Getting good tone by doing things you shouldn't

megadan · #1 10-19-2008, 02:55 PM

Has anyone else out there had great results when breaking the "rules" of bass?
For example, cutting your mids and getting a great sound. Or overdriving a solid state amp.

In my case, I discovered by accident that instead of setting my stringray EQ politely in the middle and adjusting it slightly as needed, just going ahead and cranking the bass knob all the way up gave me a huge, warm, dirty sound from my V-4B just like I wanted. I had always regarded this as an incorrect method of EQing, especially with an old amp that was around before (most) active basses.

But it worked for me! What have you done that goes against conventional wisdom and sounds great?

tomvelsor · #2 10-19-2008, 03:04 PM

i do a lot of things like this

driving the absoute piss out of my GK backline 112, gives a distortion i prefer over anything really.

ive left my EQ on my bass with the lows all the way up for about a year, till i switched to markbass and dont need to anymore

iamlowsound · #3 10-19-2008, 03:44 PM

I set everything flat. Is that something that you shouldn't do?

lowsound

nad · #4 10-19-2008, 03:56 PM

I've discovered the worse it sounds in the bedroom, the better it sounds in a band context. So when I plug a new bass/pedal/amp/cab in and think "yuck" I get a little excited.

I also love the sound of lower wattage solid state heads cranked a bit beyond their limits of producing clean volume. Headroom can suck it.

Baryonyx · #5 10-19-2008, 04:15 PM

I too an a fan of the flat EQ. In fact, for fingerstyle playing, I switch the EQ on my amp head off and set the preamp on my Spector flat!

Jimbob Jones · #6 10-19-2008, 05:00 PM

I like to set my output volume at maximum and set my volume using my input gain.

it's amazing how different you can make your amp sound!

megadan · #7 10-19-2008, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iamlowsound

I set everything flat. Is that something that you shouldn't do?

lowsound

Isn't that the #1 step of TB bass tone diagnoses?

NS2A · #8 10-19-2008, 06:17 PM

I set my bass flat, and only use my P pickup. Then I dial in my amp.

Then, depending on the room, I tweak the bass and treble and add a J just a bit.

So, completely backwards I guess?

iamlowsound · #9 10-19-2008, 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by megadan

Isn't that the #1 step of TB bass tone diagnoses?

But I don't adjust from there. Everything set flat on both my bass and amp sounds better than any amount of tweaking that I have ever done.

lowsound

funkalicious101 · #10 10-19-2008, 11:04 PM

I get my ideal tone through a studio monitor.

Metal Matt · #11 10-19-2008, 11:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nad

I also love the sound of lower wattage solid state heads cranked a bit beyond their limits of producing clean volume. Headroom can suck it.

THANK YOU! haha

My "clean" sound comes from my Sunn Concert Bass being pushed just a little bit into clipping. Just a tiny bit of dirt to it. Sounds amazing to me.

Matt Till · #12 10-20-2008, 09:41 PM

Digging in really hard near the neck: As part of my attempt to get the Geezer Butler "Wub," I developed this technique (after watching some old Black Sabbath vids), and I dig in way too hard. I know it's going to eventually give me arthritis, but I like the way it sounds.

projectMalamute · #13 10-21-2008, 06:17 AM

I also like hitting a solid state bass head hard. They don't all work that good for this, I pretty much stopped using SWR heads because the transition from totally clean to awful sounding happens in about a quarter decibel. I'm using an old Carvin head I've had forever for this purpose, sounds great(keep coming back to that same damn head, not sure why). I've found the old GK 800RB and Peavey Mk III's to also be good for this.

Kyon` · #14 10-21-2008, 08:33 AM

Getting drunk and using my $500 violin bow on a $200 bass.

pinkzepphish · #15 10-21-2008, 07:18 PM

i used to slap right on the poles of my pup... it certainly gave me the pop i wanted...