Bass rig dilemma

[Guest MoJo]

I used to be of the mind that whatever rig I play through, I always sounded like me and as a rule of thumb I always try to achieve as close a tone to the one I hear in my head when playing live. Recently however, I have had the opportunity to set up all three of my amps in one room and was surprised to hear how vastly different they are and how 'my' sound differs through each one.
The Trace Elliot BLX-80, I would describe as boxy. Recently fitting a piezo hf driver has brightened it up somewhat but it still sounds nasal.
The Laney R3 Combo tends to be wooly with no real punch or drive.
The Peavey Mk VI into the Peavey 410TVX has so much low end, it would rattle the fillings out of your teeth. Turning the tweeter on produces a brittle, rather unpleasant top end.

I am totally disillusioned now as I feel none of the above produce the sound I'm looking for. I swear I was much closer back in the early nineties when I used to play through a cheap-as-chips Custom Sound 150w 1x15 bass reflex combo.

[Prime_BASS]

My friend, you are now a tone snob.

Only kidding.

I try and find amps that that are transparant, so I can hear my bass and the way I play it. I also stay away from tweeters as I find they sound artificial.

[AttitudeCastle]

Run all three at once? :brow:

hmmm very interesting, i think i'm in the same boat!

[Guest MoJo]

[quote name='AttitudeCastle' post='802726' date='Apr 11 2010, 04:14 PM']Run all three at once? :brow:

hmmm very interesting, i think i'm in the same boat![/quote]

I did recently run a line out from the Laney into the BLX80 just to see what the result would be. Interestingly the combination of the boxy BLX and the top end of the Laney was not unpleasant

[Prime_BASS]

bosses line selector lets you run up to 3 outputs simultaneously, atleast I think. Atleast 2 anyway.

[essexbasscat]

Is it possible to run a line out from the Trace and then the Laney into the Peavey cab for comparisons ?

T

[Guest MoJo]

[quote name='essexbasscat' post='802801' date='Apr 11 2010, 05:41 PM']Is it possible to run a line out from the Trace and then the Laney into the Peavey cab for comparisons ?

T[/quote]

Do you mean try powering the 410 with the combos, bypassing their internal speakers?

[JakeBrownBass]

[quote name='Prime_BASS' post='802687' date='Apr 11 2010, 03:16 PM']I try and find amps that that are transparant, so I can hear my bass and the way I play it. I also stay away from tweeters as I find they sound artificial.[/quote]

Ampeg SVT 3 transparent??

Ampegs are on of the least transparent amps out the IME

[BluRay]

[quote name='bassman2790' post='802675' date='Apr 11 2010, 03:07 PM']The Peavey Mk VI into the Peavey 410TVX has so much low end, it would rattle the fillings out of your teeth. Turning the tweeter on produces a brittle, rather unpleasant top end.[/quote]


Does the shelving control on the MKVI make any sort of difference to this? I run a MKVI through a peavy 1820 fridge, and the shelving seems to stop it getting too boomy. Just a thought

[51m0n]

Time for a bit of shopping I think....

[Guest MoJo]

[quote name='BluRay' post='803383' date='Apr 12 2010, 08:57 AM']Does the shelving control on the MKVI make any sort of difference to this? I run a MKVI through a peavy 1820 fridge, and the shelving seems to stop it getting too boomy. Just a thought [/quote]

I'll check it out and report back

[essexbasscat]

[quote name='bassman2790' post='802892' date='Apr 11 2010, 06:55 PM']Do you mean try powering the 410 with the combos, bypassing their internal speakers?[/quote]

Yes that's it. output from the combo amps into the peavey cab instead of the internal combo speakers. A place to begin methodical exploration of the sound issues ?

Would perhaps offer some insights into the contributions of the the heads and the speaker cabs to the overall situation ?

T

[Guest MoJo]

[quote name='BluRay' post='803383' date='Apr 12 2010, 08:57 AM']Does the shelving control on the MKVI make any sort of difference to this? I run a MKVI through a peavy 1820 fridge, and the shelving seems to stop it getting too boomy. Just a thought [/quote]

WOW....what a difference. I've always left the shelving controls pretty much on zero. Taking the low shelving control to -6 or -9 takes all of the boomy bottom end out and tightens up the tone no end.....thanks
I owe you a pint

[BluRay]

[quote name='bassman2790' post='804092' date='Apr 12 2010, 08:21 PM']WOW....what a difference. I've always left the shelving controls pretty much on zero. Taking the low shelving control to -6 or -9 takes all of the boomy bottom end out and tightens up the tone no end.....thanks
I owe you a pint [/quote]


Excellent. I think the MKVI is a top amp. I've had mine for 20 years - very well used and abused and still going strong :-) I found a copy of the manual too [url="http://www.peavey.com/assets/literature/manuals/80300912.pdf"]http://www.peavey.com/assets/literature/manuals/80300912.pdf[/url]