Newfound lust for simplicity

[Eric Perry]

Let's start this off saying I loved the tone of my rig. Loved it....

So, the other night my SVT-III Pro crapped out. I was too time-limited before the show to try and troubleshoot at the time, so I just bypassed everything and ran DI and used a stage monitor.

Well, last night we were playing a place with a smaller stage, so I didn't use my pedal board (not lots of room). Combine that with the fact that I diagnosed the issue with my head as the effects loop, so I couldn't use any of my rackmount goodies. So for the night, my entire signal chain consisted of my Conklin, Sennheiser EW172 wireless, SVT-III, and my Hartke 410XL. I was NOT using my dbx 166xl compressor, BBE 882 Sonic Maximizer, SABDDI, or my Boss CEB-3 Chorus pedal. I also didn't have to deal with wiring my pedalboard which has other pedals in it, along with a Loop-Master.

All I have to say is friggin' WOW. The tone that I used to love was SO overshadowed by a punchy godliness. My rig sounded perhaps better than ever last night. Tight, focused, punchy, with a great low-mid growl. I never realized how much I MISSED that!

I very well may be liquidating some crap in the near future!!!

[Johnny Mack]

thats great, i love when you can dial in an awesome tone so easily. i think we get caught up in adding just this one unit, then another unit until youre playing through have the amount of the bands combined gear. we play bass, only we know what were playing or how we sound. its a hobby for most of us, thats where we get all caught up.

recently i have been having issues finding that right sound (who hasnt?)...
solution: i put everything at flat then boosted at 2khz and BAM!

TONE: where have you been my whole life, and how did i ever get by without you?!

constantly seeing a wide variety of bassists in a decent spectrum of music, i find i enjoy the sounds of the less complex, including myself now

[P. Aaron]

As a guitar player, I had an effects processor that has so many set-ups and had so many selections that you could lose yourself in there.

I got a Mesa Boogie amp and it's all the instrument and my hands now.

I still use a few pedals but...tone is basic.

[Eric Perry]

Originally Posted by Johnny Mack

...i think we get caught up in adding just this one unit, then another unit until youre playing through have the amount of the bands combined gear...

Totally agree!

[markjazzbassist]

yeah man i go through phases where i liquidate gear and simplify to the least amount of gear that will give me the greatest tonal opportunities. and then i get GAS happy and buy a bunch of stuff again and start the process all over.

Tis the way of the bass