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cytania
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Well in an effort to tame my Ibanez SRX400, which has a big active MusicMan style pickup I restrung with flatwounds. All very good, allows a slidey jazzy touch an just right for old school rock sounds. However...

I find I prefer the amp gain turned right up and the volume almost at the point of cutting out. Nice, fuzzy, sustaining sound for use on Oasis' 'Roll With It'. Trouble is the vol control only needs one kock to be silent or OTT deafening/speaker-blowing. A bit of tape over the control works, sort of...

My thoughts are;

1) Get a passive vintage styled bass.

2) Treat the Ibanez as a project and fit a Precision split pickup with simple passive circuit.

3) Am I just hiding my imprecise technique behind a fuzzy sound?

Now my wife was in the audience last night and says she didn't notice any difference when I switched basses. Is this a case of she'd have noticed if the sound was wrong for the song or am I just getting tone-itis and should just play everything on my bright 70s rock type bass and be done with it (swopping instruments between numbers is another on-stage complication)?

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[quote name='cytania' post='591375' date='Sep 6 2009, 01:26 PM']Well in an effort to tame my Ibanez SRX400, which has a big active MusicMan style pickup I restrung with flatwounds. All very good, allows a slidey jazzy touch an just right for old school rock sounds. However...

I find I prefer the amp gain turned right up and the volume almost at the point of cutting out. Nice, fuzzy, sustaining sound for use on Oasis' 'Roll With It'. Trouble is the vol control only needs one kock to be silent or OTT deafening/speaker-blowing. A bit of tape over the control works, sort of...

My thoughts are;

1) Get a passive vintage styled bass.

2) Treat the Ibanez as a project and fit a Precision split pickup with simple passive circuit.

3) Am I just hiding my imprecise technique behind a fuzzy sound?

Now my wife was in the audience last night and says she didn't notice any difference when I switched basses. Is this a case of she'd have noticed if the sound was wrong for the song or am I just getting tone-itis and should just play everything on my bright 70s rock type bass and be done with it (swopping instruments between numbers is another on-stage complication)?[/quote]

M'mmm, interesting idea, SRX400 with flats. I might be tempted myself, but after trying a plain 360, I think I prefer a "jazz".

Anyway, comments: - I don't share your faith in electro-mechanical devices, so I'd never set the gain and and volume in such a way. No doubt someone will say it's perfectly OK, but I don't believe in imposing that sort of stress. Would Oasis have achieved their sound that way?

Next, (re 1, 2, & 3, and the last para ) I'm not sure what you're trying to achieve. You've already got a 70's style rock type bass, so that's taken care of that. For the newer bass sound the Ibanez sounds fine. Why rip it apart and wreck it's re-sale value just to add Precision pick-ups. You'll end up with a differently sounding Precision.

My throw away line would be treat the gain/volume more conventionally and make subtle use of an overdrive pedal.

More feedback please.

Balcro.

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Thanks for the replies, I've not taken the soldering iron to the Ibanez so it's safe for now.

Next rehearsal I'm going to try starting off with a low gain and seeing what the master can do. Feel like maybe I've gone up a blind alley soundwise. Time to experiment some more...

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[quote name='cytania' post='591375' date='Sep 6 2009, 01:26 PM']Well in an effort to tame my Ibanez SRX400, which has a big active MusicMan style pickup I restrung with flatwounds. All very good, allows a slidey jazzy touch an just right for old school rock sounds. However...

I find I prefer the amp gain turned right up and the volume almost at the point of cutting out. Nice, fuzzy, sustaining sound for use on Oasis' 'Roll With It'. Trouble is the vol control only needs one kock to be silent or OTT deafening/speaker-blowing. A bit of tape over the control works, sort of...

My thoughts are;

1) Get a passive vintage styled bass.

2) Treat the Ibanez as a project and fit a Precision split pickup with simple passive circuit.

3) Am I just hiding my imprecise technique behind a fuzzy sound?

Now my wife was in the audience last night and says she didn't notice any difference when I switched basses. Is this a case of she'd have noticed if the sound was wrong for the song or am I just getting tone-itis and should just play everything on my bright 70s rock type bass and be done with it (swopping instruments between numbers is another on-stage complication)?[/quote]


i think you are growing up...its what they hear what matters
how much of your audience have bass hero's and the CD at home

concentrate on musicality...you will generate your own tone....
flats arent the answer imho.
i set my combo gain to clip...the do the vol slightly loud and cut it back on the bass...gives you headroom and smooths the highs without tugging them
low notes take care of themselves by vibrating rather than bending ears

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turn the gain down and the master up.
if your 70's style bass sounds too bright play further away from the bridge, or use the EQ on your amp, or the tone knob on the bass...
you want a bit of compression and overdrive get pedals.
Unless you're using a valve amp, in which case some kind of power soak in the effects look a la your guitarist may work?

I'm worried for your amp and more worried for your ears!

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