Getting The Right Sound From My Bass Amp

The Volt

As you can see its a fairly basic amp,
# 12" speaker
# 7 Band EQ
# FX-loop
# headphone out
# measures: (H/D/W) 51 x 26 x 47 cm

Need to maximize it, get a proper sound from it for live performances.

Would really appreciate some pointers

Playing a Schecter 004 Diamond through it by the way
* 5-bolt-on construction
* 34" scale
* Ash body
* Maple neck
* Rosewood fingerboard
* 24 Jumbo frets
* Block Inlays
* Schecter Active Passive pickups
* Master volume & master blend controls
* Active 2-band EQ (pull for passive)
* Schecter Custom String-Thru-Body (or Top Load) bridge
* Creme binding
* Schecter tuners
* Chrome hardware w/ brass nut

Just I know nothing about getting decent sounds out =/

Royale with Cheese

I think most people will just tell you to buy a better amp if you don't like the sound out of it. After getting the eq how you like it, I don't really see what else you can do.

Where do you play live? I don't even bother bringing my amp to gigs and it's fairly decent. I just don't care about the sound enough to bring a 30kg amp around the place with me. Most gigs I do are with 3-4 other bands and the engineers much prefer to have one bass amp for every band anyway. I just use whatever's on stage or go through the D.I. and use an equaliser pedal.

If I was really fúcked I'd get one of these but I've spent over €2k on new gear in the past 12 months so I think I've enough for now.

Dord

I'd suggest a new amp.

But with regards getting the best/right sound from your amp, the best place to start is with everything flat (usually at 12 o'clock position). Boost & cut to taste. Personally I prefer to keep everything flat, but thats me. I do the eq work on my basses.

The Volt

I also have a BOSS ME-50, buying a new amp isn't really an option right now as we're paying for a demo.

We've a whelans date this month and We've to provide the amps & kit

unclebill98

TBH you'd really have to drive that amp to cut through on a live stage and I would say it would not last long. Also, if another bands uses it they'll more or less run it to hard and damage it on you as its not theres.

Your asking a question and your not liking the answers. A better amp will give you better headroom. Apart from that your not going to get better results, as any fine tuning to your tone via what ever pedals you'll use will simple not get through on such a amp.

Royale with Cheese

Personally I'd have absolutely no problem going through an me-50 to a D.I box and I doubt the engineer in Whelans would either.

dead air

Royale with Cheese wrote: »

I think most people will just tell you to buy a better amp if you don't like the sound out of it. After getting the eq how you like it, I don't really see what else you can do.

Agree totally. When you start to play larger venues, you need to upgrade your equipment. After you pay for your recording, it'll be worth it in the long run to get a bigger amp.

--

If its just a nice sound you're after, the starting point is your EQ.

Part of my workflow is as follows:
1. Set the bass and treble pots to 10, and your set your mids to 0.
2. Add a little mid until it sounds nice to your ears.
3. Adjust bass and treble slightly until it sounds nice to your ears.

At this stage, if I want a more full bass sound, I will reduce the treble. But If I want more of a treble, thin or punchy sound, I'll reduce the bass frequencies a little. Might not be everyone's method, but its a rule I generally follow.


However, if you're worried about your amp cutting it for a live show, the best thing to do is to ask the engineer in Whelan's to DI your bass, as Royale with Cheese has pointed out. Your bass amp will act as another monitor for the live show, but the crowd probably won't hear it, your bass is going through the PA instead. If you can't hear your amp on stage, ask the engineer to raise the bass level in your stage monitor in front of you. So don't be late for your sound check.

Just make sure you can hear yourself on stage, nothing worse than playing a gig and not hearing yourself, has happened to me more than once.

Good luck with the gig!

Dord

Royale with Cheese wrote: »

Personally I'd have absolutely no problem going through an me-50 to a D.I box and I doubt the engineer in Whelans would either.

That should do. It might not sound amazing but he should be able to get a useable tone from it.

The Volt

Thanks for the advice guys, extremely helpful

The Volt

Having finished the leaving Ive gotten some prize money budget of bout 465 (equal to my points!)

Looking on ebay atm, any suggestions?

corkstudent

Playing around with your ME-50 might be the best option, or looking into other pedals that might make it sound more interesting.

What amp is it? If it's a no-name brand it's not surprising it sounds indistinct.

The Volt

http://cgi.ebay.ie/NEW-LANEY-RB8-rb-8-Richter-300-Watt-Bass-Guitar-Amp_W0QQitemZ150279043303QQihZ005QQcategoryZ58719QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Looking at this as a potential newbie. My Fame Amp just wont cut it at Whelans so I'm acting quickly.

Savman

Plug the Bass directly into the Amp. If it sounds like garbage, replace one or both as required.

There are no shortcuts or el cheapo designs on getting good tone. Just buy better stuff.

The Volt

Aye, I'm not tryina cheap out here, the BOSS is more than I need on the effect front. Just the Fame amp isn't

Royale with Cheese

Had a Laney 125w amp a while ago. Hated it.

Upgraded and got this.

Thought it was a grand amp, especially for the price. Upgraded again to the Ashdown ABM less than a year later, only cos I picked one up at a really decent price. Otherwise I would have just stuck with the MAG.

Ha the price of gear these days compared to 5-6 years ago. The 125w Laney I had cost me €500. Although I bought that in town before I discovered thomann etc. Irish prices were unbelievable back then. If it's in stock you could pick that Ashdown up in musicmaker for near enough the same price it is on thomann. Although buying it from soundslive will be cheaper cos of the strength of the Euro at the minute.

DerKaiser

Depends on what kind of music you play, specifically because of the guitarist(s) in your band, they can make more of a mess out of your sound than you can if they don't know how to fix their own sound, like someone recommended start with your eqs in a neutral position, if the guitars are fairly trebley, you might get away with flooding it with middle, it will make the bass cut right through, again depends on what style of music you're playing.

But the Savman as ever is the cynical voice of wisdom, no point in persevering with sub-standard equipment, you'll have to bite the bullet before long, your set up will be "unnoticed" in smaller venues but as you get to places like the sugar club your bass will just get lost.

dead air

If you're going to spend all of your cash, I'd get this:

http://www.thomann.de/ie/ashdown_magc410t300.htm or
http://www.thomann.de/ie/ashdown_mag_300h_bundle.htm

The Ashdown MAGs are the best value for money quality amps. This will keep you going for years. I been using the exact same (in separate head and cab form) for quite some time and it's excellent for gigs.

Head into Music Maker to test them, last time I was there they had reasonable prices for Ashdown amps.

illgetyourcoat

i have to say there are a lot of very good point made, but the thing i find is, it really does depend what sound you are looking for, i had an ME 50b for a long time, upgraded to the gt6b - best decision ive ever made

as far as a new amp would go, im dead set against ashdown, we jam in my drummers house and hes in another band to their bassist has one and i tink its rubbish, not enough kick out of it for me

my current setup is:
http://www.thomann.de/ie/gallien_krueger_gt700rb.htm
and:
http://www.thomann.de/ie/gallien_krueger_410blx_backline_bassbox.htm
cab aint great (no tweeters :mad:)

im completly in favour of gallien over any other amps, ive play through almost every type i can think of and i far prefer mine, it delivers 100% growl punch and tone, theyre pricey but worth it

insinkerator

You need a new amp end of story... I would listen to all these people giving fantastic advice about buying an Ashdown MAG. Pretty sweet solid advice right there!

Rigsby

insinkerator wrote: »

You need a new amp end of story... I would listen to all these people giving fantastic advice about buying an Ashdown MAG. Pretty sweet solid advice right there!

............ or even better, if a little more expensive, the Ashdown ABM.

Parsley

Another vote for the Ashdown MAG here!

The Volt

I'm getting the Mag 410C

AndyTheDude

I'm getting the Mag 410C

That's a mistake, IMO.

I've never been a big fan of Ashdown. Their combos suck all the life out of my bass.
Do you have a roadie? If not... well, it looks like it will take two band members to carry the Mag. Your band mates will start to hate you after few gigs.
Are you sure 4x10 is what you need? I don't know what sound you're after, but I'd rather recommend you to go for a 1x15 + tweeter.
Do you really need 300W? I don't and I don't think you do. My combo is being used as stage monitor/DI out, I also use it for rehearsals. 200W is more then enough.

Grab your bass and visit several music stores, test every single amp they have - that's the best advice I can give you. It's the best way of avoiding the disappointment, too.

Rigsby

AndyTheDude wrote: »

Grab your bass and visit several music stores, test every single amp they have - that's the best advice I can give you. It's the best way of avoiding the disappointment, too.

That's good advice. I have both the Ashdown Mag and Abm combos (both 2x10). The Mag is 300w and the Abm is 500w. While they are by no means the best amp in the world, they are good value IMO (especially the ABM ). As far as the weight goes the Mag is 28 kilos and the ABM is a few kilos heavier. Not that much heavier than the average combo. However if you need more power that's different.

Anyway as AndyTheDude says, do some research before you decide.

Savman

illgetyourcoat wrote: »

im completly in favour of gallien over any other amps, ive play through almost every type i can think of and i far prefer mine, it delivers 100% growl punch and tone, theyre pricey but worth it

I'll plus one that.

The Volt

Order cancelled, MAG out of stock. need something ASAP. price range of 500ish

AndyTheDude

Order cancelled, MAG out of stock. need something ASAP. price range of 500ish

#1: 250W, 1x15"+tweeter, compressor, lovely slap tone. (OK, that's almost €600, but it's worth it.)
http://www.musicstore.com/en_EN/IEP/Basses/Combos/Warwick-CCL-ND-Transistorcombo-4-OHM-250-WATT/art-BAS0001950-001


#2: 250W, 15"+8", compressor, only €450 (if u're after more traditional bass sound)
http://www.musicstore.com/en_EN/IEP/Basses/Combos/Warwick-Sweet-25.1-Combo-/art-BAS0002419-000


#3: any Yorkville combo you can find. I have one (XM200) and I love it.

The Volt

Okay so I have it little over a month, and now there's no sound coming out of it. The usual sound you get when you insert a cable into an input isn't heard and it's very frustrating! It's under warranty and all that jazz but I got it from soundslive.co.uk and having to return it is a pain. Is there anywhere in Dublin that will look at it for me and fix it instead of me having to send it back to Newcastle?

PaulBrewer

Voltwad wrote: »

As you can see its a fairly basic amp,
# 12" speaker
# 7 Band EQ
# FX-loop
# headphone out
# measures: (H/D/W) 51 x 26 x 47 cm

Need to maximize it, get a proper sound from it for live performances.
/

Generally bass amps are at least 15 inch for a single speaker. The amp change may be the only option.

What model and power is it?