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Dyna Soar posted:This is the sad truth although i will fight this tooth and nail until my last breath by carrying a 40+ year old, 60 lbs tube amp and an 8x10 cab to gigs whenever possible. As nice as digital technology has gotten, nothing can replicate the "slam" of a good old-school rig like that. I'd love to have a nice sealed 2x15 (or two) with EV or JBL speakers. The old Mesa Road Ready cabs with the EVs are some of my all-time favorites, though I believe those are Thiele ported. Juaguocio fucked around with this message at 02:31 on Feb 19, 2016 |
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Feb 19, 2016 01:02
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I was thinking that given that I already own the PC, interface, and software, that a PA to plug that into would be cheaper than effects, amp and cabinet. Maybe not though. People who are saying that a 100w 1x15 combo is what I'd need, are you talking about using a direct out or mic from that into house PA, or are you saying that kind of thing is probably loud enough on its own? Also, why specifically a 15" speaker? Obviously a bigger speaker for bass, yes, but is there actually a huge difference between a 15" combo and a 10" or 12"? Is there a site where I can just go and read a shitload about this? I mean, I'd love an SVT and a huge 8x10 cabinet, but I don't think it's financially or practically possible for me to get something like that, so I'd like to know more about different kinds of stuff without making GBS threads this thread up with stupid questions. I guess a not-stupid question would be, what does everyone here regard as their must-have effects? Elector_Nerdlingen fucked around with this message at 02:47 on Feb 19, 2016 |
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Feb 19, 2016 02:44
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A PA also consists of an amp and speaker cabinets so you still have to buy those and I bet you'll get way more bass amp for the price than you will PA. The difference then is the effects, for which you are probably overestimating both the cost and necessity. The effects pedals that I would consider absolutely must have for bass are: 1. a tuner That's it. You might want a dirt pedal and/or compressor depending on the style of music you play but they are hardly necessary. About 80% of the bassists in the bands that we played gigs with didn't bother with effects. 50% of those didn't even have a tuner. For the love of god please get a tuner. As for the 100W/15" combo; Just about every manufacturer offers one, they are fairly cheap, they can be used as a practice/bedroom amp and will probably do the job on stage. In smaller venues it might be enough on its own but in larger venues you will probably also be going through the PA and the amp will be for monitoring. A lot of modern ones have a DI out which can go to the front of house. Otherwise it's fairly likely that the venue will have a DI for you to plug into between the bass and the amp. They might also mic your amp but in my several years of experience that has happened less than a half dozen times. Also, the speaker size has nothing to do with 15 being better for bass frequencies. That is a fallacy that gets thrown around quite a lot though. It's just that in a cheap single speaker combo you will get a lot more volume out of a single 15" cabinet than a tiny little 10 or 12. A 4x10 would be better still but that ramps up the price a bit.
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Feb 19, 2016 04:05
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Bill Posters posted:For the love of god please get a tuner. Awesome, thank you! I have a tuner and a metronome, they've both been super helpful. I'm at the stage where I can tell if I'm slightly out of tune, but I can't reliably tune by ear. So something like a Hartke HD150 would be what I'm looking for, I guess? 150w, 15" speaker, direct out. Anything else to really look out for?
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Feb 19, 2016 04:29
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I don't know much about that particular amp but that is pretty much the sort of thing you want. If you are able to, take your bass into a store and try out some amps. You're much more likely to end up with something you're happy with that way.
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Feb 19, 2016 04:43
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Bill Posters posted:I don't know much about that particular amp but that is pretty much the sort of thing you want. Yeah, that's what I meant by "something like..." I wasn't intending to buy without playing, just getting a clue as to what kinds of things I'll want to test out and what my budget would need to be. Just like with my p-bass, I'm expecting to play the hell out of a lot of different amps before I find what I'm actualy going to buy.
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Feb 19, 2016 06:17
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AlphaDog posted:Awesome, thank you! That sounds good. I've owned a 200watt 15' combo for years now and it's carried me through even bigger bar gigs. Personally I like a nice 15'' more than any amount of 10''s, but yeah going to a store and just playing a bunch of stuff is the way to go. Nothing beats personal experience. Hartke's a good brand.
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Feb 20, 2016 03:40
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Bill Posters posted:The effects pedals that I would consider absolutely must have for bass are: I'd love to agree, but I just can't. Simple fact is, there are many ways to tune your bass that don't involve a tuner pedal, and even cheap basses tend to stay in tune through the course of a gig. Let's say you have the most basic of basic setups already: an amp with virtually no effects. You've got a glorified PA: it's got maybe a 3-band EQ (low, mid, high), and gain or volume. (Not both; that's something else.) You can use anything to tune--a good tuner pedal runs about $100, and you don't want a poo poo one. But a good clip tuner costs $20 and can be used with the volume turned down. When it's time to expand your sound beyond bass + amp, your first dollars should go to compression. Or a limiter. But a compressor of some kind. This will even out your dynamics, and it's something that, when employed well, you won't hear but will miss when it's gone. You don't need a fancy compressor, either. Hell, many bass amps come with a compressor of some kind. My amp has a compressor circuit that is a little unique (high and low frequency compression levels, a compressor/EQ balance, and compression gain), but even the simplest compressor will even out those odd dynamics that even great bassists deal with when playing. Your mileage may vary, but here's my priority for effects if you're buying discrete pedals: 1. Compressor 2. At least a 7-band EQ 3. Fuzz, Overdrive, Distortion (if you already have plans on using it in your band) 4. Chorus 5. Fuzz, Overdrive, Distortion (if you don't already have plans to use it in your band) 6. Wah or Envelope Filter 7. Other Modulation stuff: flanger, phaser, 8. Whatever you like Or, spend some money on a multi-effects unit that has many effects built-in. You can chain effects for a patch, then save several patches that you like. On my unit, I have 10 patches that provide with the sounds I expect to use during a gig, everything from clean with chorus to distorted with wah. The current state of digital effects modeling is pretty good, and the money you spend on a dedicated multi-effects unit will be worth it. And nobody will steal your computer.
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Feb 20, 2016 07:17
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tarlibone posted:I'd love to agree, but I just can't. Simple fact is, there are many ways to tune your bass that don't involve a tuner pedal, and even cheap basses tend to stay in tune through the course of a gig. For sure, but that list was more about what was left out than what was kept in. tarlibone posted:1. Compressor For example, while I mostly agree with your priorities (except for maybe the EQ pedal), the majority of gigging bassists will have no use for any of those effects beyond compression and/or dirt. Of course you shouldn't let that stop you using whatever effects you want for no other reason than it's a hell of a lot of fun. I've owned and used every type of effect on that list. tarlibone posted:Or, spend some money on a multi-effects unit that has many effects built-in. You can chain effects for a patch, then save several patches that you like. On my unit, I have 10 patches that provide with the sounds I expect to use during a gig, everything from clean with chorus to distorted with wah. The current state of digital effects modeling is pretty good, and the money you spend on a dedicated multi-effects unit will be worth it. And nobody will steal your computer. This is a really great idea for those just starting out and a cheap way of figuring out what sort of effects you might like to use. If you're lucky you'll be perfectly happy with the effects on the unit. If you're not lucky you'll just get a taste of what you want and end up deep down the effect pedal rabbit hole. 
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Feb 20, 2016 09:56
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tarlibone posted:But a good clip tuner costs $20 and can be used with the volume turned down. The Snark I have is great. Everyone should have one of these, I don't see any advantage of having a tuner pedal (other than it being harder to lose). It works great on all my guitars and basses, except oddly it doesn't seem to like my eight-string bass. No idea why; it works fine on 12-string guitar. Also, you can get them off eBay for less than $12. As for effects, I have them, but don't much use them. I haven't found a compressor that I don't sound better without (I would use it if I was playing slap). I do use some chorusing because it is built into the amp I use most, but I don't miss it when I use a different amp. I use a lot of effects for guitar, but the musical role of bass does not seem to call for them.
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Feb 20, 2016 13:20
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Bill Posters posted:This is a really great idea for those just starting out and a cheap way of figuring out what sort of effects you might like to use. If you're lucky you'll be perfectly happy with the effects on the unit. If you're not lucky you'll just get a taste of what you want and end up deep down the effect pedal rabbit hole. Yeah, I've been messing around with amp/pedal emulators. I think I'm going to find a compressor to be a necessity, and I'll want some kind of distortion/fuzz/overdrive/something. If the amp has a graphic EQ is there much benefit to an EQ pedal as well? What's everyone's favorite compressor? Elector_Nerdlingen fucked around with this message at 00:35 on Feb 21, 2016 |
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Feb 21, 2016 00:32
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Bill Posters posted:For example, while I mostly agree with your priorities (except for maybe the EQ pedal), the majority of gigging bassists will have no use for any of those effects beyond compression and/or dirt. Well, I was coming from a place of a guy who has a very, very basic amp, something that makes the bass audible but does very little else. If you have a decent-to-good quality bass amp, you probably will not need the EQ at all, and it might even have a passable distortion channel these days. quote:This is a really great idea for those just starting out and a cheap way of figuring out what sort of effects you might like to use. If you're lucky you'll be perfectly happy with the effects on the unit. If you're not lucky you'll just get a taste of what you want and end up deep down the effect pedal rabbit hole. And a rabbit hole it is. It starts with you realizing that the auto-wah on the unit is OK-ish at best, but you need more for this one weird song... then you get an MXR Bass Envelope Filter. Then you notice that your distortion isn't all that great. So you grab a Boss ODB-3. But man, now you've got two pedals and you still need that multi-effect unit for your chorus and compression. You notice that your amp has compression, so now it's just chorus, and you get one. Then you get a board to carry it all around in, and a power unit, and then there's that way pedal customized for bass that you can use if the band ever agrees to let you play "(Anesthesia)—Pulling Teeth," which you totally know how to play perfectly up to the point where the drums kick in, and you can fake it from there. Actuary X posted:The Snark I have is great. Everyone should have one of these, I don't see any advantage of having a tuner pedal (other than it being harder to lose). I actually have a theory on that. See, I'm an old fart. At one point in time, the most commonly available tuners were handheld units with needles (or digital LCD simulations of needles). They had a mic, but you could also plug directly into them to tune up silently. This generally required you to unplug from your rig, though, because many if not most of these models had no pass-through, and even if they did, they were meant to be held or set on a table--they were not the kind of device you'd put on the floor next to things you step on. Then, the tuning pedals popped up and got popular quickly. You could stick these at the front of your rig, and it was mostly a pass-through that could, when you wished, mute your signal so you could tune up mid-song. Nice, bright LEDs told you when you were in tune. The alternative? A usually non-lit meter with a needle on it. People fell in love with the pedals because that was the best thing you could have. Well, I mean, technically, it wasn't--mechanical stroboscopic tuners are the best. But they were $700 or so. The pedal? A little over $100. I think people still use them over the clip tuners for one reason: tradition. It's what they're used to.
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Feb 21, 2016 00:43
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I find that the clip on tuners are weird on my bass. It's also still a smidge easier to just click a pedal that mutes you while you tune than click a thing, roll volume down, click off, roll back up to where you want it. Or just go dooooooo dooooo while you tune up.
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Feb 21, 2016 00:50
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http://www.calinemusic.com/article/?106.htm I used tuner apps on my android phone until I saw this. Eight isolated power lines and a tuner that lets me mute my whole rig is pretty drat useful. Even got rid of the buzz caused by my old daisy chain power supply.
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Feb 21, 2016 01:04
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Right, so I put some new strings on my bass and spent the day with my Axe-FX working on bass sounds. I'm a guitar player so I approached my bass sounds like that. Probably not the best way to do it, so here are the noises I came up with. All suggestions are great  https://soundcloud.com/blackhandaus/basstest-all-2
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Feb 21, 2016 01:41
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I think a tuner pedal is more convenient if you're gigging, particulary if you already have a pedal board with a power supply. There are all the benefits already mentioned whereas a clip on would just be one more thing you could lose.tarlibone posted:that wah pedal customized for bass that you can use if the band ever agrees to let you play "(Anesthesia)—Pulling Teeth," which you totally know how to play perfectly up to the point where the drums kick in, and you can fake it from there. Ha ha, holy poo poo I am flashing back to my band from when I was 17 so hard.
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Feb 21, 2016 02:46
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Tuner pedals are worth it for the mute alone. Our guitarist used one of those headstock ones for 2 shows before he gave it up. But we also do insanely loud feedback while the other members tune so that the room is never silent, and it gave hime some false readings.
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Feb 21, 2016 03:32
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Are Rick-style basses a feasible choice for tracking modern style metal tunes? https://reverb.com/item/1732965-ibanez-2388b-ric-4001-1975-natural-super-rare I adore 4001/4003 style basses and I was looking at this.
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Feb 21, 2016 03:34
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Bassist in a buddy band in Austin uses one, you tell me. (The answer is yes) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsZEfc9i9Bc
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Feb 21, 2016 04:21
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I'm not a Rick fan. I've only played on one a couple of times, since a guy I knew in college had one. They have a good sound, but honestly, so do a lot of basses. It was heavier than I liked, seemed too fancy for its own good, and don't ask me how it happened, but when I played on it, I felt like putting on a white robe with fringe and playing a really long song in 7/4 that had a synth solo that the keyboardist played using 5 keyboards at one time. The Rick is a marriage of art and industry. The Fender, on the other hand, is like that old hammer you got from your dad: it looks and feels like it was designed more for doing a job than looking pretty, you immediately feel like getting to work when you pick one up, and it'll kill almost any drifter in a half-dozen full swings. For modern metal, I'm sure it'd work just fine. I believe they are a bit harder to setup and maintain, though--check out Dave's World of Fun Stuff on YouTube; he has a video where he struggles with one. But the sound? It sound plenty metal with minimal tweaking via EQ, Compression, etc. If that's what you like and you can afford one, it should do just fine.
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Feb 21, 2016 04:23
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For real though, any bass will work. What is comfortable to you? Pickups are easy to replace, find something that fits your hands, and body, and the pickups really do most of the work. I've been rocking a jazz bass for a couple years now, I like it because its heavy and takes abuse. Before that I was using an $80 Aria that was made of ply wood, and that worked too, it was just to flimsy for the abuse I put it through.
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Feb 21, 2016 04:28
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Rack tuner for life. All I run: Octaver Envelope Limiter Preamp/Drive (VT bass, can give me overdrive if I want) I rare that I find myself needing anything else. I've played around with synths and other modulating stuff, but for the style I play it just hasn't been necessary.
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Feb 21, 2016 17:15
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For the longest time I used a Pitchblack Portable on top of my amp, heading out of the tuner out and used the mute switch on the amp to tune. I'm all about keeping cable lengths as short as possible. I still do that when I'm running without pedalboard, but have a Pitchblack pedal on the board. I'm not a fan of headstock tuners for live usage.  The Pitchblack is going to be swapped for a Line6 G70 eventually, though. Tuner *and* wireless! DEUCE SLUICE fucked around with this message at 22:53 on Feb 21, 2016 |
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Feb 21, 2016 21:36
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my bass pedalboard: TC Electronic Polytune > EHX Bass Big Muff > Sansamp Bass DI > Way Huge Aqua Puss Analog Delay I'm finding myself transitioning to a more stripped down bass style in my primary band so I use the fuzz and delay less and less. the Sansamp is the one true essential.
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Feb 23, 2016 17:22
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Uncle Boogeyman posted:the Sansamp is the one true essential.
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Feb 23, 2016 17:49
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Remulak posted:How do you typically use it? Bass and treble at like 10/11 o clock, everything else at 1/2 o clock. Boosted mids, lots of grit & volume.
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Feb 23, 2016 18:24
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So sometimes I see basses with metal pickup covers, like this: (also on Rickenbackers) Apparently the metal cover helps shield the pickups from static and/or interference. But that seems kind of counterintuitive - wouldn't putting a big piece of metal over magnets do the exact opposite?
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Feb 28, 2016 04:02
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Seventh Arrow posted:So sometimes I see basses with metal pickup covers, like this: Maybe it acts like a Farraday cage?
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Feb 28, 2016 04:58
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I owned a Fender Marcus Miller signature jazz that had a pickup cover, and I couldn't tell a difference in the tone at all. The only way it really "alters" the tone is by preventing you from plucking/picking/slapping in that spot, which was a like a sweet spot for punchy/bitey tone. So I pretty much had it off 99% of the time.
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Feb 28, 2016 05:08
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Those shields originate from a time when the P-bass had just a simple single-coil pickup, not the split coil it has now that acts like a humbucker. That metal shield, connected to ground and covering the single coil, does cut down on external sources of noise that would otherwise be noticeable in some playing situations and venues. At the time they came out, other instruments occasionally used these kinds of shields. The Telecaster bridge pickup (and bridge) were covered by one of these things, similar to the bridge cover on the original P-bass, and the neck pickup on a Tele has a close-fitting variant to this day. (Pro-tip: this cover responds to vibrations in many cases, so if you yell at it really loud, you can often hear your voice through the amp.) This is one of the design considerations that makes no sense when you assume common playing techniques of today--such a cover gets in the way for most pick users, as the sweet spot is above the pickups, and most fingerstyle players use the pickup as a thumb rest. Truth be told, when the P-bass came out, nobody knew how to play bass guitar, so nobody knew that people would want to attack the strings there. Hell, for that matter, I'm sure you've noticed that finger rest sitting there, useless as a screen door on a submarine. For a time, it was believed that people would mainly play the bass by placing their fingers there and plucking the strings with the sides of their thumbs. And you can totally do that, but it's not exactly SOP. A smarter place, from a modern perspective, would be to place the rest on the other side of the strings for use as a thumb rest.
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Feb 28, 2016 05:53
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Cross post from the Amp thread. This poo poo is gonna be gnarly, prepare your earholes. Orange OB-1 500 watts each. 
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Mar 4, 2016 00:58
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So that little middle knob controls how much stuff goes into the butthole?
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Mar 4, 2016 02:10
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Yeah, the big ones control how much comes out.
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Mar 4, 2016 08:50
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Pokey Araya posted:Cross post from the Amp thread. This poo poo is gonna be gnarly, prepare your earholes. I bought one of these. It kicks rear end, the overdrive is real dirty while still allowing the clean signal through. The clean sound is good too.
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Mar 5, 2016 10:33
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Dude you're telling me, I was ready for some bass, but two of these are loving ridiculous. Gonna do a full review video in the next few days. Edit : Oh god I just turned them all the way up, they won't even stay on the cab, where's my velco at? GET SOME! Didn't realize how much it was vibrating the camera until it was on my computer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5bcYtOw9Us Updated video link. Pokey Araya fucked around with this message at 03:52 on Mar 8, 2016 |
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Mar 6, 2016 01:55
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 Post soundcloud please.
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Mar 6, 2016 20:27
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Soundcloud of what? Edit: Oh, like music. This is the band I play with now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv9fLkek4ds Pokey Araya fucked around with this message at 01:07 on Mar 7, 2016 |
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Mar 7, 2016 01:01
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Wow, I never expected Dingwall would do a T-Bird (or D-Bird in this case): It debuts at the London Bass Guitar Show.
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Mar 8, 2016 07:24
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I'm bass-curious, would a "Squier Vintage Modified Jazz Bass '70s" at $400 be a mistake? I've been monitoring it for a while. Also I have fond memories of GK from about 25 years ago, playing a six-string (not bass) through one. Opinions on a "Gallien-Krueger MB115-II 200W 1X15 Ultralight Bass Combo Amp"? I'm basically a dilettante with a little bit of cash, not too much. Not going to perform for money anytime soon, but jamming with buddies is a possibility. I'm aiming for a setup I won't be disappointed with.
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Mar 9, 2016 07:30
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Squier's VM line is god's gift to broke bass players, 400 seems a bit high though.. Are you located somewhere where music gear is generally more expensive? I can't really say much about the amp you mentioned, but Peavey makes some really great combo's for a relatively good price. My friend got a MAX 115 back in 2007 and I still can't believe how great it sounds. Like, it sounds REALLY good, great low end and highs, very clear tone, can be very loud and aggressive/punchy if you want it to be. It's one of the older combos that might be discontinued by now, with the "hypervent technology". Theres one on Amazon for 350$
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Mar 9, 2016 12:23
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