How's it going! I'm a long time reader, but decided it was time to let Talk Bass rob me of what little free I have left(I mean that in a total positive light). I can't thank you enough for taking the time to read my post and ANY input is greatly appreciated!
(Somehow this turned into my Talk Bass intro)
I'm a fairly new bassist. I was previously a guitarist primarily, but I switched to being a bass player for the sake of my band. I've now made the final decision to devote my time to becoming a BASSIST(realize the difference from before). Our bassist was a no-show to a couple shows, so I filled in for him a few times to keep the mix full(plus my band wasn't really in need of two guitarist on every song, so we played songs we could get by on). My bandmates swore I was much better than he was(of course they had to play on the whole "you're black, it's in your blood" thing, but it was all in good fun), so when he left for good, we stayed as a four piece.
(End rant)
I play some pretty heavy stuff that's pretty reliable on thundering, heart pumping bass. I play 5 strings exclusively. My band plays pretty low tunings(Drop B, but I transpose my stuff for standard 5 string). I'd say we're in the vein of something like Sevendust, Nonpoint, Element Eighty, maybe a little Sybreed in there(minus the electronic elements) and I'm really trying to get my rig to suit this style of music a bit better.
I was pretty broke and uninformed when I purchased my first bass gear. I began with a really basic setup of a Hartke half-stack with a HA2500 head and a VX410 cab. I've recently purchased a TC Electronics BH500 and a Hartke Pro 2100 cab, but I'm still not totally satisfied with my results.
The TC is real smooth I love it, but I'm not sure if it's the head or the cabs I use that are limiting it. It seems to hate notes in the middle of the neck on the low B string(like 10-14 frets) and the open low B. I've also purchased a Behringer Bass V-Amp Pro(thanks to the guys at
this TB Thread for the recommendation) which I'm basically using as a recording interface and it sounds phenomenal(dare I say too much bass at times? NAH!). I'm willing to be pretty flexible have considered moving the V-Amp Pro into a rack with a power amp(much like the OP of the V-Amp thread uses), but I still kind of fear I may not be happy with it because I haven't exactly narrowed down what kind of seems to be holding my tone back.
I'll maybe set a few parameters to not make this question so open-ended.
1) I would prefer something light and powerful, I really don't see a need for two 8x10" monsters on stage yet because a) those things aren't paying my bills YET!
and b) most venues I play at don't have PA or stages that can really accommodate that.
2) The lower the price, the better. Obviously, I understand that you do have to pay for premium stuff, but please I'm not looking for boutique equipment YET!(haha once again).
3) The configuration isn't important, but I'm kind of hoping to phase things into instead of completely demolishing the setup because funds won't permit that. So compatibility with my current stuff would be pretty cool.
4) If this helps at all, I play an Aslin Dane 5-String(it's essentially an Ernie Ball Stingray 5 string with a single humbucker in the bridge position). They were a custom maker(think like Agile is for guitars), custom tailored, but afforable, and have unfortunately been shut down. I loved their stuff. I also play a Spector Legend Classic 5 string.
Sadly, none of the music stores in my area (a few Sam Ash's, a few Guitar Centers, and a couple local shops) have actually BASSIST in their stores, so instead you get some guy just going on what brands are popular or trying to hype up the limited selection that they have to sound like a better product than it is.
Again I can't thank you enough for reading this massive post, but I'm really getting enthuiastic about Bass. I feel like a little kid when I picked up my first guitar all over again. So I'll shut up now and leave you with some examples of bands that have bass tones I live for!
Dead Letter Circus Sevendust Karnivool
