Most true to life tone for practicing

Flongoid · #1 03-23-2010, 01:44 PM

What would be the most 'true' way of practicing?
As in hearing the sound that is most accurate to what is coming out of your bass.
I'm going to assume something along the lines of Korg pandora and headphones?

billhilly66 · #2 03-23-2010, 01:49 PM

I just sit on the couch with the bass unplugged to work up stuff.

alembicguy · #3 03-23-2010, 01:51 PM

Cafe Walter and headphones.

stflbn · #4 03-23-2010, 01:57 PM

I usually run Bass > Firebox > Headphones > through an iMac. If I want more of the vibe of my actual amp head (RH450) I run Bass > RH450 DI > Firebox > Headphones > through an iMac.

The tone I get this way is very very close to the tone I dial in on stage.

no4mk1 · #5 03-23-2010, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alembicguy

Cafe Walter and headphones.

This. I love that my practice tone is completely unaffected so I can concentrate on playing cleanly. It's also awesome for playing along with the old iPod.

Cheers,
Chris

Flongoid · #6 03-23-2010, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by billhilly66

I just sit on the couch with the bass unplugged to work up stuff.

I unfortunately can't really hear my bass unplugged unless i'm playing with a pick

Quote:

Originally Posted by stflbn

I usually run Bass > Firebox > Headphones > through an iMac. If I want more of the vibe of my actual amp head (RH450) I run Bass > RH450 DI > Firebox > Headphones > through an iMac.

The tone I get this way is very very close to the tone I dial in on stage.

This seems like it might be a little expensive. I prefer to be as far away from the computer as possible when I practice too. Easily distracted you see

Quote:

Originally Posted by no4mk1

This. I love that my practice tone is completely unaffected so I can concentrate on playing cleanly. It's also awesome for playing along with the old iPod.

Cheers,
Chris

The Cafe Walter thing looks pretty good. How much do they run? What's a good pair of headphones to go with them?

The thing is I live in a pretty bad use to be using the amp I do (a 1x15) Whenever I try to turn up load enough I always get vibration of everything that's not fixed down and most stuff that is.

Would I be better off with a 2x10? There's someone selling a Trace Elliot 7210H in my area for quite cheap.

no4mk1 · #7 03-23-2010, 02:28 PM

I'm not sure what the Cafe Walters are going for right now... You'll need to call up BassNW (the main distributer) and find out their price and availability.

I use crappy Sony headphones... I'm sure it would sound better with better headphones, but come on, it's for practice. I'd rather put my money into my gig rig. That said, on Cafe Walter's website there is a FAQ on what headphones work best.

http://www.cafewalter.com/ha1/faq.htm

If you're vibrating every thing in your room due to your volume level, you're likely pissing off the people you're living with. Just sayin'.

Cheers,
Chris

Flongoid · #8 03-23-2010, 03:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by no4mk1

I'm not sure what the Cafe Walters are going for right now... You'll need to call up BassNW (the main distributer) and find out their price and availability.

I use crappy Sony headphones... I'm sure it would sound better with better headphones, but come on, it's for practice. I'd rather put my money into my gig rig. That said, on Cafe Walter's website there is a FAQ on what headphones work best.

http://www.cafewalter.com/ha1/faq.htm

If you're vibrating every thing in your room due to your volume level, you're likely pissing off the people you're living with. Just sayin'.

Cheers,
Chris

I sent them an email, international calls can tend to be pretty expensive. Thanks for that link, it's pretty useful.

Well, I live with my family (i'm still only 17) but they says they don't mind practicing too much. Nevertheless I don't like making too much noise.

One more question. Can the Cafe Walter be used as a headphone amp with my computer?

Eublet · #9 03-24-2010, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flongoid

What would be the most 'true' way of practicing?
As in hearing the sound that is most accurate to what is coming out of your bass.
I'm going to assume something along the lines of Korg pandora and headphones?

I have a Korg Pandora PX5d. To be honest, I'm not that crazy about it for bass. The interface is not very practical to me, and the EQ/FX presets are all over the top.

I have a Tascam MP-BT1 that I greatly prefer over the Pandora. It has some FX controls that are much more useable and not as extreme. I can load it up with MP3's for play-along. I can shift the pitch, slow down or speed up, etc. Much easier to maneuver around the interface. Even better, the Tascam has settings that let me cancel or enhance the bass to a large extent on whatever I'm playing along with. Excellent for transcription purposes. It's an invaluable tool that I use pretty much ever single night for silent practicing when my kids go to bed. I use a pair of Bose Triport headphones because they sound decent but are very comfortable to wear for long periods of time.

The Pandora lets you record yourself, and then listen back or loop. I do use it when I want to evaluate myself, or create a comp track that I can practice soloing over real quickly. The Tascam doesn't do that, but it does let you create loop points from an MP3 so that you can practice a particular section over and over until you get it down.

As for the RH450 comment, I must say that the headphone output of the RH450 is excellent at recreating a bass tone that is most like what comes from a cabinet rather than listening to headphones taken from a DI. I do occasionally plug the output from my Tascam into the RCA jacks on the RH450, and then run my bass through the head. The cool thing is that the cabinet emulation filter on the RH450 is only applied to the bass signal coming into the RH450 preamp, not the RCA inputs from the Tascam or MP3 player. That means that recorded playback through the RH450 is clean and pristine, but the bass sounds like it's supposed to sound. Very, very cool. I also plug my iPhone into the RH450 to play along, but I greatly prefer the Tascam.

Obviously, I love the Tascam!

I've actually thought about selling the Pandora just because I seldom use it. In fact, I think I'll put it up for sale today. Wanna buy it?

ga_edwards · #10 03-24-2010, 08:40 AM

Line 6 pod studio GX with podfarm software. Cracking piece of kit for the money. Dead easy to use and fantastic sound quality.

However, any computer interface will require a decent set of monitors (speakers) hooked up to it for 'true to life' sound, as you put it. Plugging them into your average set of bundled PC speakers just won't do it justice.

dukaruk · #11 03-24-2010, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ga_edwards

Line 6 pod studio GX with podfarm software. Cracking piece of kit for the money. Dead easy to use and fantastic sound quality.

I use this with a pair of headphones. I take one ear off and play music at a low volume through my computer speakers.

It's the best I can do trying to let my wife /baby sleep while i get some practice in.

If i really know a song and just want to run through the fingerings I will listen to my headphones for music and just play dry/unplugged on the bass.

basswave · #12 03-24-2010, 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alembicguy

Cafe Walter and headphones.

+100 to this

okcrum · #13 03-24-2010, 08:55 AM

I run through a small board using good headphones. That way I can see how my tone sounds in the mix too.

I've always thought reusing a general purpose bit of kit was cheaper than buying something specialized for every situation. YMMV.

rpsands · #14 03-24-2010, 10:16 AM

For practicing: I just run through my cab with the amp mostly flat, no compression or effects. The F1's preamp is pretty flat though (and the 15/6 is uncolored).

When live or in band practice I dial in a tone

The big thing is, don't cut your mids or highs when you practice. It'll make you sloppy.

EricF · #15 03-24-2010, 10:36 AM

While there certainly is some learning benefit to hearing exactly what's happening with your playing by having as sonically clean a signal path as possible, I've found that I usually prefer my bass to sound a lot like it's going to sound when I'm playing with my band.

Eublet · #16 03-24-2010, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EricF

While there certainly is some learning benefit to hearing exactly what's happening with your playing by having as sonically clean a signal path as possible, I've found that I usually prefer my bass to sound a lot like it's going to sound when I'm playing with my band.

Same here. I don't scoop a lot of mids when I practice, but I don't keep it sounding brittle and clackety either. To me this discourages me from practicing because it sounds so harsh. In fact, I have a setting on my Tascam that includes just a touch of reverb. I usually use it when I'm chording or just playing around with melodic ideas. I dial my passive tone control back about 50% on my jazz bass, and it provides a very warm voicing which is inspiring when I'm just noodling around with ideas. In a band setting, the reverb and tone control settings are necessary as everything else covers up so much of the harshness. Two different settings, but the same end result.

Flongoid · #17 03-24-2010, 02:30 PM

I think i'll go for one of the Cafe Walters.
I don't mind sounding like utter turd, and i'm typically more encouraged to practice when I feel I have a long way to go

Does anyone have experiences with plugging ipods etc into the Cafe Walters? Does it get a bit messed up with music and bass playing into it?

And does anyone know if Bass NW do a TB discount? I know a lot of places do.

rpsands · #18 03-24-2010, 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EricF

While there certainly is some learning benefit to hearing exactly what's happening with your playing by having as sonically clean a signal path as possible, I've found that I usually prefer my bass to sound a lot like it's going to sound when I'm playing with my band.

I'm behind that when playing along with tracks but when I'm practicing for my improvement as a player I like the cleanest possible sound and then to go from there. You obviously need practice getting dynamics to sound right and a lot of that will be affected by tone/etc, but for fundamental practice I wouldn't layer a lot of tone differences on there.

When you join another band and your technique is all nasty because you couldn't wear string squeak with your previous tone, it can be quite annoying

Run into a lot of guys over the years who sound great with the tone knob rolled off, and way different otherwise.

vinxbass · #19 03-24-2010, 02:41 PM

This is what I rehearse thru - Seriously.

EricF · #20 03-24-2010, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rpsands

I'm behind that when playing along with tracks but when I'm practicing for my improvement as a player I like the cleanest possible sound and then to go from there. You obviously need practice getting dynamics to sound right and a lot of that will be affected by tone/etc, but for fundamental practice I wouldn't layer a lot of tone differences on there.

When you join another band and your technique is all nasty because you couldn't wear string squeak with your previous tone, it can be quite annoying

Run into a lot of guys over the years who sound great with the tone knob rolled off, and way different otherwise.

Whether it's solo practice or with my band, my tone is pretty consistant - bass (passive controls wide open, or close to it)->cord->amp (set pretty flat). Not a lot of tone shaping going on other than the inherent flavor of my amp.

That said, there are times when I want to pick apart my technique, and for those times, something excessively revealing is important.