Tony James Generation Sex

[Mike Bungo]

Hi

 

This is Tony James who's playing with Generation Sex........ Can any one tell me what this bass is because being played through a full stack Ampeg

last night I've gotta say it sounded fabulous. Thanks Mike

[BigRedX]

Is that a photo of the actual gig?

[Mike Bungo]

No but it's pretty much the same....... Got myself a Steve Jones pick to

[BigRedX]

16 minutes ago, Mike Bungo said:

No but it's pretty much the same....... Got myself a Steve Jones pick to

 

I ask because there are no visible mics on that Ampeg rig, so at best only the pre-amp section of the top (and maybe not even that depending on where the DI feed is being taken from) would be contributing to what you hear.

[rushbo]

15 hours ago, BigRedX said:

 

I ask because there are no visible mics on that Ampeg rig, so at best only the pre-amp section of the top (and maybe not even that depending on where the DI feed is being taken from) would be contributing to what you hear.

Just seen a pic of his rig on FB from a recent gig-there's a sort of clip on mic on the top right speaker of the cab 

Edited July 13, 2023 by rushbo

[rushbo]

[BigRedX]

2 minutes ago, rushbo said:

Just seen a pic of his rig on FB from a recent gig-theres a sort of clip of mic on the top right speaker of the cab 

 

Fair enough. However I noticed that they have mic'd the most convenient driver for use with that clamp, rather than what might be the "best" sounding one. Also the sound of one 10" driver close mic'd isn't the same as the sound of two 8x10 cabs from a couple feet away...

[Woodinblack]

Some kind of shecter or something from the headstock? I doubt you would be able to tell the difference from one to the other on stage.

[BigRedX]

6 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

Some kind of shecter or something from the headstock? I doubt you would be able to tell the difference from one to the other on stage.

 

Most Schecter headstocks have the "point" at the bottom, and those few that have it at the top all appear to be through neck. Of course it could be something older than the current range.

[Geddys nose]

https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/3-4-Chicago-Bass-Guitar-by-Gear4music-Black/2CNT?origin=product-ads&gclid=Cj0KCQjwnrmlBhDHARIsADJ5b_lzofFwmCSYT0-4ucyvnJ4qkcRAbEbqKoKu1qANWqRIrcDXdsbQh8MaAnDIEALw_wcB

 

If its this thats the most punk bass I've ever seen, well done that man.

[casapete]

9 minutes ago, Geddys nose said:

https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/3-4-Chicago-Bass-Guitar-by-Gear4music-Black/2CNT?origin=product-ads&gclid=Cj0KCQjwnrmlBhDHARIsADJ5b_lzofFwmCSYT0-4ucyvnJ4qkcRAbEbqKoKu1qANWqRIrcDXdsbQh8MaAnDIEALw_wcB

 

If its this thats the most punk bass I've ever seen, well done that man.

Good call, but does look like a long scale job to me? 

[Doctor J]

https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Chicago-Bass-Guitar-by-Gear4music-Black-Nearly-New/37WC

[SteveXFR]

That really does look just like it. 

I'm fairly sure anything can sound good through an Ampeg SVT Classic

[kodiakblair]

Doesn't appear to have a logo.

 

 

At first I thought he had a 4 ace card sticker but now I'm seeing somebody's face; could be my painkillers taking effect 😄

[upside downer]

46 minutes ago, kodiakblair said:

Doesn't appear to have a logo.

 

 

At first I thought he had a 4 ace card sticker but now I'm seeing somebody's face; could be my painkillers taking effect 😄

 

I read somewhere that he's got a pic of snooker great Ronnie O'Sullivan's face up there.

[BigRedX]

10 hours ago, SteveXFR said:

I'm fairly sure anything can sound good through an Ampeg SVT Classic

 

But can we be absolutely sure how much that rig is contributing to the sound that most of the audience are hearing? There's a mic on one driver on one cab and as I said previously 1 close mic on one driver is not the same sound as the whole (or two) 8x10 cabs from a couple of feet away. If you're only going mic one driver, you might as well use a 1x10 cab, because those other 15 drivers are just for show. Even then, there's probably going to be a DI either taken from the line out on of one of the amps or maybe direct from the bass before the signal has even reached the amp. Certainly every time I've played on a larger stage where my rig has been mic'd up there has also been a DI feed as well. And unless we are the mix engineer then we don't know how much of each feed is actually being used for the FoH sound or what additional processing is being applied at the desk or from the PA outboard.

 

And from personal experience on larger stages, even if your not wearing IEMs, unless you have your rig turned up stupidly loud you'll be able to hear more bass guitar signal from the monitors than you can from the cabs behind you. In the end all we can really say is that as stage props that Ampeg rig looks pretty good, but to suggest that it is definitely contributing to the sound the majority of the audience are hearing is naive at best.

[SteveXFR]

52 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

 

But can we be absolutely sure how much that rig is contributing to the sound that most of the audience are hearing? There's a mic on one driver on one cab and as I said previously 1 close mic on one driver is not the same sound as the whole (or two) 8x10 cabs from a couple of feet away. If you're only going mic one driver, you might as well use a 1x10 cab, because those other 15 drivers are just for show. Even then, there's probably going to be a DI either taken from the line out on of one of the amps or maybe direct from the bass before the signal has even reached the amp. Certainly every time I've played on a larger stage where my rig has been mic'd up there has also been a DI feed as well. And unless we are the mix engineer then we don't know how much of each feed is actually being used for the FoH sound or what additional processing is being applied at the desk or from the PA outboard.

 

And from personal experience on larger stages, even if your not wearing IEMs, unless you have your rig turned up stupidly loud you'll be able to hear more bass guitar signal from the monitors than you can from the cabs behind you. In the end all we can really say is that as stage props that Ampeg rig looks pretty good, but to suggest that it is definitely contributing to the sound the majority of the audience are hearing is naive at best.

 

Whether they're using just the mic or the DI or both, it's still the amp that is shaping the sound. 

I don't see what's wrong with only having the mic on one driver, I've never seen more than two on a cab. The DI probably has a cab sim applied and probably the most common cab sim uses an Ampeg 8x10 IR.

[Lozz196]

In my last band I was fortunate enough to play through the classic Ampeg 810 set up a good few times. As none of us were keen on bass in the monitors what wevheard was the full 810 going - admittedly with my Sansamp shaping the eq. Was wonderful, didn’t have to be mega loud (same as stage volume drums) to be heard all over the stage. 

[BigRedX]

17 minutes ago, SteveXFR said:

Whether they're using just the mic or the DI or both, it's still the amp that is shaping the sound. 

 

Not necessarily the DI may well be taken directly from the bass guitar before it reaches the amp. Unless you are using rack-mounted devices in the effects loop of the amp this will be the source that most PA engineers are keen to use. Plus IME much of the EQ used on the amp will be overcoming the limitations of the cab. In nearly all rigs the "sound" is that of the amp and cabs working together, since this is near impossible to capture on stage, most PA engineers won't even bother.  

[BigRedX]

17 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

In my last band I was fortunate enough to play through the classic Ampeg 810 set up a good few times. As none of us were keen on bass in the monitors what wevheard was the full 810 going - admittedly with my Sansamp shaping the eq. Was wonderful, didn’t have to be mega loud (same as stage volume drums) to be heard all over the stage. 

 

I always found that even with more modern cabs with better dispersion I could only hear myself from my rig when I was stood directly in front of it. Fine if your the sort of musician who never moves about on stage, but for me the whole point of a big stage is to be able to throw some proper "shapes". With foldback I've been lost the moment I stepped away from my rig.

[casapete]

1 hour ago, Lozz196 said:

In my last band I was fortunate enough to play through the classic Ampeg 810 set up a good few times. As none of us were keen on bass in the monitors what wevheard was the full 810 going - admittedly with my Sansamp shaping the eq. Was wonderful, didn’t have to be mega loud (same as stage volume drums) to be heard all over the stage. 

Same here Lozz. Did hundreds of gigs with my 80’s SVT rig, and most of them with no FOH support, even

in reasonably large venues. Often the engineer would place a mic in front of one of the speakers ‘ just in

case’ but I don’t ever remember it being utilised. There’s something about the SVT/810 thing that makes

the bass felt throughout the room. 
Also worked with some FOH engineers who mic up the cab as well as use a DI. Some used both feeds to

get a sound, others used just one source with the other there as back up.

[BigRedX]

Without actually being able to see how the desk was configured while you were playing you have no idea which sound sources are being routed to the FoH speakers.

 

With my producer's/engineer's hat on if someone asked me to mic up their bass cab I'd do it. Whether I actually utilised that channel is another matter entirely.

[Mike Bungo]

16 hours ago, kodiakblair said:

Doesn't appear to have a logo.

 

 

At first I thought he had a 4 ace card sticker but now I'm seeing somebody's face; could be my painkillers taking effect 😄

I tweeted Tony this morning who tells me it Japanese, plays great but didn't tell me the maker

[rushbo]

I would absolutely love it to be a G4M. As Geddy's Nose said earlier in the thread - that would be proper Punk Rock.

 

[Leonard Smalls]

4 minutes ago, rushbo said:

proper Punk Rock.

Not sure about the comfy  white slacks and Genesis circa 1984 look!

😁