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Status S1 classic lost in the mix

Bright Midnight

Bright Midnight

Oct 5, 2010
1,264
1,232
Belgium, Flanders
#1
Hey guys, I've got a pretty unique Status S1 classic with an exotic topwood. Two soapbar Status humbuckers, a two band preamp. This bass plays like butter and when I'm playing solo it sounds really good. Thing is when our band comes together my bass sounds too 'nasal' and lacking in the 'balls' departement. The neck pup as well as the bridge pup sound incredible when soloying, but they get lost in the mix. I've tried just about every setting there is on my PF500 (through a Tecamp L810), but to no avail. Strange thing is that my traded off P bass sounded better in the band, but I wanted a bigger sound, so I traded it for this Status bass (a one of a kind deal!). I'm reluctant to sell off the Status as she is in every way great, except in my band's sound. So what to do??
 
#2
Sublab said:
Hey guys, I've got a pretty unique Status S1 classic with an exotic topwood. Two soapbar Status humbuckers, a two band preamp. This bass plays like butter and when I'm playing solo it sounds really good. Thing is when our band comes together my bass sounds too 'nasal' and lacking in the 'balls' departement. The neck pup as well as the bridge pup sound incredible when soloying, but they get lost in the mix. I've tried just about every setting there is on my PF500 (through a Tecamp L810), but to no avail. Strange thing is that my traded off P bass sounded better in the band, but I wanted a bigger sound, so I traded it for this Status bass (a one of a kind deal!). I'm reluctant to sell off the Status as she is in every way great, except in my band's sound. So what to do??
Click to expand...

I know exactly what you mean. P basses have that magic where they sound better with a band than stuff that's supposedly more sophisticated. normally with modern active basses I favor the neck pickup pretty heavily in order to avoid that thinness you describe. I'd probably also boost the bass knob on the onboard EQ and add some mids on the amp. I'm betting you already tried those things though. it's the most perplexing thing because like you said by itself it sounds full and awesome, but with a band it ends up being weak and nasally.
 
#6
IronLung1986 said:
I know exactly what you mean. P basses have that magic where they sound better with a band than stuff that's supposedly more sophisticated. normally with modern active basses I favor the neck pickup pretty heavily in order to avoid that thinness you describe. I'd probably also boost the bass knob on the onboard EQ and add some mids on the amp. I'm betting you already tried those things though. it's the most perplexing thing because like you said by itself it sounds full and awesome, but with a band it ends up being weak and nasally.
Click to expand...

I've actually tried boosting the bass on the onboard preamp and add more mids on the PF500. She cuts through better but it doens't make her sound any more 'bass'. Whatever the settings on both eq's, the Status always sounds too jazzy, and I like that a lot, but not when we rock out and I need thick low mids and a bottom to boot. She just isn't 'the' bass and will have to trade her for something different, though I'm not really shure which way to go. I was thinking that a bass with neck pup very close to the neck which would give me the lows, and a bridge pup, maybe even a humbucker, for the mids, would sound very different from my Status. An Alembic Spoiler perhaps, or a Rick....
 
#9
IronLung1986 said:
I know exactly what you mean. P basses have that magic where they sound better with a band than stuff that's supposedly more sophisticated. normally with modern active basses I favor the neck pickup pretty heavily in order to avoid that thinness you describe. I'd probably also boost the bass knob on the onboard EQ and add some mids on the amp. I'm betting you already tried those things though. it's the most perplexing thing because like you said by itself it sounds full and awesome, but with a band it ends up being weak and nasally.
Click to expand...

That's the way Cirrus basses are. I've owned 4 of them...they just don't work in bands that require thick bass tones/rock bands with 2 guitars in particular.
 
#12
It's the nature of the beast. I could never gel with the Hypereactive (?) pups and pre. The output is hot, hot, hot for sure. OTOH, the playability of the Status is beyond belief. They come out of the case in tune and the necks are as stable as anything I've encountered. I often wondered how one would sound with something like a Nordstrand / Audere pairing.

Riis
 
#13
Zooberwerx said:
It's the nature of the beast. I could never gel with the Hypereactive (?) pups and pre. The output is hot, hot, hot for sure. OTOH, the playability of the Status is beyond belief. They come out of the case in tune and the necks are as stable as anything I've encountered. I often wondered how one would sound with something like a Nordstrand / Audere pairing.

Riis
Click to expand...


A different pre on the bass might be an answer. A while ago I thought of putting in an ACG filter preamp, and change the pups aswell, but lack of funds at the moment prevents that. I'm still sceptical about going that way since I'm not convinced it will deepen the bass's sound. On the other hand I never tried so it might be worth the shot. What pups do you guys recommend? They're soapbar humbuckers, and not the Hyper active ones.
 
#14
Sublab said:
A different pre on the bass might be an answer. A while ago I thought of putting in an ACG filter preamp, and change the pups aswell, but lack of funds at the moment prevents that. I'm still sceptical about going that way since I'm not convinced it will deepen the bass's sound. On the other hand I never tried so it might be worth the shot. What pups do you guys recommend? They're soapbar humbuckers, and not the Hyper active ones.
Click to expand...

Tough call...trying to predict interaction amongst the bass, pups, and preamp is a crapshoot, at best. The Status graphite basses, IMO, present an inherently complex overtone structure which emphasizes some of the nastier mids. Again, this is to my ears...YMMV. A few suggestions:

*Check the available Status forums. Somebody may have performed a similar mod. Learn from their experience(s).

*If starting from scratch, I'd keep things simple and stick with a know quantity like a 3 band Bart pre. They're readily available, reasonably priced, easily installed, and fairly predictable in terms of tone. Don't like the final product? You can always sell it and start with something new.

*Change one thing at a time unless somebody presents a better plan which addresses both the pups and preamp (read: $$$$).

Riis
 
#16
I've got a Status empathy that sounds incredible solo'd or in the mix- I'm running out of my Ea iAmp 350 to the pa and it's tonal bliss. I even cut the mids(with the toggle switch) and it still cuts really well. I'm really stunned that a status would get lost in the mix- mark king is a great example of a status cutting thru.
 
#18
Try different strings. From what I've heard from Status (and similar) Basses is that there isn't an abundance of LOW end. Listen to Mark King. His highs are extremely present but there is no earth shattering bass booty! If it was me, I'd be putting a full Bartolini system in there. But I probably wouldn't own a Status.
 

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