Overhyped Features You Just Had to Have

[bucephylus]

I'm still a holdout on the idea that a 12AX7 = SVT sound.


Which reminds me... modeling.

I know what you are saying, Brad; but then someone like Jim Bergantino turns out the B|Amp, which leaves us thinking sort of, "well, ok, maybe the idea was ok, but the implementation was having issues."

It is interesting how long some of the ideas take to become useful.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

Bass players tend to be a skeptical bunch; and I don't really recall any bass related gear being truly hyped, except maybe by over zealous manufacturers here and there. We do certainly get more what I would refer to as Buzz going on; and, yes, I recall some of that over things like neck through construction, graphite necks, etc etc. Most of that stuff has followed a pretty Darwinian path, where stuff that doesn't really work just tends to go away. The bass guitar is still a relatively new instrument. But, I am starting to feel like a lot of the problems have been solved.

As far as gear making the player better, I think @Dr. Cheese said it best:

The player makes the instrument, not the other way around. All a cat needs is a solid player instrument and 12 hours in the shed every day. The fancy gear is fun and all; but, it's kind of like dessert. The meat of the deal is the dedication, study, and work.

+100!

 

[tfer]

Frets.

The only time I play fretted now, is live. And even that is only about half of our tunes. When I'm practicing or playing at home, it's fretless.

 

[Chris76]

One of my BIGGEST reasons for wanting specific gear comes from watching my dad practice and play. Nothing beat when he plugged his RIC into his gk800rb and pushed air passed my body through his 215 peavy cab. I've always wanted to attain his gear and looking at prices, most likely never will. Which is ok by me. I learned a very valuable lesson on my road to my realization, 1 aside from the memories, I will never do the gear justice, and 2 the gear will never make me the caliber of player my father was. Does it mean I will stop my endeavor on the road to be the player he was? Of course not. It just took most of my twenties to get over the fact that my father was the musician he was because he worked hard at it, not because of his gear.

 

[mp40smg]

Active/passive switching.

I don't suppose you have ever had (an active bass) where the battery dies, or starts going during a show then..

 

[JimmyM]

I know what you are saying, Brad; but then someone like Jim Bergantino turns out the B|Amp, which leaves us thinking sort of, "well, ok, maybe the idea was ok, but the implementation was having issues."

It is interesting how long some of the ideas take to become useful.

We'll see

 

[Rugmaster]

100 different effects...

 

[bigtone23]

I happen to still own a TKO-80 (and a 75) too. And indeed have 2 of those TNT150s so 4 Peavey combos (and still browse classifieds for both a Combo 300 and a DataBass to add to my "anti-boutique" collection). All mine (including the TNTs) have Scorpion speakers. All of them have added cheapo' piezo tweeters and they all put most modern combos to shame. The live rig I use the most is the MS60B (using mostly the SansAmp emulation) into either one or both of my TNT150s. For me any amp is usable as long as it's dependable and gives lots of clean volume and enough EQ for easily adjusting to different rooms' acoustics. In that sense both Hartke (owned a first mosfet 3500 head -won't ever regret enough selling it- and my current 3500 -still a workhorse- with several cabs, now all gone) and Peavey (owned a MarkIII head, currently own the aforementioned 4 combos, plus a 410TVX+115BXBW cab stack) have been SUPERB to me, best bang for the buck there is. My sound, with OD crunch and all, is built at a prior stage (a preamp or emulating solution) and I sound as tubey as it gets on any amp, given it puts out lots of clean volume and has enough low end authority. I have more amp for less money than almost anyone I know (hardly more than 1000€ all in all, add some 400€ for my RBI and Zoom pedal). Not only that in terms of quantity/power/whatever, I also get to sound warmer, ballsier, thicker (yet tighter) than most bassists around. I was about to buy a Peavey VB-2 tube head at one point some 15 years ago (I loved it in fact, totally felt I had to have it). Fortunately I got the RBI and understood the preamp+clean loud amp path was the path for me. Saved me lots of money and proved a way better solution.

This is how I see the overhype of "updating your rig." Funny how I have come full circle where I started out on early 80s Peavey amps in the early 80s, traded it all off for bigger names and fads, only to come back to them now. I love my 1978 Century 100 head through a Scorpion Plus Peavey 115 or 68 Kustom 2x12". Easy to operate, raw in a good way, durable and fun! The built in distortion circuit crushes, it's worth the price of the head alone, which is priced like a pedal.

I've got one of those MB-1 preamps. I actually think it sounds really good. Unlike most preamps, it's genuinely very versatile. The compression and chorus sound great, and you can do pretty much whatever you want with the EQ and still get a good tone.
It's not as tricky to program as I had expected it to be...but it's a major PITA to adjust on the fly. That really limits its utility outside of a recording type of situation where you have time to fine-tune each preset.

This was part of my amp journey. The MB1 rig came right after trading off all my Peavey. I agree, it's a good sounding pre that gives you most everything one needs to build their tone. I really liked the comp, chorus and distortion circuits.
I would play one again, but it's will have to fall in my lap.

That's funny, one of the few 'musts' that have actually remained for me is an easily accessible truss rod adjustment.

True! Got a killer Squier CV 51 P neck here TB vs even considering a domestic neck since most Tele bass necks don't have adjustment up at the headstock.

 

[bucephylus]

We'll see

Sure. That's how it works. Data talks, BS walks.

 

[SideshowDom]

Used to be all about neck through and active electronics, like so many on here, not so much anymore. Also mahogany and ebony fretboards, I much more prefer All maple necks with ash or alder bodies. I'm still a sucker for mini toggle switches even if I don't need them, haha.

 

[mikeoso]

Sure. That's how it works. Data talks, BS walks.

Funny how that line gets stood on its head when we say, "you talk the talk, but can you walk the walk?"....just an oddity in our idioms. Never mind, carry on.

 

[bucephylus]

Funny how that line gets stood on its head when we say, "you talk the talk, but can you walk the walk?"....just an oddity in our idioms. Never mind, carry on.

Oh, yeah; DEFINITELY different phrases that happen to sound similar, but antithetical.

 

[BrotherRay]

+1.



Bubinga indeed!
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View attachment 1134272

Yeah, bubinga sounds good .But THAT Yamaha TRB behind it...THAT'S the one that got away. A 5 string, bolt on, 34" TRB. That and my Fender and I'd be. ....oh, who am I kidding - almost done.

 

[Daniel Piper]

Of course I have.

I don't suppose you have ever had (an active bass) where the battery dies, or starts going during a show then..

 

[AshInAmsterdam]

Used to be all about neck through and active electronics, like so many on here, not so much anymore. Also mahogany and ebony fretboards, I much more prefer All maple necks with ash or alder bodies. I'm still a sucker for mini toggle switches even if I don't need them, haha.

I had this kind of idea too with guitars - that a mahogany body and neck, glued on, twin humbuckers (but only ever use the bridge one). Based entirely on the fact that my first guitar was a TERRIBLE Encore Strat, and my second was a 1970s Gibson SG. The SG became my idea of the best guitars ever so everything I bought since was similar (Les Paul etc).

Thankfully I grew out of that phase and started enjoying all sorts of things.

 

[DigthemLows]

I couldn't agree more. If you're a collector, or just appreciate how cool rare old stuff is, I fully understand the desire for it. If you're going to claim that old Fenders are superior to new instruments machined to .005" tolerances with 50+ years of experience regarding electronics, shielding, fit/finish, structural evolution, etc... You're dreaming. Hell yeah, they're cool, but the fact is you can buy a better instrument than nearly all the old Fenders (and Gibsons, Rics, whatever) for like 3 or 4 bills, upgrade the electronics and hardware for another couple, and have 10 times the instrument that a 10,000 dollar vintage axe is.

Have you played, or owned any vintage basses. The ones that are left, have been played, are that way because they are amazing. I have NEVER picked up a New Fender Pbass that sounded or felt as good as my 73, or the 67 that I used to own.

Amen. I've never heard one that didn't sound cheesy and ridiculous, plus all that pain in the ass microphonic stuff makes them pretty well worthless in my eyes.

Ever played a Rob Allen? I used to think the same until I got one, they are amazing.

 

[BrotherRay]

I see where this thread is headed.
Anything more that a old Fender P-Bass is overhyped.

Nah. You can have my active Jazz when you pry it from my rigor mortised hands. I'd like to like a Precision, (I DID like sombody's P Sadowsky, but it's active), I like how it sounds when others play them, but I gotta have that "kth" Ken Smithy attack sound when your fingers kit the strings.

 

[BrotherRay]

In the early 90s it was graphic eq on amps and active electronics. .

I still miss the 10 band on my Hartke 3500 that I fried one day not paying attention to what I was doing. But i like playing with sound as much as playing bass. Gotta get that thing fixed one of these days.

 

[BrotherRay]

My guitarist friend says 24 frets is actually bad, because you want a pickup there. Is that guitar only?

That's where the magic Rickenbacker pickup is, more or less. And I love the way they sound. But almost nobody else (Gibson "mudbucker" comes to mind) seems to use that spot.

 

[Thegrandwazoo]

Have you played, or owned any vintage basses. The ones that are left, have been played, are that way because they are amazing. I have NEVER picked up a New Fender Pbass that sounded or felt as good as my 73, or the 67 that I used to own.



Ever played a Rob Allen? I used to think the same until I got one, they are amazing.

Oops. Yeah, I guess this newer breed of piezo semi acoustics (if that's the right term) are a different ballgame. I was under the impression that we were referring to regular electrics with supplemental piezos, or those found on all but the nicest ABGs.

As for vintage (say, pre-'80?), played a pile of them. Wouldn't have owned any of them even if they were being sold for new or new-ish used price. Some passable, most junk, none great, all overpriced for what you get unless you're a collector, nearly all undeniably badass. I stand by my initial statements. No doubt, there are really good vintage basses out there, but I've never laid eyes or hands on one, probably because they're holed up in awesome studios I can't afford to even look inside. I suppose an average vintage instrument could be made to have what I consider acceptable playability and no electronic issues, but that would almost certainly mean working on it and/or replacing parts, which no one ever wants to do to vintage gear lest it lose value.

Most vintage basses do sound pretty damn good if you can overlook the RF interference and often crackly, temperamental controls. I'm a car guy, I fully understand how awesome they are, but like driving a fussy old muscle car in heavy traffic, it's usually not feasible without a complete overhaul, and then is it really 'vintage'?
Disclaimer: the oldest basses I've ever played were all 1969 models (a decent Jazz, an EB which was utter garbage, and a Ric that was somewhere between), maybe the even older, less refined models really are like 30 times better, but I suspect they're simply rarer and more valuable.