Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Where is the orange love?
- Thread starter Aldousv
- Start date
Love the AD200B myself. Plenty of power for most things I do.
I bought a Radial JDI to plug in between the amp and cab for situations where I have to DI it.
I bought a Radial JDI to plug in between the amp and cab for situations where I have to DI it.
Those clips are from an early 70's German TV show that had bands play live(but not necessarily in front of an audience); for whatever reason, Orange provided the back line. You'll see Canned Heat, MC5, Capt. Beefheart, Stevie Wonder and others not associated with the brand playing through them, whether they liked it or not. One band from the era that was known for using, and getting a great sound out of, Orange, was this bunch...
Hey micguy... I have been driving myself nuts with hours of research trying to find a pedal that will accentuate my original signal. For the most part, I really don't need "dirt" but I'm not opposed to a little... so long as it can clean up when I want it to. I spent a couple hours last night researching the Orange Two Stroke. Very interesting pedal, combining 2 semi-parametric EQs AND a boost (oil) knob. I am seriously considering this over the Xotic RC Bass Booster V2 and the Earthquaker Westwood. I am running a Mesa Subway D-800 (SS) rig. Thoughts?
OK, my thoughts - I play ampless gigs, so my situation is different than yours. That said, I also don't have any experience with the Westwood, and it's a different than the other 2 - being aimed at overdrive, which the others don't really intentionally do.
I do own an RC bass booster (V1 - same as V2, but without the two different levels, as far as I can tell), and the Two stroke. Elephant in the room - the Two Stroke is bigger. If it were the same size as the Xotic, I wouldn't have bought the Xotic. The Two Stroke is quieter (less hiss) - its a well made pedal with respect to noise (I'm a stickler about noise). The Xotic is OK, but not quite as good. With either of those, you can do a mild mid scoop (which is the eq I ed up with all the time). On the RC, you boost bass and treble a bit, and you're there - assuming you want the scoop centered around 300 Hz. Withe the Two stroke, you get the same thing by giving it a bit of boost, and dipping the lower Mid eq. But... with the Two stroke, you have the option of moving that dip around, should 300Hz not be your sweet spot. And you have a second semi parametric eq section to do what you want with - for me, that's a bit of boost around 1.6 KHz.
So, if you want clean eq and or boost, either the RC booster or the Two stroke will work. Neither is really aimed at overdrive - if you want dirt, I'd look elsewhere. The Orange is big but works great. The RC works OK and is smaller.
Now for the part you don't want to hear - another option. My current eq pedal is a Source Audio EQ2. If you want clean eq, that's the real deal nowadays. Plenty of flexibility - way more flexible than the other pedals here, it'll also boost. It's not as well set up for on the fly tweaks - you can do that, but with the complexity of the user interface, I prefer to lock things in at home, and have another pedal for doing last minute eq tweaks and/or setting up 2 sounds at the gig. It also has a great tuner built in, which saves a pedal's worth of space.
First off, thank you so much for all the helpful information and insight! It looks like its going to come down to either the Two Stroke, Westwood or Source Audio EQ. I have been considering an EQ vs. a boost or transparent OD. I am aware that the Westwood is not a clean boost, per se, but with the gain set at 9:00 or lower/earlier, it seems to get a pretty nice tone without any real "drive". However, if I want some dirt/bite, I can dial it in.
Back to the EQ. At one point I was interested in the Whirlwind Bass Ten Band EQ. It got some great reviews. I saw that the Source Audio EQ has a lot more going on (great reviews also)... which I appreciate but at the same time really don't need. It would be nice to have programmable EQ settings, though. I don't need a tuner because I'm very happy with my Polytune 3. The SA EQ just seems to offer way more than I need, I guess. Now I'm really perplexed! LOL.
You did mention that the SA EQ was more flexible than the other pedals I am considering. Is there a steep learning curve for that EQ? Man, my head is starting to spin! Bottom line is that I like "simple" when it comes to gear and the SA EQ seems to have a lot of bells and whistles.
You download Source Audio's software, hook the SA EQ2 to your computer via a usb port (they give you the cable), and everything from there on in is pretty intuitive, assuming you have some idea of what a parametric eq is (you'll need to understand part of that to use the Two Stroke). You can also use it real time, but some of those steps are a bit non-intuitive - I prefer to do all of that stuff at home where everything is on a big screen, and just play at a gig - I have learned that I can't effectively engineer and play at the same time.
As to the Whirlwind EQ, if you want a simple graphic eq, get one of the MXR silver (that last part is important) ones - the 6 or 10 band. They are MUCH less noisy than other graphic eq's, including MXR's previous (non silver) ones.
On my board with my EQ2 is a JHS Haunting mids - a combo boost/one band parametric eq that is simple enough for me to futz with it at a gig. I set up my main tone in the EQ2, and use the Haunting mids to add or take away a bit of whatever to get a second tone that works with whatever set of music I'm doing that day - I understand the need for simplicity in a user interface - especially when it's for something that might change a bit at game time. The Hauntiing mids is functionally a Two Stroke without one of the eq sections, and in a smaller package - not as useful as the Two stroke, but for just a bit of a different sound, it's enough. Usually I set it up for a bit of a boost in the high mids - that setting spectrally invades about the same sonic "territory" as many overdrives, which I find useful on a tune here or there.
I understand that you like your polytune 3 - I have 3 of those, but one of them doesn't get used anymore - the one in the EQ2 is works a bit better (bigger display), and the footprint (not taking up any space for the tuner, as it's in another box) was compelling for me.
Anyway, your choice - there really aren't any bad choices in the lot that I know of (the Westwood is probably fine, although I have no experience with it - it's a choice between a good thing and a better thing and which is which depends on what you want.
Again, thank you for all the information! Yeah, I am driving to Sweetwater bright and early tomorrow morning.
I guess I will have to "experiment" around with a few pedals/EQs. Ultimately, I hope I find what I'm looking for. You were a big help, micguy! Wish me luck!
You don't need luck. You're a bass player. You're good enough (and a complete badass) just as you are.
LOL. Right on! Now I will be walking... no STRUTTING into Sweetwater tomorrow morning. Thank you for your time and input!
