I'm ready to put it all in the classifides

casualmadness · #1 10-27-2007, 09:35 AM

Well not just yet...but I'm close. I'm so terribly frustrated. All of my bass playing life, I've been a non-believer in effects. I've never owned more than an amp and speakers (less a few pedals here and there) and I've never wanted more. Well, lately,more and more I've been noticing things like the POD, and then everyone says "you gotta have a rack tuner (I've always tuned by ear as I have a solid inner A). Then of course you want to protect it so you gotta get a power conditioner. Then theres a sonic maximizer and blah blah blah blah blah....So now I have all this crap and, granted, I've gotten some really amazing sounds out of the POD. But I don't believe I have everything chained properly as some things aren't functioning the way that they are supposed to. The maximizer doesn't seem to be doing a hell of a lot. The mute function on the power amp stops working when I chain the maximizer into it. The POD still works but it seems to have a lot of noise now, which I thought the compressor and maximizer would eliminate...and before some smart a@@ tells me to read the manuals; I HAVE! I've read those things so much I almost have them committed to memory. But something just isn't working in this setup. I have all this crap in my rack and all I really want is one, solid amp. I'm ready to sell all of this crap and go back to basics...one amp, a few speakers, a bass, and me. None of this rack crap...Bah! Rack crap!! I've had it!!

I'm just venting really...but keep an eye on the classifieds if you're wanting brand new gear at a slight discount. I may lose my patience with this stuff.

bongomania · #2 10-27-2007, 10:39 AM

Just FYI, compressors and maximizers increase noise, they will almost never decrease it. Best case scenario is when you can use them without much of an increase in noise.

Mudfuzz · #3 10-27-2007, 11:05 AM

It all comes down to what sound you are actually after, If your sound is just Bass-Amp-Speakers then get the best sounding one you can. I personally have no love or respect for PODs, I just don't like the way they sound, in time all the "sounds" start to sound the same. No you don't need a rack tuner, but, if your amp of choice is in a rack might as well use the thing [they kinda look cool], power conditioners are cool too and have saved my band's PA a few times. If you like your sound compressed then use a compressor, if not, not.

Now as for sonic maximizers it really does depend of your sound to begin with, on my clean amp sound the things aren't all that useful [I play through a SVT CL with a 2X12 and a 1X18 and use flats] but on distortion/OD/FUZZ they really can make a difference, I have been messing around lately with a old boss eq to fatten up my Fuzz/OD sound a little and decided to drag out a old BBE, all I can say is wow, it adds more beef with out adding that muffled effect that I find in most pedal based EQs.

johnnycat42 · #4 10-27-2007, 11:24 AM

I find, the less $hit in my chain, the better

jtallent · #5 10-27-2007, 12:15 PM

To add a little to what bongomania said ... sometimes a compressor is nice to limit your dynamic range a little and/or to increase sustain, etc.; however, it's important to keep in mind that if there is a noticeable amount of noise in the chain before the compressor, you're in for a lot of headache.

The best way I can think of to explain this is that a traditional compressor setup is to add gain when the input to the unit is below the compression threshold, however, when the input crosses that threshold, the signal level is compressed or lowered. The result is that quiet passages are louder and louder passages are quieter. I've heard a lot of PODs that are very noisy and what's happening is that the noise from the POD is simply being amplified when you are playing quietly.

I personally wouldn't run out and sell everything, but sometimes less is more. Figure out what works for you ... and unload what doesn't. It's possible that you've just got too much of a good thing. I've never been a big POD fan (a lot of the reason is noise), especially for bass playing. Personally, in my chain I prefer a nice preamp, a compressor, a power amp, and cabinet ... but to each his own. And yes a power conditioner can't hurt either, at least it gives you a clean place to plug everything in (and maybe protects something).

Happy playing! - Justin

casualmadness · #6 10-27-2007, 01:45 PM

I'm not really going to run out and sell everything. I've been going through this for 15 years now. I've bought and sold so much crap over the years but I've never wanted more than an amp, speakers, and a bass. But more and more I've been itching to try a lot of the newfangled rack garble that I see so much of...probably a bit of "keeping up with the Jones'" syndrome; I'm not above admitting that. However, I've spent so much time trying to connect all of this stuff and around $2000 to realize that I had it right all along. I don't need to keep up with anyone. I was happy with that natural sound. So...*sigh* I guess this lesson cost me $2000. But I have great equipment and I will use it...that is unless I run across someone out there with a nice tube box who wants a giant rack full of stuff. Otherwise I'm not running out to sell everything. I would lose too much money. I'm just frustrated because I'm used to connecting a speaker to an amp and the amp to the bass and that's it. Anyway...end of rant.