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New to bass but loving it!

Eddie Jones

Eddie Jones

Sep 18, 2019
259
791
63
Sylacauga AL
#1
I am a hack guitar player. Realized I was never going to be the next Buckethead or Yngwie so I have turned to bass in order to channel my creative energies. I am a fat, bald, 59 (almost) year old rockstar wannabe. I recently acquired an LTD B-50 FM bass which surprisingly sounds and plays wonderfully. I was playing through a standard guitar amp and it was adequate. However, I just got a Peavey Basic 112 for $50.00 that although it is 25 years old, sounds great and so much fuller than the guitar amp did while playing bass. I know it is old and not very desirable gear but the amp and LTD B-50 are doing the job. Although the Peavey has a gain knob, it does not sound like it is adding any grind to the sound. Is there something I need to do to get the most out of this admittedly low end amp?
 
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#3
StevieMac said:
I cant help with that amp but welcome to the low end.
Click to expand...

What he said, except I'm going to try to help. I have (but am trying to unload) a Max 110. One thing about Peaveys, although bass amps aren't their forte, is they tend to have a lot of options for shaping your sound. It looks like the Basic has a bright switch and a -10 db gain switch. Don't be afraid to play around with those. And you also are a lucky ducky in having low and high mid knobs. Should be able to dial in something serviceable. Look around here for EQ settings—not necessarily specific to the Basic. Good luck on your tone journey—I'm just getting serious about it after years of playing flat.
 
#4
Eddie Jones said:
I am a hack guitar player. Realized I was never going to be the next Buckethead or Yngwie so I have turned to bass in order to channel my creative energies. I am a fat, bald, 59 (almost) year old rockstar wannabe. I recently acquired an LTD B-50 FM bass which surprisingly sounds and plays wonderfully. I was playing through a standard guitar amp and it was adequate. However, I just got a Peavey Basic 112 for $50.00 that although it is 25 years old, sounds great and so much fuller than the guitar amp did while playing bass. I know it is old and not very desirable gear but the amp and LTD B-50 are doing the job. Although the Peavey has a gain knob, it does not sound like it is adding any grind to the sound. Is there something I need to do to get the most out of this admittedly low end amp?
Click to expand...
I think your gonna need a bigger amp and it never ends. ;) Welcome to TB
 
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#6
Welcome to TB! Get a hat, wear untucked shirts or a jacket. Get rid of those baggy assed "relaxed fit" jeans they push on us old guys and get some regular fit, tight Levis. You're gonna be great! Look at my profile picture...I'm a fat, balding 67 year old Hahahaha!. Learn some cool grooves and have fun!
 
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#7
I posted in another thread how when I picked up the bass it all clicked. I know what to do. A modified floating thumb technique came naturally. And I can alternate pluck at 200 bpm and it is clean. I should have done this years ago. I am having fun again and look forward to playing everyday.
 
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#11
Welcome to TB! I play guitar also but my pronoun is bassist. Many of us also play guitar or another instrument.

Not sure what your gear goals are, how much you are motivated to buy stuff.
But there is a simple device called a high pass filter (HPF) that cuts very low frequencies. Many of us use it even with pro level bass gear. The HPF blocks frequencies you can't hear anyway so it effectively cleans up the deep end. The ultra low part of the signal is where your speaker and cabinet struggle mechanically and the result is that mud you hear. You'll find it sounds louder a d even lower in some cases, basically your speakers are more efficacious because the mechanical energy required is reduced. They are pretty low cost devices available in a pedal format. Some amps even have them built in.
 
#12
Eddie Jones said:
I posted in another thread how when I picked up the bass it all clicked. I know what to do. A modified floating thumb technique came naturally. And I can alternate pluck at 200 bpm and it is clean. I should have done this years ago. I am having fun again and look forward to playing everyday.
Click to expand...

I get that. For me and bass it was love at first sight. Welcome to your new family. TB is always happy to gain a new member. And most people here park their ego and 'tude at the door, so you don't get a lot of that nonsense you run into on other music sites. Just bass players helping their brethren in this our little ship of fools. I think you're going to like it here. Welcome aboard. :)
 
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#13
A high pass filter will help. It filters out the super low frequencies. The thing is, a more powerful amp used will cost the same as the filter. In time you may want to invest in a more powerful amp. Hartke makes so amazing amps that are reasonably inexpensive. The most important thing is to keep having fun with what ever you have.
 
#14
Welcome to Talkbass!!
In contrast to guitar amps, most bass amps' preamp sections are designed to stay clean with lots of headroom, even when equipped with separate gain and master volume knobs it can be hard to get them to crunch up.
(Not meaning to send you down a rabbit hole but...)
You will probably need to goose the input of your amp with a boost pedal to get some preamp breakup, but if you are getting a pedal anyway, you might as well use a dirt pedal in front and keep the amp running squeaky clean.
You can also fake some grit/attitude by plucking in the right place along the string and/or attacking the strings harder with fingers or pick...experimenting with where and how you pluck should be your first option to achieve different sounds.
Enjoy!!
 
#15
Eddie Jones said:
Although the Peavey has a gain knob, it does not sound like it is adding any grind to the sound. Is there something I need to do to get the most out of this admittedly low end amp?
Click to expand...

How do you have your EQ set? A big mistake many new players make is thinking that boosting the lows makes for better bass when what it usually does is just junk up your sound. The thing to keep in mind is that most of what's considered musically interesting in terms of sound are the midrange frequencies. So the bulk of your tone shaping should be be focusing on your mids rather than your bass or treble.

I'd advise setting your bass wide open for starters and leave your amp EQ set flat.

Your amp has 4-bands of EQ that appear to be boost only rather than boost and cut, which makes things a little more challenging but still doable.

Try plugging in, set your master to around 12 o'clock, then bring up your gain until you get a nice clean tone.

Next, start lightly boosting your high and low mids. Pay attention to how they interact and affect your sound. Find a base setting you like.

If you want a little more bottom try boosting bass next. I wouldn't go too high. Maybe 1 or 2 on the dial at most.

Next, you can add a little more presence and edge by gently boosting your treble setting. Like bass, a little goes a long way.

Last, start turning up your gain if you want to get a little more 'hair' on your sound.

Now that you've got a basic setting you can live with, experiment from there.

A couple of takeaways when it comes to bass amps:

  1. It's usually better to cut first and boost second. You'll almost always get a better sound. Since you seem to only have boost on your amp it's moot fir now. But it's still a good rule to keep in mind when you are using an amp that can do that.
  2. Go light on boosting regardless of frequency. Especially the bass settings. Cranking them won't make things sound more bassy. It'll just mud things up.
  3. Experiment. No two basses, players, or amps are identical. So view any suggestions for settings as just that - suggestions for where to begin. Not cosmic truths carved in stone.
  4. I saved the most important thing for last: USE YOUR EARS. Don't get hung up on dial settings or the received wisdom of sages. Listen critically to your gear and adjust things so that it sounds good. Above all, be sure to have fun. This isn't about heart surgery or anything else equally critical to life on this planet. It's just bass. It's music and meant to be enjoyed. Embrace it in all its silliness, keep an open mind, and don't be afraid to try different thing, and you'll do fine.
Hope you find some of the above useful on your journey. :)
 
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#16
40 Hz has good advice. For my personal taste, I really dislike it when I discover Youtube videos demonstrating basses and/or amps and the bass controls are set full open. I don't care for clank and treble when playing bass. For gigs, yes you need to have your instrument fit into the mix and cut through somewhat, but please - not full on treble. that's just my personal tone wish.
 
#17
I actually played last night and was pleased once I did some of the suggestions you guys gave. Cut bass to 2, boosted mids to flat, cut treble to 4. Boosted gain up and volume to about mid. Dialled in the volume on the bass and with a quick turn of a knob I had fairly serviceable grit and rolled back it cleaned up beautifully. I think I like cleans a lot better than distortion on a bass. Sounds more pleasing to me and by goosing the volume knob up, it puts just a touch of hair on the overall tone. I was thrilled with the tone I was getting...I sounded like a solid citizen of the land down under
 
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