Normally I don't like ___, but yours sounds great!

[thathatman]

I play a Carvin R600 through Avatar 410. It's a budget-minded rig, and we all know it. Still, there is nothing more satisfying than having the singer-songwriter I was backing say "Normally I don't like Carvin, but yours sounds amazing!"
I don't know if it's my EQing, or my playing, but people are always surprised that a budget rig can provide a large serving of good tone.

Share your stories of "budget rig overcoming adversity" here.

[CoDBassPlayer]

I've been complimented on my playing on my Rogue LX406(Since they aren't too high quality I've been told, I don't see what the problem is though. Mine runs beautifully.) by my uncle more than a few times. I also play through an Ibanez practice amp, I think it's 10 watts and I can get some loud sound out of the thing too.




It's all about knowing your gear, not just the quality.(although that tends to help.)

[pj-mike]

The combination I use that gets noticed is a modified Squire P-Bass and an Ashdown MAG combo with a single 15. Its all entry level stuff. The amp and bass produce a nice old school tone with a just a touch of attitude. Its knowing how to EQ and playing like you mean it. I'm going to try to get the best sound I can out of whatever instrument is in my hands, and whatever amp I'm plugged into.

[Ale]

Ive heard people saying they thought my old Aria Pro 2 neck thru mahogny was a Alembic.

[CYoung]

I love when I plug in my Peavey Cirrus bass and other bass players are like, "That's a PEAVEY?!?!?!"

[Woodchuck]

From the set of the Later with Jools Holland show:

Sound tech: "Sounding fantastic bass player, Alembic?"
me: "Ibanez."
sound tech (laughing): "Right!"
me: "Seriously."
sound tech: "Really?"

[slyslam]

Believe it or not I got just nice comments about my bass sound from different bass players (at least 3 )using my rig at different avenues:
Behringer cab + Behringer power amp + Peavey tube preamp +behringer preamp pedal(BDI21).

The most funny part is that they all have brand names that are way more expensive thant mine!!!

[JoshC]

I love it when I am just messing around on my Yamaha RBX 170 and non bass players are like "that's a sweet looking bass". It just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy

[Blavelle]

my fender bassman combo gets a really nice smooth tone for smaller gigs and coffee shops etc, i usually get compliments on it

[Baryonyx]

I find that a lot of people like the Trace Elliot sound, I'm not sure my rig is buget but it gets the love!

What did impress me was going into a music store and being forced to play through a Behringer head as it was all that was hooked up at the time. It actually sounded a bit good!

[tr68gt]

Originally Posted by thathatman

Share your stories of "budget rig overcoming adversity" here.

Ok, but you asked for it.
I'll start by saying that I've always heard "Never run your bass through a stereo receiver". Ok, so I don't listen very well. I had a bunch of old electronis stuff I'd just hung on to over the years, and out of that I ran from my Peavey Milestone II => Fender Champ guitar Amplifier => an old Marantz 100W receiver => Roadmaster speaker. That thing worked Great! And it only cost me about $6 at Radio Shack for wires and connectors. I used it for outdoor playing mostly and got lots of compliments on it. I've upgraded drastically since then, but I was on a severe budget at the time. I still play the Peavey, I figure if I can make a cheap bass sound good, I'm getting somewhere.

[gkbass13]

i got a lot of compliments after a gig using a squier affinity jazz bass. i was playign it through gk and eden and had a new set of DR high beems on it....but still, squier.

[Apocalypse Dude]

I get people saying my Squier P bass sounds good, but there are no other bassists around here, just guitarists.

[KekChoz]

My Carvin B5 i got last year: i got it for $1200 CAN. When my teacher saw it for the first time:
"wow! really great tone! I've seen 4 carvin basses in my life, and each time i'm really impressed of the tone it got! how much did you pay for it?
-$1200
- really?!?!! I tought it was like $2000, or $2500!!! man, it's an amazing tone, for the price!! you just convinced me to buy one!!"

finally he didn't, but anyways... just to say that Carvin is a great value. not the best basses, but for the price, it's really amazing.
yeah!!

EDIT: I don't know if some of you ever saw Regi Wooten, playing with Victor. He has a Squier strat, really old, but his playing is soo amazing - when he does tapping - that finally, we don't care that he has a beginner's guitar. He doesn't have a too bad sound, though (except when he's doing a bizarre slap technique, but that's beacuase of the technique, not the guitar). And it's so funny to see him, also, lol!
I also noticed, during the show, that if he's not playing, he's re-tuning his guitar, lol!! so funny. A big contrast with vic's Fodera bass!

[SuperSnake2012]

Everytime I bring my MIM Jazz bass to practice I always get complements saying "wow, your bass looks really nice." I play a midnight wine bass with a tortoise pickguard... under the right lighting this bass is beautiful.

[iplaybassguitar]

well i have a stack of the Backline series of GK, the cheapest kind of rig you can buy, and everyone always loves the tone...

also i get, wow thats an ibanez?!?!?!people seem to think that ibanez only makes starter pack basses.

[stuonbass]

Squier Jazz Bass $279 new at GC
GK BL350 amp $215 new at GC
Ampeg 410E $200 second hand

Sounds great!

[MakiSupaStar]

Originally Posted by thathatman

I play a Carvin R600 through Avatar 410. It's a budget-minded rig, and we all know it. Still, there is nothing more satisfying than having the singer-songwriter I was backing say "Normally I don't like Carvin, but yours sounds amazing!"
I don't know if it's my EQing, or my playing, but people are always surprised that a budget rig can provide a large serving of good tone.

Share your stories of "budget rig overcoming adversity" here.

Is your Carvin r600 a series I, because those (I recently found out) have proper tube preamps not ss tube emulators. I have one of those r600 series I heads and they are very under rated for the tones you can get out of it. I can't tell you how many times I got that backhanded compliment with my Carvin head. "I normally don't like Carvins, but... [insert compliment here]"

Same thing with there basses. I have an LB70 and an LB75. Both are excellent guitars. I recently stepped up to a Warwick Corvette $$, which I love, but I still pick up the Carvins.

Unfortunately, I'm very begrudgingly, and with a lot of feet dragging, selling my r600. If it doesn't sell, I'm not bummed My current rig is also low budget. 450 bucks total. SVP-BSP (250USD) and a 1000W Carver 2.0i Power Amp (200USD).

[lokolp]

Originally Posted by KekChoz

I don't know if some of you ever saw Regi Wooten, playing with Victor. He has a Squier strat, really old, but his playing is soo amazing - when he does tapping - that finally, we don't care that he has a beginner's guitar. He doesn't have a too bad sound, though (except when he's doing a bizarre slap technique, but that's beacuase of the technique, not the guitar). And it's so funny to see him, also, lol!
I also noticed, during the show, that if he's not playing, he's re-tuning his guitar, lol!! so funny. A big contrast with vic's Fodera bass!

Old Squiers (at least from the early 80s) were vintage reissues of fender guitars. They are very good reproductions, and are much higher quality than today's squiers. So Regi is probably playing one of those.

[JNBlack]

TBC AP-400M $250
Genz-Benz GBE400 $350
Avatar B212 Neo (w/ blond Tolex) $340

Total = $940

Not too bad for a budget-priced rig. I'm always getting praise for both of my TBC's. People seem to think they're high-end custom basses. They generally flip their lid when I tell them I spent a total of $750 for both of them!