Who else just really loves a clean tone?

[njones89]

I use distortion pedals for lead parts with the EQ biased toward lower mids and almost full distortion, with levels to match my clean master volume to not piss off the sound guy. Some other things I am fooling around with for lead are delay and a synth pedal with expression pedal hooked up.

I am thinking about getting an octave pedal so I can stick with 4 string basses.

My main line has a DOD EQ, Dynacomp compressor, and a BOSS TU-3. I use the tuner to disengage my input when switching basses/tuning. The compressor is for songs with quarter/eighth note basslines that need consistent volume (Rebel Yell, Lick it up, etc.) The EQ currently has a mid scoop and bass/high treble boost to get a Justin Chancellor kind of tone. I am not too impressed with it live, though. Scooping the mids cuts most of the bass out and I can't hear myself.

 

[mojomike001]

I like a clean tone in that I have no use for anything between my bass and the amp other than a cable. I do flavor the sound at the amp. however. My bass cabinets are sealed boxes and I find that a low end boost is needed in most rooms. If I don't like the basic tone that a bass can naturally and passively put out, I won't keep it.

 

[tfer]

My understanding is that those amps have a pretty baked in tone, might actually be why you like them flat!

I never said flat; I said clean.

Two entirely different things. I like the LH series because you can't overdrive the heads - clean tone with tons of headroom.

 

[spiritbass]

Me, me!

 

[arbiterusa]

aww yeah. Piano tone, no clipping anywhere, infinite headroom and no effects, that's me right there.

Now for listening, well, that's another thing entirely. Some of my favorite players are clean, some of them (Squire, Geddy, Lemmy) heh, not so much.

 

[KickingBass]

I never said flat; I said clean.

Two entirely different things. I like the LH series because you can't overdrive the heads - clean tone with tons of headroom.

Oh whoops, must have read wrong. Yeah I've heard those amps have a lot of headroom.

 

[vmabus]

P with flats --> tubes --> 15s
That's all you need.

 

[tfer]

Oh whoops, must have read wrong. Yeah I've heard those amps have a lot of headroom.

Fair enough.

But yeah, with the LH series there is no gain control, just a single volume knob. I use 2 to run in stereo and I can dial in a different tone for my cabinets (1X15 and a 2X10). The amps at 8 ohms are each 320 watts (IIRC), and the headroom is phenomenal.

 

[Altitude]

I love the super-clean Mark king-style tone, but I've finally become aware that most of what he did with that tone on Level 42 records wasn't bass playing any more than a lot of Patitucci's 6-string soloing work. Both are wonderful executions of talent, but are really some kind of lead role that happens to be played on a bass.

OTOH, I think Geddy Lee went too far on the grungy tone the last couple records. His tone on Counterparts seemed about ideal to me.

 

[Nephilymbass]

I never use a totally clean tone anymore. there's always at least a little grit from the sans amp. For other styles like jazz for example the instrumentation is completely different and a clean tone works great. But when i'm playing hard rock or metal with high gain guitars a totally clean tone just doesn't cut it for me.

 

[13lues]

I wish I could find a pedal/amp setting that sounds exactly like my P-bass with the headstock resting against my bedroom wall.

 

[Marko 1]

Yep, I like clean/punchy, nothing boomy or too bright-- just where every note is heard clearly in the mix without the need to push the volume,

I do covers as well, and sorry, but I don't care what the original sounds like, oldies/rock/motown/pop/whatever...

They get nothing but rounds on a P (sometimes ATK "MM" sound) or similar, I'll adjust the knobs on the bass for a handful of songs, and everybody's happy.

 

[lfmn16]

Love a clean sound, but I don't think anyone needs to limit themselves to one sound.

 

[Thumpinshelton]

I call myself a clean tone guy. I usually set my amp flat, turn off the tweeter or roll it almost all the way down, and boost my bass control a little on my onboard preamp. I have a pedal board with all the goodies....grit, chorus, filters, octave, etc...but usually live its just straight forward tone for me.

 

[DinoRock]

I do mostly studio work these days. Almost always going DI. So.....I choose the bass that will give me the sound I believe fits the tune the best (combination of pickups and strings is the key for me). Then they do what they need to with an amp sim or compression or EQ. Engineers repeatedly tell me that they do very little.

Now, when I used to play out 5+ times/week in the 70s and 80s, I had all the toys. As Jimmy said, one of my main toys was a Boss Chorus. I had most every boss pedal, a boss pedal board, plus a guitar synth, an echo plex and whatever. It was a lot to move about, but I wasn't the one setting up or tearing down my gear of 8-16 cabinets that I used on most rock gigs. Later in the 80s when I did Club dates, even though I still didn't touch the equipment, I got down to just a medium size boss pedal board and 2 2×15 cabs.

 

[Sixgunn]

Crystal clean with new steel rounds = sonic nivarna!!

 

[Joebone]

I'm a clean pla6er, no pedals, low gain and maximum post volume.
I like to get my grit by digging super hard...

Love that, re digging in!

 

[Mike A]

 

[Vlad5]

I use fuzz, distortion, drive, phaser, envelope filter, delay, reverb, and eq.
All before the tone hits the amp.

But first and foremost, my clean tone is dialed in to sound like a hard hitting piano.
Super clean, crisp, with lots of low-mids.

I love my clean tone!
and I love my effected tones too.

 

[jwilson67]

I love a clean tone the best but there are certain things I have to use effects for in my cover band or else they fall flat and don't sound authentic. Most of the time though it's just different EQ curves on that clean tone with compression.