An afternoon in the company of my basses

[JapanAxe]

Mrs Axe is currently enjoying the company of one of her sisters, and as I type, they still have not returned from their shopathon.

Seizing the opportunity, I set up my recently-acquired SVT 3 Pro atop my BF Compact, and engaged in some not-particularly-serious bass-swapping, knob-twiddling, and button pressing. My aim (loosely) was to work out how to optimise the settings for each bass.



Setting up a sound on a bass and rig on its own is pretty much a waste of time unless you actually go out as a solo player, so I put the stereo up loud and played along with the following:

David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust
Albert King - Born Under A Bad Sign
The Animals - The Most Of The Animlas

Fortunately it turned out to be quite easy:
Bass and treble flat-ish, mid-boost at 220Hz (position 1), graphic off;
Gain at 9 for Precision and Sandberg, 6.5 for Mustang and G&L (hot humbuckers);
Bright switch engaged for Mustang (for definition) and Sandberg (which is slightly polite otherwise).

What else did I learn?
- The G&L [i]loves[/i] that Ampeg, but the Sandberg prefers the Genz Benz
- The Compact has more treble available than I had realised
- The Mustang is a hooligan
- I love my basses!

EDIT: I take shockingly bad pictures with my phone camera

Edited May 2, 2014 by JapanAxe

[BassTractor]

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1399044525' post='2440426']
Setting up a sound on a bass and rig on its own is pretty much a waste of time unless you actually go out as a solo player, so I put the stereo up loud
[/quote]

How did that work out, do you find?
I'd guess that it was a pretty great compromise when one doesn't have live circumstances at hand. Haven't tried it yet though.

[JapanAxe]

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1399048477' post='2440495']
How did that work out, do you find?
I'd guess that it was a pretty great compromise when one doesn't have live circumstances at hand. Haven't tried it yet though.
[/quote]

What I meant was, the sound of a bass/rig on its own tells you almost nothing about how it will sound in a band. Playing along to recorded music (at volume!) at least gets you some of the way there.

[BassTractor]

Yes, I understood, and asked you whether you were satisfied with how that worked out, or at least I [b]tried[/b] to ask you that.

[JapanAxe]

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1399064076' post='2440725']
Yes, I understood, and asked you whether you were satisfied with how that worked out, or at least I [b]tried[/b] to ask you that.
[/quote]
Okay! Yes, I was satisfied, but I won't know for sure that my settings are right until I take the amp out on a gig.

[BassTractor]

Thanks!