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Scarf posted:I've got some nylon tapewounds on my fretless. Yeah, definitely much smoother and more mellow than even regular flats. Not everyone's cup of tea, but they have their uses. This bass has an extremely bright tone, so I think it will take well to tapewounds. I've heard of LaBella flats and how amazing they are - might spring for the LaBella tapewounds and I basically wouldn't have to replace them until I was too old to hold a bass.
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Mar 4, 2012 07:21
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CaseFace McGee posted:This bass has an extremely bright tone, so I think it will take well to tapewounds. Yeah, I use LaBella tapewounds. I've also used Rotosound tapewounds, but they produced a more "woody" sound if that makes any sense. Sounded great, just not what I wanted.
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Mar 4, 2012 18:16
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I'm a newbie at this. I know you shouldn't plug a bass into a guitar amp, but does the same apply to pedals?
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Mar 4, 2012 20:36
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Nope, knock yourself out! Most guitar pedals are EQ'd poorly for bass, but maybe you'll like what it does.
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Mar 4, 2012 20:49
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It's only the speakers you need to worry about on guitar amps anyway, right? Like the amp itself is fine, but pushing too much bass energy through the speakers could tear them if you're not careful
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Mar 4, 2012 21:13
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You *can* run a bass through a solid-state guitar amp, but you just need to be careful about the low frequencies and how much the speaker can handle. I've used my tiny crappy guitar amp plenty of times when my bass amp was at our practice space with no problems. As long as you keep volume under 3/4 of what you would use with guitar and you don't try to get a bass-amp-like tone out of it, it won't explode or anything. Pedals-wise, digital pedals won't give a drat about if it's a guitar or a bass. As was said before, it won't sound as good as a pedal designed for bass frequencies but it'll work. Analog pedals like a true tube overdrive or something like that might be damage-able from the low-end of the bass. I'm not entirely sure, but I would play it safe and not push the limits of a fragile analog pedal. I follow the same rules with tube guitar amps - as wonderful as it sounds when a tube amp breaks up, I don't push guitar tubes to distortion when I'm using my bass just to be safe.
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Mar 4, 2012 21:59
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Can anyone recommend a good book/web resource on bass method? I'm a fairly experienced guitarist, and just picked up a bass. I know there's going to be a different approach to bass playing, and I'd like to start off right.
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Mar 5, 2012 01:06
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www.studybass.com!
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Mar 5, 2012 01:19
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CaseFace McGee posted:Pedals-wise, digital pedals won't give a drat about if it's a guitar or a bass. As was said before, it won't sound as good as a pedal designed for bass frequencies but it'll work. Analog pedals like a true tube overdrive or something like that might be damage-able from the low-end of the bass. I'm not entirely sure, but I would play it safe and not push the limits of a fragile analog pedal. I follow the same rules with tube guitar amps - as wonderful as it sounds when a tube amp breaks up, I don't push guitar tubes to distortion when I'm using my bass just to be safe. How exactly would a bass damage an analog guitar pedal? It's just circuitry, it may sound like poo poo, but the input signal from your bass isn't going to damage anything. And "true tube overdrive" has nothing to do with pedals, it's literally overdriving the tubes of your amplifier which results in a smooth clipping. There are several bass amps that are easily overdriven and sound wonderful. Scarf fucked around with this message at 02:48 on Mar 5, 2012 |
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Mar 5, 2012 02:45
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Scarf posted:How exactly would a bass damage an analog guitar pedal? It's just circuitry, it may sound like poo poo, but the input signal from your bass isn't going to damage anything. I don't have any official claims or anything to back it up, but my reasoning is that tubes used in a guitar pedal might not be designed to handle the low-frequency signal that a bass can provide. I know that there are lots of bass preamps and such that use tubes to create a buttery eargasm, but I'm not sure if they use tubes with different or higher tolerances than those included in similar guitar equipment. With non-tube analog pedals, the same basic idea *may* apply. Any pots or resistors in the circuit might not have enough power handling when you combine high-power low frequencies and the boosted signal from active electronics. Again, I'm not certain of any of this - it's just conjecture and I could be completely wrong - but I don't want to take any chances with equipment that isn't mine. I don't want to significantly shorten the life of a tube or overheat some resistors to the point where something could melt or short or something.
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Mar 5, 2012 03:02
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edit: ^^^ Low frequencies at instrument signal level aren't any more powerful than a guitar signal. It takes more power to amplify those frequencies and make them heard, but that's got nothing to do with what's going on inside your pedals or even amp really. The only way you're likely to take any pedal components over their rated power handling is to plug them into the wrong power supply and feed a 9v pedal 24v or something like that.CaseFace McGee posted:You *can* run a bass through a solid-state guitar amp, but you just need to be careful about the low frequencies and how much the speaker can handle. I've used my tiny crappy guitar amp plenty of times when my bass amp was at our practice space with no problems. As long as you keep volume under 3/4 of what you would use with guitar and you don't try to get a bass-amp-like tone out of it, it won't explode or anything. Solid-state, tube, analog, digital. These things don't really have anything to do with it. The only thing you can really damage is speakers if you turn up too loud. Electronic components aren't going to be damaged by any instrument level signal you put through them. I use a 12 watt tube combo with an open back cab to practice my bass in my apartment and nothing gets damaged. I've also cranked the poo poo out of my twin reverb into a bass cab and it sounds great, nothing broken. Again, it's only the speakers you have to worry about. As for pedals the reason a lot of guitar-oriented ones sound less good on bass is that the signal is often high-pass filtered at the input. Sometimes swapping out an input cap is enough to open up a pedal and make it sound great on bass. Lots of pedals, and especially ones from small builders these days, also work just fine on all frequency ranges. Bassists/keyboardists/whoever have been using 'guitar' pedals on super low stuff for a very long time, it's not really an issue. There's nothing fragile about analog electronics unless the physical pedal is built like poo poo. FancyMike fucked around with this message at 03:09 on Mar 5, 2012 |
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Mar 5, 2012 03:05
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Thanks for clarifying - I've seen caps blow in a physics lab, but that's due to improper calculations and too much power supplied like you mentioned. It's been a while since my limited circuit design education, and I forgot a lot of it.
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Mar 5, 2012 03:27
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Scarf posted:And "true tube overdrive" has nothing to do with pedals, it's literally overdriving the tubes of your amplifier which results in a smooth clipping. There are several bass amps that are easily overdriven and sound wonderful. I thought this was more about those pedals with a tiny tube in there just so they can say it has a tube in it. Also how about active basses (with active pickups especially), any chance they could push a signal that's a bit too hot for anything?
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Mar 5, 2012 03:37
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baka kaba posted:I thought this was more about those pedals with a tiny tube in there just so they can say it has a tube in it. Also how about active basses (with active pickups especially), any chance they could push a signal that's a bit too hot for anything? They're usually equipped with a preamp tube, I've never seen one equipped with a power tube. It's essentially the same principle, but again, there's no way to damage a guitar pedal with a bass. Active basses will have a hotter output, but it won't be "too hot" for anything that it's intended for. That's the reason some bass amps will have a -15db or so input pad. It'll give you some more room to turn it down if it's pushing your preamp or anything too hard for the kind of sound you want. CaseFace McGee posted:I don't have any official claims or anything to back it up, but my reasoning is that tubes used in a guitar pedal might not be designed to handle the low-frequency signal that a bass can provide. I know that there are lots of bass preamps and such that use tubes to create a buttery eargasm, but I'm not sure if they use tubes with different or higher tolerances than those included in similar guitar equipment. It's already been said, but yea... Tubes don't handle frequencies, they handle power. And what pedals are you playing with power tubes in them? And even if it's a preamp tube, if they put it in a pedal, I'd say 99% of the time it's because they're intending you to overdrive it. Having a hotter signal would be more beneficial for the sound you want. You're not going to damage a tube or anything by overdriving it with any standard instrument. Now if it's not biased properly... that can lead to problems with it failing. Scarf fucked around with this message at 03:56 on Mar 5, 2012 |
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Mar 5, 2012 03:48
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I have an Ibanez SRX700 that I bought probably 10 years ago and for the last 5 years it's just been sitting under my bed completely unused. Even before that I barely played it. I was wondering how well do things like this hold their value/playability? I'd like to sell it and hopefully some kid can get some use out of it but I don't know if the fact that it's just been sitting unused for so long caused any problems with it.
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Mar 6, 2012 20:26
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Vomik posted:I have an Ibanez SRX700 that I bought probably 10 years ago and for the last 5 years it's just been sitting under my bed completely unused. Even before that I barely played it. I was wondering how well do things like this hold their value/playability? I'd like to sell it and hopefully some kid can get some use out of it but I don't know if the fact that it's just been sitting unused for so long caused any problems with it. Plug it up and see how it sounds. Check the pots (volume, tone, the EQ if it's active) to check for any scratchiness in the sound. If it crackles or scratches some as you turn the knobs, you may have to clean up the connections in the electronics cavity, but that's pretty simple. Also check the neck relief, it may need some adjustment. If you're not comfortable doing that, any guitar shop will do it for about $10-15 (which is a ripoff). You'll also probably want some new strings on it. As for holding value, unless it's a sought-after model, has super special electronics, or from a boutique company... my personal rule of thumb is to expect 50%-66% of what you originally paid. Granted you may find a motivated buyer who REALLY wants that model, but even getting up to the 75% return area, their benefits of buying used vs. a store where they have a warranty and such gets to be pretty minimal. Scarf fucked around with this message at 00:02 on Mar 7, 2012 |
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Mar 6, 2012 23:58
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On the last week of a 2 month long nationwide US tour and I just found a big ole' chip on the neck of my P bass. Gah! I've had mine for years and this is the first major damage it's had. Shieeeet.
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Mar 7, 2012 07:15
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^^^^^ If it's any consolation, my bass amp died yesterday. I've had it for three years, and it was cheap enough that it wasn't designed to be opened up and repaired. Not a big loss, but I won't have the money to replace it for a long time yet.
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Mar 7, 2012 14:43
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noooooo my Stambaugh is finished, but the MM pickup was defective, so we have to wait for a replacement from Nordstrand before he can ship it out. chinese water torture, luthier style
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Mar 7, 2012 17:36
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BetterWeirdthanDead posted:^^^^^ I ordered a brand new tube amp and it came dead on arrival. Sent it back today for a replacement. 
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Mar 7, 2012 18:50
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I've had a bass guitar for a couple years now, but mainly use it to lay down the occasional simple bass track. Now I've been salivating over Victor Wooten recordings, and am determined to at least be able lay down a tight and funky groove before I grow old and die of rear end cancer. So far, my biggest weak spot seems to be finger plucking technique, or any technique of striking the strings for that matter. It's sloppy and lacks any real method or style. Can anyone point me towards some exercises that will help sloppy guitar-strumming me bass better?
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Mar 7, 2012 23:50
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Im seriously considering getting into playing bass. Right now i have a crappy Slammer and no amp. Im gonna be buying an amp soon, is it worth it to buy a new bass as well? Or is the slammer good enough to learn on
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Mar 8, 2012 02:52
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A slammer is a p-bass clone right? I think as long as the neck isn't all out of whack and the string height isnt too high or too low, it would be good to at least learn on. An amp really really helps, but you can be building up finger strength and learning some basic scales and stuff in the meantime.
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Mar 8, 2012 03:14
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I would advise you to just fool around on whatever you can get cheap (or already have) for now until you really know you love the instrument and want to stick with it. No need to invest money til you have a better idea what kind of sound you want.
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Mar 8, 2012 05:37
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So, I’ve got a question about systems for playing along with music. I’m in an apartment building and really don’t have much time to practice except for late at night. Most of my bass playing is just playing along with a few recorded tracks and practicing scales. I’m currently running both my bass and my iPod into my amp, and using headphones to listen to the resulting mix. Only problem is that for some reason, only the left channel from the iPod comes through. I can work with it, but it sounds pretty lovely. I was hoping someone in this thread might have ideas about how to solve this problem or might be in a similar spot. I’ve seen products like the Rockman Guitar Ace, but it looks pretty terrible, but maybe I’m wrong?
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Mar 8, 2012 06:53
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java posted:So, I’ve got a question about systems for playing along with music. Your amp doesn't maintain the stereo signal from your iPod in some way. It's hard to determine exactly how it does that without more info. Does your amp have RCA jacks for the iPod, or a 1/4" input? Does the bass signal come through both channels of your headphones? I've got a Boss ME-50B. I run my iPod through a 1/8" cable into a TRS input, where it mixes with the bass signal. Everything is output through the stereo headphone jack. It doesn't really have the power to output the signal without losing low-end fidelity, so I often run the ME-50B headphone signal as a lower level input to my stereo amplifier and use that to boost the output level without that nasty solid-state distortion. The Science Goy fucked around with this message at 07:07 on Mar 8, 2012 |
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Mar 8, 2012 07:04
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I just bought one of these for practicing and live use. If your amp has an XLR output then you'll be set for just over $20.
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Mar 8, 2012 07:05
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java posted:So, I’ve got a question about systems for playing along with music. Whenever I play along to an MP3 while wearing headphones, I just use my earbuds underneath the big, noise-canceling style headphones. You might look kinda dumb wearing two sets of headphones at once, but whatever works.
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Mar 8, 2012 09:26
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Yeah I'm guessing your amp input is only mono, so it's just taking one (probably the left) channel. If you're only hearing it in one side then you probably have separate left and right inputs, in which case you should be able to buy a splitter cable. If you're hearing the same channel in both ears then it's probably just one mono input, and you'll have to use something to mix your stereo source down - I'm guessing ipods don't have a mono output setting! Or yeah, do something that combines your amp output with your ipod output separately
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Mar 8, 2012 15:33
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Plenty of headphone amp solutions with aux ins. At the cheap end, you could go with this: http://www.guitarworksinc.net/STORE/productdisplay.asp?productid=1423 At the high end, this is probably the best thing out there: http://www.cafewalter.com/ha1/index.htm
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Mar 8, 2012 16:06
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Thanks for the all the links and information. I think cobbling together my pennies for a decent headphone practice amplifier is probably the route I will go.
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Mar 8, 2012 19:41
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Hi, bass thread! I have this bass. It sounds like this. (Clip is Amplitube 3 GK model) I'm not sure if I should be happy with the tone or not. In the track, I play the same thing (very roughly) three times. The first run through is with the neck pickup, then neck and bridge, and then bridge only. The only thing I've done to the bass is removed the EQ. I never liked it. I run most of my instruments knob-free, as in, I remove the volume and tone knobs, and just run the pickups straight. The only way to change the way the instrument sounds from the instrument is to change which pickup is sent to the jack. The volume knob is still on the bass, and the pickups are selected through a blend knob with detent. I guess my questions are: A) does my bass sound alright? I play mostly metal, but I'd like the bass to be a jack of all trades if possible. B) if it sounds like poo poo, what should I buy to replace it? The only 6-string pickups I could find that would fit (Nordstrand  ) were these Bartolinis and the Lace Bass Bar. I'd like to run the pickups sans EQ or preamp, if possible, which makes me think the Bass Bar is my only (affordable) hope.
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Mar 9, 2012 10:21
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java posted:Thanks for the all the links and information. I think cobbling together my pennies for a decent headphone practice amplifier is probably the route I will go. This was a godsend to me for practicing silently anywhere I want: http://www.korg.com/pandoramini It's actually designed as an effects module/amp modeler but the sounds are pretty crappy (as is usual with these things). However, it runs on one AA battery, lets you plug in headphones, ipods, guitars (obviously) and run metronomes, drum beats, etc. And it's tiny and fits in your pocket.
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Mar 9, 2012 13:25
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Gorilla Salsa posted:Hi, bass thread! I have this bass. It sounds like this. (Clip is Amplitube 3 GK model) The real question is.... do YOU think your bass sounds alright (for what you intend to use it for)? Obviously you don't or you wouldn't have posted this. I don't want to be a dick, but why on earth would you remove your EQ if you weren't satisfied with the tone you got without one, with your only tone tweaking capabilities being the pickup selection? The type of players that remove their instruments on board EQ stuff are the type that have their ideal tone and can get it without one, and don't need the liability of more electronic gizmos in their instrument that could fail, or maybe they just want a simpler instrument/combination of all that. I'm not going to suggest gear for you to buy, that you really don't need. Money is an issue these days, for most everyone. But if you think that the only way you can get "that" sound your going for is to drop a few grand on gear, then I can't, nor do I want to spend the time to persuade you not to. Learn what makes your instrument work, experiment! Turn those knobs! They are there for a reason. edit: (I actually do have the time to make this a better post..)Theres tons of different bass tones in metal, that serve their bands in different ways. Are you currently in a band? Do you have an idea of how you want every instrument in this metal band to sound? Which instrument will be the most prominent? If its guitar then maybe you want a little more bass in your tone so it blends in with the guitar and adds some "heavyness" to it. Some metal bassists just do that, and don't really try to make their bass cut threw the mix to where you can hear each individual note clearly. Obviously the more effort, time, and thought you put into this, the happier you will be with the results. Constipated fucked around with this message at 15:42 on Mar 9, 2012 |
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Mar 9, 2012 15:16
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It's really hard to tell without hearing it in a mix, playing an actual song. Does the tone sound alright solo? Sure, it's nice and clean, crisp defined notes, seems like a pretty flat EQ (maybe a little scooped int he mids, but that could just be my speakers/headphones). But the real test is how it sounds when you're playing with a full band. You want to be sure it cuts through and fits the overall sound of the band/songs you're playing.
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Mar 9, 2012 16:02
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Demon Seed posted:The real question is.... do YOU think your bass sounds alright (for what you intend to use it for)? Obviously you don't or you wouldn't have posted this. I don't want to be a dick, but why on earth would you remove your EQ if you weren't satisfied with the tone you got without one, with your only tone tweaking capabilities being the pickup selection? The type of players that remove their instruments on board EQ stuff are the type that have their ideal tone and can get it without one, and don't need the liability of more electronic gizmos in their instrument that could fail, or maybe they just want a simpler instrument/combination of all that. The thing is, I think it sounds fine, but I don't know what to listen for in bass. I do think that it lacks a little bit of clarity, but I'm not sure if it has any less clarity than another bass would. I removed the EQ after playing around with it and finding that it didn't add anything beneficial to the sound. I don't think the bass needs any more or less bass mids or treble. Clarity is really my only complaint. Demon Seed posted:Theres tons of different bass tones in metal, that serve their bands in different ways. Are you currently in a band? Do you have an idea of how you want every instrument in this metal band to sound? Which instrument will be the most prominent? If its guitar then maybe you want a little more bass in your tone so it blends in with the guitar and adds some "heavyness" to it. Some metal bassists just do that, and don't really try to make their bass cut threw the mix to where you can hear each individual note clearly. Obviously the more effort, time, and thought you put into this, the happier you will be with the results. I see your point. The band that I admire the most, sound-wise, is Dream Theater, and on their second-to-last album, they released the individual instrument tracks. I listened to the bass ones, and I honestly thought that John Myung's tone was crap. Really distorted, and kind of dull. Scarf posted:It's really hard to tell without hearing it in a mix, playing an actual song. Does the tone sound alright solo? Sure, it's nice and clean, crisp defined notes, seems like a pretty flat EQ (maybe a little scooped int he mids, but that could just be my speakers/headphones). I'd be glad to play along with a backing track or something, if someone could point one out to me and it wasn't something ridiculously hard to play.  If that's about as clear as a bass tone can generally get, I'm fine. I'm probably just comparing my bass tone to my guitar tone, which I like to be much clearer. I forgot to mention that the clip I posted is about as compressed as Amplitube will allow.
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Mar 9, 2012 23:50
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Gorilla Salsa posted:I see your point. The band that I admire the most, sound-wise, is Dream Theater, and on their second-to-last album, they released the individual instrument tracks. I listened to the bass ones, and I honestly thought that John Myung's tone was crap. Really distorted, and kind of dull. When making a record you EQ and mix the instruments to sound good together, not soloed. You probably shouldn't put much stock in the bass sound from finished studio track if you're not listening to it in the context of the full mix.
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Mar 10, 2012 00:16
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Speaking of John Myung, god of gods, here's a cool video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wYu4b5cII8
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Mar 10, 2012 02:00
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Gorilla Salsa posted:Speaking of John Myung, god of gods, here's a cool video: I loving love videos like this, but why couldn't they play some! I'd really like to hear all his different distortions
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Mar 10, 2012 04:52
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| # ? May 28, 2024 00:31 |
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FancyMike posted:When making a record you EQ and mix the instruments to sound good together, not soloed. You probably shouldn't put much stock in the bass sound from finished studio track if you're not listening to it in the context of the full mix. I was blown away the first time I heard a solo track of James Jamerson on the Motown classics, not just because his playing is so good, but because his tone is a lot more distorted than I had imagined it would be. In the mix with the rest of the band, however, it cuts perfectly, and sounds like pure liquid gold.
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Mar 10, 2012 05:58
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