I have been an old Ampeg 70s-80s rock guy playing mostly southern rock. Recently the lead guitar player retired due to health reasons and the band wants to switch about 50% of the music to dance such as Prince, Billy Idol and Beatles. The keyboard player tells me I need to get a cleaner sound with more pedals and even some electronic sounding stuff. I run a pair of PF500s into Ampeg 410s and rarely any pedals. I suppose I can bypass the preamp and get some newer pedals. I sill feel the Ampeg will do the job but before I spend weeks researching this, are there any top of mind suggestions for me?
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Need to play more dance music
- Thread starter madurolover
- Start date
Sounds like your best bet would be a multi effects unit like a Zoom B3 or MS60B. There is a learning curve to these types of units but it at least will give you the ability to experiment with a wide range of effects. Lots of satisfied users and suggested settings in this forum to help you out, and they pop up regularly in the classifieds.
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Figure out what sounds you'll lack, what you want to get, then go from there. This kind of open endness can make for a entire thread saying "oh you need this" or "YOU MUST GET 'xxx' PEDAL!!!!"
I didn't think about that. I will am working through the songs right now and for me it sounds fine but I am soo used to hearing Ampeg I don't know any better. I will youtube some covers and maybe it will stand out.
OP: Not sure if you need pedals for the artists mentioned, a LOT of their stuff can be done using your hands, technique, and tone controls on your bass.
Went pedal-less for decades but in 2006 got drafted into a cover band that is all over the map. Although a Line 6 BassPODXTLive has served for over 500 shows, there are better(?) now(a 500 HD sits in a box since December waiting to be its replacement.....no time yet). The KEY things are to identify what "bass tones" and "pedal tones" you have to have and then get a unit to program easily-switched patches.
Examples of "have to haves" here got by tweaking Line 6 factory patches for hours:
1) No-treble bass tone for older songs and upright simulation(starting with Acoustic 360 sim)
2) Dirt tone for Cream covers & similar(started with "Sunshine" patch)
3) Flanger patch (started with SVT patch and added Jet Flanger sim)
4) Cut through patch: makes almost any bass sound like a Ric/Jazz bass on steroids(started with SVT patch, added extreme EQ, and boosted the DRIVE). Drummer loves this patch, guitarists sometimes get upset.
5) Octave down patch: makes a 4 string able to be used as a 5 string in a band setting.
6) Good old SVT sound(started with SVT factory setting and fixed it)
Note: all of the above are also copied into other channels where reverb and/or echo effects can be added. Very slight reverb is useful in dead rooms on certain songs.
You will learn a lot if you go to a bass multipedal(and get frustrated at times) OR you can buy separate pedals that you need(less than instantly changing sound).
My 2 cents.
Went pedal-less for decades but in 2006 got drafted into a cover band that is all over the map. Although a Line 6 BassPODXTLive has served for over 500 shows, there are better(?) now(a 500 HD sits in a box since December waiting to be its replacement.....no time yet). The KEY things are to identify what "bass tones" and "pedal tones" you have to have and then get a unit to program easily-switched patches.
Examples of "have to haves" here got by tweaking Line 6 factory patches for hours:
1) No-treble bass tone for older songs and upright simulation(starting with Acoustic 360 sim)
2) Dirt tone for Cream covers & similar(started with "Sunshine" patch)
3) Flanger patch (started with SVT patch and added Jet Flanger sim)
4) Cut through patch: makes almost any bass sound like a Ric/Jazz bass on steroids(started with SVT patch, added extreme EQ, and boosted the DRIVE). Drummer loves this patch, guitarists sometimes get upset.
5) Octave down patch: makes a 4 string able to be used as a 5 string in a band setting.
6) Good old SVT sound(started with SVT factory setting and fixed it)
Note: all of the above are also copied into other channels where reverb and/or echo effects can be added. Very slight reverb is useful in dead rooms on certain songs.
You will learn a lot if you go to a bass multipedal(and get frustrated at times) OR you can buy separate pedals that you need(less than instantly changing sound).
My 2 cents.
Dance music like Billy Idol and The Beatles? So if something's faster than Freebird it's dance music?
I'm not sure you need any special bass sounds for that, apart from stringing a bass with flats for the Beatles stuff.
I'm not sure you need any special bass sounds for that, apart from stringing a bass with flats for the Beatles stuff.
I think you nailed it, no more Freebird but Twist and Shout, Saw her standing there, hold your hand, 1999, Mony Mony, Dancin with your self - out is Freebird, simple man, sweet home, dreams i;ll never see, one way out, This is audience changing but I will try it. Mustang Sally is back in and Old time rock and roll. The key here is no more lead so they want me to run more of the lead fills. I have been interested in what a picalo bass could do.
Thanks I am looking for a used XT Live, The HD says guitar but I assume bass too
That was my reaction... get some pedals to get a "cleaner" sound? If the gain on your ampeg rig is up, you'll get some grit in the tone anyway. Just clean it up using less gain. You certainly don't need pedals for the Beatles or Billy Idol (Billy Idol, you actually would put the gain back in, I would think). For funkier stuff, like Prince, you might still just go clean, depending on what song, or you might want an octaver or an envelope filter.
Your rig should be just fine. I would recommend to not use Flatwoods strings, if you do, and maybe something like a Jazz Bass or Musicman as opposed to a PBass to get the definition mentioned. I sense that your guitar player is clueless about bass equipment.
Pedals are mostly useless for the type of music you mentioned.
Pedals are mostly useless for the type of music you mentioned.
Do you want to go in this direction? Sounds like a lot of responsibility has been placed on you. Tell the keyboard player to get a new synthesizer. Tell them you'll split the cost of an ad in the classifieds for a new guitarist. It'll be cheaper than buying a bunch of new pedals, figuring out how to use them, finding the right settings and how to change between them quickly during gigs. Get used to your new pedal arrangement under poor stage lighting conditions, too. Now, are you sure you want to do this? Maybe you should try to find a band that suits your needs rather than trying to squeeze into a mold. If you're willing to go through this aggravation, try using your current rig, just turn your amp up a bit louder and boost the treble a notch. Works wonders. Compression and a flanger or phase shifter sound okay, maybe an envelope filter for funky '70's type stuff, but don't break the bank on effects you may not use or need. Best of luck to you.
Are you getting paid an extra cut for this extra workload? Sorry to be so obnoxious, but it sounds as if you're getting porked.
I guess we hope that the change will give us more options since Southern is limited to fewer venues. The last gig everyone wanted ACDC and Metallica, and before that people were leaving because there was nothing to dance to. Gimee three steps is about dancing but not really a song people dance to so we are trying some changes.
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If you do get BPXTLive, for long life:
1) Carry a spare walwart in case venue power fries one(low voltage got me and the keyboardist one night, venue wiring was a direct electrical code violation, now we have RED LED voltmeters on our feeds)
2) If it gets rained on, shut it off, go to plan B(direct into your amp?), and dry it out over a day or 2 with the bottom plate off. Works fine after that. I carry a SansAmp Programmable BDDI as a backup after that experience(set up with SVT tone, no treble tone, and cut through tone).
No matter which way you decide, IF you get any of the current crop of multifx pedals it will make you better(push yourself outside your safe zone) and allow you to be a tone chameleon and change your sound instantly, even during a song(i.e. use the cut through patch for a solo and then back to "normal" patch).
IF you do go this route be advised that in the future when you see other bassists who keep the same tone all night, you may find yourself getting bored with their sound......unless the player has a killer tone(Geddy Lee's live tone and many of the solo'd bass tones, even Freebird, are non-boring).
1) Carry a spare walwart in case venue power fries one(low voltage got me and the keyboardist one night, venue wiring was a direct electrical code violation, now we have RED LED voltmeters on our feeds)
2) If it gets rained on, shut it off, go to plan B(direct into your amp?), and dry it out over a day or 2 with the bottom plate off. Works fine after that. I carry a SansAmp Programmable BDDI as a backup after that experience(set up with SVT tone, no treble tone, and cut through tone).
No matter which way you decide, IF you get any of the current crop of multifx pedals it will make you better(push yourself outside your safe zone) and allow you to be a tone chameleon and change your sound instantly, even during a song(i.e. use the cut through patch for a solo and then back to "normal" patch).
IF you do go this route be advised that in the future when you see other bassists who keep the same tone all night, you may find yourself getting bored with their sound......unless the player has a killer tone(Geddy Lee's live tone and many of the solo'd bass tones, even Freebird, are non-boring).
Its kind of like a Getty Lee thing, we don't want to spend a year getting a new lead going so we are working out new parts for all to step up. I may try a piccolo bass to add more guitar like tone for a few songs. Some guitar lead fills will fall on me and its ok on a full bass but it would bee much easier on smaller scale. I tried a guitar and that will take some getting used to. We have had a few headcase leads over the years and we would have more fun if we can tighten up with just the four of us. My money is on getting a lead in the future but that also may mean learn a lot more new songs that they know.
Funny. I was expecting All About that Bass or Uptown Funk to be mentioned.. Dance music???
Both were mentioned as potential songs - but it would be like Johnny Van Zant singing them. Maybe Wrecking Ball? Mostly 50 year old women in these clubs
EdwardofHuncote
I Still Dream of Jeannie
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Way to step up OP. Though I can't advise you in this matter, I salute your efforts toward making something work better.
Prince, Billy Idol, and the Beatles are dance music???? I though this thread would be asking for advice on the best bass for that electro crap. Well anyways I was going to say "get a syth".......
