Obsessing Over Gear

[anon_6j591b0]

A realization that I’ve had only to loose sight of and rediscover several times over the years came to me again yesterday. Rehearsing through a borrowed Clarus/Razer’s Edge combo I set it flat, plugged straight in from the piezo and as one might expect from a rig like this it sounded fine. Then I thought about the Yorkville PA I played through a couple of days before and realized I thought that had sounded good too and it got me thinking……

I’ve spent some time and money over the years on pickups, amps, preamps, mics and speakers trying to get the most natural amplified sound I can, one that is representative of the acoustic sound of my bass and yet when I hear as I did recently someone like Steve Gilmore playing an Underwood unbuffered into a GK MB-150 and sounding huge and lush and warm I’m embarrassed and feel like I’ve wasted far too much time obsessing over gear. This feeling is being confirmed more and more by the fact that in my lazy old age I’d rather plug into what ever amp or PA is available rather than drag my own system around and more often than not I get a good sound doing that.

Do I always get a perfectly “natural” sound using whatever amplification is around? No.
Do I always get that with my own high end, painstakingly sought out gear though? Nope.
With that realization the questions start to creep in: Was I really that unhappy with the preamp and pickup I’ve been using for the last few years? Is the improvement in sound with a mic so apparent and clear cut that it justifies the time and funds I’ve thrown at it? Has it created problems that didn’t exist without it? And how the hell is Gilmore getting such a great sound out of 25 year old gear I could buy used for the new price of just my mic preamp? Am I some kinda total putz?

The answers to those questions are: Yes, I was happy with the old gear I had. Although I like the natural, “breathy” sound of a mic it’s more difficult to use in terms of EQing from the stage into the room, feedback is always a potential issue and sometimes I use the pickup anyway as it’s much more consistently full sounding in any room. Worth using a mic? I'm not as sure as I was when I bought it. Most important (as Gilmore reminded me) the sound you get is mostly in your hands. Yep, that’s the big news flash: Amplification is secondary to touch and intent and past a certain point really doesn’t matter to your ability to make good sounding music. Is it some kind of sickness that something so obvious becomes clear only to be lost for a time over and over? I’ve argued as long and loud as anyone that yer sound is in yer hands and yet I still loose sight of it. The only explanation I have is I’m a total putz.

[Sam Sherry]

You're not a putz.

We all continually re-learn things (if we're lucky).

We all continually confront the settled fact that even if you found a way to bring the precise sound of your bass out to an audience, once there was an audience it wouldn't sound right.

In short, it's the ear, not the gear. Play on!

[Marc Piane]

We've all gone through the exact thing you are. I used to have a mic, a piezo, a blender for the mic/piezo combo, a seperate preamp, and the amp. One night after a 1/2 bottle of wine I decided to take the mic off the bass, take the blender, and preamp out of my bag. I plugged my Realist into my GK MB150. By gum it sounded great. Different but not worse. Everything has changed. Setup is faster. My mind is clearer.

[Uncletoad]

Deja Vu. I was playing tonight and when I glanced at my amp between sets I realized the mic channel was switched off. Probably had been for days or weeks. I've been hooking it up with the mic cable and the pickup cable and making sure the levels were set where I like them and it wasn't even on at all. As soon as I switched it on it squealed and sounded like poop so I switched it off. Sounded fine again.

Pretty good actually.

Go figure.

[anon_6j591b0]

I knew I couldn't be alone but it felt that way for a moment. Thanks for letting me know I ain't.

It occurs to me here at the computer getting ready to leave to go light a week long run of a jazz festival that years of sitting out in the house at a lighting console next to a top notch audio tech who's getting a great acoustic bass sound from a mic and a great player has maybe given me a skewed view of what's possible and practical for me to pull off in a restaurant or hotel bar. What's best in a pristine concert theatre environment with a sensitive, experienced soundman is a pain in the butt that goes far beyond the law of diminishing returns in the not-concert halls I play.
Now if I can stop obsessing over not obsessing.....