Ya straight bass sounds pretty good. Or, at least sounds like what I'm used to hearing. Pedals that only modifiy the bass tone (VT Bass, EQ pedals, etc...) sound fine. The problem lies in pedals that drastically change the sound. Bassballs, blowtorch, and stereo electric mistress. These are nearly worthless.
I believe I am using the contour control. I'll play with turning that off.
No it's not in a corner. It sits out in the middle of the room. I think part of the problem may be that it's RIGHT in the middle of everyone. My leg litterally touches it. I think maybe if I moved it to the other side of the room and let the sound disperse a little, maybe that will help?
I have noticed that the attack on the bassballs is greatly reduced if I turn my bass volume down. I figured it was because not as much signal was being sent to the pedal in the first place. Like I had said, it makes electrical circuit sense to me that you don't want any one component over 75%. I think what I had read said something to the tune of "you pay big money for a high end bass, you want as much of that tone as possible. So pump the bass volume up all the way, and then use only as much amp as needed."
Before I got some of these newer pedals, I routinely used the volume on my bass to control my overall volume. Maybe I'll go back to that and see if it helps.
