Members I stink at bass Posted December 21, 2005 Members Posted December 21, 2005 A while back I posted a thread about great my new Fender Bass 24 sounded. No doubt about it, that is a phenomenal sounding bass for the money. It's NO American Deluxe FMT, but definitely worth what I paid. Anyway, I have been jammin with it for a while now at home enjoying the tone. So the other day I took it to full band practice, and I wasn't nearly as impressed. It still had that great tone that I had come accustomed to...........as long as I was playing by myself, but once the full band kicked in, the bass got totally lost. I couldn't hear myself at all. I had to stop and tweak the eq over and over. I felt like a damn guitarist always tweaking knobs. LOL! Than I realized that I just wasn't going to cut through like I wanted. Then it hit me............I was just like all of those other bassist that I see "live" who are doing all of these fancy fingering techniques, but you only hear like every 10th note cutting through or just a sonic wave of mud. I'm sure that you all jnow exactly what I am talking about. So the next practice, I took my MM Sterling. Had the bass and pa completely flat, and every single note cut through crystal clear. Even the ones I didn't want anyone to hear. LOL! So from this experience I CONFIRMED two things: 1) If you really want to hear the true tone of your bass, you MUST play it with a full band, and 2) the MM Sterling is STILL KING!!!!!!!!!!!
Members PrestiaRules Posted December 21, 2005 Members Posted December 21, 2005 a P always sits well IME/IMHO live or on a recording
Members bassplayer7770 Posted December 21, 2005 Members Posted December 21, 2005 Originally posted by I stink at bass 2) the MM Sterling is STILL KING!!!!!!!!!!! How can I argue with that?
Members ezstep Posted December 21, 2005 Members Posted December 21, 2005 I agree with one of those statements. But, there are several basses which will cut through the mix.
Members Darkstorm Posted December 21, 2005 Members Posted December 21, 2005 ABSOLUTELY. Tone in the mix is more important then tone solo. Allways dial in your tone in a mix. Allways program & tweak your processor in the mix.
Members Deacon_blue Posted December 21, 2005 Members Posted December 21, 2005 I've had this experience also.My SX with it's stock pups sounds fine in the bedroom but disappears in a live situation, so I replaced them with Lawrence J-45
Members s4001 Posted December 21, 2005 Members Posted December 21, 2005 With bass (as well as g*tar), what sounds good by itself sounds like butt in a full band sitch, and the reverse is true. The instruments need to compliment each other.
Members Yools Posted December 21, 2005 Members Posted December 21, 2005 Originally posted by I stink at bass snip snip If you really want to hear the true tone of your bass, you MUST play it with a full band... That is a well-known phenomenon that most people find out on their own... I struggled for years with that; I'd tweak until I had it sounding perfect, then at band practice it would just disappear. A few years ago I started playing again and I decided that I wasn't going to care about tone; I plugged into my all-tube amp and got some nasty sounding tone that was ugly all along, but when the band kicked in it had all the low end I wanted and the notes rang out clear. That's great advice for anyone pursuing good live tone, especially if you play with loud guitars. -Yools
Members 72Rick Posted December 21, 2005 Members Posted December 21, 2005 Sounds like the MM is king of that matchup. But, I gotta tell ya, my 72' Rick is "Omnipresent" in the mix! To me, that's what it's all about!
Members Rusty the Scoob Posted December 21, 2005 Members Posted December 21, 2005 Yep. Found this one out the hard way a few years back. I'd have very different gear if I'd chosen it by how it sounds solo.
Members mrcrow Posted December 21, 2005 Members Posted December 21, 2005 sound checks are invaluable...and if you are playing..in my case a P and you get the TTFBD sign you know all is well..
Members lug Posted December 21, 2005 Members Posted December 21, 2005 Originally posted by 72Rick Sounds like the MM is king of that matchup. But, I gotta tell ya, mt 72' Rick is "Omnipresent" in the mix! To me, that's what it's all about! My guitardist despises my ric for just that reason.
Members takeout Posted December 21, 2005 Members Posted December 21, 2005 Once I figured this out, I got infinitely more compliments on my tone, simply because I was being heard more in the mix. What sounds good soloed disappears in the mix; what sounds good in the mix may sound like ass soloed.
Members L-1329 Posted December 21, 2005 Members Posted December 21, 2005 Same player, same rig, totally different results. This is exactly why the phrase 'tone is in the fingers' is not always accurate. Flame away, I have my asbestos suit on! Tone, or how a bass sounds and cuts can be very much dependent on the gear as all these posts are saying. I learned this too, but only after I got my big rig all together. My tone through my Epifani cabs is as sweet and beautiful a tone as I have heard, but I was playing loud rock, and just got buried. So I picked up an Avatar 210 and 212, which can't even come close to sound quality, but have much more mid cut. In the band they sounded superior. Still me playing, still the same bass, but now much better (in a band mix) tone.
Members willsellout Posted December 21, 2005 Members Posted December 21, 2005 Mids cut..the best live tones I have heard was one of my friends. Played a Warwick Corvette FNA through a SWR SM900 with BBE Sonic Maximizer and a 2x10 and 4x10 SWR cabs. I have yet to hear a better more crystal clear groundshaking tone. But I like the mid range growl a lot. some people might not have liked it.The other time was a guy who was playing a Stingray..nuff said:) Dan
Members SA Rios Posted December 21, 2005 Members Posted December 21, 2005 Originally posted by I stink at bass 2) the MM Sterling is STILL KING!!!!!!!!!!! +1000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
Members knuckle_head Posted December 21, 2005 Members Posted December 21, 2005 Each is/has the perfect tone - FOR ITS ENVIRONMENT In a different setting the tone you hear when you're by yourself may just be ideal. ....my $.02
Members willsellout Posted December 21, 2005 Members Posted December 21, 2005 Originally posted by knuckle_head Each is/has the perfect tone - FOR ITS ENVIRONMENTIn a different setting the tone you hear when you're by yourself may just be ideal.....my $.02 Easy to say for you...I don't think your basses would have a hard time cutting through:D By the way, hows business?
Members el_duderino676 Posted December 21, 2005 Members Posted December 21, 2005 Originally posted by mrcrow sound checks are invaluable. YES!!! I learned this the hard way. A few weeks ago when I was doing a charity gig with people I don't normally play with, I dialed in my usual solo EQ settings, but we didn't have time to do a soundcheck, so I just hoped for the best. Well, I couldn't hear myself singing because there weren't any stage monitors, but I also couldn't hear my bass because my tone didn't complement the tone of the three guitards that I was playing with. So when we came back to do another song because there was plenty of time left, I cranked the bass dial on my EQ and I could actually hear myself.
Members knuckle_head Posted December 21, 2005 Members Posted December 21, 2005 Originally posted by willsellout Easy to say for you...I don't think your basses would have a hard time cutting through:D By the way, hows business? Crazy-nuts busy 'til March methinks - then busy with new designs beyond that. How be you? ....sorry to derail.
Members willsellout Posted December 21, 2005 Members Posted December 21, 2005 Originally posted by knuckle_head Crazy-nuts busy 'til March methinks - then busy with new designs beyond that. How be you? ....sorry to derail. I'm good. You know I'm moving up to Oregon this summer. I should come pay you a visit. Although I am a bit scared as I don't want to play your basses and fall in love.
Members knuckle_head Posted December 21, 2005 Members Posted December 21, 2005 Originally posted by willsellout I'm good. You know I'm moving up to Oregon this summer. I should come pay you a visit. Although I am a bit scared as I don't want to play your basses and fall in love. It'd be great to have a visitor. Laying hands resulted in your owning that Hanewinkel didn't it? Yeah, fer sher, come on by!
Members 72Rick Posted December 21, 2005 Members Posted December 21, 2005 My guitardist despises my ric for just that reason. And that, in my mind is not a Bad Thing, comming from a Guitarist. And should be taken as a total complement!
Members Jazz Ad Posted December 21, 2005 Members Posted December 21, 2005 Originally posted by I stink at bass ....the MM Sterling is STILL KING!!!!!!!!!!! Didn't you sell all your basses at some point to get Jazz Basses ?
Members willsellout Posted December 21, 2005 Members Posted December 21, 2005 Originally posted by knuckle_head It'd be great to have a visitor. Laying hands resulted in your owning that Hanewinkel didn't it? Yeah, fer sher, come on by! Yes, that among other things made me get the Hanewinckel...I would love to play one of those basses though. I can't imagine the tone coming out of those bad boys! Dan
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