Anyone else feel their gear is really holding them back?

Matt Till · #1 02-10-2008, 01:30 PM

This is getting to be a huge depressing ordeal. Every time I pick up the bass, I get disgusted with myself: My playing and mostly my tone.

I get so damn sick of the whole "tone is in your hands" garbage. Honestly, the only people who say that have very nice equipment. If you honestly believe that, you must have always had good equipment. It's such bull ****.

When I hear the sounds that come out of my amp, I just don't want to play. Therefore, I practice less and my playing is on a very steady decline. But, if I gave it all up, sold all of my musical equipment... I don't know what would replace music in my life. I'd say this is me in a rut, but it's been like this for too long to just be a phase.

Mostly just me bitching and moaning: What should I do instead of being a bass player?

Taylor Livingston · #2 02-10-2008, 01:52 PM

Looking at your gear, you could easily sell all that (if you were willing to get rid of some or all of your pedals) and get a nice bass and amp. I don't think the effects are of any use to you if you don't ever play. I couldn't tell you what to get, because I don't know what you like, but you could get good gear by selling what you have.

Matt Till · #3 02-10-2008, 02:03 PM

It's a thought. But it seems everything I like is always going to be out of my price range. Maybe I should just take up a cheaper instrument, bass is getting to damned expensive.

McHaven · #4 02-10-2008, 02:59 PM

This happens to me every once in awhile. New strings will normally do the trick. I used to hate my jazz bass and thought it was time to move on. Then I threw some DR high-beams on, cleared it right up.

Taylor Livingston · #5 02-10-2008, 07:02 PM

Electric bass is probably one of the cheapest instruments you can play, so unless you want to switch to harmonica, you're probably not going to find a cheaper instrument (and most serious harmonica players own special microphones and tube amps, so maybe the triangle is the only cheap instrument).

Again, I don't know what you want in gear, but consider this. I looked at your profile and checked out ebay to get an idea of how much you could probably get for your stuff. I estimate each effect at $60, which is conservative. You could sell your stuff for about $1240 (probably more, again, this is being conservative). Depending on how picky you are, I'm pretty sure you could get a decent rig of whatever variety pleases you for that much money.

Couple of other ideas: maybe you just haven't figured out how to get the sound you want out of your gear. I'm not saying "the tone is in your hands", but I've usually been able to get a sound I liked out of most gear, some cheap, some not cheap.

Use your computer to write music. Depends on what sort of stuff you do, of course, but since you're into electronica and ambient noise, both of these kinds of music can be made entirely in a computer with free software.

jollygiantchris · #6 02-10-2008, 08:11 PM

I was very sick from July 06' to August 07' and had to sell my Rickenbacker 4003 and some of my equipment and right now I am rocking a $100 HAMER SLAMMER 4 P-bass copy I bought from my friend...It is an uncomfortable to play total piece of ****, THAT BEING SAID, I can still make it sound perfectly acceptable. I am not a particularly great bass player either and I would rate myself average. However, there is no reason you shouldn't be able to get a passable tone out of your Dean Edge Q-4 at least you've got EMGs in there.

I would like to add Talkbass is a very depressing website when you have ****** gear and don't have any money.

The real question however is what tone do YOU WANT? Your profile says you want a Ric which does have a rather fat top and bottom tone but you are rocking a 2x15 cab which isn't the right kind of cab setup to get highs at all. Just seems like with a bass with 2 humbuckers and a 2x15 cab you'd just have a huge bottom end and wouldn't get enough treble to get the tone you might want. The tone IS in your hands but you also need the right equipment to bring it out. Just my .02 there.

BadB · #7 02-10-2008, 08:19 PM

Ditch your gear and start over if you're unhappy with what you have. No big deal. Identify the sound in your head and go for it! I've spent almost twenty five years chasing THE sound, and I still haven't got it nailed. The chase is part of the fun. I'm spending my kids inheritance.

mike_v_s · #8 02-10-2008, 08:37 PM

I turned everything over (well almost everything....the stuff I use, anyway) last fall. For a grand total of $850 and from three separate sellers I got a Peavey T-Max, 2 Aguilar S210's and a G&L L-1000. I was patient and missed a few great grabs, but they all fell into place at about the same time. If what you have ain't cutting it, dump it.

Mike

Munjibunga · #9 02-10-2008, 08:40 PM

Yeah. It's a bummer. I bought a Yamaha bass, and I still can't play like Nate.

P. Aaron · #10 02-10-2008, 08:51 PM

I have great gear, I just need more talent.

dave64o · #11 02-10-2008, 10:25 PM

The tagline I've been using for the last year or so says it all. I'm holding back my gear!

gkbass13 · #12 02-10-2008, 11:00 PM

as stated by previous posters...ditch the gear and start over. if you can get a grand for it you have a lot of leeway on the used market to score some nice eqipment.

somethign like a used lakland skyline and an ampeg b100r combo should do th trick for now.

brianrost · #13 02-11-2008, 06:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt Till

I get so damn sick of the whole "tone is in your hands" garbage. Honestly, the only people who say that have very nice equipment. If you honestly believe that, you must have always had good equipment. It's such bull ****.

Unfortunately it's not, it's true. The gear you have is professional quality and more than good enough to get a good tone.

Some things to try:

Play without an amp. Yep, just play the bass unplugged and focus on getting a good sound. Yeah, it'll be really quiet but if you can't get an OK tone unplugged no amp is going to help you.

Plug into the amp, set the volume relatively high and play the bass with an extremely light touch. Focus on the tone. Try playing something very slow and simple (basic riff, a scale, etc.) and focus on how your plucking and fretting hands can be used to control the tone.

BillMason · #14 02-11-2008, 06:56 AM

If you're getting your songs and chord/harmonic theory down, it's time to start working on your technique to get the right tone. There's nothing wrong with your gear, but I'd say +1 to new strings, that always has a big impact on tone. If you don't have the musicality stuff down though, focus on that on don't worry so much about your tone.

What is it that you don't like about your tone, and what do you like?

invader3k · #15 02-11-2008, 10:56 AM

I don't know. I looked at your profile, and it looks a lot better than what I started with when I was 19 (an $300 Epiphone P-bass and a little 15 watt combo amp). Maybe you just have to work on dialing in your sound better. Don't worry about using effects and stuff. Work on getting a good sound from your amp with your Dean bass plugged straight in.

Like others said, something simple like new strings can help quite a bit with your sound.

Mon Rominee · #16 02-11-2008, 11:06 AM

You're just in a rut and trying to justify spending money you don't have on gear you don't need.

I just played this past Saturday and did two sets on a 100 dollar SX Jazz. Hardly boutique. Through a backline amp I was unfamiliar with. And still got a great tone and didn't feel limited by anything one iota. In fact, by alot of people's standards here, my equipment is sub par, and I find that lame and snobbish and rediculous. I got compliments for my tone from that bone-stock SX too. People couldn't believe it was a 100 dollar bass.

Simply put, You either are feelin it, or looking for excuses.

Time for some soul searching and re-evaluation.

R

Matt Till · #17 02-11-2008, 01:10 PM

Well. Despite a couple of attempts, I still heavily disagree with the "tone is in your hands" business, because I like my unplugged tone. And I've spent hours messing with my tonal options: EQing and messing with A couple things I'm not digging so much:

Active pickups. I assumed active = good. Nope, I really want something with passive pickups. I think I just want a Fender P bass type of sounds (more than likely from a Fender P bass), and my playing sucks and that's bothering me.

Sitting here playing, I think I'm just distracted by the fact that when I play, there is too much stuff in my house that rattles (even at low volumes). That's distracting... and these strings are getting kind of ancient. Since I fixed the knick that was on my bridge, I've been breaking less strings so this set has lasted a while. Some new strings might help. Plus, I need to be in a band, it's driving me nuts.

I think my sound is really "amateur." I like growly and somewhat muddy tone, but mine just sounds cold and doesn't have much power behind it. I don't know... I think I just need to never have kids so I can get good gear at some point.

Lesfunk · #18 02-11-2008, 01:12 PM

I can't really relate to your situation because I have always sounded brilliant no matter what bass or amp i've used!

Matt Till · #19 02-11-2008, 01:26 PM

Another thing, I've hopped on some "pro" gear either using a friends gear or at a music store and have loved the way I sound. Not saying my playing is anything phenomenal, but if the tone is in your hands (haha), then my hands are fine.

BillMason · #20 02-11-2008, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt Till

Well. Despite a couple of attempts, I still heavily disagree with the "tone is in your hands" business, because I like my unplugged tone. And I've spent hours messing with my tonal options: EQing and messing with A couple things I'm not digging so much:

Active pickups. I assumed active = good. Nope, I really want something with passive pickups. I think I just want a Fender P bass type of sounds (more than likely from a Fender P bass), and my playing sucks and that's bothering me.

Sitting here playing, I think I'm just distracted by the fact that when I play, there is too much stuff in my house that rattles (even at low volumes). That's distracting... and these strings are getting kind of ancient. Since I fixed the knick that was on my bridge, I've been breaking less strings so this set has lasted a while. Some new strings might help. Plus, I need to be in a band, it's driving me nuts.

I think my sound is really "amateur." I like growly and somewhat muddy tone, but mine just sounds cold and doesn't have much power behind it. I don't know... I think I just need to never have kids so I can get good gear at some point.

Don't worry about it, seriously - your tone in your practice room by yourself will be completely different with a band anyway, and *that's* the tone you need to focus on - since you're not playing with others at the moment, just focus on improving your skills and technique. And get new strings - if you want a big, ballsy tone, get big strings. I like Fender 7250M's or ML's.

"Growly" to many people means a Jazz bass - but to me it also means a Precision with roundwounds and a little treble in the mix, playing near the bridge. "Muddy" to me means boosted bass and low mids, treble cut way back, with maybe flatwounds, playing near the neck. Does that help?

Don't give up on the active bass; I play passive myself, but you should still be able to get more-or-less-passive sounds out of an active bass, if you experient with the EQ settings of the bass and the amp. Start with everything flat, and try cutting stuff before you boost stuff.

And there's nothing wring with your gear!!! :-) If anything having kids will ensure you have good gear because then you'll *have* to get a good paying job, and a mortgage, and two cars, and then when you're 35 you'll start spending money on gear like everyone else! :-) Most of the big spenders here are, as near as I can tell, either washed out white men like me, or actual professionals.