Perhaps the greatest rig of all time?

SVT II, 810 and a P Bass

 

Your Aggie and Berg rig is nice. Mine is a TH500 and either a CN112 or an NV115.

 

I agree, nice rig.

For me, I had to get over the "bass sound I hear in my head" in order to enjoy playing bass at all. Or maybe a better way to say it was that I had to relearn what I liked. Early on, I discovered the bass sound I wanted didn't work in the mix at all. It was a frustrating time.

My holy grail tone now is a bit bright, not that warm. Tight low end, no super deep flab. M2500 Bass with SS strings, Boss BC-1x with light compression into a VT Bass Deluxe, dialed in bright. Genz Benz Shuttle 6.2 into a Neox212t.

 

I'm pretty happy with my MarkBass SD800 powering a GB NEOX-212T cab. Nice to finally be able to cut through the mix at will.

 

Tube pre-amp designed and built by me. Class D 2KW capable power amp and the final touch a pair of Acme B2 cabinets in a vertical stack. Sublime!

 

I can't speak to the "greatest rig of all time". I am playing through the best ever for myself. My 'signal generators' are Dingwalls which are brighter than the average bass and I string them with stainless steel rounds or in the case of my Super P, Dunlop flats. These get plugged into a high-pass filter which feeds a Reeves Custom 225 with a Mullard in V1. The cabs are a MAS 110 Flex and matching sub.


(my 2009 Super J/P)

 

1963 B-15N and PBass

 

You would not believe how much AIR this thing pushes on stage. FoH guys don't even have the ability to DI me, making me have power over my sweet, sweet tone.

 

So far its my Mesa D-180 through my Mesa 1516. However, my latest mission is trying to capture that tone in a more portable light-weight package and save that rig for special outdoor gigs.

 

My best sounding rig is my Frankensteined bass loaded with EMGs into Ashdown ABM575 evo III into MAG 2x10 and 4x10.

 

If I knew, I'd own it already

I don't think I will ever find one bass that I think is perfect for everything. Amps and cabs are a monstrous pain in the backside to test and flip if things don't work, so I haven't invested anywhere near enough time into figuring that out. If someone else is paying for it, and moving it, then probably an 8X10 of some kind. Maybe a Mesa head, maybe an Ampeg, or possibly an Aguilar. In 20 years of playing I've never had adequate time or money to find out.

 

I'm a huge fan of "Good Enough."

The problem for my wallet is that I haven't reached "Good Enough" yet

 

I have been a Hartke fan since 1991, tone generated by Lull, F-Bass, G&L, and Fender.

 

The ole classic fridge rig. Always puts a smile on my face.

 

Alessandro Basset Hound into a Bergantino EX112.

 

Nice rig. The Berg. NV 2x15 is one of my all time favorite cabs. The NV with a Reeves custom 225, or a Sadowsky AD 200. Would make my day.

 

These puppies had 'the sound'. I'm 98% there with DIs and IEMs anway, so the touch response of the WEM was just icing on the cake. Unfortunately I don't own them!

 

My rig that I couldn't afford/justify in keeping...

DB751 over 2xCN212

Wow the tone. All sold and gone, sadly. But still my favorite rig.

 

No rig at all. The sound I hear in my head is more related to the sounds I like on records. More often than not, I prefer the sound on records to the live sound even of bands that can afford every gear and mixer they want.

For me a kind of game changer were mic preamps with transformers like the GAP DLX or the Warm Audio stuff and 19" compressors like the WA76 from Warm Audio (would like to hear the LA2 and LA3 clones from Warm Audio and GAP).
Or quality DI boxes like the Neve RNDI (couldn't afford the Reddit and never heard it). And the Pultec clone from Warm Audio.
One of the best things that happened during the last years is that quality clones of top analog gear have become affordable (relative!) without many or without any compromises in quality of the components.

Ever wonder why - with the exception of miced amps - amp heads are rarely used in top studios? Almost always DI boxes and mic preamps (outboard or quality consoles) are used.

I'm not into overdrive/distortion etc. More Funk, R&B, Reggae, Dub, Jazz, Soul and Pop than Rock or Metal. Although my roots are post-punk.
But even metal guys hardly use the DIs of amp heads for recording purposes. They might use miced cabinets a lot of the times.

For me rigs are stage monitors under my command (not that of any sound guy).
At home I have a bass amp, but I use a chain of outboard gear (Warm Audio Tonebeast/Warm Audio WA76/Warm Audio EQP into my SPL Crimson and small Adam Nearfields in combination with a TecAmp Pleasure Board. Love the sound I get out of that chain.
Live I consider a quality compressor like the Cali76 more important than the Markbass amps and cabinets I use. I like the Sansamp stuff, If I want a bit of grid and dirt.