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Good bass vs good amp

Which has better tone

  • Good bass

    Votes: 91 36.4%

  • Good amp

    Votes: 159 63.6%
  • Total voters
    250
#144
JeezyMcNuggles said:
And you're either too loud, or no one can hear you. Hahaha
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I've got nothing but compliments from audience members if they say anything at all, although I have heard a few band members suggest I may be a bit loud at times. SVT's fill a room up very nicely. I will always work with the sound guy though, ask him how it sounds, does it need to be mic'ed etc. My days of playing really big rooms are pretty much behind me.
 
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#145
Ambrose barton said:
Thinking from a pure tonal perspective, what's better, a low end bass with a high-end amp or a high end bass with a low end amp.
What are your thoughts?
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Since you asked you get my 2 cents. It's not that simple. I will give you an example as I have experienced. I have had a few good amps and cabs. I had a SS Acoustic amp (can't remember the model but with a great EQ capability) with 2 215 cabs, originally 115 but needed more volume so I got another 215 cab. This is standard MO. Eventually I got an SVT because I could not get the volume I needed (this was after a search, it didn't happen the next day and I had to really try a bunch of stuff) There might have been several amps I might have encountered that would have got me there but that was my experience. But the SVT and the 2 Acoustic 215 sounded KILLER. Even how I have a Rumble 500 and a Rumble 800 and have a *manufacturer not named* cab that sounds terrible with either one. The Rumble V3 210s sound great with either bass and head I use, the 500 or the 800. Do not limit yourself to any kind of arbitrary combination. Actively check them out.
 
#147
Ambrose barton said:
Thinking from a pure tonal perspective, what's better, a low end bass with a high-end amp or a high end bass with a low end amp.
What are your thoughts?
Click to expand...
Well, today more than ever before you can buy a very gig worthy bass for $300.
You can buy a great amp for the same.
I prefer buying a top-notch bass myself, G&L for example, and then buying a nice little amp for under $500.
Either way, you can't go wrong...try before you buy, of course, but getting as much advice as possible sure can't hurt.
 
#148
It REALLY depends on what your needs and limitations are:

If a new bassist had $500 to spend, and just wanted to become a proficient bassist, I'd tell them to get the best bass they can, and a rehearsal setup that let them play along with MP3s or a drum machine via decent headphones.

A different new bassist with $500 and a bunch of friends who want to thrash out punk anthems in a garage or basement would be steered toward a loud amp, and a playable (but cheap) bass.

Personally, I have a Frankenstein SX/Squier P-bass that I bought in pieces off Craigslist ads.
Total expenditure was under $75.

I also have a Dingwall Z2 that probably lists for more than $4k now.

Through my amps, both of them sound great!
The Dingwall is a far, far more refined instrument, and fits into the mix really well - but I'd happily gig the Frankenstein if I broke a string on the Dingwall and didn't have spares.

On the other hand, my daughter has a Fender Rumble 40 combo - I got it for her because it sounds great and only weights 17 lbs...but I'd be miserable trying to push that amp into service at a gig alongside a noisy drummer and a guitarist who could only get his tone via hot output tubes.

Bottom line is to be honest and concise about what you need in your gear, then get what suits you.
 
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#150
Methinks the initial question was closed-ended in nature no? Perhaps the binary nature of the query was to challenge the reader to choose one option and provide a rationale. Numerous pages would suggest many want to, how you say, have their cake and eat it too?

Isn’t it amusing that the best bass amp now will be a novelty or niche item in 30 years? But then one must also wonder whether instrumental players will also be a novelty item.
 
#152
I feel like everyone is making a mountain out of a mole hill, as we say here in Kentucky. YES, people run sound off PA, YES, people should work on technique, YES, recording is a different situation, YES, a Fodera sounds good on a pos amp..... the bottom line is, you play a Fodera through a Gorilla, and a Rockbass through an SVT-CL, which one will sound better on stage, at gigging volume? Not talking about in ears, and pa help, and all the other scenarios.... think about the probable context of the OP. Amp wins, hands down!
 
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#158
Basta-bass said:
You heard?
With the two SVT yelling behind you?
:nailbiting::roflmao:
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I haven't used two cabs for years, you need to be on a big stage or be outside otherwise they're just overwhelming unless you can put some distance between them and you, that's all you'll hear, one cab sounds great though in all but the smallest of rooms. Have you ever played through one? Incidentally they don't yell, they reproduce bass easily and nicely and sound good. There's a reason Ampeg SVT's are still the standard by which all other bass amps are compared with.
 
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#159
bobyoung53 said:
I'll tell you what, take any boutique bass and plug it into a SS 10 watt practice amp with an 8" speaker or take a Squire P bass and plug it into an SVT, which one is going to sound better? Even more so, go do a gig with both, which would you stick with if you had to?
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LOL, no surprise coming from a man with 2 SVT stacks as his avatar :laugh:

First of all, I don't consider a Squire P bass to be a "bad" bass, and second, to be honest, I'd take the boutique bass into a 10 watt SS practice amp for great tone any day of the week. Heck, if I need it louder, I'll put a mike on it and put it through the PA, but all that shows is that we have different ideas about what constitutes "ideal" tone, not that one is better than the other, just different.

Which, after all, is really what this thread comes down to, simple differences of opinion, of which there are certainly no shortages on this forum : )
 
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#160
triode6L6a said:
Ha, coming from a man with 2 SVT stacks as his avatar, LOL.

First of all, I don't consider a Squire P bass to be a "bad" bass, and second, to be honest, I'd take the boutique bass into a 10 watt SS practice amp for great tone any day of the week. Heck, if I need it louder, I'll put a mike on it and put it through the PA, but all that shows is that we have different ideas about what constitutes "ideal" tone, not that one is better than the other, just different.

Which, after all, is really what this thread comes down to, simple differences of opinion, of which there are certainly no shortages on this forum : )
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I own two SVT's yes but I also own at least 10 other amps, I've been playing a long time. I didn't say that a Squire was a bad bass but it is a low end bass which is what the OP specified, i had one years ago and it got the job done. If you can hear yourself even a little bit in a band with a ten watt amplifier you must play in a very soft band. Everything I'm talking about is for playing in a band not at home, heck I don't even use an amp half the time when I practice at home, I play while I'm watching TV or sitting at the computer sometimes.
 

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