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Looking to enhance sterile bass

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Drop1

Mar 28, 2019
1,601
1,796
#1
This bass us very sterile but also has a lot of basst/low mids.

I'd like to fatten up the sound a good bit and ge thighs sparkling.

I have tons of software plug ins. I can get a quite an acceptable tone in the box. I have too many bass enhancing plugs, plus sims and all kinds of saturation.

I'm also tempted to just use a laptop instead of pedals . It would definitely give me crazy amounts of options.

Are the any plug ins you guys love to make fstter bass and sweeter highs?
 
#2
none of my basses are particularly "sterile" sounding on their own, but I get great results for tracks as well as live by using a 1176 based comp (Cali76CB) and a tube DI (Noble). I also use the Tech21 VT stuff for more Ampeg-ish sounding stuff. Besides great sounding compression, the Cali76 adds a nice upper mid thing (sparkle/presence). The Noble is pretty flat with the EA turned down, but the tone controls and HPF are very useful tone shaping tools too. The VT stuff has a very wide range of tone adjustments between the EQ and Character controls.

I'm guessing most of this stuff has been modeled in software. I know the Noble has for sure, and I'm guessing the VT stuff has been too .... along with the real thing Ampeg amps/cabs.

lots of possibilities

good luck!
 
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#4
silky smoove said:
If the bass sounds bad, start with the bass itself rather than addressing things in post.
Click to expand...
I didn't mean to post this thread. I figured the fx tread would have been a better place but must have clicked post when trying to back out of this one.

I "could" mess with the electronics but that's a rabbit hole. I have a John east uni pre which is why the bass is super clean and nord big singles.

I dont want to start down a road of trying a bunch if different pre amps being that I don't know which ones I'd like. Pre pedals on the other hand are eailey bought and sold or returned without altering them or having to constantly open the bass up. I think that would be an easier better option..

I'm not looking for anything crazy. Some more texture and harmonics in the highs is most it it. I think most pedal pres these days can handle that.
 
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#6
Drop1 said:
I "could" mess with the electronics but that's a rabbit hole. I have a John east uni pre which is why the bass is super clean and nord big singles
Click to expand...
It doesn’t have to be electronics changes. Try different strings, adjust the setup, alter your playing technique to better achieve the tone goals. All of these things are more potent than a post processing change.
 
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#7
silky smoove said:
It doesn’t have to be electronics changes. Try different strings, adjust the setup, alter your playing technique to better achieve the tone goals. All of these things are more potent than a post processing change.
Click to expand...
I try new strings at least twice a month. I main fsr beams but always am looking for the next better thing.
 
#10
Drop1 said:
Just wanting to fatten up my finger style sound and eq alone isn't doing it.
Click to expand...
Technique is the usual answer with clients at my studio. No one ever wants to hear it, but if you want a fatter tone the first place to look is your technique. The good news is that it’s free. The bad news is that it takes work.
 
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#11
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Drop1 said:
Just wanting to fatten up my finger style sound and eq alone isn't doing it.
Click to expand...
i think silky smoove is your huckleberry! ;)
 
#13
I don’t know if a soft version of one exists, but when I owned an AI amp for my DB and EUB, I used an Aguilar
Tone Hammer when I played BG through it.
With a touch of over drive and the voicing of the TH, the “clear, natural sound” went away.
 
#14
I got rid of my practice cab and bought a 210 fender rumble.

To put it plainly, this thread can get closed.
There is NOTHING wrong with my bass. It sounds frigging GORGEOUS.

My old cab made me think the bass sounded bad.
I even have studio monitors thay make the bass sound way darker than it is though the rumble.
1 cab ans 2 sets of monitors had me thinking something had to be wrong with the bass, but three isn't anything wrong. It's prefect. I couldn't ask for a better sounding instrument for my taste.
It's got solid low end and layers of beautiful, bright harmonics I couldn't even hear from my old cab and can't hear on the monitors without cutting a TON of low end and boosting highs.
 
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#15
Sounds like you found the solution! Though reference monitors that give you a lopsided sound like that may be the next thing to upgrade. I've got some Yamaha HS7s in my setup, and they aren't shy about socking my ears with high end if it's present. Alternately, you could have some acoustic treating, monitor position changes, etc to look into if your room is giving you problems with even response from the monitors.

I know this is old but these experiences are things we'll all want to share/read about at times.
 

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