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Bassbone (Radial)

Thumper

Thumper

Supporting Member
Mar 22, 2000
5,272
10,997
74
Syracuse Ut
#1
Being unhappy with the output & tone of my passive '51 PJ Benavente, I decided to gamble and get one of these. It got here last week, but alas, no band practice during the Holidays, so I haven't run it through my rig.

I did spend some time at home through my Pocket Rockit, and the initial results are positive. I can get the output level of my passives to be close enough to my actives to use them during gigs. The onboard EQ (Channel 2 meant for passives) is very powerful, and the Channel 1 preset EQs include an enhanced bass/mid/treble contour or a scouped bass/mid sound which would be great for some of the one trick pony basses I've had.

The Bassbone itself is built like a tank, it's the heaviest pedal I've ever held, and it looks to be built for the long run.

Has anyone used one of these through their rig? If so, I'd like to hear your comments. I'll update this thread once I have.
 
#5
I used my Bassbone for the first time this weekend, mixing my Modulus Q6 Sweetspot and Jack Read Custom Fretless. I was suitably impressed.

I set it up using the recommendations in the manual, and had absolutely no problem with noise or a lack of headroom. It was pretty much the same sound I normally get with my basses, so I was happy.

I'm not much of an effects guy, so I just stuck a Trace Dual Compressor pedal in the effects loop to even out my slap playing a bit and add some mwah to the fretless. I used the loop/boost combo, which worked out great for bringing everything up to an equal level during the night.

I didn't get to use the DI this time, but would assume that Radial's reputation for making great DIs will hold true in this case.

FYI, the original Bassbone was meant to have three inputs instead of two, and there was no ground lift on it. If you saw the product spotlight in Bass Player when they first announced the Bassbone you saw the original design sans a ground lift. I'm guessing this change was made before any units made it out into the field.

We'll be doing a coffee house gig during the day on New Year's Eve, and I'm going to chance it and not bring an amp and see how things go.

Let me know if you have any other specific questions. I'm going to be gigging and practicing a lot this week, so I'll have the opportunity to do some experimenting and such.
 
#6
I didn't get the opportunity to play around with the EQ all that much for this particular gig. I have rehearsal this afternoon and will play around with the EQ section a bit and post my observations. I have the OBP-1 in my Modulus (until I get the OBP-3 installed later this week), which is basically the onboard version of the Aguilar box, so I can make some comparisons. I also have the SansAmp Bass DI and will make some comparisons there as well.

I really bought this unit more for the ability to mix two basses and the boost/effects loop and DI. My intended use is to use channel 2 for my Conklin electric upright or Taylor Acoustic, but the Conklin is in the shop and the Taylor wasn't necessary for that particular gig. The Read has a more usable EQ, so I didn't have as much need for that feature this weekend and had little time to investigate.

I did end up preferring the Contour 1 setting to flat, but the difference was slight. I hated the Countour 2 setting, which is your 75hz boost, so perhaps you're right about it being voiced kind of high. For the fretless I just pumped up the mid control a bit...got a bit more growl and was happy.
 
#7
Originally posted by Modulator
I didn't get the opportunity to play around with the EQ all that much for this particular gig. I have rehearsal this afternoon and will play around with the EQ section a bit and post my observations. I have the OBP-1 in my Modulus (until I get the OBP-3 installed later this week), which is basically the onboard version of the Aguilar box, so I can make some comparisons. I also have the SansAmp Bass DI and will make some comparisons there as well.
Click to expand...

Looking forward to reading comparisons between the Bassbone and the SansAmp.
 
#10
I'm gigging with mine tonite, so I should have a review tomorrow. I've used it with my rig at practice twice, and so far so good. I may not use a passive this time around though, planning on the Lakland 5 standard and Modulus Genesis 5, but may take the Benavente '51 P/J 5 just in case the vibe is right for it.
 
#13
The Bassbone worked well for me during last Sat’s gig. However, the sound man just plugged into the back of my Eden since it was close to some wall connections this club had, so I don’t know how the DI sounds. Also, I never used the passive bass which was why I got the Bassbone in the first place (it’s been so cold here, I only wanted to take two basses with). It took me a minute to figure out why the effect loop wasn’t working, turns out the fancy cable you need to buy definitely cares which end goes into the input of the effects pedal. We play again on the 24th, I’ll definitely take the passive with then and post the results. At practice tonite, I’m going to play an active bass with no mid-range adjustment through Channel 2 to see how the EQ works on an active instrument.

BTW, and unrelated, I got MANY compliments on my Hercules rackmount guitar/bass rack/holder. Seems that getting the basses up off the floor really makes them stand out visually. The only drawback is, I had to take an extra cabinet (2 total) to have ground clearance.
 
#14
We had a great gig Saturday, but due to unexpected circumstances, I still haven’t used a passive with the Bassbone on stage.

What I have done twice though is use it with an active bass. I wish I’d had this box for the last 3-4 years, it would have saved me a lot of $ on the bass merry-go-round. Using my favorite fretted bass (Lakland standard 55), I hit Channel 2 which was originally set up for my passive, and there was that low, phat, ballsy sound I’ve been looking for. All I had to do was reduce the ouput level and back off the highs/mids to get my sound (imaging a J bass with the punch and bottem end of a P bass). For the first time in 5 years, I only used one bass for all 4 sets! I’ve also used it with my 2 band Modulus Genesis. Again, using Channel 2 (active EQ), I was able to get the bottom end to blossom, while punching through with some mid adjustment.

I’ll update this when I get around to using it live with a passive bass, but since my Benevente is 10 + pounds, that could be a while. Maybe I’ll bust out the ‘66J instead, even if it is missing a string. :D

This is a wonderful box, and I’m not prone to good reviews or being easily satisfied (just look at my gear list)!

BTW, anybody want to buy a SansAmp?
 
#16
I mentioned this in a different thread:

Got one of these cheap a few months back and it works great for my app.

Active bass thru the bypassed channel 1.
Passive bass thru the eq'ed channel 2 w/slight bass, mid and volume boost.

Makes switching basses a snap, no tweaking necessary!

Don't care for the Channel 1 contour presets but don't really need them.

* The bass is voiced a bit high (~75-100?) on the EQ section.
 

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