Old Gear vs. Modern Bass Tech

[Bar Band Bassman]

Class D amps and Neo drivers: The universe's reward to bassists who survived lead sleds and refrigerator cabs! Don't miss the old stuff AT ALL. My main basses now are active or active/passive, except my fretless, which is passive, but they're all "modern" designs (post-1980). Still love the old classics (and not-so-classics) but I don't need a '50's P-bass, a Vintera or Squier is hunky dory.

BBB

 

[coyote1]

Like vintage basses but I will take a hard hard pass on vintage electronics/amps. That stuff is for guitarists

I’m one of those who finds graphic EQ at the amp incredibly useful for bass. So while I don’t need to harken back to the old Ampeg-Sunn days, I do like the Hartke and Carvin (and Crate!) amps of 20 years ago. The Crate has its own character that is great for mic’ed upright, while the Hartke and Carvin amps have loads of clean moldable power.

 

[Thunderthumbs73]

Do you prefer classic, vintage basses and amps, or the latest modern tech? I’m curious how people balance nostalgia, tone, and playability in their setups.

somebody's posting a lot of "old vs new" threads

Yeah, I know. As if old vs new is the only decision point or the most important one.

 

[SC Bassboy]

Older amplifiers in good condition still sound great at a discount. I do actually prefer older "lead sled" amps because they hit harder (IMO) than Class D. With basses, it can go either way. New is fine, vintage and collectable is preferred.

 

[Thunderthumbs73]

Do you prefer classic, vintage basses and amps, or the latest modern tech? I’m curious how people balance nostalgia, tone, and playability in their setups.

I don't think old versus new is either A.) Always the only "this or that" paradigm for everyone, and, B.) Always the most-important paradigm for everyone.

There are people who prefer "older" stuff but a strong incentive if not requirement to gig newer stuff for some reason. And surely there are people that prefer "newer" stuff, but don't quite have the funds, or space or situation to upgrade and/or let go of "older stuff".

Purchasing and even preferring psychology is usually a LOT more complex than "A or B / This or That"...

 

[Thunderthumbs73]

Do you prefer classic, vintage basses and amps, or the latest modern tech? I’m curious how people balance nostalgia, tone, and playability in their setups.

Really?

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Do you prefer classic, vintage basses and amps, or the latest modern tech? I’m curious how people balance nostalgia, tone, and playability in their setups.

You’re asking a 70 years old with a 30 year old PJ he’s had for the last 20 years playing through 20 year old Eden technology? I’m not sure any of this stuff qualifies as being vintage, but It isn’t exactly state of the art either. I’m at a point where I like my Eden gear a whole lot better than the classic vintage gear I played in the 60’s and 70’s. As for my PJ, this is a distinct improvement of the vintage PB on a number of different things.

As for the newer stuff, aside from weight, sound wise I haven’t heard enough of an improvement to justify the cost in assembling another performance rig.

 

[kodiakblair]

I’m curious how people balance nostalgia, tone, and playability in their setups.

Bit of both worlds.

Basses I go for 51 style single coil P-bass, tapes or flats; on occasion will add foam mute.

Amps. Happy with a preamp DI and IEM.

 

[LamarKafka]

I like the convenience and efficiency of modern stuff but my tastes lean more vintage - I ultimately just want stuff that works and will continue to work long after I'm done with it, whether it's a meticulously engineered piece of modern tech or something that could've been bolted together in the '50s.

 

[Pdaddy1978]

My tastes in instruments skews toward vintage. I just dig old basses.
Amps?...I can go either way. I like playing old ones, but if I had to rely on one to make a living, I probably go with new.

 

[J Wilson]

Aside from the classic SVT/810 rig (which, at 200+ lbs would be a hard pass for me, I can NOT imagine hoisting that head up on top of that 810; I could do it, but why would I want to . . . ), and my well-known sentimental soft-spot for OG Trace Eliott (which has aged past serviceability plus the weight of a stereo head, 2 410's and 2-115's, the mind reels . . . ), there's no bass rigs from my past (back to the mid 70's) I'd gig with today with the choices I have now.

Rarely were any of those 70's rigs an honest 200 watts, so we were often easily out-gunned in a day where you had to carry the room, PA was little past Shure Vocal Masters, or a couple Voice of the Theatres for serious PA. Then in the 80's as SWR, Trace, and others came in, we began to have more power, but a lot of those brands weren't everywhere like Peavey or Fender. You didn't see many SVT's back then between the originals and when St Louis Music legitimately brought them back in the early 90's. I ran component rigs with a preamp/power amp rack and JBL Cabarets, but again, heavy metal to move, but at least I could keep up finally with big clean power. But any and all of this was relatively low power before breakup, and was often heavy, I commonly ran 150# 2-15 cabinets (common back then) and once for a while, a 18" folded horn, almost as tall as me.

So no, I don't have the warm and fuzzies for any of that, except maybe the English Trace stuff, but it's way past being anything but a babied home rig, the parts are all gone for all intents and purposes.

I was never one for 'vintage' basses as in 50's or 60's Fenders and the sort of thing they sell at Gruhn's or Carter's or Rumble Seat. I am occasionally interested in things that are discontinued and will never come back, say a Roscoe Beck 5, a PBass Lyte, the original Hamer Cruise Bass, MIJ 80's Japanese basses, but these choices are mostly outside the typical 'vintage market'.

Living through these times and with a long trail of where I've come from and how far bass gear has come, for me there has simply NEVER been a time like right now, as to me the 'good old days' were a constant frustration of very heavy gear that often just couldn't keep up with out farting out, or taking two or three people to move, and far, far fewer choices in just about any item you can think of.

When I started out . . .

You either bought a professional instrument like a PBass or a Jazz, or some stamp catalog sled like an Airline, a Teisco, etc., just dreadful wastes of time and money. Nothing like Squiers or Sires, except maybe the little short scale Fenders, which weren't much better.

You could get a Peavey, a Fender, the occasional Ampeg, and a bunch of also-rans like Earth or other bass amps. All of these were often REAL optimistic in their published (if at all . . ) performance figures, and were often little more than guitar cabinets with a solid back. WTH, Fender sold the 215 Dual Showman cabinets for guitar OR bass, same cabinet. 215's were the sort of defacto norms, guys had folded 18's, the 10's and 12's cabinets were all for guitar, Trace and SWR had not come along yet. Underpowered and underweight, like an 80's Trans Am . . . .

Fewer choices for strings, mostly flats and tapewounds, with Boomers and these new English Roto's were the roundwound choices.

Bass pedals? Uh-huh . . . .

And we all had to use the Conn Strobe Tuners for quite a while until KORG and BOSS tuners became common.

Now, I can tune on my phone, I can throw a five pound 800w amp the size of a cigar box in a zipper bag over my shoulder, and 30 or 40# cabinets that would blow any of my old stuff through the wall.

No. Go back? Uh-Uh.

 

[bassfran]

Mostly modern stuff overall but I still like ceramic drivers in cabs. That'll likely change when my body dictates it because I'm not groovy enough now to have roadies. I do modular and portable if somewhat heavy but I will likely never own any lead sleds ever again.

 

[Peteyboy]

I just wanna mention that I used to rehearse with a guy who at rehearsal always plugged a drip coffee maker into the AC outlet on the back of his Musicman tube head. At 11PM.

 

[bitterminnows]

I just wanna mention that I used to rehearse with a guy who at rehearsal always plugged a drip coffee maker into the AC outlet on the back of his Musicman tube head. At 11PM.

I love that. Did it work?

 

[LiptonJigglers]

For me, my needs, conditions, playing style, are best served with vintage gear.


AMPS; It has been my experience that modern Class D simply does not replicate what I desire and many other musicians I play with, have made similar remarks.. they have requested my older gear, every time.

I find myself constantly messing with Class D preamp sections, trying to seek out a tone that simply is not there. I have come across this phenomenon with every Class D amp and only a few antiquated amps.

CABS; Predominantly I prefer older gear but occasionally, for big gigs and outdoor venues, I will use my early Neo CL152 Markbass cab. It is the only Neo cab ive enjoyed playing through.

PICKUPS and PREAMPS; A return to passive instruments and the good old DiMarzio DP122 and DP123 with adjustable poles and a 0.33 cap, just work wonders... I've tried modern hardware and I find it to harsh or to dull.

Below is what I use on a regular basis and it provides a deep, rich, warm, even, round, sound. Roughly 30-35 years old.

I guess im just not a fan of modern day bass tone.

 

[Peteyboy]

I love that. Did it work?

Yes - those old tube heads have an ungrounded AC outlet in the back. He just set the pot on his amp and drank black coffee during the whole rehearsal. But he was a guitarist; bass amps' vibrating would have you mopping up a hot mess.

 

[2thAche]

Both. Why do i have to choose one?

 

[ad9000]

I'll use anything that plays/sounds good and that is reliable enough for real world use, regardless of its age. I'm really in favor of keeping instruments maintained as well as possible.

I have newer basses but the oldest one, which I play often, is from 1962. The upright in the avatar pic was made in the 1920's, but it's had lots of work done over the years to make it playable by modern standards. It seems like it needs care every couple of years or more, but most of that has been relatively minor maintenance.

My main amp rig consists of a Demeter preamp from the early 1990's, a Demeter Minnie power amp that's about 18 years old and a Bergantino cabinet that's about 15 years old. I have more current amp gear, but I don't think it's necessarily any better than that rig.

I've heard and read lots of accounts recently about older amp gear with no replacements available for failing electronic parts (i.e. Walter Woods), so that scares me off owning anything that might be susceptible to that. I don't think my stuff is quite in that category yet.

 

[BassicJazzy]

All I remember about vintage amps was the buzzing from bad grounding and warm up times from the tubes, then too clean sounding solid state amps. Not to mention the lugging the beast around. I remember the vintage Voice of the Theater speaker cab that I could not hear on stage but the audience seemed to love. I also remember the warm full sound of the Ampeg monster tube amps with front-facing rifles speaker cabs, which I could never afford to own.

Vintage basses? I had a '71 Rick 4001. It was nice, but I wasn't a good enough player at the time to fully evaluate it. Now my most "vintage" bass is a '90 Fender Jazz Plus and I love that bass. For a fretted bass, it runs circles around my other basses, even though I don't use the Kubicki pre-amp.

I tried vintage Fenders and Gibsons back in the day, early 70's, and did not care for them for varying reasons. Neck too thick, tone too muddy, etc.

I have no experience on multi-scale or multi-string instruments so will stay silent on that.

I do love my Ibanez fretless, but that's not exactly modern.

 

[KidAmnesia]

somebody's posting a lot of "old vs new" threads

There's some irony in there about these new threads being vintage already.