I hate amps

[phatduckk]

There's too many knobs ... i get confused.

Just when I thought i was all happy with my tone I up and changed my mind last week some time. So last night i went to the studio with Joey in hand (my BD Sterling). I went in, biased the stv classic, setup the bass and then sat down for a knob tweaking session.

Eh, this is the most frustrating thing ever. the amp has knobs, the bass has knobs and then theres the horn which is 98% useless - but those last 2% make a huge difference in the tone.

anyways ... im just venting. we've all been thru this and its a pain in the ass. I got somewhere tho: nice, kills little kids boom on the lows and some ok sounding highs. gotta tweak that a bit. anyways; i got somewhere; monday ill see how it sounds in the band mix (the real test) and do some more tweaking there im sure.

oh ya ... so i finally decided it was time to run the knobs on my Sterling flat ... or at least use that as a starting point. honestly, i tried and tried and i kept gravitating towards cranking em all the way up again. i might go thru this whole process again later today just to try and get the knobs on the bass set flat.

anyways ... who else hates amp?

 

[maddog]

Amps are awesome! Without them, the audience would have to sit very close to hear you. No room for dancing or head-banging, etc. I think you just need to find one with fewer knobs. GK heads scare me. Too many damn knobs. The Ampeg B15R looks mighty nice on the knob count.

As an extension of that philosophy, I really like the idea of a Single H bongo. Not sure why you guys are all gung-ho about the dual pickups SR's and Sterlings. Pretty soon you guys are going to be walking around with that confused look us multi-pickup Bongo players have. Too many damn knobs.

 

[phatduckk]

Amps are awesome! Without them, the audience would have to sit very close to hear you. No room for dancing or head-banging, etc. I think you just need to find one with fewer knobs. GK heads scare me. Too many damn knobs. The Ampeg B15R looks mighty nice on the knob count.

my amp, the svt classic, is pretty light on the knobs ... low, mid, high, gain, volume and some mid switcher-thinggy.

im just frustrated with the "tone hunt" ... again. i was totally happy for a long time. memorized all knob setting etc then i got the bug to experiment: "oh, thats a bit better". then "hmm, i wonder if i can get a bit more boom". "ok sweet, thats a lot of boom ... now a bit more zing". LOL so i used my "old" tone as the benchmark and tried to kick it up a knotch.

my current tone and amp setting etc are based off a small tweak from what i used in my last band which was a 3 peice. Surprisingly, it worked decently with the new band (2 guitarists now and a louder drummer) but i want more

 

[AnthonyD]

Arin - I get it, and agree... I too am adverse to the myriad of "tonal options" available. I prefer simplicity...

I generally run my instrument flat and work the tone at the amp. That said, I start with the amp flat and tweak just a bit here & there 'til "my sound" is dialed in, then I am done.

One reason I love EBMM - the sound is right there - no need to hunt for it.

 

[adouglas]

A good rule of thumb that took me years to figure out...what sounds good soloed sounds CRAPPY in a mix, and vice versa. I used to think the stereotyped "smiley" EQ was the way to go...boosted lows and highs, and cut mids. It does sound really cool soloed. But the bass just vanishes once everybody else starts playing.

I've found that the mix needs a lot more midrange, and a lot less lows and highs. The tone that sits well in a band mix sounds honky as hell to my ear when I solo it.

All that child-killing bottom end winds up becoming crap-producing, ill-defined, rumbly noise once you get a drum kit and guitar(s) playing on top of it. But a nice tight low midrange...that really sits well.

IMHO, YMMV, etc. etc. etc.

One of the great things about EBMM basses, which I believe is why we all gravitate towards them, is that when set flat they sit really well in a mix. They just sound "right" somehow.

Another thing that took me years to figure out...find an amp setting that gives you a tone you like when the band is playing, and LEAVE IT ALONE, but with a caveat: Adjust to fit the room (I think I read somewhere that Tony Levin does this...he doesn't screw around with the amp except to fit the room, and the tweaks are minor...I can confirm this from seeing his rig at the Kingston gig last month...the EQ was almost flat).

I don't touch my amp after I set it up, but I do fiddle with the bass somewhat. For example, my band plays some Beatles, which calls for a thumpy '60s-type sound. So I'll cut my Bongo's treble and high midrange for those songs, and hey presto, there it is. But it's not appropriate all the time.

 

[Psycho Ward]

Arin - I get it, and agree... I too am adverse to the myriad of "tonal options" available. I prefer simplicity...

I generally run my instrument flat and work the tone at the amp. That said, I start with the amp flat and tweak just a bit here & there 'til "my sound" is dialed in, then I am done.

One reason I love EBMM - the sound is right there - no need to hunt for it.

Same here, I always start with the amp flat and try to get what I’m looking for directly from the bass guitars’ controls first. That said, this concept only works on a few of my basses, none of the passive basses, but all the Balls do great here. Of course this observation is based on my amps here in the studio, on gigs who knows what you might wind up doing to get “your” tone.

But the one thing that makes me a fan of EBMM basses is just how good they sound to begin with, just by plugging one in to an amp you’ve done just about all you need to do.

 

[midopa]

I always have my amp's EQ flat. All the adjusting I've found I need to do is on that on-board Bongo preamp. It's magic!

 

[bovinehost]

I can't be bothered to go find my amp during a gig. I know it's back behind me somewhere, but I sure don't want to go adjust it or anything.

Maybe I'm lucky or maybe I'm less picky than others, I just don't know. I do know this - the Sunn head is set pretty close to flat, I hardly ever even engage the EQ or the compressor and I could count on one hand the number of times I've used both channels mixed together.

Turn it on, bam. Sounds good.

Easy to get my sound on my basses, too. Treble down! Everything else flat.

Tweak a bit here and there, depending on the space.

From there, I'm done. About the only thing I do during a set is roll back and forth between neck and bridge pickup for more or less angry growl.

It's so simple being me sometimes.

 

[Bill]

I also set my amp & bass flat, then adjust the bass's EQ as necessary. I find that sometimes I have to tweak the amp's EQ a little. For example, on my new SR5, I find that I have to boost the treble all the way on the bass's EQ. So I go back to flat, bump up the treble on the amp, and try again from the bass's controls. Works fine for me!

 

[TheDirtyMoocher]

i always wanted to just buy a power amp and run my bongo straight through it and let the onboard eq do all the work..apparently thats not a good idea though

 

[shamus63]

This is why I love the Ampeg B2R and the Ashdown MAG-300R bass heads - simplicity w/o being too simple.

Just enough choices to color my sound, w/o having to break out the owner's manual (c'mon, men don't ask for directions!).

I run my bass heads flat, with the gain and master at 12:00...the Bongo and my fingers take care of the rest...volume/dynamics/tone.

A fact that is quite often overlooked by a lot of bass players is right hand (or in Chuck's case, left) positioning...makes a huge difference in the overall tone. It affects all three spectrums from top-to-bottom, as well as attack.

Trying different plucking or picking positions can actually replace a lot of the amp-tweaking process.

IMHO.

 

[Father Gino]

Crank the volume

so i finally decided it was time to run the knobs on my Sterling flat ... or at least use that as a starting point. honestly, i tried and tried and i kept gravitating towards cranking em all the way up again.

If you're really cranking all the tone knobs at once, you're sorta just turning the volume up. Try setting everything flat and just adjust the volume first. Do this while playing with the band. Boosting the bass will boost the overall volume a lot. A Sterling does not have a real bass heavy tone set flat. Solo, it's might seem thin. Live, those mids are what makes you heard in the mix.

My Alembic has kinda goofy, passive tone controls so I don't use them much at all. I usually boost the bass on the Sterling just a tad unless the room is boomy. I love the Sterling because it always sounds good in most any room with minimal EQ fiddling.

 

[Randracula]

GK heads scare me. Too many damn knobs.

Don't be scared. Come to the dark side.................

 

[hankSRay]

GK heads scare me. Too many damn knobs.

I actually just ordered a 1001 RB-II because I liked the fact that there wasnt so many knobs lol. Its those damn parametric EQ sliding things that control frequencies that scare me.

 

[Randracula]

I actually just ordered a 1001 RB-II because I liked the fact that there wasnt so many knobs lol. Its those damn parametric EQ sliding things that control frequencies that scare me.

You won't be dissapointed.EBMM sound great with GK amps. IMO they really let the natural sound of your bass come through with very little coloring. I did an a/b comparison in the studio of the post/pre EQ of the D.I. on my 1001RBII and there was virtually no difference.

 

[maddog]

EBMM sound great with GK amps. IMO they really let the natural sound of your bass come through with very little coloring.

That's exactly why I want one. Just all those damn knobs keep putting me off. I guess I'll have to suck it up. Although... that Ampeg B15R sure does look good on the knob count.

 

[MingusBASS]

That's exactly why I want one. Just all those damn knobs keep putting me off. I guess I'll have to suck it up. Although... that Ampeg B15R sure does look good on the knob count.

I'm loving how plug and play the Ashdown/EBMM combo is. The Ashdown sounds great, the EBMM sounds great, tweak to the room where/when needed-DONE!

Andrew

 

[maddog]

Which one did you get?

 

[hankSRay]

You won't be dissapointed.EBMM sound great with GK amps. IMO they really let the natural sound of your bass come through with very little coloring. I did an a/b comparison in the studio of the post/pre EQ of the D.I. on my 1001RBII and there was virtually no difference.

Yeah I should be getting it this week but unfortunately, I still have a couple of weeks left untill I get my Sterling, so I wont be able to experience the magic for a while. That and I still have to order my GK Neo 2x12 to run it through. Slowly but surely, I'll get there lol

 

[phatduckk]

see my combo amp at home is set to flat-ish and i really dig how it sounds. Shamus can vouch for that. when playing thru it i also have the Sterlings set flat too. somehow i my big rig sounds a bit boring at flat as compared to the combo at home.

but i will take you guys' advice and try the whole process again. i appreciate the help ... anyonw have an SVT CLassic here? and suggestions? also ... how do you guys balance gain vs. volume? i think the devil may be in that balance.

thanks a bunch guys