And the best bass sound I've ever had is..... (drum roll)

[la bam]

......... 

 

........ A Harley benton mm84a direct into the PA! 

 

Can't believe it. Not even a Di pedal used. No amp, no Di pedal, no emulators. Just a second hand 70 Harley benton straight into the desk..... 

 

 

[Doctor J]

Perhaps it was a tonedesk?

[Dan Dare]

In isolation, the best bass sound I ever heard from my instrument was when it was DI'd into a Neve console and listened to via some ridiculously expensive studio monitors (can't remember what they were). The "in isolation" was important, though. That hi-fi sound rarely works well in context in my experience. Add the rest of the band and the subtleties quickly get lost and/or clash with everything else that's happening. You end up boosting the upper mids, getting rid of a lot of the delicate higher frequencies, rolling off almost everything below about 80hz or so, etc to make it sit nicely in the track and hey presto, P bass with semi-knackered strings.

[la bam]

This was through a pa company's rig for an outdoor concert. Couldn't belive how good it sounded on stage (most of it was from the front of house sound). 

 

Its a 5 selector and 3 band active bass so I had plenty of flexibility if needed. But I didn't need it. Bit of mid boost, rear humbucker. Job done. 

[gjones]

Best bass sound I had was the same, DI into desk and through the stage monitor at the Blues Kitchen in Camden about 6 years ago. I was using a bitsa Squier P bass, with an old 80s pickup in it. The sound engineer there told me he hadn't had a day off in about 5 years, so he knew what he was doing.

[paul_5]

Probably my fretless Jazz through a DHA VT into an Ampeg SVT classic out to a 6x10”. 
 

Trouser wettingly good.

[Lozz196]

40 minutes ago, Dan Dare said:

In isolation, the best bass sound I ever heard from my instrument was when it was DI'd into a Neve console and listened to via some ridiculously expensive studio monitors (can't remember what they were). The "in isolation" was important, though. That hi-fi sound rarely works well in context in my experience. Add the rest of the band and the subtleties quickly get lost and/or clash with everything else that's happening. You end up boosting the upper mids, getting rid of a lot of the delicate higher frequencies, rolling off almost everything below about 80hz or so, etc to make it sit nicely in the track and hey presto, P bass with semi-knackered strings.

Exactly what happened on my last recording session, tho to be fair I was playing a 1969 P Bass with semi-knackered strings already. Doing that did make for a great sound that sits in exactly in the right place in the songs.

[Gasman]

What would be your 'normal' set-up to compare with this?

[NHM]

The best sound I get is when I practice at home, plugging directly into a Focusrite and then monitored on a pair of cheap Sennheiser headphones. All my basses, cheap or expensive, sound equally fab. No amp in a live situation has ever matched this. 

[Old Horse Murphy]

Mine was a Lakland Duck Dunn straight in to the studio desk. It did everything from gnarly to treacle. Shame it was so heavy. 
 

The best live recorded sound I've had was a tatty 90's Fender US Jazz bass with Wizard 84's. Out of all the stuff I've heard where we've recorded gigs this is still the benchmark. 

[neepheid]

I don't think I have a best.  I sometimes feel like my hair has been blown back.  Most recently, that was my Wunkay, OMG mode, a Tecamp Puma 900 into a Markbass NY121 cab.  But there'll be other times when I puff out my cheeks and think "damn, that's some good sounding bass" to myself.

[bassbiscuits]

Summer 2018 - Aguilar GS410, Markbass Little Mark III and a P bass with roundwounds and a pick, turned up very loud at an outdoor gig in Bedfordshire.

 

Perfect mix for me of grunt and thump plus clarity. Proper trouser-flapping stuff. Nice.

 

 

[ahpook]

1 hour ago, NHM said:

The best sound I get is when I practice at home, plugging directly into a Focusrite and then monitored on a pair of cheap Sennheiser headphones. All my basses, cheap or expensive, sound equally fab. No amp in a live situation has ever matched this. 

 

Pretty much the same here.

[No lust in Jazz]

Live  - Serek MW2 with Curtis Novak DS/BS pick up / Flatwound strings into a Quilter Bass Block - DI to PA

Studio - P Bass with roundwound strings into SWR Baby Blue head DI to desk 

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

I thought I'd recorded the best bass tone ever on a track over the weekend using my non-reverse thunderbird with cobalt flats plugged straight into my focusrite interface and using a bass amp model and compressor built-into logic. It sounds awesome in the track — but when I solo the bass track it sounds all clanky and weird on its own.

[neepheid]

4 minutes ago, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

I thought I'd recorded the best bass tone ever on a track over the weekend using my non-reverse thunderbird with cobalt flats plugged straight into my focusrite interface and using a bass amp model and compressor built-into logic. It sounds awesome in the track — but when I solo the bass track it sounds all clanky and weird on its own.

 

It usually does.  As long as the mix sounds awesome, it's all good.

[Lozz196]

Yep many great in the mix sounds are tinny clanky and more driven than would have been thought.

Edited November 30, 2023 by Lozz196

[Lfalex v1.1]

On stage, I think it was my Warwick Infinty SN4 through a Hartke HA3500 and 4.5XL.

That wasn't even my rig.  It was the venue's.

 

Singer/Guitarist in a band I was in maintains I produced the best bass tone he'd EVER heard with a 2004 MIA S1 Jazz through an Ampeg SVP-PRO  into my little 80w 1x10 Combo... in the drummer's front room! 🤪

 

In the studio environment,  the Vigier, straight into the desk has given consistently good results.

There's an undeniable directness and clarity, in spite of any processing after the fact. 

 

Otherwise,  I'm getting some nice noises from most basses via a Two Notes "Le Bass" preamp, a Markbass S450  and Schroeder 21012l. I really do need a band rehearsal/ audition to use it in anger,  though. 

 

Edited November 30, 2023 by Lfalex v1.1

[msb]

Using a Monique preamp changed me. I’m generally after a warm thick old school tubey thump. 
And I have that , with some serious slam.

I’m a believer.

[JoeEvans]

I'm mostly playing double bass at the moment. I bought a Prodipe Lanen mic a while back and that, into an ART Tube preamp then straight into the desk, sounds utterly delicious, live or recorded.

The sound and the simplicity of it has made me think a lot more about an amp free arrangement for electric bass now.

[mike257]

15 hours ago, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

I thought I'd recorded the best bass tone ever on a track over the weekend using my non-reverse thunderbird with cobalt flats plugged straight into my focusrite interface and using a bass amp model and compressor built-into logic. It sounds awesome in the track — but when I solo the bass track it sounds all clanky and weird on its own.

 

Go listen to some isolated bass tracks from Motown records. Exactly the same, beyond glorious in mix, all clank and finger noise in isolation. 

 

If it sounds right in context, it doesn't matter how it sounds on its own!

[la bam]

Just to clarify, the benton was the best live sound I've ever had. The best recorded sound (never used the Harley yet) was my Fender p bass straight into scarlet into desk. 

Edited December 1, 2023 by la bam

[diskwave]

Just a guess. Is the OP talking about that lush J bass bedroom sound so enjoyed by a lot of younger players..the one which sadly disappears once on stage.

My home playalong sound is a bone dry grey/middly tone with dead flats which on its own sounds a bit dull I suppose you might say...however stick on a track..reduce the bass on the music box and that dry tone could almost be in the mix.   

[msb]

I practice at a pretty quiet volume , and most amps sound thin when you turn them right down. This little preamp/parametric eq does the trick and can fatten things up nicely. No longer made , but it’s a marvellous little box. The Yamaha Nathan East box , the NE-1.

I have two practice rigs , and two of these little boxes. 

[la bam]

2 hours ago, zrbass said:

Just a guess. Is the OP talking about that lush J bass bedroom sound so enjoyed by a lot of younger players..the one which sadly disappears once on stage.

 

No, it was at an outdoor festival. 

 

I've USA fenders, played through every head and cab going, I still maintain that sound beat a USA p and svt rig. Don't worry, I know that sounds crazy