This bass player uses this effects (and amps)

[FC Bass]

I?m almost finished getting my gear updated, I could not resist to take some (lame, my camera just broke) pictures.  Components are:  

  Front of rack from top to bottom:  *Home made power supply for fans and lights  *Samson Powerbrite for all 220V stuff *TC Electronic G-Sharp for chorus, delay and reverb (only during solo?s and only through the Strategy 400) *Rocktron Patchmate for switching effects and routing signal (input 1 & 2 on the Mesa)  Pedals left to right:  *Home made ?interface? unit to connect the pedalboard *Tech 21 XXL for the Jason (Newsted)  solo sound *E-H Little Big Muff for the Jason sound (style 2)  *Mesa Bass 400 (not the 400+)  Channel one: used for the Cliff (Burton) and Jason Wah/Fuzz sounds Channel 2 for all clean sounds  *Mesa Strategy 400: Gets stereo signal from the G-Sharp (G-Sharp gets signal from the slave out of the Bass 400)   Back of the rack:  

  Left side:  *E-H Big Muff for the Cliff sounds  On the drawer:   *T-rex  Fuel tank for the pedals *AKG WMS300 wireless (seen from back)  *Zoom 505 on top of the AKG, my secret Weapon :-)  Used for pitch shifting during solo?s  There?s a lot work to do here, all cables must be shortened and tied neatly together. For now everything is tested and it sounds great :-)  Pedalboard:  

  *Morley PWF for the Cliff and Jason sounds *Korg Pitchblack: not used very much, my Alembics all seem to stay in tune very well :-) *Mesa Abacus midi controller to switch between programs on the Rocktron and TC Electronic That thing is build like a tank, wears the Mesa/Boogie name proudly :-)  And here?s one brave Cat:  

  The Bass 400 feeds the 15 inch cabs, the Strategy 400 the 2x10?s  Now I must work on that cablemess in the back, this must be ready and hum free working before my package from Santa Rosa arrives :-)  (Message edited by fc_spoiler on August 12, 2010)

[toma_hawk01]

Now that's a fire!!!

[elwoodblue]

Nice work FC,
 
I'm going to have to start using my PWF for bass for some tunes.
My latest addition to my rack is one of my GT Trio preamps for balls to the walls overdrive.
 
Thanks for sharing !!
 
P.S....here's another brave kitty...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmRTGRbrATs

[crobbins]

Nice rig. Do you have a roadie?

[funkyjazzjunky]

Great rig.  I love the tone of the Mesa Boogie 400. Do you have problems with it going out on you?

[tmoney61092]

i have a PWF but i think something might be wrong with it, when i cut it on it cuts my volume down really low(even with the the pedal all the way down) so i can't really use it, is this like all of them or did i get a bum one?
 
BTW, Flip that is a very impressive set up
 
~Taylor

[jet_powers]

Is that the same tube of inspiration from a few years ago or do you keep getting fresh replacements?

[elwoodblue]

Taylor,  
Inside the PWF is a thick piece of black paper that drapes down in front of a small bulb
 as you sweep the pedal,it blocks the light  that gets to the receiving part of the opto-coupler.
 
 The paper can shift over the years or the tape on the side can break loose...so light gets in when it shouldn't, changing the way the envelope sweeps.
 
 It's an easy fix;
After unplugging the pedal, open up the back  and see if the tape has loosened.
 Sometimes the paper will have rotated on the little bolt that supports it.
 
   You'll be able to see right away if the alignment isn't right.Use some good electrical tape or black duct tape to seal the sides after it is aligned properly should get her working like a champ.  
 
  Sometimes it takes a little trial and error
to get it just right.( and you have to put the back on each time since the circuit is light sensitive )
 
I've seen semi-working PWF's on ebay go for cheap...I'd hazard a guess that most of those have the same issue.
 
Let us know how it goes,

[adriaan]

Flip, that is simply massive. Wow!

[mario_farufyno]

I wouldn't like to be your Roadie, ha ha...
 
Fine Rig, seems you get tons of sound with it. I've recorded once with one of those Mesa Boogie's Bass 400 and it has an incredible warm tone, congrats!

[tmoney61092]

well guys, tonight is the night we find out what we can do to save my Morley, so wish me luck. Flip, i've been craving a Mesa rig(who hasn't?) and was wondering what you'd have to say about the Mesa 400 that you have, and also where did you find you're cabinets and what model are they? because i haven't seen anything with 2x12's and 1x15 made by them, thanks
 
~Taylor

[FC Bass]

Hey Taylor,   The Fuzz section is also (always, when on) controlled by the pedal -> Toe up is almost no fuzz.  In toe down mode there should be plenty of noise regardless of which effect is switched on (when Wah and Fuzz is off, it's a volume pedal)   Note: For that typical "scream" as in "Anesthesia" the Big Muff is placed after the PWF, input (output of your bass, you might have to adjust with your volume control) is also critical.  For Newsted sounds the Fuzz (Little Big Muff or Tech21 XXL works great) is placed before the PWF.   Hope you get yours sorted out, so here it is: Good luck!   The Mesa cabs are late '80's 'till late 90's Diesel cabs, the 2x12 is a 2x10 ;-)  I never seen a 2x12 in the Diesel version, but they have one in their catalogue now.  Diesel cabs were EV or Eden Loaded, Most 15 inch cabs have the "legendary" EVM15L.  One of my 2x10 has Eden Speakers and sounds a little less direct, I love the EVM's Huge sound.  I bought them all on the used Market for approx $250 each.   If I'm not mistaken the Diesel series were available in the following configs.:   2x10  1x15  2x15  1x18  4x10  1x15 + 1x10 + 2x6 (1516) 1x12 + 4x8 (powerhouse jr.)  4x10 + 1x15 (Powerhouse 1000)  8x10   The Bass 400 is great, low noise and versatile sounding. (great cleans, but can also growl when the preamp is way up)  It has 6 6550 poweramptubes (can also run on 6L6 without modifications) Output (with 6550) is about 280 watt @4 or 8 ohm, later versions also have a 2 ohm output.  Mesa/Boogie switched from 6550 to 6L6 when they ran out of 6550 tubes.  Since the 6L6 tubes have less output, they replaced the Bass 400 with the Bass 400+ (12 output tubes)   @ funkyjazzjunky: I had some problems with it in the beginning, never had it again after a +/- $100 fix (not sure what was wrong, I leave that to the tech) :-)   Graig: yes, we do have roadies. :-)   JP: It's basically the same rig, the changes are in the cab config and effects setup.  Here are some earlier versions:  PH1000 with Ampeg SVT III pro:  

 (sold both)  

 

 

  (Message edited by fc_spoiler on August 19, 2010)

[sonicus]

I am also a fan of the older Mesa / Boogie cabinets .  
I have a 4 x10 Road Ready & a 2X10 Road Ready loaded with EV 10's.

[tmoney61092]

so the diagnosis, everything was clean, opened it up moved the foot pedal around, checked all the wiring and nothing seemed out of place, so put it back together and messed with a bit, the volume is consistent when just cutting the fuzz on and off but it was when i cut the wah on that it got a huge signal boost, so i'm guessing nothing is really wrong with it.
 
sorry about being wrong on the speaker size, i'm not good judging the difference in 10's and 12's. out of the cabinets in the 3rd picture, which one sounds the best to you?
 
so the only difference between a 400 and 400+ is that there is more output? is there a footswitch that can switch between the channels? thanks for the help Flip
 
~Taylor
 
P.S.- i would hate to be your roadie :-)

[FC Bass]

With the wah on and in toe up position, there's only some very low rumbling sound audible (as described in the manual: click here)
 
Mesa has an A/B switch available for the Bass 400/400+ (click here), but any A/B switch will do.  
There are separate inputs with its own volume for channel 1 and 2, all other controls are shared.
The eq is footswitchable and Yes, I think the only difference is in the output section.
 
 
I would recommend the 2x10 and 1x15 set, it sounds just as huge as the PH1000.  
Also, I think the 1x15 (EVM15L loaded) works great as stand alone cab (imho better than the 2x10)
 
BTW: The Eden loaded cab is much lighter than the EVM loaded cab (2x10's), those EV drivers are heavy with a huge H (!)
Weights are on my site: click here
Too bad I haven?t had a chance to put the EV 2x10 on the scale yet... (I think its close to 40 KG though)