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Bass amps

#41
agedhorse said:
There are a lot of bass players that do not care as much for tube amps. I know this might seem ludicrous to some, but it fairly accurately represents a good portion of the market, especially those who are the less verbal majority.

Different players have different tastes.
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Definitely a generational thing IMO. I'm Gen X; came up playing in the 70s and 80s when Hi-Fi was the rage. Tubes and mic'd sealed cabs were passe. Of course everything old is new again, and Millennials and Zoomers like tubes and sealed cabs just like their grandparents.:woot:

(Yes I know I'm being reductive, settle down, y'all)
 
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#44
g-dude said:
Coming from guitar world, it's funny how forward thinking bass players are with regards to embracing class D amps. It's almost as if there's a weight that just causes people to throw up their hands and give up on old technology.
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Agreed, though bass players have always been more interested in technology (and also more interested in pro audio/sound reinforcement) than guitar players. Slowly, that’s beginning to change as modeling and profiling become more accepted (IMO).
 
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#48
Brasic said:
I run a fully equipped hourly rehearsal room, the back line we provide is a variety of high end tube amps and v30 cabinets for guitars, the drums are All maple shells w zildjian A custom cymbals, strong Jbl and EV PA w. Beta 58 mics.... the room is treated and sounds great! Clients take notice and are happy with what’s in the room for their rehearsals... However, when some bands return to the studio all to often the bass player is bringing a rig of their own. I’m aware the house bass rig is not satisfactory for some bassists and I want to correct this! Current set up is a ampeg classic 8x10 and svt 350 head.... bassists, what rig would you like to have available for you at rehearsals? Your input is greatly appreciated and will help me determine what gear to go with.... thanks!
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I think you're fine. I always bring my own head cause I can dial it in easier so I would not change anything. To tell you the truth I think the choice of cabinet is more crucial and your cabinet is a good one.
 
#50
REV said:
Personally for a rehearsal space I'd avoid tube amps just because of the maintenance factor. But I'd look at the Mesa D 800+ and a couple of the Subway 12's. As great as an 810 sounds I can't see a need for it in a rehearsal room.
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Except, of course, for the fact that it’s already there.... and that metal bands (along with plenty of fusion bassists) like ‘em.
 
#51
iiipopes said:
Do you also provide a selection of DI: passive, SansAmp, Line 6, active with tone shaping, speaker emulation, digital amp/cab simulation, etc.? For the recording sessions I have done since the early 90's, many recording engineers and techs preferred the control and clean of DI rather than mik'ing cabinets. And most players should as well. Nothing new. From Jamerson to McCartney to Kaye to many others from then until now, the DI is the way to go. Yes, as a young sprout player I also had to be convinced, but once I was, engineers and techs were much easier to work with. I don't even carry a bass amp on stage for gigs. I use DI to our digital system and let our sound man do the rest. I highly recommend you set a policy of trying the various DI's first before setting up an amp & cab, for all the reasons we can discuss in a recording room compared to a live setting.
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yes I have acme Motown di
 
#52
I had a rehearsal at a studio that had one of those SVT 350 on an Ampeg 8x10 cab. I don’t have much experience with ampeg gear so I was pretty exited to get to play through such a legendary rig. I plugged in, played around with settings and geesh this amp sucks. I lean back behind the thing to see maybe it’s not plugged in correctly or something. And *** ! This aint an SVT , there’s no tubes, the head is a big empty box with a little solid state amp inside. Take my advice, get a better head for that rig, keep that fake SVT as a backup.
 
#53
agedhorse said:
Agreed, though bass players have always been more interested in technology (and also more interested in pro audio/sound reinforcement) than guitar players. Slowly, that’s beginning to change as modeling and profiling become more accepted (IMO).
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I think the one asterisk on that is the number of people who insist on only a passive P-bass with flat wounds and a tort pick guard!

It’s funny, because I think modeling is really a bridge too far for me if we’re talking software, but if you had a dedicated hardware solution, it’d be a bit different. I like modular analog synths, and my Minimoog Model D, but have no interest in software synths.
 
#55
Brasic said:
I run a fully equipped hourly rehearsal room, the back line we provide is a variety of high end tube amps and v30 cabinets for guitars, the drums are All maple shells w zildjian A custom cymbals, strong Jbl and EV PA w. Beta 58 mics.... the room is treated and sounds great! Clients take notice and are happy with what’s in the room for their rehearsals... However, when some bands return to the studio all to often the bass player is bringing a rig of their own. I’m aware the house bass rig is not satisfactory for some bassists and I want to correct this! Current set up is a ampeg classic 8x10 and svt 350 head.... bassists, what rig would you like to have available for you at rehearsals? Your input is greatly appreciated and will help me determine what gear to go with.... thanks!
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You have a real full on big boy svt with the fridge?

someone actually complained to you about that?

wth is wrong with the world.
 
#56
iiipopes said:
Do you also provide a selection of DI: passive, SansAmp, Line 6, active with tone shaping, speaker emulation, digital amp/cab simulation, etc.? For the recording sessions I have done since the early 90's, many recording engineers and techs preferred the control and clean of DI rather than mik'ing cabinets. And most players should as well. Nothing new. From Jamerson to McCartney to Kaye to many others from then until now, the DI is the way to go. Yes, as a young sprout player I also had to be convinced, but once I was, engineers and techs were much easier to work with. I don't even carry a bass amp on stage for gigs. I use DI to our digital system and let our sound man do the rest. I highly recommend you set a policy of trying the various DI's first before setting up an amp & cab, for all the reasons we can discuss in a recording room compared to a live setting.
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Anyone needing a modeler will own their own, I absolutely guarantee it. Also, you really don't want to lend out modelers - they are ( a ) expensive, ( b ) stealable, ( c ) semi-fragile, and ( d ) pretty much require the owner to go through a ton of learning, and to configure their own setup from scratch with it. It's not something you toss at someone at a jam space.

Just imho, ymmv, yadda yadda.

I use a helix. But if I didn't, I'd be screwed if someone let me use one at a jam space without me having hours (days, weeks) previous experience configuring that specific unit to my needs.
 

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