I LOVE gear upgrades and all the tone-hunting that goes with it, so this week has been very enjoyable for me. I upgraded my pedalboard with two new pedals and a whole new signal chain set-up, and it's my favorite set-up yet! WARNING: Non-gear junkies, just skip this next paragraph altogether. It will just sound like technical gibberish to you.
Alrighty, here goes. My old set-up (immediately prior to this upgrade) had my bass running into my Rocktron Tru-loop pedal, with a Mesa/Boogie V1 Bottle Rocket in its effects loop (blended back pretty far). My signal would then travel to my Boss GT-6B effects processor, followed by my ISP Decimator, then out to my amp. I decided to make a change based on some rig videos I had watched lately, videos which seemed to indicated that split signal paths were the way to go in the hunt for great tone. So here's what my new pedalboard set-up looks like: My bass runs into the input of my MXR m80 bass DI+ (new), which splits my signal in two. Signal A is effected by the distortion and EQ of the DI+, and runs directly into the input of my Rocktron Tru-loop. Signal B runs into my ISP Decimator, then to my Boss processor, then out to the return jack on my Rocktron Tru-loop. The Tru-Loop then combines both signals into one WITHOUT EITHER SIGNAL AFFECTING THE OTHER. Lastly, the recombined signal hits my BBE Sonic Stomp Sonic Maximizer (new), then runs out to my amp. Benefits of the new set-up? Certainly. A split signal chain allows me to explore sonic options in one chain without affecting or being affected by the other. Meaning my distortion will not affect how my chorus might sound, or the EQ on one won't change how the distortion might sound. Honestly, this is some of the best bass tone I've had EVER.
Here's a video explaining it, as well as showcasing the rest of my gear:
But let's see, what else is new...
My studies in music are going quite well at Central Piedmont Community College. My Applied Music study is especially challenging; it is a one-on-one learning environment, in which I am taught more about the bass in a way that caters to me specifically. I am challenged to stretch my horizons as a player, playing difficult classical and jazz pieces. For example, for my midterm, I performed an excerpt from Paganini's 16th Caprice. Very fast, very difficult. For all the music nerds (like me), it's in 3/4, in presto time (about 168 bpm) and it's aaaaallll 16th notes. Yeah.
I have taken on a challenge of a different sort, outside of S.I.Q. or school, posed by my dad. The challenge was to write an album's worth of Jazz material, all original.
Challenge accepted. I am already working on track one, which will be a Latin-Jazz piece, yet untitled.
Rather than leave you with music, this time I will leave you with a video of Phil, James, and I playing Super Smash Brothers: Brawl (one of our favorite non-musical past-times). I promise, it's not just a boring video of us playing a game. We say some of the weirdest stuff while playing it, and there are plenty of nuggets in this video.
Heck, I'll leave you with music anyway. Here's Meshuggah.
Balls. What more can I say?
Take care, and have a great week!
Cole Millward
S.I.Q. bassist
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