Bass instrument cable straight into amp

[alant]

I have always plugged direct into the amp. Our old guitarist, now retired, a geat player, had numerous pedals of various sorts. He had countless problems with connections between them though. I remember one gig where all worked well during the first set but he couldn't get any working during the second set so plugged straight into his amp. I didn't like to tell him it didn't sound any different to me!

 

[Stub Mandrel]

At my last gig I trod on my cable mid-song. That created a more effective and profound silence than any pedal.

[TimR]

1 hour ago, RhysP said:

But does it mute the sound differently to, say, turning the volume off on your amp or bass?

I find the point in the signal chain at which the sound is muted has a massive effect on the type of silence produced.

 

1 hour ago, dmccombe7 said:

I hadn't thought about it until now. I need to experiment at tonights gig. I want absolute silence when i tune so if there is a better way to get the perfect silence when tuning i'm all in for trying. 😂

Dave 

 

It should mute the signal by grounding it. So you should get no noise. Or at least no more noise, and probably less, than you'd get from you amp when you've muted the strings.

 

It's electrically the same as turning the volume knob on your bass to 0.

 

 

Edited November 20, 2021 by TimR

[dmccombe7]

1 hour ago, RhysP said:

Did your playing suffer because you had to use both hands to take the battery out of the pedal?

Not at all. It surprised the audience even more than me. It did produce less mistakes with the battery out.

I've come to realise that when it comes to my playing Silence is Golden. 

Dave

Edited November 20, 2021 by dmccombe7

[Jus Lukin]

2 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

its almost  time so i'm happy.

Dave

 

Oh no it isn't!

[dmccombe7]

4 minutes ago, Jus Lukin said:

 

Oh no it isn't!

Only 5 weeks away. That's close enough for me to get excited. 🎅

Dave 

[Jus Lukin]

-

Edited March 15, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[dmccombe7]

6 minutes ago, Jus Lukin said:

 

Clearly still too early for panto jokes to land properly, though! 😄

I was gonna reply panto style but it seemed too obvious. 😂

Dave

[Jus Lukin]

-

Edited March 15, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[tauzero]

2 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

Not at all. It surprised the audience even more than me. It did produce less mistakes with the battery out.

I've come to realise that when it comes to my playing Silence is Golden. 

Dave

 

But you need the correct sort of muting for 4'33".  That's where a compressor is invaluable.

[Elfrasho]

I can't go straight into the amp because I almost never play into an amp. Any opportunity not to take an amp to a gig, I'll do it! Gigging life is so much easier and enjoyable with digital amp sims and iems! 

Edited November 20, 2021 by Elfrasho

[Nail Soup]

8 hours ago, neepheid said:

I'm sure someone will be along shortly to tell you that you're wrong. 

Edited 8 hours ago by neepheid
Got my threads mixed up. Sentiment stands though

I think what you said probably applies to any thread 😃!

[Nail Soup]

On 16/11/2021 at 18:34, neepheid said:

only counts if you're being pedantic. 

I think if you are thinking about sound ( as most people are) then tuner doesn’t count as a pedal.

However if you are thinking about less clutter on stage or something then it’s different.

[Downunderwonder]

7 hours ago, RhysP said:

But does it mute the sound differently to, say, turning the volume off on your amp or bass?

I find the point in the signal chain at which the sound is muted has a massive effect on the type of silence produced.

More importantly it perfectly restores your volume level when you kick it off, and turning off the bass volume wouldn't do at all!

[SteveXFR]

I tried a new set up today. Bass in to pedals then to two amps. The opertunity for disaster is huge but it sounded seriously good. 

I don't think I'd ever play without at least a compressor. 

[neepheid]

1 hour ago, Downunderwonder said:

More importantly it perfectly restores your volume level when you kick it off, and turning off the bass volume wouldn't do at all!

 

This only applies if you habitually use your volume knob at settings other than zero or max. The only time it's not on zero or max is when I'm doing a fade in/out (it's so infrequent I can't be bothered getting a volume pedal)

[Downunderwonder]

3 minutes ago, neepheid said:

 

This only applies if you habitually use your volume knob at settings other than zero or max. The only time it's not on zero or max is when I'm doing a fade in/out (it's so infrequent I can't be bothered getting a volume pedal)

Tuner ain't gonna do squat with the volume at zero!!!!

[neepheid]

54 minutes ago, Downunderwonder said:

Tuner ain't gonna do squat with the volume at zero!!!!

 

I can't imagine you're seriously suggesting that I haven't already figured that out for myself so think I need to say what I said in a different way. You mentioned the fact that a pedal tuner mutes you then unmutes you with no difference to your volume setting on the bass and this would be difficult to achieve with the volume knob. I agree, but my point is that if you use the volume knob like I do (basically as an on/off switch) then the difficulty of returning to your previous volume setting with the volume knob is eliminated, hence eliminating this advantage of using the tuner pedal to mute your bass.

 

Ok?

 

Edited November 20, 2021 by neepheid

[TimR]

I think you are both confusing the bass volume control and the amp volume control.

 

If you have a line out tuner, you need to mute the amp somehow. If it doesn't have a mute button then you have to turn the amp volume down, tune, and reset the amp volume. 

 

If you're using a DI out of the amp then a tuner pedal that mutes is essential as the amp volume won't affect the DI out.

 

There's a few different configurations we all use. The mute tuner pedal simplifies everything by working in all scenarios. 

Edited November 20, 2021 by TimR

[Downunderwonder]

21 minutes ago, neepheid said:

 

I can't imagine you're seriously suggesting that I haven't already figured that out for myself so think I need to say what I said in a different way. You mentioned the fact that a pedal tuner mutes you then unmutes you with no difference to your volume setting on the bass and this would be difficult to achieve with the volume knob. I agree, but my point is that if you use the volume knob like I do (basically as an on/off switch) then the difficulty of returning to your previous volume setting with the volume knob is eliminated, hence eliminating this advantage of using the tuner pedal to mute your bass.

 

Ok?

 

Nope. You have twisted it all out of context to my reply to the hidden default suggestion the volume knob is useful for the muting function when the pedal is shifted from in between bass and amp.

[Downunderwonder]

56 minutes ago, TimR said:

I think you are both confusing the bass volume control and the amp volume control.

 

If you have a line out tuner, you need to mute the amp somehow. If it doesn't have a mute button then you have to turn the amp volume down, tune, and reset the amp volume. 

 

If you're using a DI out of the amp then a tuner pedal that mutes is essential as the amp volume won't affect the DI out.

 

There's a few different configurations we all use. The mute tuner pedal simplifies everything by working in all scenarios. 

Dicking around with the amp controls would be an even worse solution most of the time also.

[Downunderwonder]

Best things about an inline board tuner? If you forget to kick back on it's right there flashing at you when you start off in air guitar mode.

[TimR]

3 minutes ago, Downunderwonder said:

Dicking around with the amp controls would be an even worse solution most of the time also.

 

Worked fine for me for years on small gigs. Tuner in line out. Turn to amp. Hit mute button. Tune bass. Hit mute button. 

 

Only presents a problem if you are DIing to the PA.

[neepheid]

I can't make what I'm trying to say any clearer.  If I've misinterpreted you or misrepresented something you wrote then I apologise.

 

I'll go back to doing what I've been doing for the last 13 years without issues and stop interfering in what other folk do for their muting needs

 

[SteveXFR]

Slightly odd that people are telling each other that what has obviously worked for them for years is the wrong way to do it.

If it works for you then who cares? If it's your routine then don't change it.