Basses vs Amps?

[jbailes]

Hello all,

I know in the guitar world, many tend to place more importance on the amp than the guitar, since the amp is the centerpiece of your overall tone. In other words, if you play a decent guitar through a really good amplifier, you should be ok. But if you play a Paul Reed Smith through a hunk-of-junk amp, you're in trouble no matter how good the guitar is.

My question is, how do bass players feel about the relationship between bass and amp?

 

[Energy]

My question is, how do bass players feel about the relationship between bass and amp?

The double bass utilizes a big hollow body to make itself heard. With the electric bass guitar, the big hollow body is replaced by an amplifier an a speaker cab. Thus, amp and cab are part of the instrument, which means, bass, amp and cab are equally important.

Same thing holds true for electric guitars, IMO.

 

[Duckwater]

I have a nice bass, if I plug it into a crappy amp, it sounds bad. If I plug it into a nice amp or straight into an interface, it sounds great.

 

[kiwi60]

I use a good amp for giging and rehearsal, but have an el'cheapo amp in my office for mucking around on, and my two basses (both good quality) sound crap through the el'cheapo, and awesome through the good amp.

As has already been said, the amp is a vital link in your sound chain, and the best way I've found to choose one is to take my own bass into a shop and A/B amps that are in my price range until I find the one that sounds good, but try to get at least 10 feet in front of the amp so you can hear the true tone of it.

Oh yeah, don't forget to buy good quality leads too, it all helps.

 

[Fuzzbassian]

That really depends on how you like to sound.I personally get alot of my live sound from a cabinet mic,so having a weak point anywhere along the way will negatively impact my sound,so all components are equally important.
If you run your bass straight to a D.I,and use your amp for monitoring,then I guess you could tip the scale a bit towards the bass,as this is what the audience will hear after all.That said,there is no excuse for having the latest warwick/lakland/fender (insert whatever exspensive bass here) with all the bells and whistles,running it to a D.I and then using a 15w practice amp for monitoring.You need to be able to hear yourself properly.

 

[rick4001s]

Hello. I tend to put more importance on the amp. There are a lot of good sounding, inexpensive, basses out there. A good amp is critical when playing live. With the increasing popularity of " modelling based" amps and judicious use a lot of outboard processing, the type and quality of the bass sometimes has very little influence on the final sound.

 

[SteveHeissner]

I agree that the amp does a lot for your sound. For example, suppose you play a $300 Squier VM Jazz through an expensive Aguilar amp and cabinet. I think you'll sound better than if you play a $4000 Warwick through a 5 watt Peavey combo amp.

 

[SoVeryTired]

I play both guitar and bass, with in-ear monitors. The guitar is cheap, through a good valve amp (mic'd up backstage). The bass is more expensive, and DI'd. So for me I'd say amp is very important with guitars and I couldn't really say with bass! Interestingly I wouldn't dream of DI for my guitar but am more than happy using that approach for bass.

 

[georgestrings]

Although I'm fortunate enough to play nice basses thru a killer rig, I'd guess that the majority of bassists DI when playing live - and in such a case, *I* would place more importance on the bass than the rig... If I were to lose everything tomorrow, I'd buy a decent bass, DI, and tuner as 1st priorities - and then get the best rig I could afford with whatever was left over...

YMMV, but I can get a very good sound "out front" with a decent quality P Bass or Jazz, and a Countryman or J48, and get by quite well with a used Pitchblack for $40...


- georgestrings

 

[tsverrir]

the most vital for me is to have an instrument that feels good in my hands. I can make good music with a good instrument through a crappy amp. If I have a crappy instrument things get a bit more difficult, no matter what amp I use.

But of course the ideal thing is to have quality throughout the chain.

 

[purfektstranger]

I can't tolerate crappy sound from an amp. I think you are better to buy an amp that at least allows your bass sound to come through. Doesn't have to be super expensive but it should give you decent sound imho.

 

[lpdeluxe]

I find that most of my bass sound comes from the bass. I have used a variety of combos and stacks, and currently have a Genz-Benz Shuttle 3.0 and a Mesa/Boogie Walkabout with 2 10s. The M/B sounds better cranked, and in large venues, but the personality of the bass (an AV '57 P, a Classic '50s P, or a Godin A5 fretless) comes through whichever amp I plug into.

Guitars depend on specific amp voicing (I play electric guitar, too, and have about four guitar amps of different sizes) and, in my experience, sound very different through different amplifiers. Just my virtual $0.02.

 

[spade2you]

I'd agree that guitar amps have a little more influence on the tone. I think we tend to either want an amp that colors the tone in a vintage way or not at all with many hi-fi type amps.

 

[HolmeBass]

I think the amp is more important than the bass overall, but only slightly so. If either is of extremely poor quality your sound is going to suffer. I do think it's easier to get an ok sound with a bad bass and good amp than with a good bass and a bad amp.

 

[M.R. Ogle]

Good amp>good bass.

No bass will sound good through a crappy amp.

The guys who do DI are just using a REALLY good amp.

 

[WoodyG3]

I look at it this way. If I want to hear a nice recording on CD, and really hear it well, I play it through a nice sound system, not my cheapo computer speakers. The same is true with the system you plug your bass in to. A good PA, quality headphone amp, or bass rig can all do the job, depending on your location and needs.

 

[T. Alan Smith]

My question is, how do bass players feel about the relationship between bass and amp?

I strongly feel your only as strong as your weakest link.
My primary focus is an instrument that feels comfortable and then responds to my touch. After that, an amplification system that allows me to be heard in a mix.

 

[zon6c-f]

If you think of it like an automobile; if you have a strong engine and weak transmission, the engine's power is moot.

Same with bass/ amp. A great bass would be like the engine and amp like the transmission. Both need to be near "equals" to support each other; theg amp transmits the basses sound.

I have an old Kustom, an old Acoustic and new Acoustic. amps and several basses.

No matter what bass I choose, the 1971 Kustom 200 amp is always the weakest link. However, I don't always need the wattage /output of either of my Acoustic amps, so the Kustom may not sound as great, but when I choose to use it, there is no overkill of power in a smaller venue/ setting.

When I use the Kustom, do I miss the tone fo my Acoustic? Yes, but I doubt that most of the audience would know or care or even miss the difference; they are there to be entertained, not to judge my tone.

That's where the bass can outweigh or compensate, when the amp is weakest link.

 

[phillybass101]

I'd say it's the same for bass players as well. I played a Yamaha RBX 270 through a Walter Woods Head and a SWR Goliath 4x10 cab and I was killin it. I tell all the younger players I meet to put their money in a nice amp first and get a decent bass. You can gig like this. You can't gig with an expensive bass and a crappy amp.

 

[phillybass101]

I hate in-ear. whoever came up with that didn't like to hear or feel Bass. And the mix sounds so dry. I'll have to try one of those boards that bass players can stand on. For $800 or so I'd have to charge an upcharge to play in-ear. I have trurned down in-ear gigs because the PA guys didn't know what they were doing. It was too painful.