Bass - Lead - Amp

[Supernaut]

Does anyone run a simple set-up anymore?

 

I'm seeing bass players these days with crazy pedalboards in front of them. 
 

The only pedal I have is a Polytune. 
 

What happened to bass, lead, amp?

[BigRedX]

If you were properly purist you'd just have an upright bass and no amp.

[dclaassen]

That’s me…bass-lead-amp. But I am a unrepentant old fart…

[Len_derby]

Me too. Bass - lead - amp. Clip-on tuner. I like to keep everything simple. Just my preference, each to their own. 

[Lozz196]

I`m going ampless due to back issues but the last few gigs I`ve done have been bass/lead/amp and I found it truly liberating not having to plug in & set up pedals/extra cables etc. Would be my preferred option but the back dictates my new approach.

[Tim2291]

Yep, no pedalboard at all. Straight into the amp, I use a rack tuner so everything is self contained. Makes set up so much easier!

[Downunderwonder]

42 minutes ago, Supernaut said:

What happened to bass, lead, amp?

Alive and kicking, because I keep forgetting to add a patch lead to my go bag for my tuner.

[casapete]

33 minutes ago, Len_derby said:

Me too. Bass - lead - amp. Clip-on tuner. I like to keep everything simple. Just my preference, each to their own. 

This for me too. Prefer clip on tuner so as to minimise leads / clutter.

 

( A DI box is the only addition, as our sound guy prefers it to using the amp’s XLR out.)

Edited August 7, 2023 by casapete

[MartinB]

You can stick the electronics in a pedal, a rack unit, a head, or a combo and they'll still do the same thing. So nothing happened to "bass - lead - amp" - it's just one of many ways to achieve the same thing. We each get to choose the one that suits ourselves best.

[Reggaebass]

I only use bass-lead-amp, I prefer the sound of my amps and basses,  and there’s no need for any pedals playing reggae, I occasionally have a play around with my ampeg preamp but that’s just for fun 

[chris_b]

I have never gigged pedals. So far a well matched bass, amp and cab is all I've ever needed.

[MartinB]

Not all effects are pedals
Not all pedals are effects
Not all effects make spaceship noises

[NancyJohnson]

Me! Me! Me!  I just plug into a Darkglass AO900. 

 

I was forced into using a studio combo last week.  God it was awful.

 

*Edit.  If we're only talking about a one box amp solution, does a separate pre-amp and power amp count?  If so, then realistically me! me! me! for years.  I've never liked chorus/flange/octaver etc.

Edited August 7, 2023 by NancyJohnson

[JapanAxe]

When playing through an amp I just have a tuner pedal.

 

My ampless board is just tuner > compressor > amp/speaker sim. I may end up using this on an upcoming gig where I will have to slap (or at least fake it).

[police squad]

me too. Bass, lead, amp. clip on tuner

 

new band starts today though and there is talk of us all going IEM, so then it will be Tech21 di pedal instead of amp

[peteb]

Depends on the gig! I like to keep it as simple as possible, but I do have a pedalboard for when needed. A bass overdrive is certainly useful on certain gigs. 

 

These days I am using a tiny board with just a wireless receiver, a comp pedal and a tuner (that is redundant really, as the receiver has a tuner as well). You do know that you don't actually score extra points for not having any pedals...! 

 

[dclaassen]

15 minutes ago, peteb said:

Depends on the gig! I like to keep it as simple as possible, but I do have a pedalboard for when needed. A bass overdrive is certainly useful on certain gigs. 

 

These days I am using a tiny board with just a wireless receiver, a comp pedal and a tuner (that is redundant really, as the receiver has a tuner as well). You do know that you don't actually score extra points for not having any pedals...! 

 

In my world, yes, you do

[peteb]

10 minutes ago, dclaassen said:

In my world, yes, you do

 

And, do I lose points for that?? 

 

[DGBass]

I miss the days of bass - coiled curly lead - amp and everyone tuning up to whoever's bass/guitar was most in tune audibly before the gig. The audible tuning was unprofessional when I think of it but it let everyone in the venue know the band was about to commence. Tuning up with pitch pipes on stage was never cool. I have forgotten the power supply to my board on occasion in recent times and played straight in with only a clip on polytune for comfort. It was fine and the show went on. I do like my LMB3 and my floor polytune for muting though and I may yet slim things down to just those.  

[toneknob]

tea chest, string, fingers crossed for quiet audience

 

[PaulWarning]

I use a Zoom B1on with the Sansamp clone mostly, on occasions I left it in tuner mode which is bypass, nobody but me noticed so I could probably get away without using it until Ace of Spades, playing that without fuzz would not be good, I seen some try it, and it's not 

[BigRedX]

Bass > Line6 Helix > PA.

 

For me personally, an individual amp is redundant. I only very rarely play gigs where the bass doesn't go into the PA (about 5 in the last 40+ years of playing in originals bands). Having no amp means less stuff to take to gigs, less stuff to potentially go wrong, less stuff to potentially mess up my sound. For one band where we have ditched the backline entirely, it has lead to a better sound FoH and much better sound on stage.

[Dad3353]

Bass - lead - amp (clip/on tuner...) because that's the sound we like from the bass. If it ain't busted, don't fix it; just a clean bass tone, s'all. 

[meterman]

Bass - lead - amp for me, with just a clip on tuner. Easy!

 

Sometimes I’ve recorded with a fuzz pedal but that’s pretty rare for me. 

[BassAdder60]

I was very anti pedals a few years back but then again I did gig an SVT CL head !

More recently I’ve seen advantages such as inline tuner, Wireless ( Shure ) compressor pedal and that’s about it. 
 

I do wonder when I see folk post on here huge boards with many effects pedals as to the point do they actually hear the original bass tone anymore?

 

I like to hear my bass sound as it was designed ( mostly ) with very minimal EQ adjustments or tweaks 

 

I still avoid multi FX for all live work but I see ampless being the future for younger players assuming bands invest in a decent PA rig