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Simplest amp
- Thread starter Lowtown
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D
Deleted member 165050
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That is incredible! So every cab you use is completely neutral, every room free of constructive or destructive interference?
D
Deleted member 165050
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The only issue is the output from even an active bass is unlikely to be at the level the amp is expecting, but that really only matters if you want full power out of the amp. I use various basses direct into little Class D amps at home.
How presumptive of you to think that it sounds good.
D
Deleted member 165050
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Finally after checking out the link I can see where someone "might" want such an amp. Different basses have different sounds and different cabs have different sounds too and I use the amps EQ to adjust accordingly. I personally always like to boost my low-mids at 250Hz or 500Hz just a bitfor better definition and presence. As I'm reading through the info on the Spartan 2, they say:
"If you, like me when playing an active instrument, always adjust your sound only with the on-board pre-amp..."
Now that finally makes sense "IF" you are using a bass with an active on-board preamp and the amp has a flat EQ setting. I am not using an active bass. My Jazz Bass is passive. My 5-string can be played in either active or passive mode and I play it in passive mode because it sounds better than it does in active mode (not impressed with it's active EQ). You could do the same thing with my [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] although it has more knobs than you want. It has this "shape" control that boosts the bass, cuts some of the mids, and slowly raises the treble. Basically is a more refined and more usable version of David's "Enhance" control that he used on his Eden amps, and it has far more granularity in the setting. I don't usually like these because the last thing I want is to cut my low-mids.
HOWEVER, with everything set flat, just a little bit of shape added fills out the sound quite nicely. I was surprised. Plus, the shape control can be bypassed with a footswitch. So you could set it flat, then raise the shape slowly to a sound you like as your basic sound. Then bypass it with the footswitch if you wanted to adjust the sound using your bass' onboard preamp.
Personally, I'd rather use my EQ adjustments because I'm playing a passive basses so I'm not using an onboard preamp. Plus, I know what EQ settings it takes to get the sound I like. This amp does, by the way have a really nice built-in adjustable compressor with both threshold and ratio controls. If you use a separate compressor the one on this amp will replace it.
LOL...Nuts, after all that...It really has too many knobs for the OP.
Cave Puppy
"Humph Bo, he's wond!" - John Lennon
I am aware, but on virtually every amp I've played the knobs end up at noon or close enough it doesn't matter. Even if the amps sound different from one another that's where the bass sounds the most natural to my ears.
There are two things the OP could actually mean.
First, he wants a bass amp that has it's tone baked in, as many bass amps do, and just not to mess with it.
Or, he might instead want an amp that has no tone of it's own, is actually flat, but has volume control.
The first thing is NOT the same as the second thing, in most cases.
MANY bass amps, with tone stacks set to the middle for all controls, are NOT flat/neutral. MANY have some kind tonal balance baked into the preamp section, even if you think you are setting the tone controls to neutral.
Ampeg pf series, the class d heads, for example.
Patch a hifi music source into a 1/4 plug (phone output, computer output, something playing full songs like albums/songs you know well and would play on a good stereo).
plug that into the instrument input, and try to get it to sound good. Use a cab with a horn, or even output it directly to a pa speaker, or even a regular hifi speaker (they will all suffice for this purpose).
Set tone controls all to middle.
It will sound like crap. Try adjusting controls - you will NEVER get it to sound really good.
Now BYPASS that. Turn the master all the way down (because it is about to the our only volume control). Plug the 1/4 music source cable INSTEAD into the EFFECT RETURN jack. This is now bypassing the preamp, and only master volume has any effect (just for overall level).
It will sound excellent, depending on the speaker you're using.... an excellent quality hifi audio amplifier with a ton of power. Only the speaker will be sounding anything other than flat, now.
However, a bass guitar is NOT, generally, a hifi device where you want a flat signal. Bass amps are, typically, designed to make your bass sound as good as it can be, for a given style of music/type of bass, etc etc. Now many basses soudn great DI, but may sound far better with a bass amp that adds it's own magic to the equation.
Which is it that the OP wants? an amp, with no tone controls, but still adds it's own magic to the sound? Because good luck finding that! If you use a power amp, or (nearly - I know there are exceptions) any amp where you skip the tone stack and go directly into the effect return, you will have a neutral, flat output, and the only tone alteration from your bass will be from your preamp, and the speaker. If you use a passive bass, you require a preamp. Arguably, you don't need a preamp with an active bass for it to sound really good, but still ideally there would be a preamp of some kind with any bass before a power amp.
First, he wants a bass amp that has it's tone baked in, as many bass amps do, and just not to mess with it.
Or, he might instead want an amp that has no tone of it's own, is actually flat, but has volume control.
The first thing is NOT the same as the second thing, in most cases.
MANY bass amps, with tone stacks set to the middle for all controls, are NOT flat/neutral. MANY have some kind tonal balance baked into the preamp section, even if you think you are setting the tone controls to neutral.
Ampeg pf series, the class d heads, for example.
Patch a hifi music source into a 1/4 plug (phone output, computer output, something playing full songs like albums/songs you know well and would play on a good stereo).
plug that into the instrument input, and try to get it to sound good. Use a cab with a horn, or even output it directly to a pa speaker, or even a regular hifi speaker (they will all suffice for this purpose).
Set tone controls all to middle.
It will sound like crap. Try adjusting controls - you will NEVER get it to sound really good.
Now BYPASS that. Turn the master all the way down (because it is about to the our only volume control). Plug the 1/4 music source cable INSTEAD into the EFFECT RETURN jack. This is now bypassing the preamp, and only master volume has any effect (just for overall level).
It will sound excellent, depending on the speaker you're using.... an excellent quality hifi audio amplifier with a ton of power. Only the speaker will be sounding anything other than flat, now.
However, a bass guitar is NOT, generally, a hifi device where you want a flat signal. Bass amps are, typically, designed to make your bass sound as good as it can be, for a given style of music/type of bass, etc etc. Now many basses soudn great DI, but may sound far better with a bass amp that adds it's own magic to the equation.
Which is it that the OP wants? an amp, with no tone controls, but still adds it's own magic to the sound? Because good luck finding that! If you use a power amp, or (nearly - I know there are exceptions) any amp where you skip the tone stack and go directly into the effect return, you will have a neutral, flat output, and the only tone alteration from your bass will be from your preamp, and the speaker. If you use a passive bass, you require a preamp. Arguably, you don't need a preamp with an active bass for it to sound really good, but still ideally there would be a preamp of some kind with any bass before a power amp.
D
Deleted member 165050
Guest
Carrots don’t have tone controls.
But maybe they could... mwahahahaha
Get an ART Tube MP and a power amp for your simplest and least expensive option. You could probably find a two channel power amp with one channel blown extremely cheap.
^ This x20000
OP, not to be rude...but if you think the lack of an EQ section on an amp will equate to "flat tone" or "flat EQ", you are sorely mistaken. Part of the utility in an EQ section is being able to counteract that "baked-in" tone that they amp designer felt was the best sounding option. If that's not the intention, forget I said anything
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