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Your preference: clean or colored amp heads?

Do you prefer clean or tone-coloring head units?

  • Clean

    Votes: 123 46.8%

  • Colored

    Votes: 90 34.2%

  • Carrots?

    Votes: 50 19.0%
  • Total voters
    263
#22
I voted clean, but only because I'm ADD and didn't wait to click colored. So I'll vote whatever color my DB750 and two BagEnd 15's make.

Actually, I prefer the sound of my bass direct into a board for recording so I can get the sound of my bass. Other than that, I'll take the color described above. Oh, ad a dash of whatever color my Mogami cable is. :)
 
#23
Toastfuzz said:
Hey everybody,

This isnt a solid state vs. tube debate, I want to know what people like in an amp head: clean, uncolored representation of your bass's tone, or a head that gives a character and color to the tone of whats being played? Of course cabs come into it, and we the SVT 8x10 fridge on one end and a big clean fEARful stack on the other, but knock the cabs out of the equation for a second.

Do you prefer a clean, minimally EQ'd head unit? Or do you like the inherent sounds contained in Ampeg/Orange/GK/etc. heads?

I ask this because I'm growing weary of my SVT 3Pro having too much influence on my tone, while I'd rather control my tone through my bass and pedals. I bought a Carvin higher wattage Class A solid state head from a fellor TBer to get more in the clean range.
Click to expand...

Do you prefer a clean, minimally EQ'd head unit? Or do you like the inherent sounds contained in Ampeg/Orange/GK/etc. heads?
Click to expand...

Give me some examples of what you consider clean bass amps?
 
#24
Clean for me. After years of experimentation, I've found that I like my sound the best when I use no effects, very hi-fi cabs, and only minimal EQ. No disrespect to anyone who uses a different approach - I like Dug Pinnick and Bootsy Collins, both of whom use tons of signal processing - this is just what works for me.
 
#27
While neither my Shuttle nor my EA cab are "flat" by any means, I like their more inherently transparent character. I love how well they let my basses shine through, be it any of my electrics or my upright.

But, there's definitely something to be said for some coloured Ampeg tone. I have no doubt that once my wallet permits, I'll be a coloured and clean guy ;)
 
#29
Sartori said:
I think of my amp, and cab, as part of my instrument. I don't want them to be clean and transparent. My amp definitely changes the tone, plus I like the overdrive.
Click to expand...

Agreed 100%. Every part of my rig is a part of my tone, including my amp, speaker cabs and bass. My amp gives me a nice dirty tone when the preamp tube starts to break up so I guess I like the tone a little coloured, though I run most of my EQ straight off my bass with a mostly flat EQ on my head.
 
#30
dukeisdog said:
Every part of my rig is a part of my tone, including my amp, speaker cabs and bass. My amp gives me a nice dirty tone when the preamp tube starts to break up
Click to expand...

I bet it sounds awesome. But the drawback is, you can't go direct to the FOH with a DI, you have to mic your cabs, if you want your sound out front. You'll also have to do that when recording. And if you like to do silent headphone practice, you won't sound the same in that scenario, as it may bypass your amp (certainly your cabs).
 
#31
scottfeldstein said:
I bet it sounds awesome. But the drawback is, you can't go direct to the FOH with a DI, you have to mic your cabs, if you want your sound out front. You'll also have to do that when recording. And if you like to do silent headphone practice, you won't sound the same in that scenario, as it may bypass your amp (certainly your cabs).
Click to expand...

I play a Spector Euro 5LX and find that my direct tone is almost close enough to my tone through my cabs. I keep my cabs at my jamspace and do most of my recordings through the DI on the back of my amp. I have a pre/post EQ switch on the back so I can bypass the preamp of my amp for all recordings. I find I can get the gritty tone I get at band practice at home with certain EQ tweaks to my amp and bass. All headphone practicing is done either through garageband or on my iPhone.
 
#32
low2groove said:
I think it depends.

Do you use a POS bass and you depend on your amp to fix it's problems.

Or do you spend $5K on a bass and play through a Behringer bass rig and wonder what's wrong with your sound?

I use a Demeter pre-amp, Crown power, and Eden top of the line cabs and my sound is amazing.

I will be switching to a 4X10 DNA bass cab so I can just lug around one cab instead of two. They are incredible cabs for tone, and power handling. Makes and SVT fridge sound like you should keep your beer in it instead of pumping notes through it, lol

I also build and sell my own line of basses so I get exactaly what I want.
Click to expand...

Well, crown prince of bass awesomeness, some of us have real jobs and bills to pay. We're sorry for interrupting your royal bassness's talk of custom gold plated guitars being played(in a quite heavenly fashion, no doubt) through diamond studded amps made of pure platinum...

It was an A or B(or Carrots) type of question. Not requiring such a pompous answer I might add...
 
#33
pmchenry said:
Well, crown prince of bass awesomeness, some of us have real jobs and bills to pay. We're sorry for interrupting your royal bassness's talk of custom gold plated guitars being played(in a quite heavenly fashion, no doubt) through diamond studded amps made of pure platinum...

It was an A or B(or Carrots) type of question. Not requiring such a pompous answer I might add...
Click to expand...

He's proud of his rig. Sorry it hurt you to hear that. We're supposed to be nice here in the forums, though.
 
#34
10 years ago, I'd have expected to see the clean voting overwhelmingly be the favorite. Nowadays, not so much. I still say "carrots" because this voting makes a lot of generalizations that aren't necessarily mutually exclusive. For example, the most clean and uncolored sound I ever heard comes out of a tube amp, and I'm totally bewildered when people tell me it's not. I'm like, "What? Are you deaf? You can't hear that?" And when you can turn knobs and get different sounds with amps, who really gives a crap if the head flatlines at noon? You'll still have to EQ for the room on occasion.

I don't know, I just get this mental picture of people going to gigs, getting a sound they hate, and flailing away helplessly while they refuse to turn their knobs off noon.
 
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#35
Tried many over the years and landed solidly in the colored sound camp. The head is part of the instrument for me.

Owned:
Peavey Mark IV - meh.
1970s SVT - beautiful
G-K 800RB - meh.
Walter Woods - took my breath away
Super Redhead - nice
Eden WT550 - would leave wife and family if this amp demanded it.

Shopped for a lightweight head as a backup, tried:
EA - meh.
Genz Benz Shuttle 6.0 - meh.
Mesa Boogie Carbine M9 - oooh so nice but not lightweight.
Settled on a Genz Benz Streamliner 600. Six pounds light and has some flavor. Not the lightest, not the tastiest, but a good compromise that fits in a (largish) gig bag.
 
#36
JimmyM said:
10 years ago, I'd have expected to see the clean voting overwhelmingly be the favorite. Nowadays, not so much. I still say "carrots" because this voting makes a lot of generalizations that aren't necessarily mutually exclusive. For example, the most clean and uncolored sound I ever heard comes out of a tube amp, and I'm totally bewildered when people tell me it's not. I'm like, "What? Are you deaf? You can't hear that?" And when you can turn knobs and get different sounds with amps, who really gives a crap if the head flatlines at noon? You'll still have to EQ for the room on occasion.

I don't know, I just get this mental picture of people going to gigs, getting a sound they hate, and flailing away helplessly while they refuse to turn their knobs off noon.
Click to expand...

A friend of mine is building his own tube amps for his HiFi rig at home. His goal is reference tone and his rig is indeed amazing. Very much the same crystal clear and wide sound stage as my AKG701 through my DACport headphone amp. So you are right Jimmy, clean tone out of a tube amp is not an enigma! :)
 
#37
scottfeldstein said:
I prefer an amp rig that does nothing except provide watts and cabs for stage monitoring. 100% of "my sound" comes out of my pedal board.

The advantages of this are several. 1) I can run directly to the FOH, the mixing desk, my headphones--and I still sound like me, 2) I get to buy itty bitty solid state amp heads that weigh less than 4 pounds but pack 500w, 3) I forgot what three was, but seriously it's a good way to go.
Click to expand...

Very practical approach.
 
#39
I voted "colored" because I know it's totally unrealistic to expect a pristine, uncolored response from any amplifier, cabinet, processor, etc.

I am a rocker. There is a certain "palette" of tones I'm after. I want an amp that will help me obtain those tones with my budget-limited bass arsenal. I like sounds that come out of a P-Bass through a vintage Ampeg, Sunn, Laney, or HiWatt. Therefore, an amplifier that can do that range of tones convincingly is what I'm interested in. If the amplifier can also do tones useful in Funk, Fusion, Jazz, Pop, Hip-Hop, Deathcore, and Mongolian Folk Music, then that's all well and good-- I just simply don't need them.
 
#40
I voted clean, but I recognise some colouring occurs in every amplification (to a tiny extent).

I resent I can't get DI clarity from my combo (I lose a significant amount of attack, due in part to a mediocre speaker, but the combo pre & power amp stages aren't likely near-perfect.... Ideally I'd have the tone shaped by my bass, and then any pedals / effects - then to my ears with minimal changing.

I don't like the Idea of a bump in my speaker post-eq ing lots of upper mids in, or my amp performing a similar unauthorized edit.:scowl:
 

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