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I hate all amplifiers

#41
Savoury Salmon said:
I’ve been playing bass for 15 years now, and I can’t say I’ve loved an amplifier. I have no complaints about my bass, strings, tuner, compressor and other effects, but amplifiers? I dislike them all.

My first amplifier was an Eden World Tour. It worked for the time, the late 90s and early 00s, but I’d sooner wear a bucket hat and oversized jeans with a chained wallet before going back to that hi-fi ton of brick.

The GK 700RB-II sounded like a sterilized scalpel falling on the tiled floor of an operation room. It stripped away all that made basses sound different from one another and made them sound all similarly clean. Loud. And growly when pushed.

The Mesa WD-800 seemed to have everything. Build quality, warranty, HPF, tube, etc. But it had that sort of gritty baked-in tone I disliked and couldn’t get rid of.

I’ve played through an Aguilar Tone Hammer 700, but I hate the drive circuit. I know you can turn it off, but I can’t get my bass loud enough without turning in some of the gain.

I’ve hated every SVTs and SVT preamp pedals I’ve played through. But I recently needed a preamp DI and after comparing the two Origin Effects BassRigs, I went home with the Super Vintage, certain it would’ve been the 64 Black Panel.

Output and blend at 6 o’clock, drive at 8, bass and mid (800) at 2, treble at noon and the switch in the ultra hi position, it’s the best tone I’ve ever had.

So, now what? Should I try playing that setup through a power amplifier or will the pedal not drive it?

Should I get the new GK and hope the pedal over-colours the GK?

I heard the Aguilar AG700 was like a clean Tone Hammer. Maybe I’d like it, and, if not, maybe the SV can over-colour it?

Any other suggestions? Help!

(I’m not trying to be a pessimist here. Thousands of people love their Mesa, GK and Aguilar. There’s nothing wrong with any of them. They’re just not for me.)
Click to expand...

An amplifier will only produce what it is sent. I think your best bet is to find a preamp that will produce what you are looking for (available in pedal or rack mount versions) sound wise, coupled to a clean power amp. Just keep in mind one, your rig prior to what you put into the preamp will have a lot to say about your sound, secondly,your cabs can also color your sound.

Have fun shopping.
 
#42
I think my D800+ is fairly uncolored. I'd never describe it as "gritty"

The most transparent amplifier I've heard is the Epifani.

epifani-ul901-bass-amp-top.jpg
 
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#43
Nashrakh said:
Your post really speaks to me as someone who has fiddled around with their sound for years. I'm at my wits end to get a consistent tone anywhere I go, and whatever I sound I build at home never seems to translate that well (and I've tried everything - from a modern hifi sound to P bass with flats).

Now here's the kicker: I am willing to lower my expectations - but apparently, others are not. Which puts me in a bad spot sometimes. In one band, I'm constantly struggling with the room acoustics and a band that masks all kinds of frequencies, but the band leader just doesn't get it.
Click to expand...

I never struggled, but I will say having a high pass filter (and a low pass filter) really opened up 'eyes'. I can dial out mud or crispy top end now and it has really made different in maintaining a decent tone wherever I'm playing.
 
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#48
IanStephenson said:
It's 2022 - FoH and Monitoring have transformed even in the last 10 years. Bass amps are so old fashioned! Why do you need to be loud?

If the sound out of the DI is the sound you love, then send that to the FoH and be happy. Put the cash into IEM's don't look back - perfect sound every time.
Click to expand...

Cue OP's new "I hate all earbuds" thread.

:wacky:
 
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#50
In 2022, you don't need one.

Get a good audio interface and run DI into a computer. Use zero-latency plugins (such as ableton stock) to sculpt a signal chain with exactly the frequency characteristics, saturation flavors, and so on that you want. Run it back out to a PA system when performing.

Sculpt multiple chains, even. Make a bunch of preset chains. Drag n drop them as you please, have a controller to switch between them as needed.

No more being stuck with one amp's specific non-linearities, a cab's weird resonances, all the headache of mic selection & positioning. No more spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on gear. The best part is if you want that imperfect sound of a 'real amp' there are plenty of distortions modelling specific amps, & impulse responses that capture a specific cab's wacky frequency response you can just drag and drop in.

The expensive 'human brain like shiny expensive object, me no want touch computer' equivalent of this would be going with a tone profiling amp like a Kemper. Or some of the pedals out there that do the same.
 
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#52
Wasnex said:
"Lower your expectations!" IMHO this is really an essential thing to do if you plan to be a professional musician. It typically ranges from difficult to impossible to get a good live bass sound IMHO. But there are occasional gigs where you get an accidental gestalt and the sound is near perfect. People frequently draw false assumptions from these experiences. The attribute it to whatever amp was provided in the backline. But in reality they just got really lucky.
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0000_1.jpg


in the meantime, @Savoury Salmon, practice a lot! --- by the time you find an amp that you can live with = you'll be good enough to get the most from it! ;) good luck! :thumbsup:
 
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#53
Savoury Salmon said:
I’ve been playing bass for 15 years now, and I can’t say I’ve loved an amplifier. I have no complaints about my bass, strings, tuner, compressor and other effects, but amplifiers? I dislike them all.

My first amplifier was an Eden World Tour. It worked for the time, the late 90s and early 00s, but I’d sooner wear a bucket hat and oversized jeans with a chained wallet before going back to that hi-fi ton of brick.

The GK 700RB-II sounded like a sterilized scalpel falling on the tiled floor of an operation room. It stripped away all that made basses sound different from one another and made them sound all similarly clean. Loud. And growly when pushed.

The Mesa WD-800 seemed to have everything. Build quality, warranty, HPF, tube, etc. But it had that sort of gritty baked-in tone I disliked and couldn’t get rid of.

I’ve played through an Aguilar Tone Hammer 700, but I hate the drive circuit. I know you can turn it off, but I can’t get my bass loud enough without turning in some of the gain.

I’ve hated every SVTs and SVT preamp pedals I’ve played through. But I recently needed a preamp DI and after comparing the two Origin Effects BassRigs, I went home with the Super Vintage, certain it would’ve been the 64 Black Panel.

Output and blend at 6 o’clock, drive at 8, bass and mid (800) at 2, treble at noon and the switch in the ultra hi position, it’s the best tone I’ve ever had.

So, now what? Should I try playing that setup through a power amplifier or will the pedal not drive it?

Should I get the new GK and hope the pedal over-colours the GK?

I heard the Aguilar AG700 was like a clean Tone Hammer. Maybe I’d like it, and, if not, maybe the SV can over-colour it?

Any other suggestions? Help!

(I’m not trying to be a pessimist here. Thousands of people love their Mesa, GK and Aguilar. There’s nothing wrong with any of them. They’re just not for me.)
Click to expand...
I along with many others believe the Speaker cabinets are critical. Ever try something out at the store that sounds great then on the gig you sound buried? For me cabinets that are totally transparent are important you need mids to project. I cant stand amps and cabinets that have loads of low end they sound like mud 30 feet away. I tried a Demeter Pre Amp when they first came on the market and thought it was the closest thing to the sound of my bass ever, it was totally uncolored. I don't know if that preamp is still available although they come up used from time to time. Euphonic Audio was another company that had some Transparent amps and cabs. It really depends on the sound you are going for. Name a sound and the people here can point you in the direction.
 
#58
OP says a lot of the gripes I have with a lot of bass amps - I don't like SVTs, I don't like most drive circuits, I like it clean but not sterile, etc.. I do like Fenders, mostly, it's a lot of baked in tone, but I find it to be a range of tones that I like and can easily work with on all of my instruments (including DB and EUB). Aside from that, you may want to check out the DB side's discussion of amps (specifically where DBers are looking for amps to double on BG). Genz, Epifani, Bergantino, Acoustic Image, Quilter (with or without preamp) and even Hartke and Fender get a fair amount of love over there. Maybe that's the universe of tones that you are looking for.
 
#59
Savoury Salmon said:
I’ve been playing bass for 15 years now, and I can’t say I’ve loved an amplifier. I have no complaints about my bass, strings, tuner, compressor and other effects, but amplifiers? I dislike them all.

My first amplifier was an Eden World Tour. It worked for the time, the late 90s and early 00s, but I’d sooner wear a bucket hat and oversized jeans with a chained wallet before going back to that hi-fi ton of brick.

The GK 700RB-II sounded like a sterilized scalpel falling on the tiled floor of an operation room. It stripped away all that made basses sound different from one another and made them sound all similarly clean. Loud. And growly when pushed.

The Mesa WD-800 seemed to have everything. Build quality, warranty, HPF, tube, etc. But it had that sort of gritty baked-in tone I disliked and couldn’t get rid of.

I’ve played through an Aguilar Tone Hammer 700, but I hate the drive circuit. I know you can turn it off, but I can’t get my bass loud enough without turning in some of the gain.

I’ve hated every SVTs and SVT preamp pedals I’ve played through. But I recently needed a preamp DI and after comparing the two Origin Effects BassRigs, I went home with the Super Vintage, certain it would’ve been the 64 Black Panel.

Output and blend at 6 o’clock, drive at 8, bass and mid (800) at 2, treble at noon and the switch in the ultra hi position, it’s the best tone I’ve ever had.

So, now what? Should I try playing that setup through a power amplifier or will the pedal not drive it?

Should I get the new GK and hope the pedal over-colours the GK?

I heard the Aguilar AG700 was like a clean Tone Hammer. Maybe I’d like it, and, if not, maybe the SV can over-colour it?

Any other suggestions? Help!

(I’m not trying to be a pessimist here. Thousands of people love their Mesa, GK and Aguilar. There’s nothing wrong with any of them. They’re just not for me.)
Click to expand...

Did you try any other offerings from Mesa?
Maybe the WD alone isn't for you. Did you twist any knobs, or leave everything straight up..
If you're set on the Origin effects pedal, grab a used Mesa D800, and run it through the aux in.. then actually try the D800.. it's a great amp. There's not a bad sound in it.
 

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