• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Ambient/Post-Rock/Textural bass playing thread

#12,481
monsterthompson said:
trying to minimize the controls, but it might be a nice option to have available. if i have a fidget switch i'll waste more time flipping it than playing the bass :roflmao:
Click to expand...
For what it's worth, if I were doing the CB over again, I wouldn't bother with the series or coil tap. Parallel is just way beefier, overall. Once in a while, if I'm soloing clean and want an almost Strat-y sound, I'll put on the coil tap but 99 percent of the time, I don't touch it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: monsterthompson
#12,482
lordradish said:
For what it's worth, if I were doing the CB over again, I wouldn't bother with the series or coil tap. Parallel is just way beefier, overall. Once in a while, if I'm soloing clean and want an almost Strat-y sound, I'll put on the coil tap but 99 percent of the time, I don't touch it.
Click to expand...
What do you mean by beefier? I ask because series is always going to be darker with more midrange, something I would personally describe as beefier. Parallel is closest to the sound of a J pickup...more highs and lows than mids. I agree, though. I personally find the sound that I like and never need to switch anything.
 
  • Like
Reactions: monsterthompson
#12,483
emjazz said:
What do you mean by beefier? I ask because series is always going to be darker with more midrange, something I would personally describe as beefier. Parallel is closest to the sound of a J pickup...more highs and lows than mids. I agree, though. I personally find the sound that I like and never need to switch anything.
Click to expand...
First off, I could be wrong... I may be forgetting the switch position thing, but for me, beefier means, I don't know more ballsy, present? I don't think of the scooped mids J bass sound when I say beefy, but series does seem to be more like that. Maybe I mean louder, more present, I don't know.
 
  • Like
Reactions: monsterthompson
#12,484
Bob_Ross said:
Way back in college (this pic is from 1982) I had an S.D.Curlee bass that the previous owner had modified...by removing all of the electronics. Pickup was hardwired directly to the output jack. And then he'd glued pennies over the holes where the pot shafts had been.

I hated it. Gimme knobs any day.

View attachment 4162794
Click to expand...

sd curlee! i had one of those with different pickups in something like 1978 or so.

i have some basses with pickup straight to jack. sometimes i really like it. my main basses for a while were rear pickup only (like removed the front pickup) straight to jack.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dukeorock and Bob_Ross
#12,485
Bob_Ross said:
I was going to disagree...but then you added



...and I'm right there with ya. This might be because I was raised on analog desks when first getting into audio ~40-something years ago -- and admittedly it just might be more "Get Off My Lawn!" Old Man Blathering -- but I've seen nothing going on in mixers in the past 10, maybe 20 years that I find remotely interesting. Whereas find me a working Soundcraft or Crest or Amek/TAC mixer from the 1980s and I'll start to giggle like a little schoolgirl. The workflow just makes so much more sense to my thought process (and hence, to my creative instincts) than any digital desk ever did.
Click to expand...
Up here the used market blows.
Like big time.
Prices are way too high.
New 500....used....475.....yeah...keep it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JES
#12,486
lordradish said:
First off, I could be wrong... I may be forgetting the switch position thing, but for me, beefier means, I don't know more ballsy, present? I don't think of the scooped mids J bass sound when I say beefy, but series does seem to be more like that. Maybe I mean louder, more present, I don't know.
Click to expand...
Series is also louder, so you may be talking about series.
 
#12,487
emjazz said:
Series is also louder, so you may be talking about series.
Click to expand...
giphy (12).gif
 
  • Like
Reactions: theunknowndude and emjazz
#12,493
why i like 3-pickup basses and why it ties into post-rock/jazz, experimental, textural bass playing

okay, seems like a lot of you guys dig the 1-pickup thing, but the reason i like 3 pickups is that, if you have them wired correctly, you can switch between timbres and vibes on the fly.

back pickup in particular can be really great for chords and chimey harmonics, and can add "ping" to the other pickups.

front pickup can get meatier and thuddier textures.

middle pickup can reinforce both front and rear or be a good solo voice possibility.

for me, pickup color combinations plus effects plus different techniques equal possible ambient textural bliss or mayhem.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ugly_bassplayer, Spectrum, monsterthompson and 3 others
#12,495
steubig said:
why i like 3-pickup basses and why it ties into post-rock/jazz, experimental, textural bass playing

okay, seems like a lot of you guys dig the 1-pickup thing, but the reason i like 3 pickups is that, if you have them wired correctly, you can switch between timbres and vibes on the fly.

back pickup in particular can be really great for chords and chimey harmonics, and can add "ping" to the other pickups.

front pickup can get meatier and thuddier textures.

middle pickup can reinforce both front and rear or be a good solo voice possibility.

for me, pickup color combinations plus effects plus different techniques equal possible ambient textural bliss or mayhem.
Click to expand...
Interesting you say that...
I’ve always gone for two pickups blended 50/50 and then use my fingers to dictate it. Play over the bridge, play in between the two, and then when I slap usually just in front of the neck pickup.
Wish I had time to play / record more - would love to go nuts with all of the settings on the sy1 but then I figure it’s at least 20 minutes or so just flicking through each setting ;)
 
#12,496
theunknowndude said:
Interesting you say that...
I’ve always gone for two pickups blended 50/50 and then use my fingers to dictate it. Play over the bridge, play in between the two, and then when I slap usually just in front of the neck pickup.
Wish I had time to play / record more - would love to go nuts with all of the settings on the sy1 but then I figure it’s at least 20 minutes or so just flicking through each setting ;)
Click to expand...

the different finger stuff is part of what i mean by different techniques.

adding different finger techniques to the pickup colors can yield a lot of possibilities.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back