my effects box i used to use a rackmount effects unit (the Nightbass system), but it was a bit impractical when i started having to move around from club to club, rehearsals and recordings.  so i switched to this baybee .. and i've never regretted it .... my zoom lets me play with a variety of amp simulation for any speaker/board situation, and gives me enough room to use my old guitar-playing background to add tasteful effects to bass solos and lines.  best of all, its got a built in tuner!!!!!!	my trusty axe i started out with a used fernandes 5, moved on to a washburn XB 600, then i bought my sdgr6 custom (circa 1996) and haven't really felt the need to use another bass .. at least not for my playing requirements anyway.  i really love that active bass and treble boost/cut, not to mention the midsweep, which lets me isolate any particular frequency that needs tweaking on the fly. funnily enough i've never owned a four-string! nowadays i'm toying with the idea of de-fretting my washburn XB600 and dabbling in fretlessology.	my trusty amp simulator this DI Box cum amp simulator is way cool, for all my live and recording needs.  It lets me have additional control on output to the board or amp, (which is sooooo important here where i play, when soundmen are sooo reluctant to twiddle with their boards .. arghhhh) ..... it adds infinite tonal possibilities (normally i just plug it into the pre-amp in of any club amp, and i get the exact signal i'm sending to the board, so i can let the sound engineer know my preferred tone, and he can then tweak my channel on the main board to achieve the same tone through the house  it just rocks man!!!!