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novice bass player seeking technical tips on good sound...

X

xobey

Jan 24, 2021
5
10
#1
25+ year guitarist here and somewhat long time tb nonmember reader. i respect this community so i though i'd ask a completely dumb question here.
i bought my first bass (an old 1pu p-bass) recently because i really want to have some better understanding of it as an instrument. i filled in on bass in garage/thrash bands (read: when volume was preferred to tone) and bluegrass (read: acoustic & simple repetitive 3 or 4 note patterns repeated ad infinitum with no fills) so i'm not new to the instrument per se, but i've just never owned any bass/b-gear before. i can't really play bass, which is what the point is: to work on right-hand finger technique and learn to think about jazz harmony from the low-end.

so: i'm fortysomething now with other financial responsibilities but don't have money to spend on even a dedicated practice bass amp anytime soon. i'm after some kind of full and clear natural tone.

the tone of the bass plugged in to my guitar amps (marshall jtm 60 1x12, mesa boogie tremoverb 2x12 which have fantastic cleans for guitar) is atrocious. by which i mean something like: the low end is either too loose or mid-centered, and the highs seem way too shrill, even with the treble rolled off and turning knobs on the amp every which way.
bypassing the guitar preamp sections and just using the power amp sounds a lot better, but just playing through my wife's old TV soundbar+sub setup is a lot closer to what i'm looking for.

my internal conversation sounds like:
"obviously, guitar preamps sound terrible since the freq. response is centered in the wrong range. bypassing the preamp give a much flatter response. the soundbar is meant to separate lows & highs so the tone you're after is probably mid-scooped(?).
"
my question is really begging some tips or feedback/perspective from more knowledgable bass players for getting natural sounding bass.
clearly, there are technique related things i'm working out (step #0 was not hitting the strings so *$%^ hard) , but this question is mostly on the gear/eq end. thanks.
 
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#2
Generally, a scooped eq sounds great solo, but is not what you want with a band (referred to as a bedroom tone).

Also, guitar speakers/cabs are not designed for bass response.

I'm guessing being an experienced guitarist, you have a decent idea how to attack the strings. Hate to say it, but a bass cab will make a huge difference
 
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#4
Mid scoop is fine, pretty traditional bass EQ. Amps/cabs are great, but you might consider running through something like a Bass POD or similar and into headphones/speakers. I have rarely used an amp in the past 8 years or so. Not that I have the greatest tone in the world or anything, but everything I've ever recorded was DI, so I tend to just use DI all the time for practice, etc.
 
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#6
If you want it to sound more like a bass, then run it through a proper bass rig. Not only will a 6-string rig have an unfortunate frequency and volume response for a bass, you’re also running the risk of damaging those 12” guitar drivers with any kind of loud or low-frequency drive.
 
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#8
Sell one of your Guitar amps and buy a Proper Bass amp:D

There should be plenty of decent used practice amps for about $100 from the likes of Fender, Ampeg, Behringer, Hartke, Orange, Eden and the like.

I had a Yorkville/Traynor Bassmaster XM 50 bought for $125 awhile back and used it for Rehearsal and Small gig's with fairly loud band with hard hitting drummer.
 
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#10
Guitar preamps can sound great depending on the sound you want—I prefer my Mesa V-Twin for recording bass direct—but guitar speakers and cabs just can’t handle the low end of bass. If you’re in the US, you can buy solid old US Peavey combos for under 100 USD all day that’ll do the job, or even just a cab if your guitar combos have speaker outs and a way to disconnect the internal speaker(s). ~50 watts won’t get nearly as loud with bass, but plenty loud enough for your purposes.
 
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#11
i was definitely not considering the aspects of cabinet design. thanks y'all for that input.
it's good to be reminded of the risk of damaging speakers too, which i wasn't thinking about either since i'm not driving anything that hard, but low freqs do carry a lot more energy. spending some cash on a bass amp to get the job done is preferable to replacing a v30 (or two). glad i asked, and glad i read these responses before i broke something.
 
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#12
If you're constrained at present by having to use guitar amps, something you might like to try - to see if it improves your sound - is a simple muting set up. It will cut unwanted overtones, give you a stronger fundamental to the notes you play, and stop sympathetic vibration on the strings that aren't being played. Those things alone will make your bass sound better. I use a strip of foam rubber under the bridge cover of my P bass fitted in such a way that it lightly touches the strings. If you don't have a bridge cover, just insert a piece of foam under the strings instead. The key is to not dampen the strings TOO much, but just enough to cut the harmonic overtones. Experiment with it - you'll see what I mean. Good luck

EDIT: P.S. It'll sound even better when you can get your hands on a bass amp/cab
 
#14
As you notice, guitar amps are atrocious for bass, even at practice volumes. You should have a bass amp in order to understand what’s coming out of your bass playing. Sub-$100 bass practice amps are all around and they’re very serviceable for what you need. Check craigslist, local bulletin boards (online and literal), ebay, reverb, word of mouth, et al. and you’ll find lots of listings for little amps like these in the $25 - $60 range: Ampeg’s BA-108, Fender’s Rumble 15 or Rumble 25, Hartke HD15, Vox Pathfinder 10, Peavey Max 126 and more. Unless you’re planning on performing live with it or you have a premature fixation with “my tone,” any of these and others will serve you well.
 
#15
You definitely need a bass amp, even if you pick up a cheap combo from the second hand market. If you don't do that you will likely learn bad technique. The basis of decent bass tone is light touch, and to achieve that you need to let the amp do the heavy lifting. It needn't cost a great deal. Of course, some guys like to dig in, but that should be a choice, not a response to bad gear
 
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#18
PJ Muzikmansky said:
If you're constrained at present by having to use guitar amps, something you might like to try - to see if it improves your sound - is a simple muting set up. It will cut unwanted overtones, give you a stronger fundamental to the notes you play, and stop sympathetic vibration on the strings that aren't being played...
Click to expand...

That is a perfect suggestion and significantly cleaned things up right away. I'd though that was just done (w/ more damping than you're suggesting) to get a good thump with quick decay on the attack. i've done similar things on a guitar nut for high-gain/shreddy stuff, but *never* considered it at the bridge to tighten/improve clarity of the fundamental notes. Thanks.
 
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#19
xobey said:
That is a perfect suggestion and significantly cleaned things up right away. I'd though that was just done (w/ more damping than you're suggesting) to get a good thump with quick decay on the attack. i've done similar things on a guitar nut for high-gain/shreddy stuff, but *never* considered it at the bridge to tighten/improve clarity of the fundamental notes. Thanks.
Click to expand...

No worries mate. I use it all the time. Works a treat for getting a good thump AND dealing with overtones. Palm muting is good too, especially when used with a pick
 

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