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What creates a bass amp's "voicing"?

#22
Old Garage-Bander said:
One with a plexiglass case? ;)
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#30
Aidenn7 said:
I'm going to prolly get flack for this simple, but IMO base voicing comes from the Transformer and how it's driven. you say voicing so I also take that to mean eq- but different components can also make eq changes. A Great transformer can make a big difference.
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Kind of funny, some of the most desirable circuits are transformerless!!!
 
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#32
beans-on-toast said:
You may think that you want transparent, but there's tone in some character. I'm not talking about distortion, it is about adding rich harmonic content. Neve preamps used in recording studios for example, add a richness. It sounds good. This is what you want in an amp.
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That does make since to me. especially in a live setting. sometimes in home recording im striving for a cleaner sound . perhaps direct in from bass to computer ?
 
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#35
beans-on-toast said:
You may think that you want transparent, but there's tone in some character. I'm not talking about distortion, it is about adding rich harmonic content. Neve preamps used in recording studios for example, add a richness. It sounds good. This is what you want in an amp.
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Have to say I agree with this. People seem to get hung up on having a totally transparent or "flat" sound,,, but IMO, that generally is not going to sound very good -- sterile, boring, and not going to work in the sonic space you need to be in to make an ensemble sound good.
 
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#36
Hamish MacCleod said:
I'm sure the "tech" guys will chime in pretty soon but here is my 2 cents: Preamp is the EQ/tone shaper in an amplified system. I can play an Ampeg and it sounds like me playing an Ampeg. I can play an Acoustic 370 and it sounds like me playing a 370. So, if there is a brand/model of amp that is closer to the sound I'm after, thats what I'll choose. If I played through an Acoustic 361 I'm not going to sound like Jaco... I'll sound like me playing through the 361. However, if I want to sound closer to Jaco I'll be better served starting with a 361 than say an SVT. In my experience [YMMV] I'm not going to get an Acoustic 361 sound out of a Fender amp.

For awhile I used power amps with multiple preamps to get "the tone". Discovered I was using Ampeg-ish B15 type preamp settings for 90% of what I was playing. I ditched the power amp and rack full of pres for an Ampeg PF800.

Four factors contribute to "my sound": My skill [or lack there of], my cabinet, my amp/preamp, and room acoustics.

FWIW, like you, I can get my sound out of almost any amp/preamp but the Ampeg gets a lot closer to the sound that moves me... now.

When I started playing I was doing 60's-70's rock [Acoustic Controls Corp amps got me there] Now doing much more Blues and Blues/Rock/Fusion, and experimental music.

H
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Ever ask what makes an Ampeg sound like an Ampeg? That is the voicing of the amp. A good amp designer can dial in a sound - say Fender chime - or characteristic - eg tactile response, early breakup - into their amp. Any good amp can get a good tone, but if you want only clean then you probably won't spend much time looking at an amp that distorts at a low volume.

The designer of Trainwreck amps said that every component of the amp - preamp, chassis, even the type of wires - effects the tone. He designed an amp that Comet Amps wanted to build with some modifications, including replacing the Teflon wires. The amp was designed to use Teflon wires; Comet's prototype sounded different. Details can be read in Dave Hunter's "The Tube Amp Book".
 
#38
DrummerwStrings said:
Plug into a Hi-Fi stereo system that's designed to be transparent. But u probably wouldn't like it, the guitar amp's magic is in the harmonics that the Hi-Fi community is trying to get rid of.
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Some of us greatly prefer that mode, so I wouldn't be so quick to assume that. For upright bass or fretless I wouldn't have it any other way, personally. Vive la difference!
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#40
DrummerwStrings said:
100% Agree! Notice I didn't put in a value judgment. Even if you found your sound in your rig, Never hurts to try something new.
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Roger that. I've worked on thousands of tube guitar amps and the occasional tube bass one and have a great appreciation for what they can bring to the table, but for me the challenge of building a really great sounding dead clean very uncolored SS amp is just much more interesting and fulfilling right now. That could change tomorrow or next week, or never though. The only real absolute I've observed is garbage in, garbage out.
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