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I don't think I like my new head

#81
dmusic148 said:
Just had to chime in-I've been doing this long enough to know that the tone comes from 1)You 2)Your bass 3)Your amp.
I have spent many, many years/dollars chasing great sound. We all have, or will. Bottom line is, if you can play, play the bass unplugged, in a really quiet place. Does it sound different that you wish it did? Yes? Then you have the wrong bass, probably. Gotta start at the beginning of the signal chain, my friend. Can't polish a turd.
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Yeah but his basses are pretty good...an MIJ J and a Squier P.
 
#82
Bass_masta16 said:
Yes, I'm in a band. We play Rock/Alternative Rock. We gig about 2-5 times a month. Gigs are medium size, around 100ish + people, depending when it is. Bass is MIJ Fender J with stock pickups and EB Hybrids and Squier P (I know, I know) has Bassline QP's and Hybrids.

I can't really explain what I want it to do, which I know pretty much makes it impossible for people to tell me how to do it. But, it's just a sound I want to make, I'll know it when it happens (you guys probably want to break my legs, don't you?). This amp is plenty loud (except when I'm not using the speakon, so it's only 225 watts, but it doesn't seem that loud at all)
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OK, what tone are you looking for? Is there a current recording/musician that has the exact or similiar tone you are looking for?
 
#83
Kelly Lee said:
OK, what tone are you looking for? Is there a current recording/musician that has the exact or similiar tone you are looking for?
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Like a Geezer-ish Modern-ish Other kind of tone. It's kind of hard to explain.

Also, this head also seems very quiet.. If I don't have the speakon in (bridged, 750w) it seems like a very quiet 225 watts. My friend has an Ampeg B2RE, he uses it out of a Hartke X.L Series 4x10, so he's running that thing at 225 watts, but it's a lot louder then mine.

Any input on this?

Thanks
 
#85
I don't know if they still make them, but you can still buy the Hartke Bass Attack. Here is a link to an amazon sale.

http://www.amazon.com/Hartke-Bass-A...8&s=musical-instruments&qid=1234357514&sr=8-1

EDIT: Also, if you are really trying to find just the right sound, maybe you should consider a small multi-effects like a Zoom B2 or Line6 POD. After you narrow down exactly what you want you can throw money at getting just the right pedals if you don't like the digital tone.
 
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#86
msiner said:
I don't know if they still make them, but you can still buy the Hartke Bass Attack...
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I tend to agree with this, I think that some basic tone-shaping is what you're looking for, or better put is what will satisfy your itch. I find that the basic Hartke head is very sterile sounding, but in time, I came to believe that was a good thing, and that I just needed a better way to define what I was putting into it. Swapping heads around is a costly venture, and while it MAY be necessary to get the sound that you want, I think you can probably achieve it in other ways.

As for the volume difference between speakon/no speakon I'm not really clear with the issues that you're referring to, but I will say IGNORE what the numbers say. Listen to what you're after, and if you need to use the speakons to get your volume, then do it. Manufactures do not compare math when posting their watt numbers, so they're not a good comparison. That said, I have never played a SS ampeg head that seemed very loud, but my old Hartke HA4000 seemed insanely loud, but as with everything YMMV. The tone shaping also dramatically affects how loud something sounds.... tone chasing is a tough one.
 
#90
... There's a bass place in Toronto, "Club Bass," near the lake front close to the University that gets some interesting stuff. Sorry I don't remember the street (Kingston?) but it will stand out in the phone book. Also, there is a major music store in Canada with a website that may sell Hartke products. I mention that because [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]. I have also seen them at Ted Brown Music, which might ship to Ontario. L.A. Music, Canada's online store, sells Ampeg which has graphic EQs--I have owned an Ampeg, never had any problems, sold it because someone liked it more and offered me money :D
Long & McQuade is another popular Canadian site that can help find what you're looking for; if they don't have it in stock they can probably get what you're looking for.
 
#93
...that won't break the bank, but will more than do the job.

Jeez - nice community feeling here at TB when a asks a question because he's still figuring what's up. He didn't ask for you to trash him or tell him about something he didn't ask for... He is looking for OPTIONS.
So +1 to those who actually showed a bit of respect to a fellow TB'er... -100 to all of you who just couldn't wait to get your hate on and judge a 15 year old b/c you think you got it all figured out. If he'd never had mentioned his age, you'd have all typed differently.

SO. OPTION. Peavey actually makes some nice heads. Here are two options that have a graphic eq, and gain (and a footswitchable octave for a bit of extra flavor) And they are quite reasonably priced. Both are good amps that are well reviewed:

Peavey Tour 450 - $400 - 450 watts at 4 ohms

Peavey Tour 700 - $600 - 700 watts at 4 ohms

And a thought - you can sell your current head once you get your hands on a new one and see at least a partial recoup!

Just look around and check out different heads, on-line manuals are available for most all amps out there - see what is what! Good luck!
 
#94
gus1894 said:
Jeez - nice community feeling here at TB when a asks a question because he's still figuring what's up. He didn't ask for you to trash him or tell him about something he didn't ask for... He is looking for OPTIONS.
So +1 to those who actually showed a bit of respect to a fellow TB'er... -100 to all of you who just couldn't wait to get your hate on and judge a 15 year old b/c you think you got it all figured out. If he'd never had mentioned his age, you'd have all typed differently.
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100% wrong. I'd have said what I said to him if he was a billionaire. Besides, I thought I was very nice. Others weren't, but if you come on a place like TB for feel-good opinions always backing up your bad decisions, you're in the wrong place. Now and then it's a tough room, but would you rather have that or would you like to spend money needlessly and still not get what you're looking for?
 
#96
True enough, though I wasn't as much talking about you, Jimmy.

It certainly lends to common sense to take the path that is going to leave the most green in the wallet - especially these days - but it just seemed to me that there were a good number of people who just decided to make it about Bass Masta16's age and not about what he was asking about.

Hey, all's fair - it's all about opinion :cool:

Good luck whatever you do man!
 
#100
Yea, but now I went and got me a Dr. Bass cabinet - I've ruined myself when it arrives next week and I marry it to the GK MB2-500...To Hell with the recession depression thingie!

Bassmasta16 - Go to the local GH - plug into a few overdrive pedals - some have some nice give and you can squeeze a fair range of tones out. Used to own a MXR M-80 Bass DI + Dist - no graphic EQ, but a very responsive "bass-mid-treble" EQ, plus Distortion channel - which has a "Blend knob", allowing you to layer the distortion over the clean a bit - A) a really killer distortion, and B) The Blend used along with the "Trigger" and "Gain" gives you a lot of play...
 

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