EHX Bass Clone

My Reverb.com review:

5 stars

Chorus w/ crossover & EQ

May 18, 2017

I’ve a few chorus pedals, Boss, Digicrap, Zoom, Vox, etc. While they sorta do it on bass, (some are meant to, some are for guitar) plugging this in found the bass chorus sound in my head. The EQ is going to be very useful, the bass-boost is substantial. I like the crossover, which actually doesn’t change the EQ like I feared it might, but just applies the chorus effect above the crossover point. Nice small size (like the newer pre’s and nano stuff), comes with a battery. So, whether for subtle thickening or a much heavier (tho’ not quite “underwater”) chorusing, you can clone me in.

Z Vex Box o’ Rocks

Now, J. Mascis used to call this his fave dirt and I can see why. It is NOT over the top, closer to the SHO then the Mammoth, but damn do it sound good. And why Mascis “used to”? Because he had ’em build a Double Box to stack ’em what is pretty cool but not for me, but then I ain’t J.

5/5 olives

Z Vex Distortron

Marshall-inna-box is the cliche, but true. The triple sub thing is what sets it apart and makes it invaluable on bass. But, run a boost pedal into it with guitar and say goodbye to yer lease.  I mean, even in front of a 15w. amp, you’ll be killin’ skeeters and have the cops visit.

5/5 olives.

Z Vex Super Duper 2 in 1

This is a secret pedal of mine for bass. I use it into my Ampeg BA 108 (ver. 1) and get all kindsa inspired and sometimes can’t stop playin’.

But, it’s a secret, y’all, so don’t tell no one. (Pretty good on guitar, also, altho’ I have other preferences …)

5/5 olives

Hofner Fuzz

OK, I got mine, so lemme say some pedal-maker guy at Reverb mentioned how flexible was the Hofner Fuzz pedal. Now, it’s made in China, it’s kinda a plainish military grey rectangle box, and it can be noisy, but damn if he wasn’t correct. I’m a distortion-pedal kinda guy, and boosts and fuzz and such gimme wood. This one (US$35 or so) is as much fun as my recently acquired Z Vex’s. I mean, it’s not anywhere built as nice nor looks as nice, but it sure sounds good – it’s fun! And if ya ain’t believe me, you might be one of my neighbors … 4/5 olives, cuz it’s built mebbe cheap in China, and it’s a touch noisy …

Z Vex Vexter Super Dooper 2 in 1

The Super Duper 2in1 is terrific on bass into my recording amp (Ampeg BA 108), it ups the Ampegnessossity.

 

5 olives.

Some short inexpensive LDC’s& MDC’s for vocals reviews

In answer to a friend’s query:

For a relatively inexpensive MDC or LDC I could easily reco for vocals:

Sterling ST6050 Ocean Way – lots of depth, sounds kinda vintage, sweet top

MXL Genesis FET – brighter than the 6050, not dissimilar

Sennheiser MK4 – very clean, neutral and accurate

Shure KSM27 (MDC) – nicely colored for vocals, fairly neutral, a little bright

ADK A6 – no color, neutral, seems dark because of that

Blue Spark – like a lot of less expensive LDC’s, but cleaner, and has a switchable cap for color

AT 4040 (MDC) – nicely colored, a little bright, accurate, can have some vocal artifacts at times, nice on OH’s

M-Audio Luna – a fave on vocals, very colored, vintage sounding

M-Audio Solaris – multi-pattern version of the Luna -I prefer the Luna, but they are close

CAD GLX 3000 – like a lot of less expensive LDC’s, but cleaner, slightly colored

CAD M179 – accurate, kind of dark, nice on OH’s

Yamaha YC – a short review

As posted at reverb.com:

I write play rock (on guitar, bass vox – keys is for fill-in) , and I need to get some organ sounds going on. I have 3 Casios and a Yamaha, the kind with built in speakers. They do OK cheese, but … I have a nice Yamaha S-03 what sounds great, but is relatively big, needs a stand, is a PITA to program and set up. I have a Microkorg, what sounds like a Korg synth – if you play synth, you know what I mean; organ is possible, but … I have a Arturia Microbrute – oh, what a lucky man, I am. Then I found a good price here on this – all my roots-rock and other organ needs is met. It sounds great with built in leslie (tone, fast, slow), distortion and reverb effects, adjustable attack (the key-hit part of the sound – think B3, and Billy Preston) and drawbars. It has 4 patches to start out, (Yama, Hammond, Vox, etc.) and is about infinitely adjustable. And it’s very portable, 3/4 sized, wall-warted, and it’s almost Nord red. FWIW, I spent a lot of time looking for a case and went with the Gator 21″ (one for the MicroK, also). IMNSFHO, this rules. (Can be heard on the most recent stuff on bandcamp under Vlayman).

So I thought I’d mention a new-to-me bass DI technique

Posted at TOMB:

I’ve hadda bass amp in my bedio for quite some time, and it’s lotsa fun and I like switching out the recording chain, lately digging a The Brick pre into a 160XT or 1176 clone, and various mic’s, lately a Kickball.

But I did find that I like to split outta the Brick as a DI, its instrument out to the amp, what means I like to use a 166A in linked stereo with the amped track controlling, what means I don’t find the need to shift anything for phase if I use both tracks.

I like the DI for two reasons; as a safety for if I don’t like the amp’d track because of noise or whatever, but also because I can use the DI in parallel to add some boef.

So I got to thinking, what is always dangerous and often a complete waste of energy and drinking time, but I decided to run two pre’s in parallel, again using The Brick and splitting it’s pass-thru to a second pre.

There’s lotsa possible combinations but so far I’m really liking put The Brick as pre into a compressor, and then splitting into a VC3Q to use as a parallel DI track.

The VC3Q for DI bass is awesome, as you can really overdrive it, it has a good-for-bass optical compressor, and the EQ is fun, able to be downright dub if ya want it.

I been getting some good comments on that sound, thought I’d suggest it to ya’s.

Eventually, I’m gonna try the same thing with a ISA1 instead of The Brick, and use the slaved stereo 166A; I remember I used to like the cheap VTB1 on bass for some stuff, so I’ll be trying that, also, to swap for the Meek …

Default recording chains, etc.; lazinessossity

Postered at TOMB:

The racked PM1000 channel I have is my go-to guitar amp pre not least because I don’t have it in my XLR patch-bay so I just leave a mic cable plugged in and hanging onnit. I probably like the ISA1 better for amps, or the UA110, but convenience in recording is like location in real estate.

And so it occurs to me, I often grab vocals thru the Eureka because I have its compressor nicely defaulted (I don’t use the EQ other than the pass-filter) for my vocals, requiring very little if any tweaking no matter what mic. Or a VC1Q, same reason.

By the same token I have a dbx160XT set for my DI bass touch, and a 166A set for when I split amp and DI (linking the channels and letting the amp side lead means I don’t have to time-shift for phase; I go into a The Brick and split out to the amp.) And I have a VC3Q set for a dubby bass sound (what I often combine with the The Brick into the 160 or a 1176 clone). Warm-up, and instant bass tone.

Likewise, I have a RNC that I can plug any pre into for a quick vocal, and a RNLA where my default setting is awesome as second or only compressor on vocals, and works on amps, too. (I do always have to tweak acoustic guitar compression, But I usually do that ITB for transparency.)

I have mic clips mounted on my guitar amps so that a E609 is always on one, a AKG D1000E on another, a EV N/D 308B on another, and a Superlux PRA-628 on a fourth. Easy to switch the mic’s between the clips …

I leave a MXL880 on a stand for a quick room or M/S mic (usually with a Cat Pipes Durham in-line); even tho’ my Shinybox23L sounds 2x better, the MXL is never in the way …

I always leave a mic onna stand in front of my recording bass amp, switching the mic out every week or three (currently have a Kickball onnit.)

I’m so fucking lazy lately I even have a bunch of my fave vocal mic’s mounted in desk-stands to record vocals – what means I use certain expensive or fragile mic’s like tube mic’s less often, because of the convenience; I just take the desk-standed mic offa the shelf and plug it in at my mix position.

I’m even less likely to use nice pedals when recording because they require breaking out and setting up my pedal board, and it’s easier to just grab whatever is laying around unmounted and use that (everybody’s got a spare distortion pedal, for example, not the fave but usable for that quick lead.)

I have a cheap Alvarez bass onna hook in my bedio that I hafta remember to not always use, and I hafta remember to switch out the guitar on the stand next to the mix position – when a fave is there I might go weeks without changing it (ex., I have a old G&L F100 that I can get nearly every long-scale neck sound I want out of, plays like buttah after 30 years in my mitts.)

Vocal chain, instrument EQ, room verb, guitar verb, gate pre-sets in the DAW? Check.

I even have templates for my bandcamp album covers.

Yooze?
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