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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
#82
scottfeldstein said:
Ok, ok. But who sounded like that in the 50s? I'm saying there was a change at some point when getting a clean, hi-fi sound became the thing. I'm asking: wasn't it possible before? Why did people not do it? I think it was a change in equipment. No?
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I'm old, but not that old Scott. I do remember seeing those guys I mentioned and trying to get there with old Altec VOT systems and the like, and failing pretty badly until the JBL and EV multiway cabs came on the scene. I know that Gibson and a few others were messing with multiway systems in the early 60s, with limited success though.

Just a guess, but perhaps the advent of the Alembic bass changed everything as much as anything else?
 
#83
I'd say early 70's was the advent of being able to record and perform with bass super clean, but a lot of folks still liked to mic amps and still liked the rolloff of the highs that bass cabs gave you, so it really wasn't until guys like Stanley came along that you started hearing more highs. Stanley might not have been the first, but he's the first that I can think of. But a lot of the bass sounds of the 70's were very clean except for that highs rolloff.

I think Alembic was definitely a kickstarter for that direction toward more treble and clarity, though Tobias, Bartolini, and EMG certainly made their contributions to getting that crystal clear 80's bass sound going.
 
#87
Well if it is, I propose we do away with "carrots" and put "hot chicks" back in. The "carrots" story predates me and its meaning is lost on me, but hot chicks are universal. Even ugly chicks like hot chicks ;)
 
#89
Toastfuzz said:
Is that a fact?

Maybe you use all the right amps that your ears like, and all the wrong pedals? For me, no amps make the type of overdrive and distortion I'm looking for or that fits in my band mix, but there are plenty of pedals that fit the bill, and the interchangeability along with the quality of amp modelers these days makes your opinion-as-fact assertion sound pretty weak.
Click to expand...

I've tried:

Aguilar Argo
Aguilar ten hammer
Bass big muff
Vintage big muff
Sansamp bddi
Sansamp gt2
Ds1
Turbo rat
Vintage rat
Turbo tube screamer
Full tone bass drive
Blends with barge dual custom
Probably others

None of those can touch my Mesa Titan or Genz shuttlemax.

Guitar amps have had this figured out for ages.

This is ALL just opinion.

I'd love to be wrong and find a great pedal.
 
#91
BurningSkies said:
...I don't worship in the house-of-knobs-at-noon, and I know I'm going to be turning knobs.

...My cabs I like to be as uncolored as possible, so I don't have to EQ around them to get what I want.
Click to expand...

I've come around to the same attitude.

I used to be guilty of "listening with my eyes". I like a fairly neutral tone, and I expected my amps to sound the way I liked, with the controls pretty much straight up.

However, the time I've spent with a Genz Streamliner has cured me of that. The baked-in EQ was way too scooped for me, yet I could hear from the beginning that this was an amp I wanted to spend more time with.

I'm currently trying out a G-K head, which is something I would have never done if the Genz hadn't already broadened my perspective. A couple of years ago, I would have plugged into the MB800, said "nah, too bright", and moved on.

As it is, I just started turning knobs until I got what I wanted to hear. I was surprised to find out that the G-K can do a pretty good Streamliner imitation, once I stopped worrying about frequency centers, etc., and started using my ears.

This has been a real revelation for me...
 
#93
I'm going for simplicity this time around. I want to be able to say "guitarist, give me a ringing G chord" and in 20 seconds be able to adjust my EQ to a good fit. The complexities of the 3Pro + my other pedals + bass settings made that hard to find the perfect balances, esp. when the guitarist is tweaking his amp at the same time.

So, ordered the amp with very basic EQ and not much bells and whistles, been playing a passive P bass with 2 simple knobs (really my tone knob could be a switch, open or closed), and with the VT in the middle it shouldnt be difficult to zero in on a good mix tone. Really these days I have 4 sounds...
1- Clean (P bass -> VT -> Amp)
2- OD (P bass -> Ibanez PD7 OD -> VT -> Amp)
3- Fuzz (P bass -> Fuzzrocious Grey Stache -> VT -> Amp)
4- Dub (P-bass -> VT -> Boss DD-7 Delay -> Amp)

Its weird to not have pedal gas. Hoping this Carvin amp squelches any amp gas thats left. The only gas still withstanding is the annoying voice in my head saying I still want a Rickenbacker, I guess just cuz it would round out my passive bass collection.
 
#94
I like clean amps that have the ability to “color” as I wish. My Carvin amps do this but there are others I’ve tried (GB, GK, MB) which also do this. Some people just aren’t used to cutting certain frequencies in order to bring out other frequencies, which may lead them to believe that can’t achieve the "color they" are looking for. Turning “up” all the time is not always the answer is all I’m saying.
 

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