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Looking for a tone sweetener

#82
Update - As I mentioned in a post above, the main culprit was a subpar cable that was deadening the tone a bit. Switched to my 'gigging' cables and that got me most of the way to where I need to be. Ordered a Rattlesnake cable and it is very good, but at lower volume listening I can't say for sure that it's better than my Pig Hog cable. It is a very sturdy cable though, and it might actually accentuate the low mids and bass a hair more.

Tried some GHS balanced nickels and although they were great for rounds, I really missed the lower mid girth I get from my TI flats, so those are back on. I am just not a rounds guy. The only bass I have ever liked them on was a JMJ Mustang. I was impressed with the lack of string noise. They are the quietest rounds I have ever played.

I did go ahead and order an Origin Effects DCX Bass to try out. I am actually pretty happy with where my tone is now, but everything I have read makes me think this will make my tone a little better.

Thanks again to everyone for the suggestions!
 
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#84
NorthTexasBass said:
I am looking for a pedal that will open up my tone a little to put at the front of my chain. From what I have read, the DG Harmonic booster, DOD FX 10, and TC spark all may do this well.

I am running a P Bass with TI flats into a Two Notes ReVolt, with a chorus pedal and an original Empress Comp in the effects loop. I absolutely love the vintage dirt channel on the ReVolt but the clean channel seems to flatten my tone out a hair. (It does sound better than using no preamp and every other preamp I have tried though) I have tried the comp before, but it complements the ReVolt much better in the effects loop. I will probably be adding a Q Strip at the end of the chain for precise EQ on the mids. I did this before with my LeBass and liked the results.

I was thinking about going to rounds, but I love the tension and lack of string noise with the TI flats.

Just looking for something to give me that extra 5-10% of tone magic. Don't need something that will really color my tone too much or any distortion or OD.

Let me know your thoughts!
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It’s my opinion that almost all of these pedals that people claim to have that “magical special something” are really just subtly increasing the volume, or alternatively, subtly increasing the treble. In general, everything sounds better a little louder and/or a little brighter.

Before adding anything to your signal chain, first see what you can do to eliminate any points where tone suck might be introduced, and/or turn your amp’s volume and treble eq up a little bit. You might get everything you think you are missing out of simply using a shorter instrument lead.
 
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#85
REV said:
You may want to try a Broughton Hi pass / Low pass filter. I originally bought mine to add some more control to my sound in difficult environments (hard walls, hard ceilings) but I was pleasantly surprised at what it could do to my overall sound. It can remove some of what I don't want and leave what I do want.
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This needs to be amplified. (teh-heh) While in most situations, I’ve been OK without an HPF, I have been in some absolutely terrible rooms filled with boom and mud, and an HPF is just the ticket for cleaning up that mess. So, the next iteration of my bass pedalboard is definitely, after all these years, going to include an HPF.
 
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#86
amper said:
This needs to be amplified. (teh-heh) While in most situations, I’ve been OK without an HPF, I have been in some absolutely terrible rooms filled with boom and mud, and an HPF is just the ticket for cleaning up that mess. So, the next iteration of my bass pedalboard is definitely, after all these years, going to include an HPF.
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I am a huge believer in an HPF. I have almost always played with some type of HPF. I have used the Q Strip, Broughton HPF/LPF and the HPF in the Helix in the past. I bought the Broughton HPF last week, because I really don't need a LPF with my current setup.

My pickup and string choice can make things boomy and everything just sounds better with and HPF set somewhere in the 45-60hz range, with no audible loss of low end. I tried one gig without it and the stage sound was a flabby mess at those volumes. Plus, it seems to make pedals and amps/speakers/headphones sound better. Those frequencies that you can't really hear anyway tend to make equipment work much harder than it needs to.
 
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#87
amper said:
It’s my opinion that almost all of these pedals that people claim to have that “magical special something” are really just subtly increasing the volume, or alternatively, subtly increasing the treble. In general, everything sounds better a little louder and/or a little brighter.

Before adding anything to your signal chain, first see what you can do to eliminate any points where tone suck might be introduced, and/or turn your amp’s volume and treble eq up a little bit. You might get everything you think you are missing out of simply using a shorter instrument lead.
Click to expand...

Yep, I know I basically just need a slight upper mids/treble boost, the secret is getting something that sounds musical and not harsh. As we know, boosted frequencies don't sound as good or natural as cut frequencies.

As I said, the big part of the problem has already been solved with a better cable, but I have literally not read one bad thing about the DCX. I am going to see how it goes.
 
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#89
amper said:
It’s my opinion that almost all of these pedals that people claim to have that “magical special something” are really just subtly increasing the volume, or alternatively, subtly increasing the treble. In general, everything sounds better a little louder and/or a little brighter.
Click to expand...

IMHO, the added magical special something oftentimes has to do with saturation and added harmonics.

That's the way I have been using my TC Spark (in Fat or Mid mode) and the JIVE pedal.
 
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#92
Update on the DCX bass - I am loving this more and more every day. Just switched to rounds for a recording and this thing even sounds good with a pretty big treble cut. It seems to boost/cut a wider range of frequencies than the controls on my ReVolt, or really any other preamp I have used. And they seem to be the right frequencies without it ever sounding muffled or harsh. It's really hard to get a bad sound out of this pedal. It sounds cliche, but it really makes everything sound better.
 
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#93
five7 said:
I ordered one a month ago, curious how long it takes for JPTR to ship.
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I ordered mine direct earlier this year. It took a while to get and remember having to email them to see if they had an estimate shipping date. I did finally get it.

Interesting pedal. I’m really a low gain guy, so I usually use mine with no diodes on but the gain up around 1:00-2:00. Sounds great to me that way.
 
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