I agree with your assessment about distortion on bass @itsratso. The only reason I inquired about distortion is because I read somewhere that you can do more hard rock stuff on a hollow body bass if you add a little distortion. I would leave the distortion out for softer music like soft rock, southern rock, jazz or blues.
This depends on the pedal you have. Many pedals have a blend knob, where you keep a % of the clean signal and distort only the remaining %. There is also ones like the Orange Bass Butler that completely separates the high and low end and only lets you distort the high end (if you want), then puts them back together. There is more than just brute force distortion pedals out there.
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My Tube Screamer has such a knob labeled âMixâ.
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so I bought the TC plethora X5 a little while ago. I replaced a lot of my pedals with it including the excellent source audio spectrum filter. but TC doesnât make an envelope filter so I got an MXR bass envelope filter.
at the end of the day, it doesnât do the hundreds of sounds the spectrum does, it really just does one sound - the classic 70s envelope. and thatâs really all I want and it sounds excellent. saved some cash too. but I might wind up getting rid of it. and a ton of other things too. becauseâŚ
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uh oh
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alright I admit I have a problem. I need to call an 800 number. but dammit, I canât help it. the plethora X5 is great, I could easily live with it. but all the talk, well I was curious. so I got this to compare the two:
if this works, I will be able to sell a ton of stuff. I laughed that the same day I ordered this, line 6 announced the new stomp xl (which I wouldnât have bought anyways, too big and expensive). and then yesterday line 6 updated their stomp pedals and this can now use 8 effects blocks instead of 6! not only does this make it much more useful but itâs also the same as the xl which makes me wonder why people would get the much more expensive xl. I will let you know what I think of it when I figure it out.
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VERY NICE. Did you get the Helix Native license $99 deal too? If you donât want it I will buy it off you 
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no, got this used.
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Looking forward to hearing how you like it. They look more or less like the sweet spot for money versus quality right now to me.
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having 6 blocks was a little troublesome. seems like a lot but if you use an amp and a cab sim, thatâs 4 blocks left. I use eq and compression always on, so now only 2 blocks for effects. having 8 blocks really changes things.
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amp sim should have EQ on it which might help
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good point. but with 8, should be plenty. I could always just keep my eq pedal and run the stomp into it. but Iâd like to simplify as much as possible.
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My view on this is that it gives that grit at a lower octave. Not necessarily emulating a guitar. For example (IMO), a distorted guitar sounds absolutely nothing like an acoustic or regular electric to me. Itâs an entirely different sound. Same goes for bass, itâs an entirely different tone that has its place.
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Thatâs some seriously distorted bass!
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LOL I was going to say âthatâs a nice, tasteful lightly distorted bassâ
But yeah. JAMC are all about the distortion.
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Iâve heard so many people rave about the Line 6 Helix Stomp. If you arenât an analog purist then it seems very capable. My only concern is that I think it has less bass stuff on it than guitar, but is still full of stuff from what I hear. Be great to hear what you think once youâve had a play with it.
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You might still be able to register it on your Line6 account. I think not many people actually register products (assumption alert).
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Yeah it was a really cool move that they went from 6 to 8 blocks. Just keep in mind that the DSP on the Helix is originally created for 6. For example if you used the new poly effects you wonât even be able to use 6 blocks, more like 4. I kinda understand why they announced a more powerful processor unit.
Edit: It seems they use the same SHARP processor but I guess the XL might be a little bit more efficient with the DSP. It seems you can have 4 snapshots too. https://line6.com/data/6/0a020a416049600f33a77ba46/application/pdf/
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