Hi everyone, I'm graduating from the ages of fender p-basses and 30 watt practice amps in my basement and starting to play some actual gigs. As such I figure its about time I got some good equipment for a nice sound.
Intro to my playing:
I play jazz and funk styles, mostly blues and slap with latin, swing, and other styles mixed in, so because of the emphasis on blues and the general variety of styles, I need a bass that has the big, warm bottom of a fender p but the tonal range of other basses [fender jazz in particular for slap/funk] Also, I'm very particular about my control. I have to know all my knobs and what they do, so I'm interested in a simple, passive setup that gives me a full range of what my bass can do without becoming some 14-knob behemoth.
Okay, so now for the fun bit, Here's links to everything I plan on getting and a short explanation on my reasoning behind it:
Duff McKagan Signature Bass:
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Fender-D...79-i1393082.gc
I figure my needs as a bassist can ultimately be simplified into 2 basses, a fender P for my blues and swing and a fender J for my funk and other styles. So, this bass having a p-j pickup set is really cool. Also, as mentioned before, I'm a big stickler about my tonal control. This bass is a passive, with a general tone and volume for each pickup, along with a switch to select the p, the j or both. This gives me exactly what I want as far as my knobs go, I have total control over how my bass pick up my sound, but it's in a very easily maneuvering package.
Now, that bass is near perfect, it has the layout, the p-body and the j-neck, and the perfect knob setup, but a wise man once told me to find someone who's sound I like and then work from there. And as good as he may be, Duff just isn't the perfect sound. A man named Anthony Vitti however, is. Now, looking around on Anthony's website yields a page where he says, "If I only had one bass, I would have EMG pickups in it." Hence the addition of the next 2 items:
EMG passive P and J pickups [not a set, but the j can be sold as just one bridge-position j pickup to make a set]
http://www.guitarcenter.com/EMG-HZ-P...25-i1169975.gc http://www.guitarcenter.com/EMG-PHZ-...80-i1169976.gc
Now, all that's left on the bass itself is the strings, to stick with the sound-of-someone-you-like theme, I went ahead and found Anthony's page on his strings, yielding the following, "The only strings I use are Blue Steel - Light Gauge."
Okay, I'm getting the guy's pickups, may as well hit up his strings, so, we add these to the list:
Dean Markley Blue Steel cryogenic strings - light:
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Dean-Mar...57-i1122507.gc
So, now I have my Anthony-esque sound [more detail on that is a second] My perfect bass shape [the p body and j neck] My perfect pickups [EMG p-j passive] And my perfect knob setup, all that's left is what I plug it into. Technically this isn't the amp subforum, but just to have everything in one topic and to give a full understanding of my plans I'll list my amp stuff here.
--sidebar note on Anthony-esque sound--
Anthony Vitti doesn't quite use the setup I'm getting, he uses fender jazz basses with active pickups, but he also doesn't get quite the sound I want, he's great for the slap, but I also want some warmer, bigger tonal options for playing blues and such. Hence the p-j layout and the passive electronics, I feel like this is the best I can do for being able to have a sound like Anthony while still having a all-in-one bass for the many different styles I play as opposed to buying a whole lot of different basses like Anthony does.
--Sidebar over, resuming with a transition into my amp plan--
Orange Amplifiers Bass Head:
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Orange-A...49-i1527057.gc
Orange Amplifiers 4x10 Bass cabinet:
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Orange-A...74-i1568677.gc
Okay, Let me go ahead and say it now, I'm a huge Orange fanboy. If I had to pick a second ideal player, It would be the bassist from Weezer because he just has the warmest, richest sound I've ever heard. So, Weezer uses Orange Amps, I figure it's a pretty good idea to go ahead and get some as well. Now, I have very little experience playing through tube amps, and while I'm fully aware that they can give an amazing warmth and big, vintage tone, I'm a little concerned that this amp setup won't be able to put out a more metallic, crunchy sound for my slap and funk playing. Do I need to be worried about losing the tonal range I've managed to get with my bass or am I just getting paranoid?
I'm all too certain there's some crucial detail about my setup and my playing I left out, so I'm more than happy to answer any questions you may have. I'm looking for a general consensus on my setup, e.g. What will work and why, where my assumptions are wrong, and where there could be debate, along with any further speculation or recommendations on how I might improve my layout or avoid some headaches.
