I have come to the conclusion..

[OldHack]

..I don't like SS because it's too brittle

..I don't like Hybrids because you can't get a nice tube power section sound out of them, especially with effects like grind and crunch

..I don't like tube amps because they don't give a fast enough modern tone at high enough volumes

If we're going pre out into a DI, or even miked, isn't everyone hearing SS FOH anyways?

Oh well, play what you like, play what you don't like.

(sorry for being Mr. Negative today, I spent the entire afternoon in a fruitless attempt at finding some paper files)

[dmusic148]

Crank a small tube amp, like a B15, mic it, and send the feed into a big SS amp/cab......

[Mo_Fonk]

Some days it just all comes together and works.

[cycler]

Your amp is fairly irrelevant once the out hits the DI to FOH in most instances anyone here will ever see. Of course you odds improve a little if the FOH board guy isn't an ex-drummer but how rare is that ?

[shaolinwhat]

That is why I get most of my tone from my pedalboard, so I can send it to FOH. It drove me absolutely insane when I used to bring a Hiwatt amp to gigs only to have the sound guy insist (and I do mean INSIST) on using a direct box instead of miking my cab. I've had guys actually try to tell me they could "make it sound the same" as my Hiwatt...yea. With a VT Bass into a DI, it's not an issue anymore.

[Martin89]

Stick to playing unplugged acoustic venues

[will33]

Bring enough rig for the gig and use it.

[Selta]

Wow, a lot of misplaced notions here...

[Bassdirty]

Originally Posted by OldHack

..I don't like SS because it's too brittle

..I don't like Hybrids because you can't get a nice tube power section sound out of them, especially with effects like grind and crunch

..I don't like tube amps because they don't give a fast enough modern tone at high enough volumes

If we're going pre out into a DI, or even miked, isn't everyone hearing SS FOH anyways?

Oh well, play what you like, play what you don't like.

(sorry for being Mr. Negative today, I spent the entire afternoon in a fruitless attempt at finding some paper files)

Maybe I'm not gettin it...

Are you comparing SS to Tube?...or SS to something that you heard?...or just think it should be like?..Or tube to something else..

So...you ...can't "hear" the tube power section in a Hybrid?..is that the trouble?


I really shouldnt be commenting on this...this late after Ive hada few...
Maybe bass just isnt your thing.


Carry on..

[Munjibunga]

I'm happy with my solid state amps (WTX-500, Heart-Rock, AG500).

I'm happy with my hybrid amps (WT-300, WT-800, DB750)

I don't have any tube amps (my back thanks me).

I don't get the OP.

[will33]

Originally Posted by shaolinwhat

I get most of my tone from my pedalboard

Aye.....there's the problem.

Try plugging your bass into a bass rig and see what happens. Multiple pedals/effects tend to chip away at the natural fat sound of the bass IMO. An effect or 2 can be cool if used in moderation but like many other things in life, there's a difference between use and abuse.

[OldHack]

Originally Posted by will33

Aye.....there's the problem.

Try plugging your bass into a bass rig and see what happens. Multiple pedals/effects tend to chip away at the natural fat sound of the bass IMO. An effect or 2 can be cool if used in moderation but like many other things in life, there's a difference between use and abuse.

I totally agree. I (the one with the problem) go direct through a digital wireless. My tuner is on the amp tuner out jack. Both basses are active, though.

[MIJ-VI]

Active basses? Have you recently done an amp shootout with a passive instrument?

[craig.p]

I'm 100% with Munji on this. If I were going to get all depressed about things, it'd be because that there are so many great options and so many great sounds to be had from them, at ridiculously low price points, that some days it's tough to choose what to play. And getting one's "sound" out to the mains is a trivial exercise in 99% of cases. Or should be, unless the people involved are either ignorant or decide to make Some Big Deal out of it.

[KJung]

Originally Posted by OldHack

..I don't like SS because it's too brittle

..I don't like Hybrids because you can't get a nice tube power section sound out of them, especially with effects like grind and crunch

..I don't like tube amps because they don't give a fast enough modern tone at high enough volumes

If we're going pre out into a DI, or even miked, isn't everyone hearing SS FOH anyways?

Oh well, play what you like, play what you don't like.

(sorry for being Mr. Negative today, I spent the entire afternoon in a fruitless attempt at finding some paper files)

IMO if you don't like whole 'classes of amps', then you either haven't tried enough of them (i.e., making your sweeping statement by trying one Eden at a Guitar Center or whatever), or (no offense) you have technique issues (which I've found to be shockingly common at all the GTG's I've attended. Very often, garbage in equals garbage out, not matter what the rig is (by garbage, I mean an undefined, sloppy, loose tone coming out of a bass played by someone who hasn't done the years of woodshedding required to generate a clean, powerful, even signal for the amp to reproduce).

[lbwdog]

I think y'all might be missing the OP's point. It seems to me he's being facetious. The first three statements are heard regularly around here from people who are in the tube, ss, and hybrid camps. So he's demonstrating the irony that it all ends up out of a ss FOH system in the end.

That's how I interpret it anyway.....

[KJung]

Originally Posted by lbwdog

I think y'all might be missing the OP's point. It seems to me he's being facetious. The first three statements are heard regularly around here from people who are in the tube, ss, and hybrid camps. So he's demonstrating the irony that it all ends up out of a ss FOH system in the end.

That's how I interpret it anyway.....

If that's the case, then what a waste of a thread There are many, many players (especially those who make their living gigging) who play many, many gigs without front of house support.

We are not all kids playing for nothing in bars, nor are we all, of course, doing stadium or high end touring gigs

[lbwdog]

Originally Posted by KJung

We are not all kids playing for nothing in bars, nor are we all, of course, doing stadium or high end touring gigs

I know, I know...but sometimes there's some off the wall logic on this forum.

[KJung]

Originally Posted by lbwdog

I know, I know...but sometimes there's some off the wall logic on this forum.

I actually like this as a 'real' topic. I am, at most, an average player (typical 'B' level player... good enough to make a living playing, but not talented enough to play 'A' level gigs), but continue to be rather surprised when I finally hear some of the TBer's who post a lot actually play! It's not about being 'smoking' versus 'not smoking' (very few players are smoking in an absolute sense), but rather to have the ability to get a good, precise, clean (chops wise, not necessarily tonewise) tone out of a bass guitar (plugged or unplugged).

LOTS of money (and posts) spent trying to fix tonal issues that only the woodshed will address

Edit: For all I know, the OP is smoking... so this isn't directed at him... more general musing on the topic.

[Thunderthumbs73]

Is this thread one for the humor forum, by chance?