Can we talk about bass stuff?

speakerjones

speakerjones

my hat is all
My old singer just moved back to town after years of living on the west coast. He's one of only a few old bandmates that's continued to make a career of music. So after playing a bunch of solo shows around here, he's decided to put a trio together and asked me to play bass. It's been a while. I took some bass lessons in middle school and played bass in a metal band in HS for a while. I own a Frankenjazzbass and a Hamer Chapparal Bass (both of which need repair) and an Ampeg combo that I don't love. I'm pretty excited because it's something new to do musically, a challenge. Plus, I get to shop for some new gear. :) So, from the bass inclined among you I'm looking for some recommendations:

1. Bass amp. I have an older Ampeg BA115. It sounds OK and will serve me until I find something new, but I feel like it's a little under-powered at 100 watts. I definitely want reasonably small and light but with enough power to handle playing with a drummer.

2. Pedalboard. Looking for something that will hold 5-6 standard Boss sized pedals and that I can mount my PedalPower2 underneath. Soft case.

3. Pedals. So, we're doing kind of Americana/Soul type stuff, so I don't need too much in the effects department. Probably just steal the TU3 from my guitar pedalboard. I'm thinking a drive to get a little grit/boost if needed, a compressor, a DI box, and ?

4. Short scale bass. While the two basses I have should serve me fine for a while, I've always been enamored with the sound and playability of short scale basses. Fender Mustang basses look cool, but the American ones seem to cost big bucks. Anything really cool in the $500-700 range, used or otherwise?
 
I've played bass on and off since high school. I played a ton of shows on bass in college and on and off since.

1. While I was gigging, every sound guy always ran my bass direct to the board so my amp was basically a monitor. I had some kind of Peavey and I think it was 150 watts. I'd say something better than that, but it's been a while since I've shopped for bass amps.

2. Check out http://www.pedalplayground.com/ when designing your board. It's awesome.

3. I'm no use here. I never used any kind of pedals when playing bass, even my tuner wasn't a pedal :grin:

4. I have the Mustang P/J bass and I really like it. I put on Thomastick Flats short scale strings on it (a @smurfco recommendation) and it plays and sounds really good. Mine was around $500 new.
 
I can take a crack at a couple of your questions:

Short-scale bass: Look for a used Offset Series Mustang PJ bass. Same pickup configuration as the U.S. Mustang basses. I've seen them used for significantly less than $500. There are also a bunch of Eastwood/Airline models in that general price range. Lots of other short scales are slightly more expensive, although used Supro Huntingtons are just above your price range.

Pedals: I think compressor, drive, and maybe chorus covers the bases. For my church gigs, I'm using the Tech 21 Bass Fly Rig, which includes all of those, plus fuzz, octave, amp modeling and a tuner. But it's easy enough to build your own three- or four-pedal board as well.

Amp: Not sure what to recommend. I go straight to the PA from the Fly Rig. There are a lot of cool-looking, really small bass heads out there these days.
 
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Now that I think about it, I did use a Boss Bass Flanger in high school. It was my first pedal :grin:
 
Here are my thoughts...

Amp - I'd recommend MarkBass. They sound good and are relatively light. My bass rig consists of a CMD-102P 2x10 combo on top of a 1x15 MarkBass extension cab, but honestly the 2x10 combo by itself is more than enough for just about any gig around here (and as @Chad said if it's a bigger show they'll probably DI the bass rig anyways). The MarkBass Jeff Berlin signature amp (1x15) is another good choice if you like the idea of a combo.

Short scale bass - as mentioned above the Mustang basses are pretty cool. Sometimes you can find a used 70s Musicmaster bass for pretty cheap as well.

Effects: I keep it simple on bass. Tuner -> Envelope Filter (which is rarely used) -> Compressor -> Fuzz. I can fit it all on a Pedaltrain Nano board. I'll take a picture later tonight...
 
Here is my full bass rig:

ace0cd8521f75538efd1e6ce52ca28cd.jpg


But like I said the 2x10 combo by itself should be more than enough to gig with.
 
smurfco said:
Here are my thoughts...

Amp - I'd recommend MarkBass. They sound good and are relatively light. My bass rig consists of a CMD-102P 2x10 combo on top of a 1x15 MarkBass extension cab, but honestly the 2x10 combo by itself is more than enough for just about any gig around here (and as @Chad said if it's a bigger show they'll probably DI the bass rig anyways). The MarkBass Jeff Berlin signature amp (1x15) is another good choice if you like the idea of a combo.

Short scale bass - as mentioned above the Mustang basses are pretty cool. Sometimes you can find a used 70s Musicmaster bass for pretty cheap as well.

Effects: I keep it simple on bass. Tuner -> Envelope Filter (which is rarely used) -> Compressor -> Fuzz. I can fit it all on a Pedaltrain Nano board. I'll take a picture later tonight...
Click to expand...

Which comp and fuzz do you use? I like the look of the MarkBass stuff. It wasn't really on my radar at all.
 
I use a Keeley Bassist compressor and a Wren and Cuff Pickle Pie B bass fuzz. The fuzz is amazing and it took me trying a bunch of other fuzzes to find one I liked. It has a blend and it sounds great.
 
Chad said:
I've played bass on and off since high school. I played a ton of shows on bass in college and on and off since.

1. While I was gigging, every sound guy always ran my bass direct to the board so my amp was basically a monitor. I had some kind of Peavey and I think it was 150 watts. I'd say something better than that, but it's been a while since I've shopped for bass amps.

2. Check out http://www.pedalplayground.com/ when designing your board. It's awesome.

3. I'm no use here. I never used any kind of pedals when playing bass, even my tuner wasn't a pedal :grin:

4. I have the Mustang P/J bass and I really like it. I put on Thomastick Flats short scale strings on it (a @smurfco recommendation) and it plays and sounds really good. Mine was around $500 new.
Click to expand...

That site is fun! :) Prior to picking up the Ampeg, I had a Peavey TNT 1x15. It actually sounded OK and I'm pretty sure it would have survived a nuclear blast. I hated moving the thing on the few occasions I had to, though. I'm figuring class D amps and neodymium speakers have made for big sounding things that are light(er).
 
1. How much $$$ do you want to spend? How heavy a rig do you want to haul around? What size venues will you be playing? Who is supplying FOH sound?

2. Pedals are a pain in the butt when playing bass. Haven't used them in years.

3. If you are doing Americana/Soul you shouldn't need any pedals because...

4. ...follow other's advice and check out a Mustang.
 
I can only tell what I've used in an Americana/Blues context for the last 4-5 years and been very happy with.
Short Scale: Guild Newark St Starfire/Labella Deep Talkin Flats
Amp: Carvin BX700 head and two Hartke Hydrive 1-12 cabs, running at 4ohms its 300w.
Head has DI, compression, tube preamp, parametric & graphic eq.
Pedals: Nocturne Bass Brain Preamp for color and a boost.
Tuner is a Snark.
The head weighs practically nothing and the cabs are lightweight as well.

Whatever amp you choose I suggest the more power the better, headroom is a good thing.
 
I play a short scale bass with some pedals and a decent amp, so this is close to my heart.

If I were buying today, the first thing I’d look at is the newly released Squier Classic Vibe Mustang. It’s $350.

My favorite pedal on bass is the BOSS BC-1x compressor. It’s a digital multi-band and it’s always on. I keep a ZOOM MS70CDR for miscellaneous effects. When I use distortion, which isn’t a lot, I like the DOD Boneshaker or Carcosa.

For amps, depending on what you want to spend, I’d look at GK. They just released the Legacy, which is a class D version of the RB amps. My amp is a Markbass LMII with a GK Neo 115 cab that I bought years ago because they were cheap. The head is still cheap but the cabs have gotten significantly more expensive.

One thing to note is that heavy is out. I can buy a head and a 4x10 on my local CL for less than I can get a modern 10” combo. If you don’t mind the weight, finding an old SWR or Ampeg may be worth it.
 
frunobulax said:
1. How much $$$ do you want to spend? How heavy a rig do you want to haul around? What size venues will you be playing? Who is supplying FOH sound?

2. Pedals are a pain in the butt when playing bass. Haven't used them in years.

3. If you are doing Americana/Soul you shouldn't need any pedals because...

4. ...follow other's advice and check out a Mustang.
Click to expand...

1. I honestly don’t have a set budget for any of this stuff. My MO has generally been to sell shit off that I’m not using to fund new stuff that I’m excited about RIGHT NOW. So, I will have some guitar and drum stuff up on the chopping block in short order probably. I definitely want a fairly light rig. I’m in my mid 40’s with some extensive surgery to my abdomen, so I’d love to keep it around 40 lbs, which seems doable. I want some headroom, but that’s I think that’s more about wattage. Judging from my bud’s past schedule, We could be playing anything from coffee shops to good sized outdoor festivals. PA situations could be anything so I want to be able to carry a small to medium room on my own.

2. Yeah, I know but I love pedals.

3. I’ll probably get there too, but security blanket. And did I mention I love pedals?

4. Definitely going to check out some Mustangs. Not much for “road worn” but I’d like to try out that Justin Meldal-Johnsen bass. Looks pretty cool.
 
Pine Apple Slim said:
I can only tell what I've used in an Americana/Blues context for the last 4-5 years and been very happy with.
Short Scale: Guild Newark St Starfire/Labella Deep Talkin Flats
Amp: Carvin BX700 head and two Hartke Hydrive 1-12 cabs, running at 4ohms its 300w.
Head has DI, compression, tube preamp, parametric & graphic eq.
Pedals: Nocturne Bass Brain Preamp for color and a boost.
Tuner is a Snark.
The head weighs practically nothing and the cabs are lightweight as well.

Whatever amp you choose I suggest the more power the better, headroom is a good thing.
Click to expand...

The bass player in my other band (the one who sold me my Frankenbass) is also trying to sell me on a Guild Starfire. Late 90’s, so a late RI build.

Carvin bass amps seem to be a good value.
 
The Starfire costs more than the Mustang. It is what it is. I like the looks, it plays nice, and the repro pickup sounds great. If you could get one used for same as a new Mustang I'd definitely check it out, esp a RI model. My Korean NS has been great but I have no idea how consistent they are thru the years, being set neck, semi-hollow, varying pickups, etc.
Had one problem with the Carvin amp, the mute button stuck on mute. I was playing upright and had my preamp dialed in and so I hit the mute between sets. Kinda made the thing useless. I went direct for the rest of the show and got by ok. Called Carvin and got the runaround wanting me to pay shipping both ways.
So I took it to my guy it was an easy cheap fix. But I don't use that button any more:) Otherwise its been excellent, but I probably wouldn't buy another one because of that incident. Despite its performance and feature set.
Overall I like the rig for its versatility for both bass guitar and upright and its scalability with the two 1-12 cabs.
 
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