bluesparky Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 Hello! Currently my hotel "touring" setup consists of an Aria Sinsonido bass going through a Line 6 Tone Port into their Gear Box software on my MacBook Pro. Whilst this has served me for many years as an acceptable rig and means I can practice to my heart's content whilst away from home I can't help but notice that it really does sound AWFUL! It essentially sounds something similar to a metal dustbin full of spanners rolling down a hill. It's probably a lot to do with the fact that the bass only has a piezo pickup in the bridge and not a conventional body mounted one. I'm wondering what the best option to improve it is. is it worth butchering the body of the bass and installing a pickup? Would some other interface & software improve it? I imagine that you can't really polish a turd if the bass sounds terrible in the first place (it's not great through an amp) but the bass is just the right size as once the arms come off it, it packs down into a bag which my 49 key Alesis keyboard can fit into too. The most important thing about the size of the bag containing my bass & keyboard is that it fits perfectly in the door of my touring toolbox and also in the shelf above the bunks on a tour bus so unless there are any other basses out there on the market that I don't know about which are of a similar size (body width is the important thing) and with a normal pickup I'm not sure what the best thing to do is. I'm basically just after a nice smooth bass sound which isn't so harsh it makes my ears bleed and won't turn into a muddy blend of nothingness if you try to compensate with (software) EQ. I'm keen to keep the equipment list & size to a minimum as this rig does go around the world with me and needs to be setup easily and quickly in hotel rooms etc.. Thank you for any help or advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CamdenRob Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 (edited) [quote name='bluesparky' timestamp='1412608496' post='2570326'] It essentially sounds something similar to a metal dustbin full of spanners rolling down a hill. [/quote] Think you must have something in the chain that's trying to emulate the sound of a ric... Edited October 6, 2014 by CamdenRob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesparky Posted October 6, 2014 Author Share Posted October 6, 2014 [quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1412609179' post='2570331'] Think you must have something in the chain that's trying to emulate the sound of a ric... [/quote] Maybe that's it... I'll get rid of it sharpish.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt P Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 how about a Hohner b2? or a steinberger, they should have a far more authentic sound and the pickups are a standard size so you can modify it to fine tune the sound to your liking (although from what i've read of the Hohner they actually sound very nice as standard). Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tayste_2000 Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 Try some flatwound strings on it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesparky Posted October 8, 2014 Author Share Posted October 8, 2014 [quote name='Matt P' timestamp='1412681403' post='2570955'] how about a Hohner b2? or a steinberger, they should have a far more authentic sound and the pickups are a standard size so you can modify it to fine tune the sound to your liking (although from what i've read of the Hohner they actually sound very nice as standard). Matt [/quote] I ALMOST bought a steinberger in Australia a couple of weeks ago, but it wasn't cheap and who knows how much trouble I'd have been when I'd get home with it! Thanks for the heads up about the Hohner, I'm now looking into it. Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesparky Posted October 8, 2014 Author Share Posted October 8, 2014 [quote name='tayste_2000' timestamp='1412690614' post='2571056'] Try some flatwound strings on it [/quote] I'm a bit naive when it comes to different types of strings, what would Flatwound do to the sound? Currently I've got Ernie ball super slinkys on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tayste_2000 Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 It will mellow the sound out massively, take the clank and over the top treble out, probably find it will add a lot of low end too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesparky Posted October 8, 2014 Author Share Posted October 8, 2014 [quote name='tayste_2000' timestamp='1412778635' post='2571952'] It will mellow the sound out massively, take the clank and over the top treble out, probably find it will add a lot of low end too [/quote] OK, great, thanks. I'll give it a go. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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