Gain and speaker simulators - unspoken goodness?

[Terry-MaQ]

I was just thinking the other day that it seems strange that lots of bass distortions/overdrives do NOT have speaker simulated outputs.

It was the VT bass thread that inspired this - its a great unit, but it's not revolutionary. Bass DI pedals are plentiful, these guys have just done it really well!

I'm sure that most bass players here use cabs with tweeters in them, and we all know that distorted signals sound pretty pants through tweeters, but yet every gig I play I see bands' bass players using overdriven or distorted bass sounds through tweeters and it sounds lame.

What's worse is that PA guys DI said sounds into wonderful full-range systems and you guessed it - its sounds lame.

(I don't use a heavily distorted tone by the way, more of a Jeff Ament type overdrive not unlike the sound on VS and Vitalogy.)

Anyone else feel the same way?

Rant over Apologies if it comes across a little agro!

[tomvelsor]

i kinda like the sound i get from using overdrive sounds with cabs that have a titanium bullet. (if you consider that the same as a tweeter.)

but to go oldschool, you gotta go without any high frequency component in your rig.

[rhcp32291]

Im with you on this one. I leave my tweeter off, in my opinion everything sounds better that way. And I wish I was mic'd more at shows, but the sound man always seems to go for the DI. Im not one to go against a sound guy either, so w.e.

[bongomania]

I agree that distortion sounds best to me with the treble rolled off. Minor quibble though, gain does not mean distortion except in devices that are designed to distort.

[ihateusernames]

yes, less treble sounds best with bass/drive/tweeters. however, the tech21 rpm does a great job sounding perfect through cabs with tweeters.

[Terry-MaQ]

Originally Posted by bongomania

I agree that distortion sounds best to me with the treble rolled off. Minor quibble though, gain does not mean distortion except in devices that are designed to distort.

I agree, I think I didn't make myself perfectly clear.
I meant gain as in any kind of distortion/overdrive, but yes your perfectly right, I feel a little stupid now!

But in terms of sound, I think even someone going for a real hi-fi Marcus Miller vibe or Adam Nitti tone can benefit from a touch of drive.
We seem to perceive these dudes' sounds as ultra clean when in fact the high end part of the signal is actually overdriven slightly in the studio in order to perceivably increase the length of the attack time - which makes twangs and new string type punchyness extra cool. This isn't for everyone though of course.

What I'm trying to say is, that a lot of bass players I see locally have clean sounds that are "clicky" and driven sounds that are "tinny" or "buzzy".

I think that guitarists have it much easier, because guitar amps with distortion channels generally produce their best "clean" tones when there is actually a small amount of overdrive/distortion present that helps to "warm up" or "smooth out" the signal, in a far more MUSCIAL way than compression often does (think SRV). I think that this is something that a lot of really great bass players are missing out on.

Am I making any sense?

I have a sound sample to back up my point by the way if anyone is interested! !!