Opinions on Bass Equipment

Sir Clintus · #1 02-13-2009, 04:21 PM

I am a fairly new Bass player, wanting to develop into a more serious bass player. I have been playing for about 2 years now and this past summer made my biggest investment with my bass equipment. I got a great deal on it. $800 and I couldn't turn it down. I love Ampeg tone.

Head: Ampeg SVT-CL
Cabinet: Ampeg SVT-410HLF

Guitars:

Own : 1984 Ibanez Roadstar Series II RB600 (32" Scale)

Borrowing / Possibly Buying: 4-String Music Man Sting Ray

Now the next step in my equipment is I am debating on having a rack or having pedals. As far as a chromatic tuner, maybe a compressor, Or other things you guys might suggest.

I mainly play Praise and Worship and Hard Rock/Metal.

What are your suggestions in my next purchase as a developing bass player?

What kind of Chromatic Tuner?

If and What kind of Compressor? I find that during some praise and worship I would like more sustain on notes.

Any Comments would be great!

bongomania · #2 02-13-2009, 06:20 PM

Hi,
Welcome to bass playing, and welcome to the forum. Please note that all of your questions can be best answered if you do some reading of some of the thousands of posts already covering those topics. The search engine is not perfect, but it is your best hope in this situation, so use it. If you don't find your answer with the regular search, then try the Google TB search.

Beyer160 · #3 02-13-2009, 06:24 PM

Also, unless the gear you have is total crap (and yours isn't), buying more will not make you a better player. It's called GAS and we all get it, but instead of spending time thinking about buying gear, spend more time playing.

kevteop · #4 02-13-2009, 06:41 PM

It sounds like you've made decent purchasing decisions so far (although while I thought those '80s Ibanez basses were OK I never got along with 32" scale, but that's just me).

Tuners are tuners. Get a Boss TU-2 or a Planetwaves PW-CT-04 or a Korg Pitchblack, they're all much of a muchness, reliable, cheap, tune you up, y'know...

Compressors, meanwhile, are an absolute minefield of conflicting opinion and personal preference, but follow the link in Bongomania's signature if you want one man's considered opinion on absolutely bloody loads of them.

Personally I don't use one at the moment, and I wouldn't use one for rock/metal, although I probably would for gospel (if I thought god was real), if that's what you mean by "praise and worship"?

Edit: TBH you might find you get more sustain from moving up to a 34" scale bass, or even just keeping newer strings on it. Compressors don't really do much for sustain, or if they do they add too much noise along with it for it to be useful.

LarryR · #5 02-13-2009, 07:00 PM

Define the length of sustain you need.
Normally, bassists don't use more than a whole note which of course will vary based on the tempo. A compressor *can* give more sustain, but, doing so, it'll crush your note and you'll lose punch and volume. I agree with Kevteop, it's probably not your answer. Plus, he's right about shortscale basses. Most all I've had, had less sustain than a 34" (long scale).

Also, learning how to play (without a compressor) in such a way where your notes are even and consistent is the key to a good sound, and is the definition of a good player. I agree with Beyer160, keep playing and think less of gear (specially pedals). Most important is your patience and dedication to the craft and a well setup bass. Pedals etc. aren't to help a problem (except in the case of a bad rig which doesn't apply here), but, to provide a sound or palette of sounds you want to express.

All the best with it.

SteveMcB · #6 02-13-2009, 07:36 PM

Hi!
I also play P&W and a bit of rock. You have nice gear, and a stingray would complement your Ibanez well.

I would suggest that if you're going to start getting into effects, that you start with some cheap-but-good ones and see what you like. I have no idea about compressors - I don't use one and don't feel the lack.

Pedals that I use which I would suggest, and which won't break the bank:
Tuner - I use and like the Ibanez LU20 tuner pedal. It's cheaper than the Pitchblack/TU-2 and their ilk, it's true bypass (if that matters to you), metal housing (should take a beating), and tunes well. Should cost less than $40 US

Overdrive - I'd suggest trying out OD on bass with a Digitech Bad Monkey - I like it, should cost less than $40 US. Alternatively the DOD 250 overdrive is said to be good, and in the same price range.

Octave/filter - I'd suggest a Digitech Bass synth wah (often shortened to BSW around here). Mode 7 is a great digital octaver (adding a note an octave below each note), worth the price of admission of $50ish used all by itself. Then you also get thrown in free an envelope filter (by no means the best one out there, but fun to try out), and some synth sounds (which vary in usefulness, but if you're buying for the octaver, hey, they're free and fun to mess with).

That's 3 great pedals and a lot of sounds for about $130 US. A great starting point.

If you're running direct into PA systems and you love the ampeg sound, I'd also suggest buying a Sansamp Bass driver DI (called BDDI here, about $200 new, maybe $130ish used IIRC) or the cheap Behringer knockoff thereof (can't recall the model # right now, much cheaper but plastic and less bulletproof).

Seeings this is the effects forum, I'll also add that the next things I'd consider buying effects-wise after the above would include a modulation pedal or 2 (chorus would be my pick, phaser would be favoured by many others), fuzz (I'd suggest the Bass Big Muf Pi personally, although I don't own it and I'm basing my opinion on a brief trial in a shop), and delay (probably reserved for the effects junkies in terms of bass effects).

So in summary, get a cheap tuner, OD and bass synth wah and go from there. Compressors, check out Bongo's compressor megathread and don't expect answers from me!
Good luck,
Steve

kevteop · #7 02-13-2009, 07:44 PM

TBH I'd disagree with that - I wouldn't buy any effects right now.

It sounds like you're concentrating on getting what you want from your tone, and that makes sense - get yourself content with that first before you start looking at other sounds. I think you'll find (in your current genres) you use that bare-bones bass sound more than anything, so working on making that sound good that will pay off more than time spent experimenting with effects.

RickenBoogie · #8 02-13-2009, 07:59 PM

Yeah, save your coins for now, leave the effects for much later, if ever. I'd scoop up that Stingray, or any suitable full scale bass before even considering effects. You've got a great rig, just missing the great bass.

JimmyM · #9 02-14-2009, 01:43 AM

I have a slightly modified POV from the majority...I say grab the Stingray definitely and don't worry so much about effects. However, I would recommend for any bassist in this day and age to own some sort of overdrive or distortion. It's become quite the popular sound in many types of music, and it's not quite a necessity to own one but it's getting there.

smo · #10 02-14-2009, 02:01 AM

From the perspective of a gigging bass player.

Get the Stinger and a Tuner.
Stingers sound awesome through an SVT - but it will take a bit of fiddling to get it to really shine.......
Boss tuners are cheap, reliable and can be found anywhere. And you can also use it as a mute. VERY useful when trouble shooting with dodgy leads etc etc.

Jimmy is dead on about dirt.
But don't get hung up on the BEST dirt pedal out there.
A good start is the Boss Bass Overdrive ODB-3. Whilst many here lampoon the ODB3, it was designed to work well with the SVT-CL.
And when dialed in with a low amount of gain - it'll rock!
And it's cheap!

Get the Stinger & Tuner.
And you're done.

.........then think about dirt.

**grygrx** · #11 02-14-2009, 06:11 AM

Note: Tuners are not an effect and discussion is technically supposed to occur in the MISC. forum, so there may be further discussion on non-stomp tuners to be had there.

nightcityburn · #12 02-14-2009, 06:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyM

I have a slightly modified POV from the majority...I say grab the Stingray definitely and don't worry so much about effects. However, I would recommend for any bassist in this day and age to own some sort of overdrive or distortion. It's become quite the popular sound in many types of music, and it's not quite a necessity to own one but it's getting there.

I agree. Get a bass that plays well and fits the situation. I was looking into OD/ Distortion, but I also wanted to have something that would sound nice when mellowed out.

I chose the SansAmp PBDDI. It has 3 programmable channels, which I use 1 for a nice bottom end tone. Something where the notes grab and fill, but don't over power everyone.

I use a 2nd channel that has the overdrive type tone I wanted. It is good for slap, or just a really biting tone when playing with a pick. See SVT style tones.

The 3rd I haven't really decided what to do about yet, I may just end up setting it for my other bass. Not sure yet.

That being said, I don't know anything about any other effects because it doesn't really fit what I play.

fightthepower · #13 02-14-2009, 07:16 AM

Sir Clintus- Well, what I would personally recommend for a bassist in your position, isn't an effect

.. so.. moving on to pedals- I would recommend a Sansamp Para Driver if it fits the budget. It's quite versatile for tone shaping, and sounds great clean, with a little grit, and with mild overdrive dialed in. For a full on overdrive/distortion, I think it sounds pretty good, but that's not where it shines the brightest. It also fits into 'ampeg tone' realm, has parametric mids (thats where it differs from the Sansamp BDDI), and has a DI which can come in handy even if you don't need one now.

As mentioned previously, behringer makes what is supposed to be a pretty faithful copy of the Sansamp BDDI, and it's dirt cheap. If you're not trying to spend $100+ after buying your new rig, I think the behringer BIDI (iirc thats the name) would be a good option. It's cheap, sounds good, easy enough to use and get good tones out of it, and for $30 or so you can get a good sounding pedal to tide you over for a while, while research and try out other effects that may interest you.

The Paradriver's are a bit harder to find used, but well worth the wait in my opinion. You could always trying out the cheap behringer and if you like it, start looking for a used Paradriver at a good price.