• Fender Bassman 300 BXR-C – This is my gigging amp. (For now) It’s a 300 watt combo amp I picked up for 200 bucks off of craigslist, and so far, it’s good enough to be heard while practicing with the band I’m playing with. I’ve been told one or two times to turn it down a bit, so it’s at least adequate for my needs at this moment. It’s a little older, but really, that’s not a big deal. About the only downside is that it’s as heavy as sin. Thankfully, it stay’s at John and Maggie’s place, so I don’t have to lug it to and from rehearsal and such.
• Line 6 LowDown 150 – This is my practice amp and I really like it. It’s not too heavy, nor is it too big. Yet it still has all the low end OOMPH I need when I’m practicing. It’s a pretty nice little amp. I’m not much about the modeling aspect of it, but it’s occasionally nice to hear the different sounds.
• Line 6 M13 Stompbox Modeler – This is what does the majority of my effects processing. It’s got a ridiculous array of stomp boxes in it. Every time I futz with it, I end up finding another pedal tweak or combination that I really get into. It’s the second multi-effects box I’ve owned, and so far, it’s so much better than my old Boss ME-30. It can be pricey, but if you’re into lots of effects and aren’t dead set on an exact sound, it’s a pretty righteous deal.
• DigiTech X-Series Bass Synth Wah – When I was researching the M13, I noticed it didn’t have an auto-wah on it. Since I find auto-wah and regular wah to be key effects I was a little miffed. But, I figured, no biggie, I’ll pick up an auto-wah/envelope filter. Well, this sucker came up for a good price on craigslist and I jumped on it. Now that I have it, it’s not a bad little pedal, but I don’t use it’s “auto-wah.” Of the seven effects types, the only one that I’m not impressed with is the Envelope portion. Thankfully, the M13 has a filter based on the Mutron 3, which once I got it dialed in, serves as a pretty good auto-wah. I may lose a little bass, but, well, I’m willing to accept that for how much better it is. Of the pedals I’d ditch, I’m most inclined to ditch this, either for a better auto-wah, or something else entirely. At the same time, I like the synth sounds, so it’s really hard to say.
• Dunlop Bass Crybaby 105q – This is my standard wah. And honestly, I made this search harder than it should have been. Because I didn’t want to just go with this pedal; which is pretty much the standard for all bassists, I went with an earlier version which I got off craigslist. Yeah, didn’t like that. Then I tried a multi-wah with a “bass” setting. Once again, it didn’t cut it. So, I began searching, and finally found of these at a place called Trading Musician. I paid a little more than I would have liked, but well, I was tired of not having a decent bass wah. Yeah, had I just looked for this exact thing, I could have saved myself a lot of headache.
• Boss LS-2 Line Selector – Since the M13 (which my synth wah is looped through) does not contain an instant bypass switch, I needed a way to go from effects loop to clean very quickly. This is my solution and I’m pretty happy with it. This is one of those pedals people forget about, and because I was talking about it, I actually got a friend to look at getting one for the same reason. It’s a pretty nice little box.
• Furman SPB-8 Pedal Board – This was a surprising craigslist find that I jumped on pretty hard. I wanted a common power source, and I knew I’d need to build a pedal board. Well, one day, this thing appeared for 125 bucks. Yeah, I jumped all over it. I’m SOOOO glad I did. Besides the fact that pedals eat through 9 volt batteries, having a dedicated board with carrying case that I can leave hooked up is so nice.

So yeah, I’ve got my gear together. I’m really happy with it. For the foreseeable future, I’m done with having to get gear. I’ve actually gotten to the point where I’m not trolling craigslist anymore. I just don’t want anything at the moment. This will change, but for now, I’m good.

The first bit of gear, a gigging amp, I have picked up today. Thanks to the magic of craigslist, I was able to find a 300w Fender combo amp for 200 bucks. What’s even better, is that I like the sound and, well, it’s loud as a motherf**er. Seriously, I asked Yorke if he could hear me playing with his door closed and headphones on and it was a resounding yes. Sweet.

The other bit of gear I ordered was an M13 from Line6. I’ve been lusting after one, and decided it was my Christmas gift to me. I don’t really need effects. But they are awesome and I really like to play with them. This weekend, I’m going to see about picking up a bas wah from a guy on craigslist for 50 bucks.

While I will admit that it is kind of ghetto to be picking up all of this gear off of craigslist…I don’t really care. It’s cheap, sounds/plays incredibly well, and it’s getting me going. But yes, I think I’m a decent practice amp away from being done for a while.

Now, however, I have full on GAS.

And what’s worse, it’s all kind of justifiable. Well, kind of. I think it’s best to just list what I’m looking for and why I want it:

• Effects (in particular this) – So I used to have a pretty good Boss ME-30, but that was stolen back in college my senior year, and I never replaced it. Now, it should be known that effects aren’t required for playing, but for certain styles, the sound of a clean bass just isn’t…right. So I’m looking to get some effects and, after thinking about it, I realized I’d rather have a multi-effects board than try to find all of the exact individual pedals that would make me happy. Thus how I landed on the M13, which is the closest to what I want, which is essentially just a virtual pedal board that doesn’t try to do any amp modeling or stuff like that. It’s just effects, and I can easily switch between them, tweak them, and I can put them in any order. The only thing it lacks is a true auto-wah but that’s cool, I don’t mind buying specialized ones.
• Practice Amp – So the practice amp I own is a really little, rather lame, 15w bass combo practice amp. In a word, it’s shitty. That’s the best way to describe it, and I only have it because it came with the first bass I ever bought. (100 bucks from my friend Jenn for a shitty bass and the amp) For the most part, it’s been ok, but I just got a new Variax Bass off of craigslist, and after thumping through that for a little bit, I’m hearing how my amp is beginning to kick the bucket a bit. So I’m looking to pick up a decent practice amp. Right now, I’m thinking something from the LowDown line by Line 6. I’ve played through the 300 and really liked the sound.
• Gigging Amp – The last thing i’m in need of is a real gigging amp. I recently started jamming with a band, and I realized that I need an amp that will allow me to be heard when I’m playing live with a drummer, guitarist, keyboardist and singer. While a combo amp will be fine for practicing, for gigging, I’m looking for a two piece setup. It’s not going to be cheap, but it will be worth it to be heard. Not sure what I’m interested in yet, but I figure I’ll spend a lot of time at Sam Ash and Guitar Center when I’m back in Cincinnati for the holidays.

As you can see, I’ve got a bunch of stuff I want to purchase. All told, it’s probably gonna be close to two grand in gear; which is a bit of cash. But at the same time, it’s looking like I will be in need. Thankfully, I can at least get the line 6 stuff at discount. Plus, there’s Ebay and Craigslist, which may also provide me with some good deals.