How bad is it to get "your sound" from your amp

[SanDiegoHarry]

Dead easy. Yes, I shopped and tested and tinkered until I found what I like - but getting a sound I really like out of my current rig is quite easy. I EQ everything flat if indoors, a bit of bass bump if outdoors. The rest I run from my bass's active preamp.

 

[davegt666]

As has been said before, just play as many amps as you can and you'll be able to get "your sound" or something close with virtually any amp.

It's funny you say that about GK, I can get my sound with any decent head, GK just gets me there quicker.

 

[bobyoung53]

Most of "my sound" come from my bass and the way I play it but I do need something that is good enough to reproduce it clearly on any stage which is why I always use Ampeg and especially SVT's and as someone else wrote they are everywhere.

 

[JGbassman]

Every pro player has a horror story about a backline. Whether it blew up along with the drummer during the set, or that the writer calls for an 810, and you get a 110, that's just how things roll. I learned to carry a small rack with a preamp/di and a few things that would go to foh or a reddi.

As long as the foh gets a good signal I'm ok. Ears make up for a lot bad amps these days, and running an iPad to tweak your monitor mix is the best thing since sliced bread.

As mentioned here already, learn to quickly get a useable sound on many amps, it's not too hard. I can dial in a useable sound on just about anything pretty fast.

 

[JimmyM]

I love what my gear does for my sound, but if I don't have it, I still sound good because I have to. Nobody I work with buys into any excuses for not sounding good that I may have, and I don't buy into theirs, either

 

[Silas Stingy]

Everyone is going to give you a different answer depending on what works for the genre they're playing. If you have a £3000 bass playing jazz fusion then you might like a clean DI to FOH and a clean amp set flat. If you're after a 60s brit rock tone with a ton of overdrive then maybe the safest bet would be a preamp with DI split into the random amp set flat. Do what works for you and your sound.

 

[Jeff Bonny]

Every good player is going to sound like him or herself no matter what the amp is. That's something to strive hard to achieve. Many great players also obsess over their amps at least for a while until they're happy with one. Searching out a great amp that you feel allows you to convey "your sound" is also worth striving for.

 

[brianrost]

thinking of how negative an aspect it might be that I'm so attached to the sound I get from my amp.
Any thoughts?

Yeah, you need to get over it. Sorry for the tough love...

I like to use my own amp...that's why I paid $$$$$ for it...but "my sound" is not in the amp. With a BG I can get a usable sound out of anything. With DB, it's a lot harder but I can still deal with it. I have even done gigs with no amp at all, the promised backline wasn't there and I had to DI and get by with what the sound man could put into the monitors.

 

[micguy]

Bass guitar is an instrument that comes in several parts. There's the part you wear, maybe a part on the floor, and one or more parts that make the sound that you and the audience hear. In my case, 90 percent of the time, someone else runs the part that the audience hears - the electronics I bring is a pedalboard and that's it.

There's nothing wrong with having an amp that inspires you, but... if you play out enough, you will run into gigs where that doesn't work out. At those gigs, you need to be flexible enough to play well, even if the sound you hear doesn't inspire you.

Pros have gear that makes them sound fantastic when it all works, and enough experience and flexibility to do very well when it doesn't.

 

[73jbass]

If you have PA support and a good soundman, he should be using a pre eq signal going to the board,so what backline gear you are playing through doesnt matter. So you would only have your bass and effects going to foh.

 

[kleinenenten]

Thankfully my sound is GK, so if I need it portable, I mount my MB200 to my pedal board! Great little utilitarian tool, that MB200.

 

[Terracite]

At some shows, the extra time it takes to plug in my own head is often quicker than trying to dial in whatever mystery head is provided. Just make sure you've got a solid DI option to give the sound man that still has your sound - that could be the head's DI, an outboard preamp (I like the VTDI,) or a DI taken from your effect out or speaker out (make sure you have the right box before you try that one!)

For short shows with a provided rig, I'll often leave mine at home. But, much more often I'll bring my own head and plug into the provided cabs. And nobody has ever given me flack for it. If your new head is your sound - rock it!

 

[Ffreddy]

I look at it like this- MY TONE is a result of how I play the bass. I play different basses differently, and have amps that sound rather different from each other. I play each bass differently based on how it feels and responds, same goes for the amp. So MY TONE is a result of how I play the bass AND the amp. You are playing the amp too. You can decide to get a super clean un-colored sound from an amp bass combo-that is your sound. Not having an amp sound is a choice and that makes that YOUR TONE. If you play a really colored sounding amp, same deal. Its all you either way!

 

[Nephilymbass]

Hi guys.

Just a passing question really. I play a Rickenbacker with flats which I'm happy with but the minute I moved to an orange amp, the final piece of the puzzle went into place!
Now two things have happened recently. Firstly my amp has needed a bit of work so unlike the Ashdown and Ampegs that came before my orange, the Gallien Kruger I was offered to replace it in the short term has to been my thing and I've been unimpressed at practices to the point I can't get a sound I like.
The second is that I recently went to a festival abroad where every single band in each venue without fair, the bass players used the supplied backline.

Both of these got me thinking of how negative an aspect it might be that I'm so attached to the sound I get from my amp.

Until now with the gigs I've played I've been lucky enough to use my own gear. However as the above proves (which I didn't assume) you won't always get to use that and have to live with it. I also know of loads of live and studio guys who take a simple clean DI.

Any thoughts?

You're describing some of the reasons I now prefer my b7k ultra and sans amp combination. I've had some nice amps in the past Ampeg, SWR, and so on. But had issues with all of them eventually, some right off the bat. I'd say the majority of my sound these days is my hands, my bass, my pedalboard which really is just A wireless, tuner, compressor, and a couple levels of dirt/bass preamps. I run direct to foh and just use either my crown power amp and ampeg cabs or whatever is provided as just a "stage monitor"

 

[chris_b]

Both of these got me thinking of how negative an aspect it might be that I'm so attached to the sound I get from my amp.

This is the trap most non-professional bass players fall into.

Your sound isn't the single most important thing you do. The guys chose you to be in the band because of your playing. The sound of your gear is incidental to the them.

Who's going to give you a gig if you sound fantastic and play badly? As long as your sound is at the "good" end of the scale that's good enough.

Focus on your technique and what you play. It will make you a much better sounding bass player.

 

[wraub]

Do as you will, harm no one.

Deep.

 

[wraub]

I can get "my sound" from my amp no problem. But, I've been using it for so long that I know that sound inside and out, and getting pretty close on other gear is usually pretty easy.
However, if I don't have my rig with me, it usually means I am in a rehearsal room/ backline gig/similar, which usually means I'm playing for someone else who might not want "my sound" on their music. The music may not want that either.
Then I do what the BL wants.

 

[Munjibunga]

There are roadies out there, some who hardly play themselves, but they have the knack. Matching an amp to the room is an art. All I know is that the portion of your amp that you use is vital. I have smaller amps that sound better than the large amp at home because they're at 80%, the large amp is barely moving the speakers. In a large room, the big amp takes over. Speaker movement / air volume changes everything.

Whenever you set your own gear up at a gig, you are making small sub-conscious compensations as you play the sound check. When playing normal with the band, an experienced sound guy can monitor and adjust the mix as you play, much better than the BP can.

For a given volume, the speakers in a cab move the same amount regardless of the "size" of the amp.

 

[StringNavigator]

For a given volume, the speakers in a cab move the same amount regardless of the "size" of the amp.

Where you are on the tube curve makes all the difference. "Barely moving the speakers" was a euphemism. You took it literally. You can misinterpret me again, but a small amp turned up still sounds better than a large amp turned down.

 

[Lava]

I love using my own Eden rigs, but over 30+ years I've learned to quickly tune in and to appreciate some of the backline choices that regularly show up at the bigger shows. So that means I'll get to play through an Ampeg 8x10 (who doesn't love that?!?!), or a killer GK or Mesa Boogie rig! Hell, I remember being pleasantly surprised after playing through a Fender Rumble! And FOH always does what they want so in the end it doesn't even matter, lol!