You refine your gear searching for THE sound

[WalMan]

your vocalist says "I don't know why you bother with all that extra cr@p. I think it sounds great with your bass straight into the amp" GAH!

Why do we do it to ourselves!? Constantly searching for that elusive sound, buying this, changing that, a tinker here & there, and at the end of the day bass 101 (a bass, a lead & an amp) often does it, and would make life & gigging so much easier.

Annoying thing is I sometimes agree with him too!

[MythSte]

[quote name='WalMan' post='1124577' date='Feb 12 2011, 01:38 AM']your vocalist says "I don't know why you bother with all that extra cr@p. I think it sounds great with your bass straight into the amp" GAH!

Why do we do it to ourselves!? Constantly searching for that elusive sound, buying this, changing that, a tinker here & there, and at the end of the day bass 101 (a bass, a lead & an amp) often does it, and would make life & gigging so much easier.

Annoying thing is I sometimes agree with him too![/quote]

My biggest problem tends to be I spend time and money trying to get a perfect old school tone and decide to go simple, then once I've nailed it I convince myself I need something more modern! I Just don't know anymore. I can seriously see myself with an ampeg and P bass one day. Just to be done with it!

[Doddy]

But while musicians are looking for 'their sound',many singers are happy to sing out of their natural range
and try and copy others,while never finding 'their voice'. This is particularly evident among the myriad of
Whiney/Christina clones who add unnecessary vocal gymnastics on every phrase while singing well beyond
their range,and amongst the pop-punk scene where they all put on a faux California accent-even if they are
from the depths of Surrey.

[risingson]

Bass is bass, I'm a firm believer in thinking that most bass guitars sound more or less the same. That may sound a bit ridiculous but to a wider audience without a discerning ear, this is for the most part a universal truth. Yes a jazz bass is going to sound different to a P bass or a Stingray, and yes certain pickups/preamps will sound different than others etc. but who's going to notice? Not as many people as you'd like to think.

I choose bass guitars on how they make me feel when I play them, closely followed by how well they're going to sound in live and studio applications. If you've got a great sounding bass then it's a huge morale boost and that's important as a performing musician, but for the most part and as controversial as this is, most basses sound fundamentally the same.

[WalMan]

[quote name='risingson' post='1124583' date='Feb 12 2011, 01:53 AM']Bass is bass, I'm a firm believer in thinking that most bass guitars sound more or less the same. That may sound a bit ridiculous but to a wider audience without a discerning ear, this is for the most part a universal truth. Yes a jazz bass is going to sound different to a P bass or a Stingray, and yes certain pickups/preamps will sound different than others etc. but who's going to notice? Not as many people as you'd like to think.

I choose bass guitars on how they make me feel when I play them, closely followed by how well they're going to sound in live and studio applications. If you've got a great sounding bass then it's a huge morale boost and that's important as a performing musician, but for the most part and as controversial as this is, most basses sound fundamentally the same.[/quote]
I have three basses that (IMO) all sound awesome, certainly for what I want but they are each individuals, even the two L2500's, but I'm sure ultimately you're probably not far off it there.

Tried the compressor tonight, and though it was clearly working from the activity on the meters it wasn't choking off the sound, or having any overt effect, so noone would notice that.

The EBS Microbass II is again only really a tone shaper, with the stun setting having A & B channels linked, and stun was not engaged at all.

The Octabass I used a couple of times & I knew it was there but I don't suppose anyone else really noticed or cared; and

The UniChorus was used a few times for effect and was probably the only thing that anyone might honestly have noticed.

Ah well, I'm happy and as long as I'm not being told it sunds like utter cr@p, why worry


Mind the gear war could have been escalated tonight when one of the guitarists turned up with his latest acquisition (a reissue 58 Flying V) which was quickly plugged in at the soundcheck and did sound rather nice. I just need to keep repeating the mantra "Your sound is good. You dont need anything else" to myself over & over again

[ThomBassmonkey]

I don't think 99% of people would know if you were playing a Jazz or a Ray. I do think however that at least 75% of people will think the band sounds better as a whole if the gear's right, especially with bass where a bad tone will make the band sound either thin or muddy.

I love my GK rig (turned down another endorsement offer before I even got one from GK because I already had an amp I'd rather use) but if I was a bedroom bassist, it just doesn't get the tone in my head when I play solo. In a band situation it's everything I want though, beefy as hell but still well defined.

I think that kind of thing is the thing that people pick up on, if I used the tone I'd use in my bedroom at a gig, it'd sound too thin and people would pick up that it didn't sound as good.

The other thing to consider is the sound guy. Certain tones make his job easier. The sound guy at our regular gig loved when I got my Sandberg, he said he found it much easier to EQ and work with generally in my band than my Warwick. Obviously it's different for every setup, but a Sandberg into a GK is something I can see being my setup for a long time because it just fits.

Does that mean a P into an ampeg rig wouldn't work? No, but I'm where I want to be tone-wise.

[Lozz196]

I had exactly the same with my band. I was trying to find the "perfect rig" and each time I changed a bit of it, the singer would say "it sounds fine, and the same as last week, so why bother changing things".

There were differences that I could hear, and probably most bassists could too, but I do think he had a point. The audience is going to be made up mostly of non-bassists, and as long as your tone fits in with the band, they really aren`t going to notice how "perfect" it is.

My dream rig was Fender Precision into Ampeg - finally managed to resource a reasonably priced Ampeg rig, and my band has fallen apart. So for the future, am gonna make my life easy, one lightweight 4x10 or 2x12 and my TC Classic 450. For the type of band I`m looking for that will be plenty of power (regular covers), most bands I`ve seen doing that have combos, but I simply can`t do the combo thing - dunno why, all those bands have sounded fine.

[4-string-thing]

[quote name='WalMan' post='1124577' date='Feb 12 2011, 01:38 AM']your vocalist says "I don't know why you bother with all that extra cr@p. I think it sounds great with your bass straight into the amp" GAH!

Why do we do it to ourselves!? Constantly searching for that elusive sound, buying this, changing that, a tinker here & there, and at the end of the day bass 101 (a bass, a lead & an amp) often does it, and would make life & gigging so much easier.

Annoying thing is I sometimes agree with him too![/quote]

Bass, lead, amp...... thats all I've ever used!

Oh, apart from a cheap chorus pedal once in 1994....

[lemmywinks]

[quote name='Doddy' post='1124580' date='Feb 12 2011, 01:44 AM']But while musicians are looking for 'their sound',many singers are happy to sing out of their natural range
and try and copy others,while never finding 'their voice'. This is particularly evident among the myriad of
Whiney/Christina clones who add unnecessary vocal gymnastics on every phrase while singing well beyond
their range,and amongst the pop-punk scene where they all put on a faux California accent-even if they are
from the depths of Surrey.[/quote]


Big +1

[stingrayPete1977]

I have already gone for a lightweight head, One 2x12 cab, A lead and a bass (Usually Ray shaped) and as many of us agreed before at most gigs where the DI comes into play your effects if after the DI and amp may aswell be a pair of headphones because we cant hear it! Possibly if your a known band or its a big venue you might get a mix off a mic for colouration but most of what the audience hear is off the bass alone.

Edited February 12, 2011 by stingrayPete1977

[Roland Rock]

[quote name='ThomBassmonkey' post='1124590' date='Feb 12 2011, 02:37 AM']I don't think 99% of people would know if you were playing a Jazz or a Ray. I do think however that at least 75% of people will think the band sounds better as a whole if the gear's right, especially with bass where a bad tone will make the band sound either thin or muddy.[/quote]

+1

[stingrayPete1977]

But your choice of amp and any tone altering pedals etc wont make a blind bit of difference if its all through the pa and the sound guy/guyette get it wrong. It needs to sit right in the mix I 100% agree but often thats not under our control other than at small venues/pubs etc which is the only time I worry about [b]my[/b] sound. At least if you do functions with your own pa you can choose your own sound but thats still through the pa rather than your gear as such.

[Michaelg]

i've found a sound that im happy with and is compatible with 95% of the songs we play. i use a hollow bodied gretsch bass and an ampeg svt-450 head with its complimentary 4x10 cab. i use 2 pedals - a standard blogger fuzz pedal (albeit rarely) and an interesting t rex compression pedal.

i think the next step up would be to buy a new bass completely different to the one i have, but there is no rush to do that. possibly an early 70s P bass. i dont need to buy any different amplifiers - in terms of sound quality i've yet to find a better brand.

Edited February 12, 2011 by Michaelg

[chris_b]

I'm not searching for THE sound, I'm just getting A sound I like out of the gear I'm currently using.

My sound has changed many times over the years and will probably change again when I get the next bass, amp or cab.


I know we'd have to think about other things to post about if we didn't minutely examine this stuff, but I did a gig last month with my new amp and I asked the guitarist, who was set up next to me, what do you think of the sound? He said it "sounds great, but it just sounds like you!"

[spinynorman]

Rather than looking for "the sound", I look for light weight and as little as possible to carry, set up and go wrong. Markbass combo, Korg DT10, Fender Precision. Strangely I was only thinking the other night how awesome I was sounding.

[icastle]

[quote name='WalMan' post='1124577' date='Feb 12 2011, 01:38 AM']your vocalist says "I don't know why you bother with all that extra cr@p. I think it sounds great with your bass straight into the amp" GAH!

Why do we do it to ourselves!? Constantly searching for that elusive sound, buying this, changing that, a tinker here & there, and at the end of the day bass 101 (a bass, a lead & an amp) often does it, and would make life & gigging so much easier.

Annoying thing is I sometimes agree with him too![/quote]

+1

Only thing I've changed in the last 10 years is my rig and that was only because the old one was getting tatty.
I went for a nice bland Peavey setup.
I constantly use a rack mounted digital chorus set so low that you only realise it's actually there if you turn it off.

For the last four summers I've played at an outdoor music festival and for the last four summers I've come off stage after a performance and been asked by other bass players "what are you using up there?, it sounds fantastic."

I've got a few odd pedals kicking around but they only ever get pulled out for specific sounds, generally in a studio setup.

I have no problem with people swapping gear out all over the place and adding 'tweaks', but it's just not for me any more.
I'm much happier familiarising myself with the gear I have so I can concentrate on playing.

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='icastle' post='1124833' date='Feb 12 2011, 12:01 PM']For the last four summers I've played at an outdoor music festival and for the last four summers I've come off stage after a performance and been asked by other bass players "what are you using up there?, it sounds fantastic."[/quote]

What was the setup though? Was your bass straight to a di or were you using your amp as the backline? If it was the di then they are complimenting your playing and that bass if its the latter then fair enough your getting a nice amp sound too. Either way its a compliment to you but mostly your playing either way IMO

[icastle]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1124860' date='Feb 12 2011, 12:22 PM']What was the setup though? Was your bass straight to a di or were you using your amp as the backline? If it was the di then they are complimenting your playing and that bass if its the latter then fair enough your getting a nice amp sound too. Either way its a compliment to you but mostly your playing either way IMO [/quote]

It was amp as backline with a DI feed from that back to the PA.
They've used the same sound engineer as long as I've been playing there and he is pretty damn good.

[Happy Jack]

While I entirely understand where the OP is coming from, your gear DOES make a difference, a very big difference.

Last night I did a leaflet drop on five of the best-known music pubs to the west of me in London. One didn't have a band on, but the other four all had bands playing, and two of the bassists used two basses at different times.

Bit of an eye-opener (ears too, of course) just how different they all sounded.

What really struck me was a guy playing DB with a blues/rock covers band. His sound was unbelievable, really superb, so much so that I pushed round the side to see what he was going through. Turned out to be, of all things, a Markbass combo.

Later in the set, he put the DB aside and plugged in his Fender P while leaving the settings unchanged. It sounded (IMHO) utterly crap, just not the sound I like from a P. I'm well aware that it may have been exactly what HE wanted.

[hillbilly deluxe]

The sound ? this is all my opinion.What is the sound that we are after ? can we remember the first "the sound" that we had ?,are we trying to re-create this ? or are we trying to re-create someone elses sound ? when i switched from guitar to bass i carried on using my guitar amp and cab,Selmer Treble & Bass 100w & 4x12 cab with my 68 Precision.I thought it was a great sound.I have been swayed by other basses and certainly other amps/cabs,combos,but still get the same sound out of my current set up,especially since Howard built me a bass to replicate that 68 P bass.I have tried to use a more hi - fi sound with both basses and amps but have never been truly happy with the result.I have spent an absolute fortune in the last 20 years or so on gear to get "that sound",but realised that,
1,an amp/speakers make just as much,if not more difference to the sound than a bass does.
2,technique plays a much bigger role in shaping the sound.
3,the cost of equipment does not always justify the end result.
4,If you are looking to replicate someone elses sound,pay more attention to their technique than their gear.

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

The sound that tends to work for me is my mustang straight into the LMII via a cheapo behringer limiter which is just there to help the overall level as it evens out the levels from my sloppy technique.

At my last gig I took a different bass. I was having trouble getting a sound which sits as well as the mustang as the bass I was using was my Epi T-Bird Pro-V. My mistake was that as I had paid for a two pickup active bass, I felt that I had to make use of everything it offered. Starting with the two pickups 50-50 with the eq flat, I fiddled around trying different things to get it sounding right to no avail until I turned the pickup balance all the way around to the neck pickup 100% + bridge pickup 0%, and the eq flat. As soon as I did that the sound was there. So it seems for my classic old-school flatwound sound, less is not just more, it is everything.

[icastle]

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='1124946' date='Feb 12 2011, 01:44 PM']What really struck me was a guy playing DB with a blues/rock covers band. His sound was unbelievable, really superb, so much so that I pushed round the side to see what he was going through. Turned out to be, of all things, a Markbass combo.

Later in the set, he put the DB aside and plugged in his Fender P while leaving the settings unchanged. It sounded (IMHO) utterly crap, just not the sound I like from a P. I'm well aware that it may have been exactly what HE wanted. [/quote]

Yeah absolutely, but those are totally different instruments, albeit from the same basic 'family'.
I also switch between EUB and bass guitar and definately have to change amp settings - I use two different colour self adhesive dots so I can do it quickly!

[stingrayPete1977]

I think this all depend on the situation though, Are we talking sat at home listening to our isolated sound? I use a 10W Marshall guitar amp even with the Ray 5! For noodling its fine and often only acting as a headphone amp anyway. For a small venue where my amp is the FOH sound then sure I will fuss over it and get any musical mates out front to give feedback as the gig goes along. But if its in the pa Im a DI only guy and I may as well have a crap bass sound but one that cuts through for me to hear what Im playing rather than what we would class as a good bass sound. It is after all only your monitor in most situations. If its on a di only a Ray through an Ampeg sounds [b]exactly[/b] like a Ray through my 10watt Marshall guitar amp when stood 10 rows back in FOH.

[cytania]

Caring about your sound is IMHO the key thing to improving your playing. When I started out I'm pretty sure I was twanging the strings and thumping the frets. Now I'm trying to hold and shape each note. If I didn't listen to my bass I'd still be plinking and plunking horribly.

GAS and incessant gear tweaking can be a real distraction from concentrating on the fundamentals but there are some wildly un-bassy sounding basses out there. I own one - an Ibanez SRX 400. I plugged it in at soundcheck last night and the tone struck me as 'oboe'. Suddenly it seems an unlikely backup instrument.

Key thing with groups is getting you bass low in the mix whilst not being so subliminal you can't hear it. Again soundcheck last night I was persuaded to drop all my usual settings and go for a rather flat sound but I had to admit it sounded better out in the hall (sound chap played my bass to me). It became a proper group sound not a group with a bassist attached.

[JTUK]

I approach it like this..I play the bass in the band so that is ALL down to me. I like it when they compliment something and for effects on a track, I'd ask their opinion or help, but mostly I expect them to look after their remit. If there was anyone majorly wrong, we wouldn't be in that band with each other.

Have to say.. really not an effects person, though. I spend so much time getting it clean..why would I want to mess that up