Basses that are 'tough' on amps?

[martthebass]

Had a jam last night. Usually use my 'wick Thumb, but for a change last night I decided to use my Sterling. The Thumb usually sounds ok whatever amps turn up. Plugged into an Ashdown Mag thing - sounded bloody awful, set it flat, played, no good couldn't mod it to make a decent noise. Thought it was the bass as I don't use it that often but then I plugged it into the Keyboardists expensive Roland kit - sounded excellent.

Are some basses just more picky than others when it comes to amps?

[Waldo]

Not so sure about amps but my Fleabass is *very* fussy with fx pedals, I think it just drives the poor things too hard!

[Breakfast]

My Eggle is much louder than my Spector, I have to remember to turn the amp right up when I switch them over.

[thumbo]

I've heard that Gibson EB3's can do some nasty damage to weedy amps.

Maybe that ashdown amp had issues? Although, I do think that some basses can sound pants through certain amps, but a lot of it comes down to personal preference.

[bass_ferret]

There can be a sort of negative synergy between some basses and some amps. They just dont work well together.

[Tinman]

[quote name='Breakfast' post='2524' date='May 19 2007, 10:48 PM']My Eggle is much louder than my Spector, I have to remember to turn the amp right up when I switch them over.[/quote]
Drifting a little from the topic, you're the first person I've seen mentioning Eggle Bass, what are they like? I've still got a Vienna (guitar) by them that I love.
Just wondering is all.

[DirkThrust]

I used to have a Stingray and a MAG 250-15 combo and they sounded great together. In fact I've always found the warm, fat Ashdown sound to be a perfect compliment to the sometimes too toppy Musicman sound.

Maybe the Ashdown was faulty in some way.

Edited May 20, 2007 by PaulMartin

[warwickhunt]

I had a Sterling and the output was massive compared to any of my Warwicks, even my 18v. Could that be the reason.

[Quantum Sheep]

My Tbird makes quite a few amps emit a very unhealthy sounding kind of growl, rather than the nice healthy one you can get from decent gear. If you know what i mean.

[NancyJohnson]

Interesting you mention the MAG series amps...I run my Precision into a Mk1 BassPOD then into the effects return of an Ashdown MAG combo and a 1x15 deep bass cabinet.

While I never have any issues when I actually start playing (I get a really nice Foxtonesque Tube Station clank from the POD patch I use) by the end of a two hour session the Ashdown does sound a bit farty, distorted and tired. It's never played flat out and there's always plenty of headroom.

I've often thought this could be an issue with the amp as I've never had this 'problem' with the ramp of gear I've used previously. If the amp it switched off and cooled down (ten/fifteen minutes), it's fine again.

P

[Lfalex v1.1]

My Zoot simply "ignores" most FX units. They don't really have as much "effect", even (some) distortion units. It only distorts well through a (Russian) Big Muff and my Ampeg SVP-Pro.

It's got an Alnico pole-pieced Seymour Duncan MM Humbucker through an E-Pro at 18v.

The dreaded [color="#FF00FF"]Yamaha Attitude[/color] is hard on amps. In spite of being passive, the Di Marzios run VERY hot, and the neck humbucker produces enough LF output to upset some smaller amps (and cabs!) when you turn them up.

Lastly, the Vigier [i]can[/i] produce big peaks in response to your playing dynamics. 18v electrics again, though. It can upset amps that are already working hard.

Much as I dislike compression (as an effect rather than a valve-induced artefact), it would probably solve most of the problems that "funny" bass outputs can cause.

[lowhand_mike]

just to help the comparison i've just aquired an ashdown mag210 combo and i have to be very careful with the settings compared to the peavey max combo i was using with my ibanez sr500, the peavey i could run pretty much flat out and roll off the bass a little and and it was fine the ashdown just seems more sensitive so it takes a bit more messing with the eq (also the input level is effected by the eq stage on the ashdowns so with high eq settings the input dial needs to be backed off). certainly have to check to see if my kids have messed with the eq before turning on. and my sr500 seems to pump out alot ot low end when biasing the to the neck pup so the eq has to change and could never get the peavey to sound good on the neck pup where as the ashdown handles it.
maybe some amps need more fettling with ceratin basses.

[3V17C]

[quote name='Lfalex v1.1' post='2762' date='May 20 2007, 11:39 AM']The dreaded [color="#FF00FF"]Yamaha Attitude[/color] is hard on amps. In spite of being passive, the Di Marzios run VERY hot, and the neck humbucker produces enough LF output to upset some smaller amps (and cabs!) when you turn them up.[/quote]

yeah - i'll second that. the passive DiMarzios in the Attitude Ltds push out much more 'ooomph' than most basses I have come across, even actives.

also, I had a Jaydee for a while and just couldn't get a good sound out of it when going into my old SWR Basic 350.



peace

C

[stewblack]

My OLP musicman copy is a bastard to whatever you put it through. I'm sure there's something wrong with it. You turn the gain off at the input stage and it still distorts. I've never had to turn a bass down to nearly off to get it to play without distortion. Still it's a beauty to play if not to look at.

Edited May 20, 2007 by stewblack

[Waldo]

[quote name='stewblack' post='2870' date='May 20 2007, 02:26 PM']My OLP musicman copy is a bastard to whatever you put it through. I'm sure there's something wrong with it. You turn the gain off at the input stage and it still distorts. I've never had to turn a bass down to nearly off to get it to play without distortion. Still it's a beauty to play if not to look at.[/quote]

Hmm, that doesn't seem quite right. Is the bass active?

[stewblack]

[quote name='Waldo' post='2877' date='May 20 2007, 02:33 PM']Hmm, that doesn't seem quite right. Is the bass active?[/quote]
Yes it is, the online bumph talks of a nice 'growl' when it's turned up but this is pure nasty farting distortion. You think there could be a fault?

[woodenshirt]

A Gibson Thunderbird in the wrong hands can kill Amps/Cabs, I know because I've got one..... you know, that old combo sounded absolutely amazing just before the poor thing died

Mart.

[Waldo]

[quote name='stewblack' post='2888' date='May 20 2007, 02:43 PM']Yes it is, the online bumph talks of a nice 'growl' when it's turned up but this is pure nasty farting distortion. You think there could be a fault?[/quote]

Sorry if i'm stating the obvious but have you tried changing the battery in it? The very first bass I got started distorting for no reason so I took it back to the shop where I bought it and the tech simply changed the battery and it worked fine after that. Made me feel a bit silly though.

[bassaussie]

This may sound like an obvious point, but when you guys are swapping from one bass to another, I assume you're setting the amp's EQ relative to each bass, right? Again, probably and obvious point, but if you're running your amp with an EQ setting that's meant for a bass with a fairly low output, then swap over to something that's got a really hot output, then obviously things are going to take a turn for the worst sonically. Ideally, you'd want to have a basic idea of how to EQ each bass you intend to gig with, and this would be something you'd sort out in rehearsals or at home. It's a bit optimistic to think you can swap from one bass to another and expect the same EQ setting to work for both, especially if the two basses have completely different output levels.

[stewblack]

Sorry guys been out. Yep new battery, it's just really hot. There's a little dial for winding back the input gain on my wireless which I do when putting an active bass through it after using a passive. I can't turn this low enough!
The low battery is a crackly farty distortion - I've heard that one- this is a big wet fart on the loud low notes. It just overrides any input on any amp, unless the volume is down really low.

[bass_ferret]

[quote name='bassaussie' post='3010' date='May 20 2007, 06:35 PM']This may sound like an obvious point, but when you guys are swapping from one bass to another, I assume you're setting the amp's EQ relative to each bass, right? Again, probably and obvious point, but if you're running your amp with an EQ setting that's meant for a bass with a fairly low output, then swap over to something that's got a really hot output, then obviously things are going to take a turn for the worst sonically. Ideally, you'd want to have a basic idea of how to EQ each bass you intend to gig with, and this would be something you'd sort out in rehearsals or at home. It's a bit optimistic to think you can swap from one bass to another and expect the same EQ setting to work for both, especially if the two basses have completely different output levels.[/quote]

Thats why I use an EBS Microbass II. Programmable BDDI is another alternative.

[bassaussie]

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='3042' date='May 20 2007, 07:47 PM']Thats why I use an EBS Microbass II. Programmable BDDI is another alternative.[/quote]


That's exactly the kind of tool I'd expect a person to use who's doing swaps between instruments that have really variable outputs.

I guess some of the best tools were the old programmable preamps that a few manufacturers offered back in the 80s - I know Trace Elliot had one, and I think the other brand was ADA. These are probably overkill, and there's also the problem that they make on the spot tweaking a little difficult, but they did give the user the ability to set up different preamp settings for each bass.

[stewblack]

As far as using different instruments with differing outputs goes I've never had a problem. That's what the meter and gain dial are for, one to show me the input level the other to help me set it to the ideal. It's just this one guitar - it's a bit annoying, so I just play it turned down.

[bass_ferret]

[quote name='stewblack' post='3102' date='May 20 2007, 10:11 PM']As far as using different instruments with differing outputs goes I've never had a problem. That's what the meter and gain dial are for, one to show me the input level the other to help me set it to the ideal. It's just this one guitar - it's a bit annoying, so I just play it turned down.[/quote]

What are you playing through? Maybe the problem is you are relying on the notoriously unreliable meter on Ashdown.

[stewblack]

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='3192' date='May 21 2007, 12:04 AM']What are you playing through? Maybe the problem is you are relying on the notoriously unreliable meter on Ashdown.[/quote]
Not Ashdown. One of the amps is another unfavourite brand, but that meter is reliable with my 'Ray and others but the other gear with input peak indicators is Shure and Eden so I don't think that's the trouble, as I say it's just this one guitar no matter what it goes into. Maybe it's just meant to be that loud? Anyone else use a Tony Levin OLP?