Anybody else feel a bit overwhelmed?

[Captain Comet]

I, too, was in a Classic Rock band and we mainly played outdoor gigs, small and fairly large. I have a Line 6 bass amp. I understand now they only made those for a short while, but this could be duplicated with their one pedalboard now. It has 6 classic bass amp tones baked in. I used ONE. It had four preset tones that I tailored. I primarily shifted between two of them, and occasionally used a third. The fourth tone was a bass synth tone that was dedicated to two songs that the band played.

The best part of this setup is that I would just have a direct line out that was sent to the board. No mic'ing my amp. My amp was my stage monitor and I could control how loud I needed it. At 150 watts, it was not going to drown out the mains, which was a pretty big system. Some sound guys might grumble about this initially, so some self control and awareness was always in play. The other key to making this work was to have the four tones play out close in volume to each other, so that the sound guy wasn't having to constantly adjust to keep up with switches I made.

I always thought I perhaps wasn't paying enough attention to my tone. But, this set up really did seem to cover a lot of ground. I was standing next to a guitar player with a board with at least a dozen pedals and the guy knew how to craft all of them. He was pretty amazing.

Now reading this post string, it occurs to me that I perhaps was doing more than most players. LOL. I feel better.

 

[Polfuste]

Start from your real need (for sound, band, anything):
- Are you happy with your bass ? (comfort, sound, playability)
- Are you happy with your amp/preamp ? Do you have sound you like and work with your band sound ?
If reply is yes to both questions: don't go further: all is already there.

Now:
- Do you take pleasure when trying effects ? Other basses ? Amps ?
- Do you have money to satisfy this pleasure ?
If reply is yes to both questions: have a nice GAS trip.

 

[HardNHeavy]

lol right....dont fall down the gear rabbit hole, some of it is fun to experiment with but it's not "needed" often times

 

[mouthmw]

I barely know what the heck I'm doing with a compressor (that they say I MUST have)

There is no must. If you're getting gear because someone else said you must have it, you're doing it wrong.
I have a board with 12 pedals and none of them are a compressor because I personally don't care for compressors.

So there's no need to feel overwhelmed. Just use what sounds good to you. There's no wrong or right way.

 

[lark_z]

Ignore it. I have two pedals, but only use one at a time. I'm happy.

 

[fnp5150]

You could make the decision to be a "minimalist" with your bass gear. Someone who consciously decides to forego any and all extra trappings beyond a bass and amp. This might free you up to just enjoy playing and actually improve your playing as opposed to chasing gear. I've done this with other hobbies that I felt I was late to the party to, and would likely never catch up to all the latest and greatest trends, either through lack of time or lack of motivation. This allowed me to appreciate the actual hobby itself rather than worrying about everything I don't have or don't know about.

 

[socknroll1]

Strings, pickups, and the way you play them make nearly 100% of the sound of the bass.

 

[waveman]

LOL, I have been doing this for a long long time now. I still feel overwhelmed by all of the options

 

[Jazzdogg]

I am an old man who has been playing for a long time, first on double bass and then electric bass, mostly plugging straight into a tuner, vhpf, and amp.

Digital is all the rage, but I have no interest; I'll leave it to the upcoming generations of bassists to explore the next frontier.

 

[Kaa]

I'm just a basic, plonky bass player in a classic rock band. I watch a lot of YT to learn and keep up with the latest toys, and try to figure out what I really need and want, gear-wise. But, does anyone else feel like it's getting to be just too damn much? Every week some new supertoy drops for excited reviews.

I couldn't begin to tell you the difference between "the SansAmp" sound, or the "fizziness" of Darkglass. I barely know what the heck I'm doing with a compressor (that they say I MUST have), or have any idea how people are hearing that THIS cab IR was from THIS mic and THIS distance, with THIS pickup configuration, etc. I'm probably not even using my pedals "right", anyway. I just hope it sounds good when I plug it all in.

TB is super knowledgeable, but often forgets that there are a lot of basic n00bs like me who just feel dizzy, absurd and a bit intimidated by it all.

I stand with you, my plonky brother!!

Edit: for clarity: bass->cord->SABDDI (as the preamp)->effects return of amp. Occasionally a tuner if things sound odd after the day's first tuning. I gigged with this for a year in a standard bar band, never a problem.

 

[KidAmnesia]

Strings, pickups, and the way you play them make nearly 100% of the sound of the bass.

So you mean we should drop into the strings and pickups rabbit hole?

Oh no!

 

[SuperTheBass]

If your sound works, it works.

We should all focus on our playing more than anything else. If you can play, an old P-Bass and whatever amp you like is fine. There's no need for a fleet of gear.

Come on man it's called talkbass.com, not playbass.com!

 

[lowdownbp5]

Sometimes less is always more.

 

[HelpImaRock]

So you mean we should drop into the strings and pickups rabbit hole?

Oh no!

It's almost like the entire signal chain matters. Where does it end?!

 

[ClaytonCroft]

I aim for "whelmed" and "gruntled" Fight the GAS.

Still, its a pretty awesome age to be in, with all this incredible gear always coming out.

 

[SunByrne]

It's only overwhelming if you take it too seriously. Relax.

Should I practice more and spend less time thinking about gear? Of course. I'm a hobbyist and the only reason I get into gear is because it's fun (for me). I own way more basses and pedals than I have any reason for outside of my own amusement. But since it's a hobby, my own amusement is kind of the point. And even with that, I mostly avoid gear-related YT.

But if thinking about gear is not fun for you, then stop paying attention and don't worry about it. Unless you are trying to fix a specific problem, you can pretty much ignore it.

 

[Drredplate]

I don’t use effects other than an HPF which I consider an essential.
I do enjoy reading about FX stuff however.
Just do whatever pleases you and enjoy

 

[WI Short Scaler]

I've bought about 7 or 8 pedals in the last few years.

Tinkered with them, tinkered some more, wonder why I bothered again, and sold all of them except a Boss EQ.

 

[Lefty Joe]

Strings, pickups, and the way you play them make nearly 100% of the sound of the bass.

I'd even reduce that to mostly just the way you play. Not that the rest doesn't matter, but the interactivity of the brain means the player adjusts and reacts to the gear.

A good instrument (like any good tool) should also react to better technique etc; a poor one less so -- and this does make a difference. My very first bass didn't sound terribly good to me then, but it would sound a lot better today, because I've got a few (ahem) decades into it.

That said: upgrading pickups did make my fretless sound more pleasing to me. But also, when I used it to try out a new amp last week, I found I'd forgotten to change out the roundwound strings for flats like i had planned -- but didn't realize it until after playing for a few minutes. Strange amp, wrong strings -- still got a sound that my brain expected, because my fingers knew how to find it.

Back to the OP: yes, that was bass straight into the amp. There are good reasons to use a compressor, and at one time I did: it guaranteed a greater evenness of volume than I would otherwise have been offering. And that was important for the bands I was playing in. So I see the value in that. Last year I used it again for another band. But ten years ago I was straight into the amp for a couple other bands, and that was fine too.

Effects and such: if that's the sound you're going for, then there's really no reason to ask. At one time, I used a couple as well ... but eventually realized that what I really wanted a synthesizer, so I got one. And then another. And then -- well, let's just say I haven't played bass a lot this past decade. But when I do, I play it as a part of the rhythm section.

In my opinion (and isn't what all this has been building up to!) - my bass-playing is better these days because it's simpler and more direct, locked into what the drummer is playing. Stanley Clarke and Les Claypool are not for me; I'm more for Ron Carter (examples: McCoy Tyner's "Wave" - Stanley Turrentine's "More Than a Mood"), Tiran Porter (Doobie Bros), Family Man Barrett (Bob Marley's live album Babylon By Bus). I adore Chris Squire, but my own playing owes more to what his judicious playing on 90125 rather than the more adventurous Fragile: strong structure over sheer energy.

Did any of that owe to a compressor? Perhaps. But I'm also mindful of the widely-useful session player Tim Drummond, who reportedly practiced using a voltmeter, learning to make his output volume perfectly even without a compressor. Which is to say: what a compressor does for you, might be accomplished with fingers alone.

 

[micguy]

It's taken me a while to figure out, but I need an eq (to get a decent clean sound), a flexible Overdrive (set to a pretty subtle setting), a chorus pedal (which gets used sparingly) , and an octaver (which gets used even more sparingly). I have a couple pedalboards, so a couple of each of those categories, and a third of some of them (just in case I want to switch things up) , and I'm good.

No, I don't need a compressor (despite what a lot of folks say). I have had FOH folks ask me if I was using a compressor (if you play without one long enough, you get better at making notes at a consistent level), but I don't own one, and I get plenty of gigs.

We're the "meat and potatoes" of the band - a little sonic flavor here and there is good, but leave the bulk of that to the guitarists. Solid rhythm and a good harmonic foundation are far more important than having the latest effect.