Let me be clear. I don't judge you negatively for your gear or pursuit of excellence. If you have the cash spend away. Just don't let your pursuit of tone take away from the performance. Unfortunately that happens more often with tone chasers than you might think.
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Double Bass The Gear Rabbit Hole
- Thread starter statsc
- Start date
Let me be clear. I don't judge you negatively for your gear or pursuit of excellence. If you have the cash spend away. Just don't let your pursuit of tone take away from the performance. Unfortunately that happens more often with tone chasers than you might think.
My take is do you're thing, performance is just an endpoint and if you cannot hear yourself or the sound quality interferes with your ablilty to play, then keep searching until
you find the proper tools to do what's needed within the budget you have.
Mechanics and Plumers invest in all sorts of specialized tools, why should we be any different.. 
you find the proper tools to do what's needed within the budget you have.
Mechanics and Plumers invest in all sorts of specialized tools, why should we be any different.. 
It's not really the same thing. We tend to invest in the same tools over and over again because we are not satisfied with the performance of existing tools.
It's one thing if you are actually making incremental improvements, but often what happens is you get used to hearing a sound and get bored with it. Then you find a new amp and it sounds great for awhile.
I own 28 amps. Instead of constantly flipping gear I just rotate through the amps I already own. Whenever I play an amp I haven't played for awhile, my impression is typically: Wow this thing is awesome! A few days later I get bored and it's time to put another amp into the rotation.
Sadly there are still amps on my bucket list
.If I were to start gigging again, I would choose an amp with clear, focused tone and strong/versatile tone shaping capabilities. When I am performing I don't really go for a signature tone. I dial in my rig so I can hear what I am doing. Many of my amps are great for getting a signature tone, but totally ill suited for dealing with acoustic problems. Of course if someone hired me to produce a signature tone, then I would have to rethink my approach. But since we are on the DB side I think most of us go for MBOL.
Right; and there’s always those Pirastro Perpetuals everyone is raving about: MSOB (my Spiros Only Better)!And there you go, just be careful of the Mad Hatter.
It's not really the same thing. We tend to invest in the same tools over and over again because we are not satisfied with the performance of existing tools.
It's one thing if you are actually making incremental improvements, but often what happens is you get used to hearing a sound and get bored with it. Then you find a new amp and it sounds great for awhile.
I own 28 amps. Instead of constantly flipping gear I just rotate through the amps I already own. Whenever I play an amp I haven't played for awhile, my impression is typically: Wow this thing is awesome! A few days later I get bored and it's time to put another amp into the rotation.
Sadly there are still amps on my bucket list
If I were to start gigging again, I would choose an amp with clear, focused tone and strong/versatile tone shaping capabilities. When I am performing I don't really go for a signature tone. I dial in my rig so I can hear what I am doing. Many of my amps are great for getting a signature tone, but totally ill suited for dealing with acoustic problems. Of course if someone hired me to produce a signature tone, then I would have to rethink my approach. But since we are on the DB side I think most of us go for MBOL.
Well......., we'll have to agree to disagree, there is a difference between Sears Craftsman and Snap On Tools, I used them both when I was a kid at my dad's shop. The same is true for speakers my MAS 4x5 was a great cabinet, but my powered MAS 4x5.5 is a stellar cabinet.
the slight differences between an array of four 5 inch speakers and one with four 5.5 inch speakers makes all the difference in the world IME. Add a 700 watt ICE Power amp into the equasion, and you have a far superior sound in the same size cabinet with it's own power section. I'm really going
for the sound of my bass a little bit louder with great coverage on the stage. Between the MAS 4x5.5 and the new MAS 1/8 v2 I've pretty much got it covered with the sound and dispersion I'm after, unless Mike can do it with a smaller, lighter cabinet and a single 5" speaker. I'm good.
Well......., we'll have to agree to disagree, there is a difference between Sears Craftsman and Snap On Tools,
The point I was trying to make is there is a difference between buying a better tool and continuously flipping tools that are of similar quality.
Well said, I guess I'd call it comparative shopping, I look at weight, size, and most of all sound. If something new comes along that's, lighter and smaller (something I'm always interested in) then I'll try to play one before I buy it. Unfortunately,
the bass amp, speaker market is basically made up of small companies, that you almost never see in local music stores. Rick Jones told me that, for the most part, they don't build amps ahead of time so there aren't many of them sitting around in stores to demo.
I talk with Piro, Nathan, Michael, and many other TB members to try and appraise a particular amp or speaker.
the bass amp, speaker market is basically made up of small companies, that you almost never see in local music stores. Rick Jones told me that, for the most part, they don't build amps ahead of time so there aren't many of them sitting around in stores to demo.
I talk with Piro, Nathan, Michael, and many other TB members to try and appraise a particular amp or speaker.
I love musical instruments (not just upright bass although that's my main instrument), and I love musical gear, preamps in particular for some reason. It's just what I like. I spend more on such gear than I need to but it's something I really enjoy, and I get good sounds at gigs to boot.
So it's not a rabbit hole for me. I'm not obsessed with the "perfect" tone because I don't think there is such a thing, at least not for the likes of me. I just like good gear, and using different combinations for different sessions or gigs. Luckily my significant other and bandmates put up with this aspect of my personality.
So it's not a rabbit hole for me. I'm not obsessed with the "perfect" tone because I don't think there is such a thing, at least not for the likes of me. I just like good gear, and using different combinations for different sessions or gigs. Luckily my significant other and bandmates put up with this aspect of my personality.
It can be a rabbit hole for some people - either obsessing about perfect tone or obsessing about having the latest new gear.
Or it can be a hobby - buying new gear to find out what it sounds like, or simply to have a collection.
I’m in the 2nd group. I read a bunch of reviews raving about something, and I get curious. Sometimes I keep it, and sometimes I pass it on. I’ve done this most of my life with electric and upright bass gear, stereo equipment, bicycles, etc. My (and my wife’s) only rule is that it has to be self-supporting. If I want something new, I have to sell something else.
Or it can be a hobby - buying new gear to find out what it sounds like, or simply to have a collection.
I’m in the 2nd group. I read a bunch of reviews raving about something, and I get curious. Sometimes I keep it, and sometimes I pass it on. I’ve done this most of my life with electric and upright bass gear, stereo equipment, bicycles, etc. My (and my wife’s) only rule is that it has to be self-supporting. If I want something new, I have to sell something else.
Yeah, and for a long while none of his rabbits practiced birth control of any kind. There were little baby preamps and effects popping up all over the place, faster than he could name or review them. When a guy like that still keeps a few favorite pets years later, that has some gravity!
Ha! Definitely felt like rabbits around here for a while, thankfully they learned to control themselves (or was it the other way around), otherwise the family would have disowned me! I'm sure you all can identify with that...
Lol, definitely. My old lady just said the other day "have you looked around our bedroom lately? It looks like there's an orchestra crashing on our couch.". And I said "I know, isn't it awesome?"
Blank stare back...
@vanselus Definitely. I can remember some pretty funny rigs to carry around during my "experimentation/learning" phase. Here are a few:
1) I had these two small PA speakers and a PA head by a local builder named Gary Falk - each had one 8" driver and a horn, and were rear ported. They sounded good up to a point, but I didn't like them sitting on the floor when things got loud, so I built these rather complicated kick back stands for them out of wood to get them pointing up and toward my ears. That made the rig 2 speakers, 2 8' cables, 2 stands, one small PA head, and of course a power cable to carry and set up on EVERY. SINGLE. GIG.
2) My pickup rig at this stage was 2 bass Max pickups, one in the treble wing and one in the bass wing. At first, I hadn't thought of wiring them together into a stereo jack, so I had 2 cables coming off the bass. Later, I wired them to sum in mono and mixed them with a variety of dynamic mics, and combined the two cables with some cable wrap from Radio Shack so I would only have to carry "one cable".
3) My favorite rig, which sounded great and which I used for years, was an AI Focus 2 that powered an EA VL208 speaker. I had the 208 speaker drilled into so I could mount it on a speaker pole, but the person who did the mounting bracket didn't calculate the weight quite right, so the speaker always canted slightly toward one side. That rig sounded fantastic, but the speaker weight about 50 lbs, and of course the rig had to be assembled and torn down at EVERY. SINGLE. GIG.
Much happier now with the single PJB combo amp!
1) I had these two small PA speakers and a PA head by a local builder named Gary Falk - each had one 8" driver and a horn, and were rear ported. They sounded good up to a point, but I didn't like them sitting on the floor when things got loud, so I built these rather complicated kick back stands for them out of wood to get them pointing up and toward my ears. That made the rig 2 speakers, 2 8' cables, 2 stands, one small PA head, and of course a power cable to carry and set up on EVERY. SINGLE. GIG.
2) My pickup rig at this stage was 2 bass Max pickups, one in the treble wing and one in the bass wing. At first, I hadn't thought of wiring them together into a stereo jack, so I had 2 cables coming off the bass. Later, I wired them to sum in mono and mixed them with a variety of dynamic mics, and combined the two cables with some cable wrap from Radio Shack so I would only have to carry "one cable".
3) My favorite rig, which sounded great and which I used for years, was an AI Focus 2 that powered an EA VL208 speaker. I had the 208 speaker drilled into so I could mount it on a speaker pole, but the person who did the mounting bracket didn't calculate the weight quite right, so the speaker always canted slightly toward one side. That rig sounded fantastic, but the speaker weight about 50 lbs, and of course the rig had to be assembled and torn down at EVERY. SINGLE. GIG.
Much happier now with the single PJB combo amp!
lots of great points made on this thread! my favorite points are:
- there is a balance between MBOL / My personal tone / what bass tone works for the music
- upright bass gear is few and far between, resulting in buying, trading and flipping gear that you only read reviews and in forums like these.
- so many companies trying to cater to upright bass fall flat while we are finding non-bass gear that strangely works for DB (i.e. sarno black box and dynamic mics to name a few recent threads).
- so many variables for each bass / player / rig / music styles - making a "one-size-fits-all" piece of gear impossible to create. also makes me nervous to recommend gear to other people.
- and yes, i agree there are little baby rabbits popping out of their holes soon to distract us once again.
@Chris Fitzgerald
you totally reminded me of another factor that we wrestle with....practicality!
i used to haul so many different, heavy and extraneous pieces of gear that never added even a bit of improvement in these super loud bars we'd play.
i too am much happier with my 3 minute setup after 1 trip for bass and bag and 1 trip for rig.
you totally reminded me of another factor that we wrestle with....practicality!
i used to haul so many different, heavy and extraneous pieces of gear that never added even a bit of improvement in these super loud bars we'd play.
i too am much happier with my 3 minute setup after 1 trip for bass and bag and 1 trip for rig.
Practicality suddenly becomes a huge priority once you're playing more outside the house than in - at least it did for me. I established a "one trip" rule for myself for either DB or electric gigs to try to tame my urges. If I can't carry the cab in one hand, rest in a backpack, and the DB on my shoulder for at least a couple city blocks, I have too much stuff. That includes snacks and water Of course, I'm thankful for still being young-ish, strong, and healthy - I'm sure I'll have to break that rule someday!
One-trip to me means... typically rolling in with an EA NL-112 in one hand, a backpack with an Aggie TH500 or EA Doubler (just for the power section) and a board with Noble, fdeck, and Cali 76 bass, and the DB. I still record with the REDDI most of the time though. Love that thing!
Of course, I'm thankful for still being young-ish, strong, and healthy - I'm sure I'll have to break that rule someday! One-trip to me means... typically rolling in with an EA NL-112 in one hand, a backpack with an Aggie TH500 or EA Doubler (just for the power section) and a board with Noble, fdeck, and Cali 76 bass, and the DB. I still record with the REDDI most of the time though. Love that thing!
It's a good rule, but if you're playing more than one instrument, or if you do ever start having physical reasons to not carry things on your person, a BassBuggy or some kind of DB-wheel, and a folding wagon helps a whole lot. In my situation, I wouldn't be DB-gigging without the BassBuggy, and I wouldn't be playing multiple instruments on cruises without the folding wagon.
