the sound I wanted somewhere else and not at the practice space or wherever I was playing.
Dude that is a nice setup. There are more exspensice compressors but I love those MXRs and I use the meter to adjust gain ect. I could try thr Darkglass but to be honest I just haven’t yet (if its not broken don’t try and fix it type of thing) I play hard and love that type of compression.
What sound/effect are you going for with your MXR compressor? Do you mind sharing your settings? It’s been one of the harder pedals for me to figure out and I feel its impact is fairly subtle through much of its range. Also have you considered a cam sim for the direct in setups or does your EQ already let you setup a cab sim of sorts?
Hey @speedball3 in order here lol. 1. I'm going for not a sound but eveness as much as possible. For those who thing a compressor takes away your dynamics I politely disagree...I can play soft and have subtle effect when the call for that, but most of the time its hard. So the effect is eveness (not a tubish type compression or a tone change so to speak). 2. Sure I will have that in the next post since I took a pic of it on my phone this morning. 3. Do you really want to open that box...lol The answer is not a short one and some TB-ers will not relate or understand my point of view on it. I love the DSM omnicabsim but for my theater stuff FOH wants me compressed sound and other filters and such are part of routines. I also did not have a spot for it on the board for the longest time until now. Which I'm sure I'm going to play around with it on board 2 because it will have the space. For my own instrumental and rock stuff I have GK amps (either for recording and live) so I don't really need it persay. If I was touring in a rock or my own gig and had no real backline then the DSM Omnicabsim would be a must. Great product, I was interviewed back in Dec 17 in Bass Musician Magazine and talk about that pedal specifically.
@speedball3 Take into consideration I have a hard right hand technique, I’m running in series most of the time with an active pre...As a result I'm coming into the pedal hard...This is no passive fender J or P coming in...So my ratio is very high at 12:1. So this setting my not work for most (I'm suspecting) and yes its suposed to be subtle. I want my lows heard as much as much highs. I also grab and release on the quicker side of things...As far as output I plug my bass into my rig, get an idea of volume and then match that volume though my board. Since everything is true bypass I add a little gain at my compressor. I love it....
@TonyP- Thanks for all the info and settings pic!! I’ve been using my MXR compressor for the same volume-evenness goal but have been using a more heavy handed approach with 20:1, slower release and faster attack. I’m still trying to train my “compressor ear” and sometimes I wonder if I’m fooling myself when I mess with that pedal I recently got a looper pedal though, so hopefully will be able to dig in and hear the subtleties... anyway appreciate the brain-dump and you sharing your approach!
Good thread, Tony! Not a bad idea to have a couple different boards. I do it a little different, though. I have no duplicates of the same pedals. I am way too cheap for that! Instead, I have different pedals that do similar functions and/or combine functions thst I use separates for on my main board. Like I do an Ampeg Scrambler and MXR Bass Distortion for dirt along with H and LPFs so they don't sound all tinny or woofy in the PA, but if all I need for a gig is some dirt, I'll bring a VT Deluxe because it's one pedal that does all of those things and has presets, plus I can throw a rechargeable battery in it and it'll last forever. Or instead of the OC2 and the Pitchfork, I'll bring my Tender Octaver because it's tiny. But I really don't get too bothered by swapping out pedals now that I don't try to jam tons of pedals on my board anymore. God, sometimes I see pics of boards I've put together in the past and wonder what I was thinking!