Complex bass and too many tones!

[Lowbrow]

Wut.

it’s funny, your whole post is a weird generalizing strawman for no obvious reason, and yet you’re presenting yourself as such a bizarre Caricature that I’m not certain that you aren’t kidding

The poster you are responding to is trying to be provocative and succeeding.

 

[kevindahl]

Never been a fan of of more controls on my basses. My pedals and amp are what I use to create different tones. I have been running my basses wide open for 40 plus years and thats what works for me.

 

[lfmn16]

Why the hate for having options?

Never saw any hate on TB for having options.

 

[Peteyboy]

Wut.

it’s funny, your whole post is a weird generalizing strawman for no obvious reason, and yet you’re presenting yourself as such a bizarre Caricature that I’m not certain that you aren’t kidding

I just think he's wound too tight in Toulouse.

 

[dr doofie]

DUDE. How far do you wanna stray from the original post to further some odd personal vendetta? Pickguards and spiral cords, really? You must be an unstoppably progressive wizard with your spalted tropical burlywood and a 27 string bass.

Tee hee... “spalted...”
the word is pretentious
And I don’t even know what it means

 

[nilorius]

There are 2 big minuses with basses with lots of eq. and tonal possibilities - the one is that your settings setted up on the bass preamp can sound different or bad on the concert (not Yours amp+cabs) amp and You have too little of time to control the situation to get back that good tone. The second one is that You don't exactly know what each pot can do for your sound and how to control them together fast and precisely. Everything should be ok if You have these all things controled in Your head and under Your fingers.

 

[dr doofie]

It was mostly a humorous rant, with my true feelings in it.
Purely aggressive, not passive.

And no, I don't think it is that big a difference between "I don't know" and "I don't want to know".
Basically, a Paint artist knows the difference between a brush and a paint knife.
If he does not want to know, well he'll paint crap.

Tiny example: We moved our rehearsal to a new place. I had to change my EQ curve to keep my tone fitting in the band tone.
If i did not know or did not wanted to know, i would have crapped on my sound and then the band sound.



It's was a odd loop yeah, but it is related in a larger span.
In France at least, people hating more than 2 knobs basses are the same that hates "modern" basses, nice woods and finishes and so on.
Remember, it just words on a forum, not a life threatening disease.

To get back on the subject, Basses with less knobs or electronics demands more work in my opinion.
If you don't like a particular frequency in the sound, you have to adjust your playing style.

With an active 3 band eq, you get rid of it with the mid pot. Easy.

As long as the Paint artist in this illustration doesn’t USE crap as his medium...

 

[dr doofie]

Wow, bass guitar with built in accordion, that's neat!

I think those are pimples

 

[dr doofie]

Same as ever: we are debating the finer points of tones no one else will hear.

If we don’t plug in, we can solve all this quickly and quietly.

 

[_One//Man//Mutiny_]

Because “Jaco didn’t need options”



Having options is a good thing!

 

[Bassmunnky]

While there are infinite "TONES" for bass, mine, yours, Jaco's and everyone else's, most of the time..there are just a few that work for live and tracking. "Most" of the times. So, you do it with no KNOBS or 50....you'll eventually get to what's needed, no big whup.

 

[Peteyboy]

Tee hee... “spalted...”
the word is pretentious
And I don’t even know what it means

I also like "splined' and "knurled".

 

[John B jr]

P-bass: two knobs, A/E: 4 sliders, 5-er: 5 knobs and an Mid-EQ switch, other 5er: six knobs and an active/passive switch. Pedalboard with an EQ/pre/DI and a hand full of effects.

Five knobs seems to be the sweet spot for tone chasing. A three-band EQ is easier to navigate than the one with a Mid-pitch and level adjustment. The saving grace is pushing down on the volume knob to bail out to the passive circuit when the EQ gets too thin or noisy.

On a gig, I'm motivated to make the sound-person's job easier so it's set-it-and-forget-it once it's dialed in. In that way, the P-bass is the number one and the back-up/switch-out bass is one the others depending on the setlist. Playing alone, rehearsing or recording, it's all in play.

 

[JoeWPgh]

I like having options and then set and forget, based on the other instruments and room sound

 

[Tom Kinter]

G&L SB-2 Warmth<>Aggressive<>Bite tone with just 2 volume knob tweak.

Last year, when I needed to get a fretted bass, I was fortunate enough to find a '92 SB-2 in great shape at a very reasonable price (I was actually sold after playing it for a few minutes unplugged at the local Music-go-Round). I asked the proprietor later why it was such a deal, and he told me that basically customers were afraid to risk buying a bass with no tone controls.

I just love this bass... I think Mr. Fender's design intent was maximum simplicity AND versatility, especially as active basses became more prevalent rolling into the 80's , and I have come to really appreciate his success in this endeavor. No battery to worry about (or worse, 2). Yet I can get a genuine P sound or J sound just with the 2 Vol. knobs. Genius redux!

This is NOT to say that many active, complex basses aren't wonderful instruments—certainly more versatile. It's all strictly a matter of personal preference.

 

[alaskaleftybass]

Actually it’s quite simple. Volume, blend, bass mid treble. And passive active switch sometimes a mid switch. A pro bass player will learn his tool and learn how to finesse various sounds out of it. Anything else is just laziness unless you play the same tone all night. I prefer to think of my bass as a Swiss Army knife.

 

[bassbrad]

I can understand all sides of the argument, my POV is that there are simple tools that are perfect and crucial as they are, there are tools that can be improved or made more useful, tools that can be handy to have or are necessary for more skilled users and tools that are just plain fun. No harm no foul. I prefer a bass that offers me tonal options I may only use one sound, but I want those options. OTOH for example some effects I want simple like a compressor or an envelope follower, I just want it to do it's thing no diddling about. A P-bass is a near perfect tool but it can be made to be a better tool for some players by adding a pickup, string or a preamp or just improving the quality of the workmanship and materials.

My main 1982 Carvin LB50 passive bass has is stereo has 2 splittable humbuckers, 3 way selector, volume, tone for each pickup, coil taps for each pick up, phase switch and coil select for the bridge pickup. 27 different combinations and I have used them all one time or another.

 

[azureblue]

I have a PJ type with a Bart pre. I use the pre to fine tune the tone I get from my two pickups. If I have my choice I would just use a tube type limiter between my bass and a power amp.

 

[ClusterFlux]

Anyone else feel this way? Why the hate for having options?

I have a love-hate relationship with tone options.

My current setup has more options than I can shake a stick at. 2 pickups, active or passive, a multi-effects unit with a dozen preamps and amp sims.

On one hand, it's very nice to have the options to make one instrument suit a variety of types of music. An electric bass tone that works for blues might not work for straight-ahead jazz or what used to be called "alternative rock."

The downside is that I can get sucked into spending way too much time fussing with tone, rather than actually enhancing my playing. I also occasionally have to fight the urge to tweak something while rehearsing or jamming. And, of course, settling on 2 or 3 tones, when you know there are dozens of other options, always seems like a bit of a waste....

That said, I'd rather just get a handful of really good tones and stick with it, than not have the option to produce a tone I prefer. It just takes a little more willpower.

 

[Smooth Operator]

I'm a set it and forget it guy. I like active pre amp basses with 2 EQ knobs, Bass and Treble. I don't need a mid control because I usually don't mess with them. I have a Fender PBass Elite(PJ config) and it has a 3band EQ as well as a preamp bypass and passive tone control. I love that setup because the bass is usable if the battery dies and I like the P Pickup passive with tone @75% during song when I solo the P pickup. When I play with both pickups I use the Preamp with a slight bass boost. I dont need series/parallel switches, I just want a 2 Band EQ and passive tone control. I'm not one to use adjust the mids much, but when I do I use the parametric EQ on my WD800.