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I did, awhile ago. Nice preamp, Fender tone stack. Unless I'm looking for an all in one preamp (like the Bassrig), I don't want a cab sim, which was why I sold it. Sounded great though!
If you're following this thread you can tell that things have been drastically slowing down on the new preamp front for me. I think I'm good - at least for awhile. After hundreds and hundreds of pieces of gear, I'm very happy with my tone and capabilities. I'll still add to this thread from time to time as things come in, and of course I hope this is a good resource for anyone reading this down the road.
I ended up with zero rack gear, 5* pedal boards, 4 amp heads, 3 speaker cabs, 2 combos, and 1 bass.
Just kidding. I have way too many basses. I'm still trying to thin the herd.
I'm finishing up the wiring on the last board now, then I'll post some pics and a summary with what I learned and whatnot. I thought this was a lot of fun, I met some new friends, I learned a ton, and I got to play some absolutely amazing gear - some of which will haunt my dreams for awhile after being sold ....
I accomplished all of my goals and then some, but that was almost secondary, as I really enjoyed the journey!
I hope y'all enjoyed reading and participating and learned something as well. I appreciate all of the suggestion and the GAS y'all have given me as well! As you can tell, I love talking about gear, and it was a great way to stay connected to bass and the music, especially during COVID.
Anyhow, I'll be posting some summary posts and pics soon!
*One of my original goals was to reduce the number of pedal boards that i had. Five is not a reduction. However. The pedal boards are modular. They are not five distinct pedal boards, but rather pieces that fit together and/or have a distinct purpose. And besides, one is so small that it barely qualifies as a pedal board. It's literally just a few pedals... and a board. And a OneSpot. But it's for practice, and ... oh, I'll explain in a bit!
I ended up with zero rack gear, 5* pedal boards, 4 amp heads, 3 speaker cabs, 2 combos, and 1 bass.
Just kidding. I have way too many basses. I'm still trying to thin the herd.
I'm finishing up the wiring on the last board now, then I'll post some pics and a summary with what I learned and whatnot. I thought this was a lot of fun, I met some new friends, I learned a ton, and I got to play some absolutely amazing gear - some of which will haunt my dreams for awhile after being sold ....
I accomplished all of my goals and then some, but that was almost secondary, as I really enjoyed the journey!I hope y'all enjoyed reading and participating and learned something as well. I appreciate all of the suggestion and the GAS y'all have given me as well! As you can tell, I love talking about gear, and it was a great way to stay connected to bass and the music, especially during COVID.
Anyhow, I'll be posting some summary posts and pics soon!
*One of my original goals was to reduce the number of pedal boards that i had. Five is not a reduction. However. The pedal boards are modular. They are not five distinct pedal boards, but rather pieces that fit together and/or have a distinct purpose. And besides, one is so small that it barely qualifies as a pedal board. It's literally just a few pedals... and a board. And a OneSpot. But it's for practice, and ... oh, I'll explain in a bit!
Okay, so as you can tell I write a lot, so I am going to break it down into a few posts.
First, I think it's helpful to revisit why I started all of this over three(!) years ago. I can't really describe it as "tone chasing" - I didn't have a tone in my head that I was after, and at the time I was pretty happy with my sound. Things were changing for me though - I was looking for lightweight, portable, modular, flexible ... and plus COVID was running rampant, so it was a good way for me to stay connected to music. And, of course, I wanted to have fun doing it! And all of this was without sacrificing tone!
I was looking for the best setup for me and my situation, without sacrificing tone. I have owned a ton of amps in my time which actually made this more difficult as there are so many amps that I love and I wanted them all!
If I think of it like a project, my requirements were:
1) Sounds great and a variety of tones - going back to me loving all those amp heads of yore, and plus I play a variety of music - might be funk one day, jazz the next, metal after that. ...
2) Portable/easy to carry - keep things as small and light as possible; I walk to a decent amount of gigs, and otherwise I wanted a one-trip load in
3) Flexible - I needed to cover a variety of gigs, from small coffee shops to large festivals
4) Reliable and roadworthy - the is New Orleans after all!
Kind of secondary is that whatever I ended up with needed to be easy to use. I LOVE the tones I get from my Helix. Love the flexibility, the variety, and the capabilities.
And this might be a little funny coming from an IT guy, but I'm a knob turner at heart. Someone on here once said that they are the same way - that we stare at technology all day and want a break from it. That makes sense to me. I love my Helix, and one of these days I'm going to really embrace it, just not today. Tomorrow doesn't look good either.
I haven't talked about the financial aspect of it at all, but every good project should have a budget. TBH tho, the cost was not nearly as much of a concern as the other four requirements. I am very well compensated by my job, on top of that I make decent money gigging, and I also had a TON of gear that I had acquired over the years that I was planning on selling - starting with some big heads and rack gear, and all of my heavy speakers.
Also, I didn't want to timebox myself, so I figured it would be an ongoing process and that when I was done, I was done. That being said, I know that I will never "truly" be done - and that's a good thing - gotta keep having fun!
Also, it's worth mentioning that I started the process before I started this thread so I had already been through a number of preamps.
There were some other requirements as well. For instance, I absolutely knew that part of the solution would have to include a parametric EQ and at least one Fender tone stack. I knew that I needed HPF/LPF, a GREAT envelope filter, and various dirt.
Other than that, I was also looking to be surprised and to try things that I hadn't considered before - I wanted to try new things and see where things went.
Maybe the main requirement was that I have a good time doing all of this!
To be continued ...
First, I think it's helpful to revisit why I started all of this over three(!) years ago. I can't really describe it as "tone chasing" - I didn't have a tone in my head that I was after, and at the time I was pretty happy with my sound. Things were changing for me though - I was looking for lightweight, portable, modular, flexible ... and plus COVID was running rampant, so it was a good way for me to stay connected to music. And, of course, I wanted to have fun doing it! And all of this was without sacrificing tone!
I was looking for the best setup for me and my situation, without sacrificing tone. I have owned a ton of amps in my time which actually made this more difficult as there are so many amps that I love and I wanted them all!
If I think of it like a project, my requirements were:
1) Sounds great and a variety of tones - going back to me loving all those amp heads of yore, and plus I play a variety of music - might be funk one day, jazz the next, metal after that. ...
2) Portable/easy to carry - keep things as small and light as possible; I walk to a decent amount of gigs, and otherwise I wanted a one-trip load in
3) Flexible - I needed to cover a variety of gigs, from small coffee shops to large festivals
4) Reliable and roadworthy - the is New Orleans after all!
Kind of secondary is that whatever I ended up with needed to be easy to use. I LOVE the tones I get from my Helix. Love the flexibility, the variety, and the capabilities.
And this might be a little funny coming from an IT guy, but I'm a knob turner at heart. Someone on here once said that they are the same way - that we stare at technology all day and want a break from it. That makes sense to me. I love my Helix, and one of these days I'm going to really embrace it, just not today. Tomorrow doesn't look good either.
I haven't talked about the financial aspect of it at all, but every good project should have a budget. TBH tho, the cost was not nearly as much of a concern as the other four requirements. I am very well compensated by my job, on top of that I make decent money gigging, and I also had a TON of gear that I had acquired over the years that I was planning on selling - starting with some big heads and rack gear, and all of my heavy speakers.
Also, I didn't want to timebox myself, so I figured it would be an ongoing process and that when I was done, I was done. That being said, I know that I will never "truly" be done - and that's a good thing - gotta keep having fun!
Also, it's worth mentioning that I started the process before I started this thread so I had already been through a number of preamps.
There were some other requirements as well. For instance, I absolutely knew that part of the solution would have to include a parametric EQ and at least one Fender tone stack. I knew that I needed HPF/LPF, a GREAT envelope filter, and various dirt.
Other than that, I was also looking to be surprised and to try things that I hadn't considered before - I wanted to try new things and see where things went.
Maybe the main requirement was that I have a good time doing all of this!
To be continued ...
No gigs this weekend, so I took some time and finished wiring things up. I figure I'd post the pics and write a short review of everything, including explaining why it works for me - kind of like mini reviews. I think that would be most helpful to everyone.
I also have to say that I am extremely fortunate to have gotten to play through all of this amazing and wonderful gear. I also appreciate all the help, comments, suggestions, and GAS that y'all have given me. And I'd be remiss if I didn't say that I've met some super cool people and made more that a few friends.
There was almost no negativity, arguing, bickering, nary an unkind word was spoken. 51 pages - that might be a record here on Talkbass Also, I was a little worried at times that this would sound like pointless pontificating and rambling ....
So, after all of this - 51 pages so far, a few years, countless hours, this is what I ended up with.
I also have to say that I am extremely fortunate to have gotten to play through all of this amazing and wonderful gear. I also appreciate all the help, comments, suggestions, and GAS that y'all have given me. And I'd be remiss if I didn't say that I've met some super cool people and made more that a few friends.
There was almost no negativity, arguing, bickering, nary an unkind word was spoken. 51 pages - that might be a record here on Talkbass
Also, I was a little worried at times that this would sound like pointless pontificating and rambling ....So, after all of this - 51 pages so far, a few years, countless hours, this is what I ended up with.
Feeling the Sheehan love.My board is getting smaller ... I ended up buying a Sine Effects Nano Para to replace my uPara on my small board. Every little bit helps!
Up next - battle of the boosts - I have seven of them, I need to get down to three (I have a Markbass "boost" that is a boost and VPF in one - it's an instant "slap" pedal that I am for sure keeping). I still have a few dirt pedals to whittle through, but I was waiting on the Veri-Tone. Also, my buddy decided to keep his Caveman, so that isn't going to happen, but i think that's just as well. I'm also double thinking the Studio 1 - not sure if it has a place on my board, especially with a parametric EQ and an RFE.
I haven't been recording any of the "shootouts" mostly because I'm lazy, but I've had a few folks interested in hearing the envelope filters, so I will try and get those recorded.
I'm getting close to being done, I think. I mean, I'm always going to have GAS, but I'm really, really happy with how things sound and the capabilities - I need to be flexible and lightweight (for the most part) and things are sounding great. I suppose i should post a summary at some point.
I've actually been playing more - my goal was to play at Jazz Fest this year, but that will have to wait until next year.
I've also been doing some work on my basses. I have a Yamaha BB714BS - it's a Billy Sheehan signature model based on his BB bass. It's black right now, and I decided that I'm going to have it redone as a tribute to his pink bass. So, pink paint job (with sparkles - gotta give it some New orleans flair), relentless pickups, wired for stereo, etc. That's taking some time, but I can do that since I haven't been messing with pedals lately
His pink bass holds a special place for me
View attachment 5427225
Also, try the Caveman BP1 if you haven't. You won't miss the EQ if you toss a DCX in its effects loop. I'm rebuilding my board around the Compact.
Imma go thru the easy stuff first. This is my small gig rig and also bedroom practice rig. I do have a Fender Studio 40 for very, very small gigs, but realistically this would be the smallest rig that I would gig with.
It's small, but loud - it easily carries a medium sized room with a couple of horns and a jazz drummer. Sticks, not brushes.
I compared this directly to a number of micro rigs - The Elf series (the 2x8 and the 1x10 speakers with the Elf head), the GK MB210 (I liked the GK so much that I bought it twice), two Ashdown Micro heads, TC Electronics, the Warwick Gnome, and tried various small cabs.
The cab is a Barefaced 1x10, vintage series i think - no tweeter/horn. I've always liked the punch and clarity of 10's. This speaker is built to deliver the bass. Barefaced Cabs have a stellar reputation here, and this is for a very good reason. It sounds killer, and it's extremely portable. I could toss this across the room with one hand easily. It's an all around excellent speaker, and perfect for my needs. Other than I wish it was just a little smaller, it's absolutely perfect.
The head is the GR One 350. Again, I did a lot of comparisons and this one came out a clear winner in the micro heads. It's the most powerful (except one of the Warwick Gnomes - which clocks in at 360 watts). It has a ton of headroom. It sounds killer. It's tight, punchy, and the EQ is very responsive. GR heads also take preamp pedals very well - which, of course is very important to me!
One lesson learned is that not all micro heads are created equal. When I was younger I played through a lot of Peavey amps. One things that I noticed is that bass in the tone decreased as the volume increased. It was a trick of sort to be able to get louder - as if there was a sliding HPF that increased in frequency as I turned the volume knob up, so the more I turned the volume up the less bass I got. Sure the bass sounded louded, but it was also increasingly cutting teh lower frequencies.
I noticed this very prevelantly with the Elf and the TC. Don't get me wrong, bot sounded really good, but the loss in bass was evident.
Comparing the GR/Barefaced to the Elf stack and it was very apparent. The GR didn't lose any bass as I turned it up. It was an interesting experiment.
Aside from that, the Elf was also a bit smaller than the Barefaced as well. It was more cubic though, so the Elf was more difficult to carry. The Elf 2x8 was VERY portable, more so than the Barefaced.
I had Tuiki covers make me a custom bag for this. I love Tuki. They are friendly, fast, great to work with, and cost effective - and they do custom work for really not much more than their non-custom stuff. I had them add an extra strap and a pocket to the bag. I attach a strap from my gig bag to the speaker bag and I can carry everything on my back with no issue. Both hands free so I can walk or bike to a gig.
Extremely portable and can handle a lot of gigs, sounds amazing. What's not to love? The only quasi-complaint would be the fan noise on the GR - in a quiet room it can be a little obvious between songs. It's completely a non-issue while playing tho.
It's small, but loud - it easily carries a medium sized room with a couple of horns and a jazz drummer. Sticks, not brushes.
I compared this directly to a number of micro rigs - The Elf series (the 2x8 and the 1x10 speakers with the Elf head), the GK MB210 (I liked the GK so much that I bought it twice), two Ashdown Micro heads, TC Electronics, the Warwick Gnome, and tried various small cabs.
The cab is a Barefaced 1x10, vintage series i think - no tweeter/horn. I've always liked the punch and clarity of 10's. This speaker is built to deliver the bass. Barefaced Cabs have a stellar reputation here, and this is for a very good reason. It sounds killer, and it's extremely portable. I could toss this across the room with one hand easily. It's an all around excellent speaker, and perfect for my needs. Other than I wish it was just a little smaller, it's absolutely perfect.
The head is the GR One 350. Again, I did a lot of comparisons and this one came out a clear winner in the micro heads. It's the most powerful (except one of the Warwick Gnomes - which clocks in at 360 watts). It has a ton of headroom. It sounds killer. It's tight, punchy, and the EQ is very responsive. GR heads also take preamp pedals very well - which, of course is very important to me!
One lesson learned is that not all micro heads are created equal. When I was younger I played through a lot of Peavey amps. One things that I noticed is that bass in the tone decreased as the volume increased. It was a trick of sort to be able to get louder - as if there was a sliding HPF that increased in frequency as I turned the volume knob up, so the more I turned the volume up the less bass I got. Sure the bass sounded louded, but it was also increasingly cutting teh lower frequencies.
I noticed this very prevelantly with the Elf and the TC. Don't get me wrong, bot sounded really good, but the loss in bass was evident.
Comparing the GR/Barefaced to the Elf stack and it was very apparent. The GR didn't lose any bass as I turned it up. It was an interesting experiment.
Aside from that, the Elf was also a bit smaller than the Barefaced as well. It was more cubic though, so the Elf was more difficult to carry. The Elf 2x8 was VERY portable, more so than the Barefaced.
I had Tuiki covers make me a custom bag for this. I love Tuki. They are friendly, fast, great to work with, and cost effective - and they do custom work for really not much more than their non-custom stuff. I had them add an extra strap and a pocket to the bag. I attach a strap from my gig bag to the speaker bag and I can carry everything on my back with no issue. Both hands free so I can walk or bike to a gig.
Extremely portable and can handle a lot of gigs, sounds amazing. What's not to love? The only quasi-complaint would be the fan noise on the GR - in a quiet room it can be a little obvious between songs. It's completely a non-issue while playing tho.
Next is my heads (other than the GR One 350). There was a time, not too long ago actually, that I had about 20 heads. I absolutely loved the variety. Once pedal preamps and modellers came around, amps themselves became less important. I find that I can get a good tone from almost any amp, so the amp became important only if I was looking for a particular flavor/tone.
On top is the GR One 800. Like it's little sibling the 350, it's an all around great amp. First and foremost, it takes pedals and preamps extremely well (it has a switch that bypasses the EQ so the pedal preamp goes directly into the power section, bypassing the preamp on the amp itself). It's loud and punchy, with a great EQ - the EQ is very flexible as you can change the low and high mid frequency points to match your bass - this was a requirement for me for slap bass and fretless bass - I love adding some high mids around 700 for superb fretless mwah ...
In addition to the EQ, the GR has is very portable - easily fits into a gigbag. It also has a great (very quiet and very transparent DI). Some people don't care for the LEDs on the front panel - there are a lot and they are bright, but I kinda dig them. There is a built in tuner, but it doesn't respond fast enough for me so I don't use it much, but it's nice to have the option and it's handy if I forget a tuner.
In the middle is the Demeter HBP-1 800. This is the Demeter preamp with a Demeter Minnie 800 installed - all in one rack space. It has a Fender tone stack and two parametric EQ's. I've mentioned how much I love the Fender tone stack, especially with a fully parametric EQ. Add another parametric?? An amazing DI and Demeter quality? I absolutely love this amp. I can't fit it in a front pocket of a gig bag, but I made a custom rack bag for it and it's easy enough to sling around a shoulder. It's a great amp. My only niggle would be that I would like separate gain and level controls. I have been thinking about seeing if I can send it back to the shop to have him add a level control.
On the bottom is the Eden Powered Navigator 1000. Like the Demeter, this is an existing preamp (the Eden Navigator) with a power section (1000 watts) installed. It's a little big, but it's class D so it only weighs 10 lbs - easily slung around the shoulder. The Eden WT800 is my second favorite amp of all time, but it's big and heavy when compared to new class D amps. I had always wished that Eden would make a class D version, but they never did. I loved the Navigator - it was one of the last of my rack preamps to go - and although I had the Eden WTDI pedal, I kinda did miss the old WT800.
I didn't even know that Eden made such a thing as the Powered Nav and they are pretty rare - I haven't seen more than 2-3 for sale over the past decade - but I got lucky and a friendly fellow bassist tracked one down for me. It's a great amp, and I'm pretty lucky to have found it. I love the tone, and it's not much bigger than a lot of the other two space class D heads out there.
Honorable mention is the Quilter 800. Killer amp, superb power section, it just got edged out by the GR because of the GR's more flexible EQ.
Oh, and my favorite amp of all time is the Mesa 400+.
On top is the GR One 800. Like it's little sibling the 350, it's an all around great amp. First and foremost, it takes pedals and preamps extremely well (it has a switch that bypasses the EQ so the pedal preamp goes directly into the power section, bypassing the preamp on the amp itself). It's loud and punchy, with a great EQ - the EQ is very flexible as you can change the low and high mid frequency points to match your bass - this was a requirement for me for slap bass and fretless bass - I love adding some high mids around 700 for superb fretless mwah ...
In addition to the EQ, the GR has is very portable - easily fits into a gigbag. It also has a great (very quiet and very transparent DI). Some people don't care for the LEDs on the front panel - there are a lot and they are bright, but I kinda dig them. There is a built in tuner, but it doesn't respond fast enough for me so I don't use it much, but it's nice to have the option and it's handy if I forget a tuner.
In the middle is the Demeter HBP-1 800. This is the Demeter preamp with a Demeter Minnie 800 installed - all in one rack space. It has a Fender tone stack and two parametric EQ's. I've mentioned how much I love the Fender tone stack, especially with a fully parametric EQ. Add another parametric?? An amazing DI and Demeter quality? I absolutely love this amp. I can't fit it in a front pocket of a gig bag, but I made a custom rack bag for it and it's easy enough to sling around a shoulder. It's a great amp. My only niggle would be that I would like separate gain and level controls. I have been thinking about seeing if I can send it back to the shop to have him add a level control.
On the bottom is the Eden Powered Navigator 1000. Like the Demeter, this is an existing preamp (the Eden Navigator) with a power section (1000 watts) installed. It's a little big, but it's class D so it only weighs 10 lbs - easily slung around the shoulder. The Eden WT800 is my second favorite amp of all time, but it's big and heavy when compared to new class D amps. I had always wished that Eden would make a class D version, but they never did. I loved the Navigator - it was one of the last of my rack preamps to go - and although I had the Eden WTDI pedal, I kinda did miss the old WT800.
I didn't even know that Eden made such a thing as the Powered Nav and they are pretty rare - I haven't seen more than 2-3 for sale over the past decade - but I got lucky and a friendly fellow bassist tracked one down for me. It's a great amp, and I'm pretty lucky to have found it. I love the tone, and it's not much bigger than a lot of the other two space class D heads out there.
Honorable mention is the Quilter 800. Killer amp, superb power section, it just got edged out by the GR because of the GR's more flexible EQ.
Oh, and my favorite amp of all time is the Mesa 400+.
I ended up talking to Billy and got some feedbck on how he has his helix set up
And man, I was supposed to get a BP1 to try from my friend, but he ended up keeping it. I figured that it was a sign lol.
The speakers. A pair of of GR Bass AT210V - vertical 2x10's made from carbon fiber - stacked vertically. I've been using 2x10's as long as I can remember, stacked vertically whenever possible. I mean, sure, I used to rock a Mesa 400+ with two Mesa 4x10 cabs - but practically, all I ever needed was a pair of 2x10's. A good 2x10 will handle 400 watts, a pair 800 - and I didn't need to get any louder than that - plus, a pair of 2x10's was flexible, I could only bring one to a gig if needed, but the pair if I needed more power.
I love these cabs - TBH, it would be enough if they just sounded okay, but were as light and as portable as they are, I would sacrifice some tone for portability. But I don't. These cabs kill. So. Much. Bass. They take the amps above with ease, and can handle the Mesa 400+ no problem. They literally shake things off the wall, and I can lift one with my pinkie. Easy to walk, bike, or take my car to a gig.
I live directly across the street from a nice park in the city - they have festivals from time to time in this park. It's an easy walk for me - maybe 200 yards to the stage - but I need 800 watts and two cabs. I can take both cabs, my bass, amp, and all the accessories. It's extremely manageable and pretty easy.
i mean, that's pretty cool, right? I can carry a festival rig from my house to the stage in one trip - no dolly needed!
I love these cabs - TBH, it would be enough if they just sounded okay, but were as light and as portable as they are, I would sacrifice some tone for portability. But I don't. These cabs kill. So. Much. Bass. They take the amps above with ease, and can handle the Mesa 400+ no problem. They literally shake things off the wall, and I can lift one with my pinkie. Easy to walk, bike, or take my car to a gig.
I live directly across the street from a nice park in the city - they have festivals from time to time in this park. It's an easy walk for me - maybe 200 yards to the stage - but I need 800 watts and two cabs. I can take both cabs, my bass, amp, and all the accessories. It's extremely manageable and pretty easy.
i mean, that's pretty cool, right? I can carry a festival rig from my house to the stage in one trip - no dolly needed!
Extra preamps. I may have mentioned this, but i don't like to have unused pedals sitting around. Plus, if I didn't sell what I wasn't using, I couldn't justify buying more.
So, other than a few utility pedals and a John K High End Mutron Clone, every pedal that I own is on one of the boards above or for sale.
Except for these four.
The BassRig is my grab and go preamp. It's got everything I need, and features that make it useful for a grab and go. Fender tone stack? Check. LPF? Check. HPF? You betcha. Great DI? Yessir. Heck, we even have blend and dirt! I know I say this a lot, but this thing is killer, it sounds amazing - it's a wonderful piece of kit. If I need to add a parametric EQ, I have a Sine Effects Nano Para that I can duo lock on the side - which effectively still makes it one piece. I use a power splitter cable and a single power supply, easy peasy.
The Thespian is just an all around great preamp. It's a great implementation of the Fender TMB and the only one that I have ever seen with a mid boost. It's unique enough to keep, plus I like the idea of having a nice tube pre that I can put somewhere if i want some warmth.
The Eden - The Helix doesn't do an Eden model, this is cheap and worth way more to me that what it would go for on the market. It's a nice to have and I know I'll always have the Eden tone around. Same for the Trace Elliot - I lusted after Trace amps for years when I was younger, and when I finally got one I kept it around a long time. Nothing sounds like a Trace, IMO, and this more than does the job (and again, no Trace model on the Helix).
So, other than a few utility pedals and a John K High End Mutron Clone, every pedal that I own is on one of the boards above or for sale.
Except for these four.
The BassRig is my grab and go preamp. It's got everything I need, and features that make it useful for a grab and go. Fender tone stack? Check. LPF? Check. HPF? You betcha. Great DI? Yessir. Heck, we even have blend and dirt! I know I say this a lot, but this thing is killer, it sounds amazing - it's a wonderful piece of kit. If I need to add a parametric EQ, I have a Sine Effects Nano Para that I can duo lock on the side - which effectively still makes it one piece. I use a power splitter cable and a single power supply, easy peasy.
The Thespian is just an all around great preamp. It's a great implementation of the Fender TMB and the only one that I have ever seen with a mid boost. It's unique enough to keep, plus I like the idea of having a nice tube pre that I can put somewhere if i want some warmth.
The Eden - The Helix doesn't do an Eden model, this is cheap and worth way more to me that what it would go for on the market. It's a nice to have and I know I'll always have the Eden tone around. Same for the Trace Elliot - I lusted after Trace amps for years when I was younger, and when I finally got one I kept it around a long time. Nothing sounds like a Trace, IMO, and this more than does the job (and again, no Trace model on the Helix).
Attachments
What a great thread here!
Although I’ve had my own journey, nothing quite like some of you here.
Been through a few things.
Most of which have been pretty basic.
I recently got that little MasterEffects Super 40, it is absolutely my sound.
But I’m not sure I’m all hip on my Epifani
UL902C.
If it weren’t for the Ashly PQX 572 and the Super 40.
I’d be looking for a different amp.
Anyways, sorry to slightly side track.
Lots of good info here.
Although I’ve had my own journey, nothing quite like some of you here.
Been through a few things.
Most of which have been pretty basic.
I recently got that little MasterEffects Super 40, it is absolutely my sound.
But I’m not sure I’m all hip on my Epifani
UL902C.
If it weren’t for the Ashly PQX 572 and the Super 40.
I’d be looking for a different amp.
Anyways, sorry to slightly side track.
Lots of good info here.
What did I say a out no GAS? Dammit, that looks super cool and I do love a good miv pre on bass .. just can't find a good portable one. Thanks!!!
I'm glad you enjoyed it! ME pedals are fantastic and the maker is an all around fine human being
Also, those Ashley's are killer! That's a nice setup you have there
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Thank you!I'm glad you enjoyed it! ME pedals are fantastic and the maker is an all around fine human being
And Tim really is a great guy.
I also have the Super800, but no longer need that due to having the Super40.
Definitely keeping my eye on this thread.
Cheers, Jeff.
Okay, now to the boards. #1 of 5.
This is my practice board. It stays at home. It's a floorboard (extra from when I had my floors redone), some velcro, and a OneSpot 9 volt multi adapter. The pedals go directly into my amp, and the OneSpot power chain allows me to hook up various pedals as needed to them. I added a power filter for digital pedals - completely removes the noise.
When I practice at home, I tend to either a) learn songs 2) focus on learning or honing a technique or iii) noodle aimlessly. This set up is perfect for what I do - a looper and a drum machine, with aux capabilities.
The looper is a relatively inexpensive Circle Looper from Donner. I've owned a bunch of loopers (of course) and love to use them, but I have a great looper on the Stomp, so I was specifically looking for something easy to use that sounded great - but didn't need to be top of the line and I purposely didn't want all the bells and whistle. This is a solid, easy to use looper, perfect for home use.
The other practice pedal is the Mooer Drummer X2 - it's a drum/beat machine in a pedal. Again, works great, simple, sounds great and has all of the options that I need without being difficult to use.
Now, instead of aimlessly noodling over nothing, I can get a beat going, set up a chord progression or two on a loop, and aimlessly solo over that
Not shown is a mini Bluetooth adapter that I use to stream music from my phone into the aux for learning songs and streaming from apps like iReal Pro from my tablet/phone. It's a perfect little practice set up.
This is my practice board. It stays at home. It's a floorboard (extra from when I had my floors redone), some velcro, and a OneSpot 9 volt multi adapter. The pedals go directly into my amp, and the OneSpot power chain allows me to hook up various pedals as needed to them. I added a power filter for digital pedals - completely removes the noise.
When I practice at home, I tend to either a) learn songs 2) focus on learning or honing a technique or iii) noodle aimlessly. This set up is perfect for what I do - a looper and a drum machine, with aux capabilities.
The looper is a relatively inexpensive Circle Looper from Donner. I've owned a bunch of loopers (of course) and love to use them, but I have a great looper on the Stomp, so I was specifically looking for something easy to use that sounded great - but didn't need to be top of the line and I purposely didn't want all the bells and whistle. This is a solid, easy to use looper, perfect for home use.
The other practice pedal is the Mooer Drummer X2 - it's a drum/beat machine in a pedal. Again, works great, simple, sounds great and has all of the options that I need without being difficult to use.
Now, instead of aimlessly noodling over nothing, I can get a beat going, set up a chord progression or two on a loop, and aimlessly solo over that
Not shown is a mini Bluetooth adapter that I use to stream music from my phone into the aux for learning songs and streaming from apps like iReal Pro from my tablet/phone. It's a perfect little practice set up.
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Board #2 - my Board O' Dirt. Now, I didn't go on quite the dirt bender as @el murdoque did (BTW, he has a most excellent thread detailing his dirt bender - highly recommended reading) but I went through a few dozen or so.
Originally I was planning on a few dirt pedals on my main board, but I found so many that I really love, so i decided to make a seperate board out of them (I still have a few on the main board of course). My main board has a blendable effects loop - these go directly into the loop so I can mix and match as needed.
And there's dirt, and then there's stacked dirt!
Damnation Audio loop Blender (Blooper) - the "bassis" of this board I don't use it all the time, but I love to have the capability of having both a clean blend and a "bass only" blend. In particular, I really like what the Double Jive and V-Drive can do to the top end harmonics, and I like having the low end be clean at the same time (in some situations).
Nobles OD mini - super cheap and super cool. Almost gets fuzzy. It's very smooth and clean, I'm a big fan - especially for how small it is!
Sushibox UA - Again, I'm a huge fan of the @Sushibox pedals, and for me the UA is king. defeatable Fender tone stack tweaked for bass, and real tube? Yes please! I use this pedal in so many ways - as a dirt, as a dirty boost, as a clean boost, as a preamp ... lately I've been setting this up for DEEP bass - think Dave Matthew's Band "Crush." It just excels at that. Also, this is kind of like the Thespian above - it just sounds too good to get sell, and in this case I found a good home for it on my board.
Free the Tone Bass Blaster - I use this mostly for touch sensitive OD. It's got nice EQ - almost like a B-15, and it's extremely responsive to how hard I play. For rock, I use this for a slight bit of grit in an always on fashion. It's a superb pedal, my top choice for a dynamic OD
VHT V-Drive - for starters, I can't believe this was so cheap, especially for the $$. At first I hated it because it was so damn noisy, but I soldered a ferrule inside and viola! Dead quiet. It's super flexible, tons of options, stacks well - I was overly impressed by this pedal. the voltage attenuator on the back - genius! I don't know why this one doesn't get more love. The diode options alone ...
JPTR Double Jive - again, a killer pedal. It has that magic "something" and again, the different clipping options - fantastic. This got me started into combining asymmetrical and symmetrical distortion - soooooo beautifully dissonant, especially on the high end.
Originally I was planning on a few dirt pedals on my main board, but I found so many that I really love, so i decided to make a seperate board out of them (I still have a few on the main board of course). My main board has a blendable effects loop - these go directly into the loop so I can mix and match as needed.
And there's dirt, and then there's stacked dirt!
Damnation Audio loop Blender (Blooper) - the "bassis" of this board
I don't use it all the time, but I love to have the capability of having both a clean blend and a "bass only" blend. In particular, I really like what the Double Jive and V-Drive can do to the top end harmonics, and I like having the low end be clean at the same time (in some situations). Nobles OD mini - super cheap and super cool. Almost gets fuzzy. It's very smooth and clean, I'm a big fan - especially for how small it is!
Sushibox UA - Again, I'm a huge fan of the @Sushibox pedals, and for me the UA is king. defeatable Fender tone stack tweaked for bass, and real tube? Yes please! I use this pedal in so many ways - as a dirt, as a dirty boost, as a clean boost, as a preamp ... lately I've been setting this up for DEEP bass - think Dave Matthew's Band "Crush." It just excels at that. Also, this is kind of like the Thespian above - it just sounds too good to get sell, and in this case I found a good home for it on my board.
Free the Tone Bass Blaster - I use this mostly for touch sensitive OD. It's got nice EQ - almost like a B-15, and it's extremely responsive to how hard I play. For rock, I use this for a slight bit of grit in an always on fashion. It's a superb pedal, my top choice for a dynamic OD
VHT V-Drive - for starters, I can't believe this was so cheap, especially for the $$. At first I hated it because it was so damn noisy, but I soldered a ferrule inside and viola! Dead quiet. It's super flexible, tons of options, stacks well - I was overly impressed by this pedal. the voltage attenuator on the back - genius! I don't know why this one doesn't get more love. The diode options alone ...
JPTR Double Jive - again, a killer pedal. It has that magic "something" and again, the different clipping options - fantastic. This got me started into combining asymmetrical and symmetrical distortion - soooooo beautifully dissonant, especially on the high end.
Board #3 is pretty simple - A Line 6 Helix Stomp XL and a Sushibox Finally DI.
The Finally is a no-brainer choice for DI. It's one of the finest stand alone Bass DI's out there, period. I like it better than the REDDI, the Khan, SVTDI, etc. Not necessarily on the tone front (I think the REDDI sounds amazing, but it's just too big for my needs), but when you look at all of the factors combined - portability, sound, features. It's just that good. It's warm, tubey, and I can bypass the the Stomp and my bass still sounds amazing. It's simple to operate, and i love the separate gain and level controls - it's very easy to dial in a little or a lot of dirt. It's absolutely perfect for my needs.
Of course, then I have the Somp XL. I owned most of the Helix floor models before I decided on the Stomp XL. I love the buttons and the relative lack of menus. Plus it has amp models, effects - it sounds fantastic. I absolutely need to spend more time with this, so I made it a point to do some set-up this weekend. What else can I say? It's portable, sounds great, flexible ... absolutely love it.
I can patch this board into the larger board or I can use this as a stand alone for gigs - key to being flexible as well. I mentioned earlier that the Finally is attached to the side of the Stomp with heavy duty duo lock - I don't need an underlying board with this one, the duo lock holds it very securely.
The Finally is a no-brainer choice for DI. It's one of the finest stand alone Bass DI's out there, period. I like it better than the REDDI, the Khan, SVTDI, etc. Not necessarily on the tone front (I think the REDDI sounds amazing, but it's just too big for my needs), but when you look at all of the factors combined - portability, sound, features. It's just that good. It's warm, tubey, and I can bypass the the Stomp and my bass still sounds amazing. It's simple to operate, and i love the separate gain and level controls - it's very easy to dial in a little or a lot of dirt. It's absolutely perfect for my needs.
Of course, then I have the Somp XL. I owned most of the Helix floor models before I decided on the Stomp XL. I love the buttons and the relative lack of menus. Plus it has amp models, effects - it sounds fantastic. I absolutely need to spend more time with this, so I made it a point to do some set-up this weekend. What else can I say? It's portable, sounds great, flexible ... absolutely love it.
I can patch this board into the larger board or I can use this as a stand alone for gigs - key to being flexible as well. I mentioned earlier that the Finally is attached to the side of the Stomp with heavy duty duo lock - I don't need an underlying board with this one, the duo lock holds it very securely.
