Members Poltergeist Posted October 17, 2007 Members Share Posted October 17, 2007 im not really in love with Markbass... i played one of their heads with a Fame 4x10 cab, and its great!... i mean, its great and its affordable, but its too analog-sounding for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitargod0dmw Posted October 17, 2007 Members Share Posted October 17, 2007 its too analog-sounding for me That has to be the first time I've ever heard that described as a problem. I know exactly what you mean!!! I love that digitized, sterile, lifeless tone that only comes from digital modeling equipment doing a piss poor job at recreating the analog amps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members T. Alan Smith Posted October 17, 2007 Members Share Posted October 17, 2007 im not really in love with Markbass... i played one of their heads with a Fame 4x10 cab, and its great!... i mean, its great and its affordable, but its too analog-sounding for me When I was putting my latest rig together, I found out that the LittleMark II really sings with the right head. For example, to my ears, it sounded blah with Markbass cabs, but wonderful with Peavey Tour Series cabs. Last nite, I FINALLY got to play the GBE600 thru my Bergie cab, and the FET of the Genz Benz didn't sound very different from my LMII. Adding the tube gave it a more woolly sound, but didn't really add what I call 'depth of staging.' After that experience, I really wonder how different GK would sound thru my Bergie than my LMII. I'm not expecting to be bowled over. That said, as far as tranny heads, I still prefer the Thunderfunk, soundwise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members REMUS Posted October 17, 2007 Author Members Share Posted October 17, 2007 In reality, there are 5 seperate (major) influences in tone, they are (in no particular order):cabinetampbassstyle/techniqueacoustics.Some of these you have little control over. Yep i'm quite aware of this, This topic is not intended to encompass the properties a bass guitar contributes in this equation. and I didn't want to focus on it and i'm glad it wasn't engaged. But I think this has been an interesting debate none the less, sorry I couldn't involve myself in it but i've been snowed under with work. I think (as has already been duly noted) kindness summed it up very well; Listening/reading to everyone else's opinions, it occurs to me that the cabinets have the most inherent influence on tone, but amps have the most potential influence on tone. I can't argue with that, anyone have any differing opinion? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Poltergeist Posted October 17, 2007 Members Share Posted October 17, 2007 the thing i loved about the Markbass head was the VLF (i think thats it) knob... it sounds so freakin awesome!i also thought the Markbass Heads had a little problem cutting through 2 guitars and drums.. and i was playing pretty loud... its probably because i was playing it in the open and not in a room... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Poltergeist Posted October 17, 2007 Members Share Posted October 17, 2007 I'm sorry to have to say this, but i've noticed this on quite a few of your postings... Do you actually have any idea what you are talking about? You seem to post without any real first hand experience, just regurgitated information you heard somewhere which seems to be also inherently incorrect. Am I being a tired, grumpy asshole over here? yes you are... like i said above: well, its normal that something like that happens, because everyone will obviously recommend what fits THEM best, and what gear they like best... its nothing but normal... but the problem is that most people dont have a way to actually try the gear i/you guys actually recommend... that actually happens to me most of the time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Kindness Posted October 17, 2007 Moderators Share Posted October 17, 2007 Am I being a tired, grumpy asshole over here? I don't think you are. I've noticed the same thing. I've seen others join the forum with these types of posts and eventually come around as really great contributors though. I'll give Poltergeist a high five even though most of his posts have made me do this: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members REMUS Posted October 17, 2007 Author Members Share Posted October 17, 2007 I don't think you are. I've noticed the same thing. I've seen others join the forum with these types of posts and eventually come around as really great contributors though. I'll give Poltergeist a high five even though most of his posts have made me do this: Thought/hoped so Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BEAD Posted November 10, 2007 Members Share Posted November 10, 2007 [YOUTUBE]I think amps make a bigger diff. But... what do I know?[/YOUTUBE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lumpy555 Posted November 10, 2007 Members Share Posted November 10, 2007 me being a fat guy,i tackle problems like this debockel,er ,i mean debate like a food problem,DO YOU LIKE SPICEY CHEESE ON YOUR NACHOS,OR DO YOU PREFER THE REGULAR CHEESE? same with amp heads and cabs... lumpy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hanky Posted November 10, 2007 Members Share Posted November 10, 2007 i play clean (no distortion), mostly with a flat EQ (i use the eq on the bass), so i vote for the cab. Poltergeist may sometime misslead readers... but...the good thing is that the people with the knowledge feel the urge to post a better answer. this is just one of the topics that end up more rich just because of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guttermouth Posted November 10, 2007 Members Share Posted November 10, 2007 it really depends on what amp and which cab.there are colored and flat versions of both.i tend to lean towards flat cabinets and colored heads with good eq. my reasoning being - if you're in a bad room with a flat cab and a head with good eq you have more ability to eq yourself out of a bad situation whereas, if you're rig is the other way around you're basicly stuck (to a degree) with the sound of the cab in the bad room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LanEvo Posted November 10, 2007 Members Share Posted November 10, 2007 I guess it all depends on whether you think of your amp/cab as a "tone shaping tool" or as a "contraption that makes the natural sound of my bass louder." Personally, I like my amps and cabs to be as transparent as possible. I spent enough money and time to find basses with brilliant inherent tone...why would I want my amp/cab to mask that tone or impose their own tone? Most of the great bass tones you can think of (Jaco anyone?) were recorded with a bass plugged directly into the board. I want that sound...just a little louder. Emre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LanEvo Posted November 10, 2007 Members Share Posted November 10, 2007 Oh, and your only as good as your weakest link -golden rule of pro audio. Since you opened the door...I'm a dyed-in-the-wool Hi-Fi weenie myself. I've spent thousands on my hand-made single-ended triode (S.E.T.) mono-block tube amps, speakers, turntables/tonearms/cartridges, etc. etc. In the Hi-Fi world, most good amps offer little to no coloration. The really good ones just make the output of your turntable loud enough to drive your speakers without distortion. By far, the speakers (and the room acoustics) have the biggest effect on your sound. The trick to Hi-Fi is to start with the speakers that give you the most even response in your listening space...and then work backward from there. I think that approach also works well for bass amplification. Emre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Deacon_blue Posted November 10, 2007 Members Share Posted November 10, 2007 If your playing live with no house PA support, I suppose you would worry about cabinets, efficiency, coloration, etc., but for me it hardly matters. I go DI from my head and get all my feedback from the monitor. It's good for me and for the drummer who can hear me better.I don't have much at all coming out of my Yorkville cabinet now, so little as a matter of fact ,that I took my 2X10 home and just use my 115. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members willsellout Posted November 10, 2007 Members Share Posted November 10, 2007 I just buy what looks cool. And my rig looks dope if I do say so myself:D. Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members willsellout Posted November 10, 2007 Members Share Posted November 10, 2007 If your playing live with no house PA support, I suppose you would worry about cabinets, efficiency, coloration, etc., but for me it hardly matters. I go DI from my head and get all my feedback from the monitor. It's good for me and for the drummer who can hear me better.I don't have much at all coming out of my Yorkville cabinet now, so little as a matter of fact ,that I took my 2X10 home and just use my 115. I agree with this. This is why most acts I've seen always seem to sound the same regardless of what they are playing. Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members xbassman Posted November 10, 2007 Members Share Posted November 10, 2007 I am gonna have to join the "cab" camp. I don't necessarily think that is the most influential on your tone, but I definitely think it is the most important. There is almost no way to make a really bad cab sound good no matter what amp you are using. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members REMUS Posted November 10, 2007 Author Members Share Posted November 10, 2007 Of course, but we are talking all things being equal here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members xbassman Posted November 10, 2007 Members Share Posted November 10, 2007 Of course, but we are talking all things being equal here Ya see....there's the rub. All things are not equal. After screwing around with different cabs and changing drivers trying to get a good tone, I think your cabs are where to start. (I had 3 different sets of cabs with my old Peavey Mark IV head, one of which sounded at best OK.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Westsailor Posted November 10, 2007 Members Share Posted November 10, 2007 FWIW, I'm of the camp that regardless, it's easier to find the right cab for you if you have already chosen the right head. This is how I see it. The Origin of the signal is the instrument (bass) itself. I'm not tonally adept enough to differentiate between body & neck woods but I can damn sure tell the difference in P/U's & strings. 2ndly, the amp then 'boosts' that electrical signal enough to drive the speaker(s). In doing so it adds its own 'flavor' (based on, among other things, power supply speed, freq response, transient response, dynamic range, rise times, harmonics, distortion, etc. at various signal levels) that results in the unique tonal color of that amplifier. I'd look to the amp to provide any color I wanted to add to the fundamental tone of the bass. Finally, the cabinet should be considered simply as a transducer. It's design (acoustics, materials), the driver design (horn and/or cone material/mass, frame, windings, etc.), driver sensitivity, freq response (and SA curves) and Xover design, etc. all factor into the reproduction of the waveform carried on the signal from the amp. I'd consider the ideal cab to be sensitive, fast & flat, resulting in an extremely detailed reproduction of the amp signal without being clinical. So, IMHO, it's all three in the chain that together create the final tone, starting with the instrument (and technique), secondly the amp and finally the cab and I'd address any tonal qualities (good or bad) in that order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members REMUS Posted November 10, 2007 Author Members Share Posted November 10, 2007 if you read the OP this was a chance to take just the amp and cab into consideration and take peoples opinions and experiance into account not that I disagree with you analysis at all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Westsailor Posted November 10, 2007 Members Share Posted November 10, 2007 if you read the OP this was a chance to take just the amp and cab into consideration and take peoples opinions and experiance into account not that I disagree with you analysis at all Oops... (in my best Rosanne Rosanna Dana voice) Never mind.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.