Forgive me if this has been discussed before.

[Rev J]

Do you prefer an amp to have a transparent sound or a definitive tone?

For example a lot of modern manufacturers like Aguilar for example Tonal Transparency as a selling point. Others like Ampeg and Alembic essentially use Fender Showman Circuits which are renowned for their midrange response.

So which do you prefer?

C/S,
Rev J

 

[JimmyM]

The Ampeg circuits are nothing at all like any Fender circuits. Not even close. Fender circuits only boost treble and bass and only cut midrange. Ampeg circuits boost and cut all freq ranges.

 

[silky smoove]

Aguilar's most popular current offerings have a very strong voicing that is far from transparent. Very cool products, just not transparent. Few amps actually are for the record.

 

[CatSquare]

I'm like the flavor of my Orange, it's tasty.

 

[Rev J]

Forgive my ignorance. I just remember reading a few years ago that the initial SVTs were based on the Fender circuit that favored a Bell Shaped frequency response. It also seems like the advertising and player endorsements describe the sound of Aguilar as being "Transparent". I was just using those as examples. Lately I've been more and more lately I've been attracted to what I can only describe as a "Clear" sound like Tony Grey, or Janek Gwizala. With a little bit of vintage effects thrown in.

C/S,
Rev J

 

[Bill Whitehurst]

My first choice is to have an amp that is as versitile as it can be.
Others may want one that does one thing really well
and that's OK, too.
It just seems limiting to me.

 

[two fingers]

I definitely like amps with their own voice. Many modern "transparent" amps sound "sterile" to me.

My current favorite is the Mesa Walkabout. Warm and round but a very versatile EQ section. It is affected by the tube preamp for sure.

 

[1stnamebassist]

My Carvin is said to be transparent or hifi whatever that all means. What I guess that means with all the controls flat I get no boost and cut anywhere and hear the true tone of my instrument. I guess you could describe it as sterile. I like that. Then I can boost or cut any eq to shape my sound anyway. But I also like the baked in sound of ampegs and fenders and so on. I can find a use for an amp in either direction. I come from a time when I was happy to just be able to afford an amp and bought the loudest, least expensive amp I could get my hands on and made it work. And we liked it!

 

[NWF Bassist]

My Carvin is said to be transparent or hifi whatever that all means. What I guess that means with all the controls flat I get no boost and cut anywhere and hear the true tone of my instrument. I guess you could describe it as sterile. I like that. Then I can boost or cut any eq to shape my sound anyway. But I also like the baked in sound of ampegs and fenders and so on. I can find a use for an amp in either direction. I come from a time when I was happy to just be able to afford an amp and bought the loudest, least expensive amp I could get my hands on and made it work. And we liked it!

What kind of carvin?

 

[1stnamebassist]

Mb15 combo.

 

[seanm]

I like a transparent amp with lots of EQ. I can then use the bass and/or the cabs and/or EQ and/or pedals to get my sound.

 

[brianrost]

I prefer transparent, mainly because I play DB as well as BG and I want the amplified DB sound as close as possible to unamplified...just louder. My experience has been that if an amp sounds good for DB it will sound good for BG as well.

I don't know if you have ever been in a recording studio, but the first time I was in one I was handed a DI box by the engineer and did not use an amp at all. When I listened to the bass track played back in the control room it sounded better than any amp I have tried before or since. That sound is what I have been chasing after.

 

[pedroims]

My P> Tone Hammer > B3K > FOH do it for me, I dont know if sounds modern , vintage or something else but people can hear me and feel me, my wife says my bass sounds "full", whatever that means

 

[baileyboy]

My current favorite is the Mesa Walkabout. Warm and round but a very versatile EQ section. It is affected by the tube preamp for sure.

Love this thing as well... haven't pulled the trigger on a Subway yet because I see no reason to with the Walkabout.

 

[DiabolusInMusic]

I prefer transparency with my entire rig, not just my amp.

 

[bikeplate]

I like my amp to be as close to plug and play as possible

 

[SirMjac28]

Another vote for Orange my AD200B simply amplifies the sound of my bass without any other additives or fillers.

 

[Ewo]

I like my amp to be as close to plug and play as possible

Me, too. And that means an amp with a native voice that I enjoy.

 

[PimasterPearson]

I don't do the cover band / jukebox band thing, so versatility isn't that valuable to me right now. Most of what I play is in church and in an originals band, where I get to occupy a decent amount of sonic space, so I like having a rig with its own "character." I play a passive Fender PJ --> Tone Hammer 500 --> TC Helicon RS210. I'm not good at articulating sounds in words, but to my ears it has a fair amount of tonal control without ever compromising its fundamentally rich sound. It can sound a little boomy up close, but at the audience's distance it's very well defined and sits in the mix well.

 

[iiipopes]

Most of my playing is direct to board, with the amp only being a personal monitor because I don't care for the way in-ear systems work for bass. So it's really a non-issue for me.