uk_lefty

Sorry guys, busy weekend... For me "clean" means a hi-fi sound. So, maybe clean isn't the word after all?!?! I just mean no grit, drive or distortion, that super-flat fat bass sound with crisp highs, sterlie but not lifeless... All these words could mean different things to different people so... think of a Darkglass amp with it's drive on? Now think of the opposite.

I notice almost all general amps available (not talking boutique stuff) seem to be voiced more towards the gritty and distorted end, there's very few if any that emphasizes having a clean sound... So, if I were to look for a new or second hand good quality amp that offers a sparklingly clean sound, what should I be looking for? At the moment all I can think of is the Super Flat mode on the new Boss Katana range but they are pricey. All ideas welcome, GAS is brewing..!

Guitarist in my first band brough about eight or nine to a gig. One was in non standard tuning for a single song, except his main guitar which he used all gig all the rest were for show I think. Being not such a highbrow establishment some chap walked in during setup and exclaimed: "what's this a fookin guitar convention??!"

I usually take two basses but leave my backup in the car. I've got a spare set of strings in my cable bag and spare batteries (as well as a battery tester) in there too. I don't bother with a backup amp still as I have a DI pedal on my board which can be used if my amp fails. I play a brand new Ashdown ABM 600 though and I don't push it hard so chances of failure are remote. I don't have spare speaker cables, and I've had them mess up on me. I don't have a spare iPad stand so had it on the floor at my last gig which led to some jazz improv in a middle 8 or two!

"No it's fine, I love it when screaming drunk women grab the microphone"

All my basses are ready to gig. In terms of getting the sound, I know each of my basses and set my amp and pedals differently if I'm going to take a different bass, but I also play differently on each. Out of five basses the closest sound wise are probably my Fender jazz with fretted maple neck and my Harley Benton fretless jazz. I gigged the Harley Benton fretless jazz as soon as I got it for a pub gig. My current band isn't typically what I'd use a fretless for but I do every now and then.

Decent gig playing the Horn in St Albans as we do four times a year. Bit of a smaller crowd this time but very energetic and up for it. I forgot my iPad stand so had to prop it on the floor and go from memory which was very liberating. Forgot to put in my ear plugs for the second half and have the headache to prove it this morning!

I've used allsorts of strings on my 5 strong fretless which is passive. I've had five string fretted as well... The fact it's passive has never really crossed my mind when buying strings. I've had this bass for 21 years so it's had flats, stainless rounds and now nickel rounds. My amp choices are based on what amp sound I want and not whether my bass is passive or active, four or five string... I'm a bit confused at the whole question to be honest.

I've got one of these as a practice amp. It's great for home use, probably ok for recording too, but no way would I gig it.

Not to detract from anything already said, some excellent advice all around. I'd be wary of the multi fx. "Most" multi fx preset patch sounds are EQ based so changing through these in a set can send your EQ all over even if you're just going from patches called "driven SVT" to "Beetle Bass". Learn what works with just the amp EQ, start with everything "flat" then tweak to get it right in band context. Even if it sounds rub ISH at home, so what, sounding good with a band is an underrated skill.

True. It may occasionally get used as an amp. Or as a backup head. I'm trying to keep my options open. I've already got an MXR DI pedal which I like the sound from, so that is my starting point, but for many reasons another amp (either head only or combo) would be an advantage.

Ah I had one of these but just plain didn't like the sound.

Hi everyone. I'm looking for suggestions for a small practice amp I can XLR out of to leave in my drummers practice room. So it needs to be cheap but capable, so secondhand, old tech all welcome. The other option is a head that can run an XLR out without always running a cab. I know this can't always be done (how do I know if a head can or can't do this?). Why a head only? To have a backup. Reason for this is.... We are going to headphone based practice as a band. The drummer plays an electric kit and we have a digital PA so we can all plug in and join in by headphones. We've got most of the kit and the bits we need can be covered at the cost of less than three visits to the rehearsal room that has questionable kit. We may also play quietly with or without the PA so I'd like an amp for this possibility but it's not essential. Keen to have suggestions of amps or heads that are easy to get hold of secondhand and relatively cheap also... So not the 60watt Markbass Marcus Miller that costs hundreds and hundreds. Thank you!

I think there is/ was a law about producing unique products for the domestic market too. In my younger days I remember finding "Japanese edition" versions of albums that had extra songs and versions of songs that you couldn't easily get hold of (pre internet days) for the Japanese domestic market only. Maybe this explains why some stuff just isn't exported as a new product? I don't know for sure so don't lambast me if wrong, I'm neither a lawyer or Japanese speaker, and I'm definitely not a Japanese lawyer.

Shame it went that way but the form seems just too small for bass. There's plenty of good multi instrument practice amps out there, the "full size" Spark and the Blackstar BEAM are both adequate bass practice amps but come in to their own when used to record. Also, Fender's old Bronco 40 bass amp was impressive so I expect their newer modelling amps are very good.

I love this old Peavey gear!

Fender Japan have always used basswood as far as I know except on special run limited edition basses. It's made by Fender Japan, they know what they're doing. As for the price, nothing shocks me any more. I just wish I'd filled my boots when you could get a brand new Aerodyne bass for about £430 in the recent past.

For bassists do you have a preference of reverb or digital delay? I like a bit of reverb on fretless but heard Marcus Miller say he prefers digital delay because in his view reverb sounds muddy.... Obviously Marcus knows what he's doing but for those of us without his supreme talent, years of experience, and time to tinker with settings... What do you prefer and why? Today, I have no opinion on the matter. I had a digital delay, I now have a reverb I received in a trade, I've had multi fx pedals that do both. I've never really explored it.

If you want small and cheap then the Harley Benton does what it needs to do and is about £15. It tunes, it muted, it doesn't take up much space.

In a taxi right now after playing four forty five minute sets in Amsterdam city centre. Absolutely crazy, great crowd. Did this gig last year and was worried there wouldn't be the excitement, but the excitement was just different. Knowing the venue, the route etc. And being a tighter band a year on... Absolutely brilliant. Now to sleep....

I'd be interested in seeing your settings for each parameter. At the moment I'm using not far off the manual setting as a limiter which sounds great with my jazz bass but takes a lot of the best bits out the sound of my Stingray. I think I need to increase the room a bit to allow more of the natural bass sound and dynamics through so that the Stingray can still kick and punch but without overpowering everything else...

That's not good, the bigger unit is ok as a practice amp once you get some other settings on it but bass does just need bigger speakers.