Bass or Amp - which affects sound more?

[ArteK]

There certainly is a minimum threshold for the bass quality, but I think I've gotten more bang for the buck by investing in the amp over the bass.

If the bass has no clarity in the notes and doesn't "ring"/sustain on its own, it's tough to get a good bass sound. Over my history, I've tended to play a lot of FrankenFender Precision basses, and I make a lot of changes to improve playabilty, sound, and looks.

• Warmoth bodies
  I use these mostly to getting a particular non-standard color, not because I think they have a huge impact on the sound. For example, I built a mocha brown P-bass because it was cheaper than finding an actual seventies P-bass in mocha brown. I also bought a sea-foam Warmoth P-bass body that was in their "specials" because it had a deeper green (almost turquoise) color than any other I'd seen.
• Fender Japan vintage reissue necks
  I really prefer the vintage 7.5-inch radius Fender vintage bass necks over the flatter radiuses in newer basses and I've had great luck in the quality of the Fender Japan products.
• Bartolini P-bass pickups
  I really like the punch I get out of these. Granted, they probably don't sound "vintage Fender" but I like what my basses sound like with these pickups in them.
• Gotoh B201 bass bridges
  I admit I fell into the "religion" of swapping out the original bridges early on and never really re-evaluated. These are drop-in replacements and they're only fifty bucks, so I always made this change. It definitely changes the playability, but I'm not sure it's as huge a difference in tone, sound, or sustain as I thought before. After reading the thread on keeping the vintage Fender bridges, I'm tempted to swap one back in on my "flat-wound" P-bass to see if it makes a huge difference.

So clearly, I think the bass has enough impact to make substantial changes to factory features. However, that said, I think I've improved my tone and punchiness more by getting a good amp than by making improvements in the bass itself. I feel like I've fought against bad tone or muddy sound more with amps than with basses. Here's a summary of the amps I've used over the years:

• 70's Peavey 1x15 combos and head/cab (15s) (muddy and underpowered, using junky P-bass copies, a Fender Mustang bass with flats, a Hohner Steinberger copy, etc.)
• Ampeg V4B with a 2x15 Peavey cab retrofitted with JBLs (monstrous in tone, weight, and size, using the Hohner Steinberger copy, A Fender Japan 75 Reissue bass)
• Fender 300W bass combo amp (OK tone, still a bit heavy for the amount of power I got, playing the 75 Reissue Jazz)
• Fender small/practice bass combo amps through the years (I really liked their tone (still have one), but the upright bass impedance matching issue came into play.)
• SWR SM-500 heads with Hartke 4x10 cabs and Avatar 2x12 and 2x10 cabs (too hi-fi, always struggled to get the right combination of warmth and clarity (ended up with a SansAmp preamp unit), but tons of power), playing the Fender Reissue Jazz, and then various forms of the Fender Precision bass, some acoustic and electric upright basses.
• MarkBass MicroBass 1x8, MiniBass 2x8, and CMD-121P 1x12 combo amps (Between the three of these, my power/portability needs for the kinds of gigs I do are met, and I do love the power/punch/clarity of these amps.) Playing Fender Precisions and electric and acoustic electric upright basses.

My biggest sound improvements came when I went from Peavey to Ampeg and then from SWR to MarkBass (regardless of the basses I was using at the time). However, part of the move to MarkBass was because I was using an upright and needed high-impedance input circuitry. On an upright, not having the struggle with an outboard preamp for impedance matching and an amp's preamp section was a huge win for me. And these amps sound great with both uprights and electrics, which is essential for what I do.

YMMV, to each their own, etc. But this has been my experience.

-- Arte K.

 

[bearfoot]

because the question is "what effects the SOUND more", I have to answer 100% the amp.

if the question were about tone, I'd have a different response.

 

[Paulabass]

If you are talking about moving from your practice amp, to something with some oomph, I agree, the amp.
If you are trying to create your sound, it all has to work in harmony. Amp and bass working together.

 

[MordBass]

Heres my $0.02.
Most of you are talking extremes here.....as in a Fodera with a crate 8" vs an SX through an ampeg tube rig. Let be a bit more realistic.
To my ears... people can pick out a P bass vs a Jazz... or a Hofner vs a Soundgear, or a Thunderbird vs a Stingray waaaaaaaaaaaay easier than they can pick out your amp. Once your amp is adequate...its the bass all the way.

 

[GreyBeard]

If you leave money out of it, they are both equal partners. However, if you play a $200 Squire p-bass through a $2500 rig, it will sound better than a $2500 custom p-bass through a 200 rig.