Bass - Lead - Amp

[Dan Dare]

Oh and yes, bass - lead - amp for me, too.

[SteveXFR]

I would like a simple setup but my Orange Terror amp sounds a bit rubbish so I use a separate preamp pedal to get a decent sound 

[casapete]

1 minute ago, SteveXFR said:

I would like a simple setup but my Orange Terror amp sounds a bit rubbish so I use a separate preamp pedal to get a decent sound 

Time for a bit of new amp GAS then? 😀

[SteveXFR]

32 minutes ago, casapete said:

Time for a bit of new amp GAS then? 😀

 

I've got the two notes le bass preamp and it sounds incredible so unless Two Notes make an amp I'll stick with this setup.

[LeftyP]

On 07/08/2023 at 10:02, Len_derby said:

Me too. Bass - lead - amp. Clip-on tuner. I like to keep everything simple. Just my preference, each to their own. 

That's the way I do it too.

[Dazed]

On 07/08/2023 at 09:32, Supernaut said:

Does anyone run a simple set-up anymore?

 

I'm seeing bass players these days with crazy pedalboards in front of them. 
 

The only pedal I have is a Polytune. 
 

What happened to bass, lead, amp?

2 statements. 
I haven’t played a gig in the last 20 years. 
I didn’t ever play a gig with a pedal. 
 

Bass - lead -amp. 

[Stub Mandrel]

Bass-lead-amp since last October.  Improved my playing no end.

[Lfalex v1.1]

4 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Bass-lead-amp since last October.  Improved my playing no end.

 

That's interesting. 

 

How has it improved your playing?

[NancyJohnson]

It is interesting reading the comments here.  

 

The audio character varies from amp to amp; for years I just used a rack set up (Tech21 RBI into a Matrix power amp), while it was a two stage system Tech21 used to make the Landmark amp that would deliver the same result.  The Darkglass AO900 head I'm using now will do more or less the same in one unit.

 

I used a Hartke combo in a studio last week and found it extremely ponky; same goes those that I'm forced to use in gig places where the backline is already there.  I just need a tone with a bit of grit in it.

[neepheid]

4 hours ago, Lfalex v1.1 said:

 

That's interesting. 

 

How has it improved your playing?

 

I read the "Improved my playing no end" bit as pure 100% sarcasm.  Now I'm not so sure and am interested to see if I was right.

[three]

I tend to favour basses that have a recognised core 'characterful' tone, for example, Wal, Alembic, Steinberger, Warwick (Thumb), Spector (Haz and EMG), and at some time have owned all in that list.  This isn't to say that other brands/basses don't have a characterful tone, just that perhaps those in the first list have a pretty specific and recognisable sound.  I've also owned and enjoyed Fender, Fodera, Shuker, Sei, Overwater, Wilcock etc. (and many more, absolutely nuts though fun) but find these, however brilliant and useable, to be a bit more 'vanilla' in their tonal palette.  For me, most of the time, if using a 'characterful' bass, then relatively simple 'bass - lead - preamp - power amp', permits emphasis and focus on the elements of the bass that constitute its particularity.  Use of effects, and even exaggerated use of eq or compression, can tend to mask (semi-) unique tonal qualities.  Oh, and I still use and enjoy plenty of 'vanilla' basses (there term isn't employed here as any kind of pejorative).  Further, I hear and enjoy lots of brilliant bassists that use effects with brilliant results, it's perhaps just not for me.  

Edited August 9, 2023 by three

[LeftyJ]

I've been a plug and play type of player for most of my bass playing years. I started out as a guitarist and have had loads of pedals and multi-FX units, but for bass I've never really felt the need. I had some pedals for sh*ts and giggles at home (like envelope filters and a synth pedal, and some other things that went unused) that I had no use for in any of my bands, but that's it. If I had an amp with a slight bit of dirt I was happy. 

 

Now for the past 3 years I've been in a doom metal band where I need to be able to add more drive on occasion, so I had a use for the Darkglass B7K that I've had sitting at home for a few years, and I've finally made a small pedalboard (Pedaltrain Nano) with said overdrive, a tuner, a compressor and a chorus. But I often forget bringing it to rehearsals and even gigs... It's just not really for me, and in the end I'm happiest with just my bass into a dirty tube (pre)amp that I can vary the drive on by altering how hard I pluck. 

[rushbo]

I have a love/hate relationship with pedals. One of my favourite bits of BassChat is the "show us your pedalboard" thread, and I often gasp in awe at all the gorgeous devices that my colleagues drag around with them, on pedalboards that have their own generator and which probably require their own postcode. I went through a phase which many of us must have experienced; the "people will only think I'm a legitimate bassist if I have a load of gizmos on the floor in front of me," phase. I came to the conclusion (after deploying a gnarly fuzz noise rather than a pretty, shimmering chorus effect  by accident for the umpteenth time),  that my needs are few.  My current band covers a wide variety of styles so I need to ring the changes somehow, and the easiest way to do that is with a modest MultiFX - in my case, an old Zoom B3. Could I do without it? Probably. Would anyone notice if I didn't use any effects? Probably not. I quite like them, though. 

 

There is something really liberating about about playing "direct." I've supported the current line up of Dr Feelgood a few times and their (excellent) bassist doesn't have any toys at all. He plugs a P Bass into an Ampeg stack and it sounds glorious. 

 

Horses for courses, I guess. 

[Martin E]

I've never used pedals when playing live, partly because a pedal board its something else to lug around, takes up valuable floor space on stage and is yet another source of something to go wrong.

 

I've seen boards on here with 20 or more pedals, does that mean that even when all are bye passed the signal still goes through 20 patch leads and 40 jack sockets?

If so I'm surprised anything at all comes out the end.

[Lfalex v1.1]

3 hours ago, Martin E said:

I've never used pedals when playing live, partly because a pedal board its something else to lug around, takes up valuable floor space on stage and is yet another source of something to go wrong.

 

I've seen boards on here with 20 or more pedals, does that mean that even when all are bye passed the signal still goes through 20 patch leads and 40 jack sockets?

If so I'm surprised anything at all comes out the end.

 

Not if they're by-passed by some sort of group-switching midi pedal or a Boss LS-2. But I take your point nonetheless. 

[PaulThePlug]

Keep coming back to Bass > Lead > Amp... ish, usually via my trusty Joyo JT-305 Korg Pitch Black-a-like Muting Tuner... and often with the 'ol Coiley Lead.

Wander off in fits 'n dreams and flights of fancy, or P!$$ing about waisting time as it's often known, with the Zoom B1on, or the 'lil Joyo Ironman pedals... a trait more often recognised in the Skinny String lot...

Then, I'm back in the room...

Edited August 10, 2023 by PaulThePlug

[Stu-khag]

bass lead amp for me. I tend to use my guitarists pedal tuner as well at the start as I keep my pedal tuner in the bag. With the gigs I do, I rarely use my own amp and quite happy to borrow so as to avoid shifting gear. I tend to sound the same regardless of the amp. Maybe its because I'm always nice to the soundie/ monitor person before hand. 

Edited August 11, 2023 by Stu-khag

[Alien]

It's generally Bass-Lead-Amp for me too.  Tuner tends to go in a line-out socket.

Used to use a bunch of pedals, but not plugged them in for a few years now.

 

A

[Norris]

This bass you're plugging straight into the amp - is it active? 😜

 

I had no pedals for years and years, but a project I was involved in for a while needed occasional use of some pretty strange effects. I bought a multi-fx - a Boss GT-6B. The project eventually folded but I kept the pedal. Most of the time it's on a "pass-thru" patch and only used as a tuner and mute between sets. However there are a few songs we do where I use effects, and it's nice to be able to set up a patch without having to add more pedals to a board.

 

Stranger patches I have set up include a ring modulator/echo for the lawnmower noise at the start of Genesis - I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe), and an echo/wah/phase shift I use in Frankenstein by the Edgar Winter Group.

 

My current favourite is the OctaFuzz patch. It's nice to be able to spice things up a bit, especially in a G-B-D trio

[Al Krow]

Pedals can be a lot of fun

Playing bass can be hugely rewarding, but it's absolutely not everyone's instrument of choice

Making live music in a band for me is one of the best things I've ever done, but same folk hate gigging

5 strings can be cool, but many prefer 4 and some love 6

Some use backline but others just go through the PA

Life's short - do what works for you and brings you joy and don't worry too much if that doesn't suit others down the road

 

Pedals can be a lot of fun.

[dmccombe7]

With Glam band its active Bass, Wireless, Envelope filter (for 8 bars in one song) and amp. 

Wireless has built in tuner and amp has built in compressor.

 

With punk band its passive Bass, lead and amp. Tuner is run from the Amp tuner out.

 

Dave

Edited August 13, 2023 by dmccombe7

[Boodang]

I have to say as I've got older I've been getting back to basics. Now I only gig with the small board and have somehow managed to get my pedals down from 21 to 12. 

 

[dmccombe7]

42 minutes ago, Boodang said:

I have to say as I've got older I've been getting back to basics. Now I only gig with the small board and have somehow managed to get my pedals down from 21 to 12. 

 

Curious but do you use them all during a gig ?

If so what kind of music are you playing. ?

That's a lot of pedals and this is the small board 

Dave.

 

[diskwave]

1 hour ago, dmccombe7 said:

Envelope filter (for 8 bars in one song)

Just play up the neck. Used to do it on Lil L...sounds great.

[dmccombe7]

7 hours ago, greavesbass said:

Just play up the neck. Used to do it on Lil L...sounds great.

Trying to emulate a synth part and envelope filter is the nearest thing to it but still keeping it simple.

I'll certainly try your suggestion tho and if that works i'm a pedal less on stage.

Dave