Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

Amp Transparency


cloudburst
 Share

Recommended Posts

We all talk about the joys of an amp being transparent and not colouring the tone.

But how do we actually know what is the true tone of a particular bass, given that we only ever hear them through various amps.

This feels like a stupid question.

CB

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think when you can hear loads of mistakes and poor technique you've got a transparent amp! Amps that colour the tone tend to compress the signal and smooth a lot of the bumps that clean amps highlight.

That's why a lot of people love GK I guess!

Truckstop

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you hear your self and your bass through a decent set of desk monitors or listen to the straight DI sound through a FOH PA you can get a good idea of what your stuff really sounds like, then its a case of comparison.
TBF a lot of amps don't colour a great deal, its poor cabs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Play through headphones, it is relatively easy to have an accurate low powered amp and most headphone amps have a flat frequency response with very little other distortion. The headphones themselves also benefit from very light diaphragms and a very controlled environment and will have a flat response over the whole range of our hearing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

DI your bass.... then your sound is only being coloured by the strings, your fingers and FOH.

All amps and cabs colour your sound to a degree. Some a little some a lot. That's good; all you have to do is get the sound that you like from the whole signal chain.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1368173811' post='2073969']
DI your bass.... then your sound is only being coloured by the strings, your fingers and FOH.

All amps and cabs colour your sound to a degree. Some a little some a lot. That's good; all you have to do is get the sound that you like from the whole signal chain.
[/quote]

Through the PA it is then being 'coloured' by the PA rig , desk , crossovers , amps , compressors etc etc.
If you want to hear your bass totally uncoloured , don't plug it in !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='skychaserhigh' timestamp='1368177734' post='2074049']If you want to hear your bass totally uncoloured , don't plug it in ![/quote]

That's how I play my bass at home and how I test any new bass before I plug it in - if it sounds good unplugged then it will sound good plugged in as long as the pickups are decent. And if the pickups aren't decent they're pretty cheap and easy to change.

My big rig is an Avalon U5 into a QSC PLX into a Big Twin T. That's about as low colouration as is possible this side of very very expensive large studio monitors. Tells everyone when you're playing well - and not so well...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...