Bass rig for Praise and Worship

[Bassmec]

Oh Ye of little faith.X

 

[velalv]

So to answer your question, I get both sides of the argument regarding having a modern uncolored sound vs. having a clean tone. If you think about Chris Tomlin's bass player Jesse Reeves, he plays vintage Fender jazz basses through Ampegs and it works wonderfully for him and their style of music. However, if you look at Norm Stockton, he plays through GK and plays MTD basses with active pickups, the exact opposite of Reeves. He sounds great too! The only similarity in their rigs that I know of is that they both play with almost no effects live.

As for your situation, I've been playing bass for six years, every weekend, and sometimes more than once a weekend P&W and some gospel music. Usually with my wife on keys and vocals, an acoustic guitar and vocals, keyboard, and drummer. Nowadays its my wife on keys, drummer, and myself on bass.

I played with a P-Bass for my first two years through an Aguilar TH through a Bergantino CN 112 that sounded like heaven alone, but did not cut it for me in the mix. I had a jazz bass with the Aguilar (think like Fender Rumble type sound) and that worked well. I then bought a Musicman Bongo 5 string, which is a very modern sounding bass, and I reach my happiness point until I bought a GK MB500 through the same cab, which is a very clear transparent sound (I also use a Phil Jones Double 4 for practice, also a very transparent sound). For right now, that worked so much so that I decided to sell my pedals, including the Grizzly Bass which is a great tube overdrive sound. The reason it works so much is that the GK MB set flat gives me a blank canvas to work on. I then use the controls on my Bongo, include the pickup selector, to coax a lot of different sounds to meet the needs of the song. If I am playing Crowder or Tomlin and want a slight more vintage sound, I will roll the bass and treble back on my Bongo, bump up the lower mids, and favor the front pickup. If I want to play only big whole notes that sound big, I will roll more to the front pickup and play over the front pickup cover. If I need to get a punchier sound like you hear on HillSong's Hosanna, I roll toward the back pickup, play near the bridge. A lot of people have commented positively on my tone live lately.

Either will work, but for my preference I prefer a modern sound. I never thought I would say that because I am a huge fan of vintage tone, but a P bass through an Aguilar (Ampeg/Fender inspired amp) just did not cut through and sound right to me. I hope this helps, and best of luck!

 

[Blankandson]

As far as getting the 'right' sound live, I don't think the average person in the congregation has heard most of the songs the praise band will do, outside of the church. So they will not know if it's the 'right' sound or not. So you should have the freedom to make it sound better than the recording. If no one will notice then I'd aim for improving what's on the recording. Jesse Reeves sounds good for a few listens, but if you listen to 100 of his recordings in a row it becomes dull and routine. While that sounds unlikely, Chris Tomlin has almost 200 songs published now which is enough to have his own hymnal. If every one of those has the same bassist, same bass, same etc etc it will sound boring very quickly. So since your audience doesn't have access to all that, just give them what you have and improve on the recording . . . . and have fun while doing so!

 

[mustBmtd]

This is my rig for praise and worship. But soon to go a little smaller. And move towards another bass. But at the moment super tight.

 

[nyde7]

Sorry for getting in on this very late. What sound system is the church using? It may not be your rig or bass, but the sound system and/or the sound tech... Could also be something in your output cable or cable snake or your monitor system itself, lack of an EQ... so many options but starting with looking at your house system is where I would start.

 

[Blankandson]

Thinking here about Sartori's comments: When I grew up in the 50s all I heard in a church was a piano and maybe 12 in a choir. Some larger churches (this is in Germany) had larger choirs and an organ, but not that many. Traveled to the USA in the mid 60s to the university and heard a large choir, piano, and guitar for the first time. For about 10 - 15 years that is about all I heard. The use of a 'praise band' in USA churches has not been around for centuries. It's a fairly new addition to the sum. I doubt it will be still popular (or at least AS popular) 20 years from now. So, right now, I'm enjoying playing in the same type of group I played in back 'in the day;' drums, bass, guitar(s), keys, several horns, singers, etc. Same setup that I played music by Chicago, Grand Funk, Rolling Stones, Beach Boys years ago. Now the words and message is different but the music is very similar and we're just as loud. I had fun back then and I'm having 'fun' today getting to play in a band in my old age. The only difference is probably in the people leaving the building after we're finished. The words and the message are the difference between back then and today. Just my two cents worth.

 

[jowes]

Well, sorry to get back after a long time. We have been working out few things. As some have suggested, I first tried with a GHS precision flatwound. That cut off the unpleasant treble and made it better for few songs. However for many other songs the other band mates were not impressed.

So we switched to a Squier Vintage Modified Jazz 70s 4 string. And to be honest, the quality of VM bass is miles ahead. For the setup I have, clearly LTD B10 was unsuitable while the VM jazz handled all songs very well.

That said, the Indonesian made Squier I had appears to not have been well built. The neck wasn't strong enough to handle the tension and the truss rod had to be adjusted everyday making the threads worn out within 2 weeks. The dealer accepted a return. As there is no replacement in stock for any variant of Squier Jazz, I am back to finding another bass.

 

[Davo-LON]

Every worship video I watch has a bass player with a Precision. It's incredible. There's no reason for this in my view. But why fix something that's not broken? Buy a cheap P. Alternatively turn up. That normally fixes most things in life! : )
Davo

 

[JEFFREY NASH]

Dear All, I currently own a ESP LTD B10 guitar which is a passive precision type guitar. We have found the tone of the guitar to be quite unusable for the P&W genre. For instance, any amount of tweaking the settings in my Guitar and the HA2500 amplifier wouldn't get me the right tone for the song 'My Redeemer Lives'.

I am now looking for some suggestions to upgrade my pickups and the cabinet. The guitar will be used entirely for the P&W genre.

Can you provide me with some recommendations for the below:
Pickups that are well suited to this genre, that can fit in my B10 guitar?
The type of strings that go well for this genre with both precision and jazz type guitars? I currently use EPS190 prosteels from D'Addario

Also need some suggestions for a budget amplifier and cabinet for the church use. I have been thinking about a Hartke 2.5XL or 115XL or the VX series. For our usage, 410 cabinets are out of question due to their size as well as the stage considerations.

That said, it will also be helpful to get better insight, if you can share the details of your bass rig used for praise and worship.

I use a Fender Jazz CIJ Geddy with Rotosounds. We play straight into the house so I go through a Wampler Ego Mini compressor into a Dark Glass Harmonic Boost. For anything with a little Overdrive I go through a Sansamp YYZ. Gives me a lot of versatility on sound. Modern Praise and Worship has a lot of tonal ranges these days.

 

[frostyman1962]

Flats for church? I've been playing worship for a long time, and I have to respectfully disagree with that suggestion. You can take the highs out of round wounds, but you can't get highs out of flats (they're just not there). That particular song, if it's the NICOLE C MULLEN version, doesn't have a particularly bright bass sound, but most worship tends toward bright sounds. It shouldn't be a very difficult sound to get, even with what you're using. I'd look at technique and make sure you are using a very light finger-style touch. If you're using a pick, or hammering the strings you'll never get that sound, no matter the equipment.

I would suggest a more mellow nickel roundwound string. I'd get some elixirs because they last a long time.

Perhaps a bass with p/j pickups would be more versatile, but your bass should be fine.

I'd stay away from any amp that has a strong "flavor". The rumble is a great amp, but it has a vintage flavor, and I'd go more "hi-fi" for worship. Worship music is a bit generic, so something with a lot of character is going to stick out. One amp I've owned that worked well for worship was the cheapest Markbass rig (jeff berlin players school model). After I figured out the eq (take a lot of bass out because the bass eq is at 40hz) it was clear, had some bottom, and very little color other than a warmth to it. I've been playing direct for years now, so I don't use an amp at church. Good luck!

edit: The TC electronics amps mentioned would also be a really good choice.

I use half rounds and I get the best of both worlds. But I will say they are horrible for slap.