Your preference: clean or colored amp heads?

[Toastfuzz]

Hey everybody,

This isnt a solid state vs. tube debate, I want to know what people like in an amp head: clean, uncolored representation of your bass's tone, or a head that gives a character and color to the tone of whats being played? Of course cabs come into it, and we the SVT 8x10 fridge on one end and a big clean fEARful stack on the other, but knock the cabs out of the equation for a second.

Do you prefer a clean, minimally EQ'd head unit? Or do you like the inherent sounds contained in Ampeg/Orange/GK/etc. heads?

I ask this because I'm growing weary of my SVT 3Pro having too much influence on my tone, while I'd rather control my tone through my bass and pedals. I bought a Carvin higher wattage Class A solid state head from a fellor TBer to get more in the clean range.

[Sartori]

I think of my amp, and cab, as part of my instrument. I don't want them to be clean and transparent. My amp definitely changes the tone, plus I like the overdrive.

[JimmyM]

I voted carrots because the idea of flat response only exists on paper. Even if your head has flat response with knobs at noon, which the vast majority do not, not a single cab on the market has it, so there goes that idea. Plus most people, even if they claim they want it, not only don't want it, but have no idea what it is.

[will33]

Another one for Carrots here.

[BassmanPaul]

Oh I don't know Jimmy, I think my Acme cabinets are pretty flat. I voted clean 'cos that's what I want from an amplifier.

[JimmyM]

I would love to see a scope on them, Paul.

[DiabolusInMusic]

I voted for orange.... carrots that is!

[scottfeldstein]

I prefer an amp rig that does nothing except provide watts and cabs for stage monitoring. 100% of "my sound" comes out of my pedal board.

The advantages of this are several. 1) I can run directly to the FOH, the mixing desk, my headphones--and I still sound like me, 2) I get to buy itty bitty solid state amp heads that weigh less than 4 pounds but pack 500w, 3) I forgot what three was, but seriously it's a good way to go.

[Duke21]

Ampeg and Marshall color for me!

[MSUsousaphone]

Originally Posted by BassmanPaul

I voted clean 'cos that's what I want from an amplifier.

HUZZAH!

But really, I like a variety. A good clean sound to start with, and pedals to **** the **** out of it.

[lomo]

I'd like to say my tone is all in my hands......but I think whatever my tone is really comes from somewhere else.....prolly my spleen.

[hibachiduck]

I like a clean sound out of the head and a relatively neutral sounding cab. I may be laughed at, but I'm pretty impressed with where modelling has come, and thus I have patches set up on my Zoom B3 for different amp / cab combos for certain sounds (Hartke 3500 + Eden 4x10" for slapping and popping, Aguilar w/ a compressor for fingerstyle, etc.). As others have said, it lets me carry a 4lb 900w head in my gig bag, and I can adjust for whatever song I'm playing without turning a bunch of knobs on my head.

[will33]

I think the Acme's are fairly flat, but still, there's crossover points, slopes, dispersion, how speakers sound when you push them, cone breakup, distortion....all kinds of things that come into play. 2 different speakers that measure "flat" @ 1 watt can still sound very different. And that's if your amp is "flat"......still not counting the output from various basses, which is anything but "flat". And we still haven't considered the most important part....the person playing them. You can take an identical setup from bass to speaker, not turn a single knob, and they will still sound very different in a different persons hands. So what is the goal???

[swspiers]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

I voted carrots because the idea of flat response only exists on paper. Even if your head has flat response with knobs at noon, which the vast majority do not, not a single cab on the market has it, so there goes that idea. Plus most people, even if they claim they want it, not only don't want it, but have no idea what it is.

What he said!

[seamonkey]

Clean and I can add any color, any shade, any hue that I want.

Originally Posted by Toastfuzz

I bought a Carvin higher wattage Class A solid state head from a fellor TBer to get more in the clean range.

Higher wattage Class A?
Or just Class-A pre-amp?

[low2groove]

I think it depends.

Do you use a POS bass and you depend on your amp to fix it's problems.

Or do you spend $5K on a bass and play through a Behringer bass rig and wonder what's wrong with your sound?

I use a Demeter pre-amp, Crown power, and Eden top of the line cabs and my sound is amazing.

I will be switching to a 4X10 DNA bass cab so I can just lug around one cab instead of two. They are incredible cabs for tone, and power handling. Makes and SVT fridge sound like you should keep your beer in it instead of pumping notes through it, lol

I also build and sell my own line of basses so I get exactaly what I want.

[chaosMK]

Originally Posted by Toastfuzz

I ask this because I'm growing weary of my SVT 3Pro having too much influence on my tone, while I'd rather control my tone through my bass and pedals.

This could be your problem. I love my heavily colored tones but have found almost all of the Ampeg stuff I've used/owned to be too much sometimes. I have a nice sounding SVT-IIp preamp... it colors my tone so strongly that some of the controls (like the pickup blend) on my bass have no noticeable effect.

[props]

Hard to say. I voted clean because I've finally decided that my favorite tone comes from my Super Redhead. Granted, it's not giving me a truly clean sound but of all the rigs I've used this one sounds the best to my ear and it's generally thought of as having a clean sound.

[steve_rolfeca]

I like relatively uncolored gear. My main bass has no tone control, and I like the sound of my basses through studio monitors.

I got my first 3-way cab over a decade ago, and at this point, most commercial cabs sound downright boxy to me. Ditto with a lot of bass amps.

Mind you, I don't play Fenders much. A P-bass with rounds doesn't sound right to me without some EQ to smooth things out.

And, you CAN have too much of a good thing. I recently tried an Acoustic Image head through my current, PA cab-ish bin, and was surprised to find it too bland.

[Domespeed]

I like the sound of my basses when they are plugged direct into the board (for recordings) and that's the sound I want to hear through the PA and onstage.

so I voted clean!