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Natural Tone Vs. Effects
- Thread starter beast326
- Start date
I like the straight tone I get from my Ibbey ATK 300 going into my GK 1001RB going into a GK Neo 410. I like the tone I get of my mossed squier P going straight into my Ampeg B50R. I like the tone I get from both basses going straight into both my rigs. BUT, I love my effects too. Very much. I use a lot of dist/OD in the main band Im in and a preamp pedal (B7K) as well. It gives me so many tonal options for the music we play. IMO, it all depends on the type of music youre playing. If I was in a blues band I wouls probably only use an OD and maybe the preamp. I have to admit that the preamp I use helps make the dist/OD's and all the other effects I use sound a lot better and also gives them more character and flavor. My board consists of roughly 17 to 19 pedals and Im very happy with that. But again, if I was in a different type of band, my board, if I even had one considering Id probably only use a couple pedals, would def be cut down drastically.
yes, i did mean the really obvious effects. not the always on ones like: compressor, preamp/OD
i am also speaking in the context of "most songs" ... so that usually means, no phasers, chorus, octavers, reverb, delay, etc.
i haul a 7 pedal PT jr ... and i can play without it - enough proof that i dont really need those effects ... i just like having them
Yep, I figured as much
I will say that my B3K gave me the tone that has existed in my head for so long, combined with my amp(a very important part of the sound too).
So I don't see it so much as an effect, but more as one of the elements of my tone.
You need to try some effects that are on par with the rest of your gear to truly judge. I used to think effects always weakened my tone, but I really like what I have now. A Zoom is nice, but...
My P5 and Nordy VP5 sound great straight into the amp. Through a Darkglass B7K with the drive all the way down, I get an always-on tone that is amazing - oldschool tubey and modern grit all at the same time.
And, when I need a bit of additional "whomp", I stop on the Darkglass VMT, gives me added fatness and a bit of saturation.
Yeah, I'm a Darkglass fanboi. But there are many effects that can augment your tone while still leaving it sounding like a BASS.
My P5 and Nordy VP5 sound great straight into the amp. Through a Darkglass B7K with the drive all the way down, I get an always-on tone that is amazing - oldschool tubey and modern grit all at the same time.
And, when I need a bit of additional "whomp", I stop on the Darkglass VMT, gives me added fatness and a bit of saturation.
Yeah, I'm a Darkglass fanboi. But there are many effects that can augment your tone while still leaving it sounding like a BASS.
+ 1000
My guitarist has a zoom effects pedal as well, supposed to be one of the "nicer ones". To tell you how much I hate his, I just bought a Proco Rat 2 and EHX Small Clone that I will be practically giving to him to use indefinitely lol.
I had a Boss multi-effects board and it was pretty much a big ol' boat anchor in no time. It really and truly boils down to what YOU like best, but there are plenty of people who are in the camp of buying singles over a multi-effects board. Try getting some quality singles or analog effects and see how you like them. If they don't work in your music then so be it...I could only see myself using chorus and MAYBE vibrato in my current band (grunge rock). Fuzz or distortion is kind of a given, just depends on what amount of it needs to be there.
Well I def don't think there's anything wrong with only using a clean tone... I also don't think there's anything wrong with using a zoom pedal tho you would never catch me plugged up to one Im not much of a fan of any of the digitech pedals tho I've made good use of a few and boss isn't much better for distortions but bosses chorus and delays and stuff are good....
As far as pissing off guitarist well that makes sense if he or she wrote the songs ESP if they are verse chorus type comp.
But otherwise it's a taste and judgement call
I play psychedelic/experimental jazzy freak out rock if I wanna ride a flanger or slap back for an hour I can
I used to play with just me and a drummer I had stereo amps one with a synthwah envelope that I didn't turn off just changed settings per song the other was clean or sometimes with echo got alot of compliments at this shows....
It's just a matter of what's right for you and your band : )
As far as pissing off guitarist well that makes sense if he or she wrote the songs ESP if they are verse chorus type comp.
But otherwise it's a taste and judgement call
I play psychedelic/experimental jazzy freak out rock if I wanna ride a flanger or slap back for an hour I can
I used to play with just me and a drummer I had stereo amps one with a synthwah envelope that I didn't turn off just changed settings per song the other was clean or sometimes with echo got alot of compliments at this shows....
It's just a matter of what's right for you and your band : )
The only bass rig that has a "natural tone" is an unamplified acoustic. Everything electronic is creating and changing tone electronically: pickups, controls on your bass, pre and power amp, crossovers, speakers. As others have said, I think you just need to find effects that are more in line with the quality and nature of the rest of your rig.
That said, I'm gassing bad for a Big Spider.
That said, I'm gassing bad for a Big Spider.
elaborate on this high pass setup you mentioned please...that sounds quite interesting
I find that I can always turn effects off and return to my clean tone... so it doesn't really seem like an "either/or" kind of proposition to me.
You use a crossover filter to split your sound into a high frequency signal and a low frequency signal, apply effects to only the high frequencies, and then mix lows and highs together again.
That's it in a nutshell. I had to jump some hoops with phase matching. For indepth version search my posts.
Ive always preferred the sound of bass with overdrive. I also like being able to have my ready for recording tone comingout of bass processor. So, I;m in the prefers effects catagory. Main effects used is comp, overdrive, 8band eq, some ring mod, and little bit of room reverb.
I started out with a Digitech mutli-effects unit and started to feel exactly the same as you.
I got a Sansamp and felt like that for a while until I got to know it a little bit better. Now it is a great part of my tone. I also add some compression from Garageband haha.
Next will be a Darkglass B3K and then maybe a compressor. Still trying to pull every bit of "tone" out. That's really what I'm after.
I got a Sansamp and felt like that for a while until I got to know it a little bit better. Now it is a great part of my tone. I also add some compression from Garageband haha.
Next will be a Darkglass B3K and then maybe a compressor. Still trying to pull every bit of "tone" out. That's really what I'm after.
Unless your gonna drop serious coin on a multifx processor (like an Axe-FX II) stay away from digital drive/distortion effects. Most simply do not have the processing power to simulate the complexity of harmonic distortion, at least in a musically useful way.
Stick to analog drives/distortions for musical results. And stack em! (one after another in series). Stacking drives adds complexity to the harmonic distortion, not always great, but sometimes very cool.
Digital effects like chorus, reverb, delay, flange, tremolo, etc, can be found that do as good (sometimes better) a job as analog effects do.
This has been my rather extensive experience with effects.
My signal goes: bass > B3K > Submarine Designer (preamp) > amp > cab ... like most of the time, with other cool effects off and on when needed/wanted. Sometimes I click off the B3K for a 'clean' effect.
But for me, clean is an effect. And I must say, bass > amp is very satisfying to me, as my amp is raunchy as hell with the gain turned up. (see, even an amp is an 'effect').
Stick to analog drives/distortions for musical results. And stack em! (one after another in series). Stacking drives adds complexity to the harmonic distortion, not always great, but sometimes very cool.
Digital effects like chorus, reverb, delay, flange, tremolo, etc, can be found that do as good (sometimes better) a job as analog effects do.
This has been my rather extensive experience with effects.
My signal goes: bass > B3K > Submarine Designer (preamp) > amp > cab ... like most of the time, with other cool effects off and on when needed/wanted. Sometimes I click off the B3K for a 'clean' effect.
But for me, clean is an effect. And I must say, bass > amp is very satisfying to me, as my amp is raunchy as hell with the gain turned up. (see, even an amp is an 'effect').
Believe it or not, I am going for the PETER BALTES from ACCEPT tone on "Blood Of Nations" and I just about got it locked in. Peter's tone is UNREAL and unsure if he uses effects or not on Teutonic Terror. Besides that....it seems that no one really knows what amps he's using. It's one of those mysteries that is confusing the world of bassplayers worldwide. He's so secretive. LOL If anyone knows his "Current" amp setup would you please let me know? Geeeeez.!!! Rock On My Bottom End Brothers
beast, that tone is huge in that song.
If you listen, it is actually relatively close to that of old Iron Maiden, Metallica, or Megadeth.
Here's what I'm hearing:
P bass (P/J or Stingray or hum buckers might work)
Overdriven tube amp. Likely Ampeg but could also be Mesa, Orange, or many others.
The important thing is that it's very chunky, possibly tube-driven distortion.
I would definitely recommend looking at a Darkglass B3K or Vintage Microtubes. Another thing you could look into is the Sansamp VT Bass which emulates the Ampeg amp or the SansAmp Bass Driver DI which adds a lot of grind and can be used without an amp for recording or to go straight into the board.
Look around for some distortions. You probably want tube-based distortions. The other option is a tube-based compressor and/or simply a tube head if you don't have one. ovnilab.com has a ton of compressor reviews. As far as amps, there are so very many. I'm partial to Gallien Krueger or Mesa if I had more money. Gallien Krueger makes a nice "fusion" head that has a tube pre-amp section.
Also, strings and technique are going to be a good bit of it. Low action is good. New nickel or stainless steel strings. Pick may help but is not necessary (I hardly ever touch picks).
Hope this helped some.
If you listen, it is actually relatively close to that of old Iron Maiden, Metallica, or Megadeth.
Here's what I'm hearing:
P bass (P/J or Stingray or hum buckers might work)
Overdriven tube amp. Likely Ampeg but could also be Mesa, Orange, or many others.
The important thing is that it's very chunky, possibly tube-driven distortion.
I would definitely recommend looking at a Darkglass B3K or Vintage Microtubes. Another thing you could look into is the Sansamp VT Bass which emulates the Ampeg amp or the SansAmp Bass Driver DI which adds a lot of grind and can be used without an amp for recording or to go straight into the board.
Look around for some distortions. You probably want tube-based distortions. The other option is a tube-based compressor and/or simply a tube head if you don't have one. ovnilab.com has a ton of compressor reviews. As far as amps, there are so very many. I'm partial to Gallien Krueger or Mesa if I had more money. Gallien Krueger makes a nice "fusion" head that has a tube pre-amp section.
Also, strings and technique are going to be a good bit of it. Low action is good. New nickel or stainless steel strings. Pick may help but is not necessary (I hardly ever touch picks).
Hope this helped some.
