Bass amps. Whats your rig?

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Bass amps. Whats your rig?

Ashdown ABM 500 head and Ashdown VS-212 cab.
View attachment 42832



Me rocking the Jackson CBX bass. :headbang:
View attachment 42833

How do the old Jackson Professionals and the newer basses stack up in terms of feel and quality?

 

[crguti]

Re: Bass amps. Whats your rig?

^
It's the same in terms of feel and quality. If I close my eyes I cannot notice which bass I'm using even though it is not the same body wood. My old Concert XL is made of Poplar (MIJ) and the CBX is made of Alder (MII). Apparently both woods are very similar tonewise and I have almost the same pickups in both, EMG PJ-X in the Concert XL and EMG PJ soapbars in the CBX. The PJ-X gives a bit more high end and it has a bit less output compared to the PJ soapbars.
I use both keeping one as a backup, but I prefer slightly the CBX because the frets are rounder around the edges (however I sanded the edges on my Concert) and the neck is ~1 centimeter longer. I use the CBX to record our debut EP which you can listen in my signature.

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Bass amps. Whats your rig?

My CBX Ellefson 5-string feels nearly identical to my '93 Concert V 5-string. The body of the Ellefson is lighter, but the neck profile and playability is very nice.

The Concert V has the Kahler bridge with adjustable string spacing, and the CBX has a fixed-width bridge, but the strings are very close together, about where I keep the Kahler set.

Only thing I'd change about the CBX is to space the active knobs out a bit more, as they're right on top of each other.


As for amps, right now I've only got a Bass POD and a Fender Rumble practice amp. For recording I run through the POD, a clean patch in my ADA MP-1, which feeds into a patch I made in my Digitech TSR-12, and a Bassman patch in my Digitech 1101. I also have a patch in my Line6 AM-4 that has just a hint of breakup, to give it a little more punch.

Back when I had pedals instead of rack gear, the only distortion pedal I liked for bass was the Ibanez LA Metal. Nice smooth, Lemmy-like distortion without a lot of high-end mess. Wasn't flabby or farty, but very smooth. Sucked for guitar, though.

I have a Sound Sculpture Switchblade 8 which lets me send one input signal to up to 8 different targets, so I can run through all my stuff at once and mix it with a Rolls RM203x Line Mixer. Each component gives a little something to the overall tone, but no single unit can (so far) give me the tone I'm looking for. The overall bass sound practically mixes itself with the various guitar tones I use, from Megadeth-ish to Iommi-ish to Priest-ish, the bass tone always seems to fit. I get a ringing, punchy tone like Ellefson, the "rumbling and clanky" tone of Steve Harris, the Geezer Butler driven tone, and Ian Hill's rock-solid thump, all depending on what tone the guitars have.

Many years ago I got an old Ampeg B25B head, but never had a cabinet for it. It's sitting in a storage unit across town right now, but I hope to get it out one of these days and get tubes for it, and a cabinet.

 

[ginormous]

Re: Bass amps. Whats your rig?

Practice: Ampeg BA-112 solid-state combo (swapped factory speaker for a 12" w/whizzer cone; crisper top end, for less money than a coax)

medium-size gigs: Ampeg PF-350 (solid-state, 350 watts/4Ω class D) into a generic carpet box bass-reflex PA cab, single 15" with a piezo horn

 

[crguti]

Re: Bass amps. Whats your rig?

Only thing I'd change about the CBX is to space the active knobs out a bit more, as they're right on top of each other.

Yes, I forgot that one. I removed all the 5 knobs and electronics and I put the EMG BTC system (volume, blend, bass/treble) leaving space around the volume and because of that leaving 2 holes in the body as shown in the following picture.

 

[crguti]

Re: Bass amps. Whats your rig?

we need pictures ginormous :rant:

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Bass amps. Whats your rig?

Yes, I forgot that one. I removed all the 5 knobs and electronics and I put the EMG BTC system (volume, blend, bass/treble) leaving space around the volume and because of that leaving 2 holes in the body as shown in the following picture.

View attachment 42839

I noticed on the standard CBX (non-Ellefson) the knobs are spaced out more. But then, I guess Dave likes them close, and it's his sig model, so it's his call.

Not really digging the stock circuit or pickups, so I might either go with a Blackout or active EMG setup on it. Definitely want the Duncan Steve Harris P-set for my Concert V, though.
Might throw a Fender J-bass pickup in it for the Ian Hill stuff.

I've also got a Jackson C5P with the Duncan Designed bar-styles, and those sound very nice. Way better than the stock Jackson pickups of my Concert V or JZB2 (J/J in that one).

Not sure what pickups are in my Bossa OB-5. It seems detailed info on them is hard to come by. I couldn't even tell you the serial number! Only reason I know that it's an OB-5 is through deductive reasoning based on what little info there is online, but mostly because that's what the seller said it was. The body/neck/pickup combo matches the description of the OB-5, other than that, it's pretty much just a guess.

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Bass amps. Whats your rig?

^
It's the same in terms of feel and quality. If I close my eyes I cannot notice which bass I'm using even though it is not the same body wood. My old Concert XL is made of Poplar (MIJ) and the CBX is made of Alder (MII). Apparently both woods are very similar tonewise and I have almost the same pickups in both, EMG PJ-X in the Concert XL and EMG PJ soapbars in the CBX. The PJ-X gives a bit more high end and it has a bit less output compared to the PJ soapbars.
I use both keeping one as a backup, but I prefer slightly the CBX because the frets are rounder around the edges (however I sanded the edges on my Concert) and the neck is ~1 centimeter longer. I use the CBX to record our debut EP which you can listen in my signature.

Nice I dig it! Ive been wanting one but I cant find one to demo here if the neck shape is the same I'm gold. I checked out the EP thats bad ass dude! The vocals are much better this time around, killer! :headbang:

 

[crguti]

Re: Bass amps. Whats your rig?

^ cool. Thanks mate.

 

[JohnJohn]

Re: Bass amps. Whats your rig?

I don't play live anymore so I just play through an app on the iPad and headphones.

Am looking at a small Eden practice amp though, but no rush for that.

 

[d1dsj]

Re: Bass amps. Whats your rig?

Went from this.....



to this..... lol


My bass is a Sandberg

 

[Chris of Arabia]

Re: Bass amps. Whats your rig?

to this..... lol

Cute! How does it sound? Is it giggable?

 

[Stratman]

Re: Bass amps. Whats your rig?

SWR Workingman's 15 - Shown in the middle of the photograph.

 

[CapoFirstFret]

Re: Bass amps. Whats your rig?

my Carvin Red Line Kickback 2x10

most of the time, here at the house,
I just use one of the models on the GNX and the drum loop
thru the effects return of the Red Line,
like a PA

I'm running the same series head! Mine is the 600, biamped into a 2x10 cab and a 1x15 cab. I love the tones I get out of this thing.

 

[One Bad Monkey]

Re: Bass amps. Whats your rig?

Cute! How does it sound? Is it giggable?

Definitely giggable but with anything, it depends on your needs. A friend of mine loves this amp, but would never use it live in his metal band, nor would I ever use his Mesa 4x12 rig for my gigs.

I have used a PJB Briefcase for a couple years, and it will hold its own really well in all of my situations: folk groups, rock bands with polite stage volume and DI out, full orchestras, etc.. For its size, the amp is LOUD and sounds about as close to plugging your bass directly into the board as I've heard, as well as having a nice EQ. You can also put a rechargeable battery into it and play it anywhere you like, so there's that too.

 

[d1dsj]

Re: Bass amps. Whats your rig?

Cute! How does it sound? Is it giggable?

Definitely giggable but with anything, it depends on your needs. A friend of mine loves this amp, but would never use it live in his metal band, nor would I ever use his Mesa 4x12 rig for my gigs.

I have used a PJB Briefcase for a couple years, and it will hold its own really well in all of my situations: folk groups, rock bands with polite stage volume and DI out, full orchestras, etc.. For its size, the amp is LOUD and sounds about as close to plugging your bass directly into the board as I've heard, as well as having a nice EQ. You can also put a rechargeable battery into it and play it anywhere you like, so there's that too.

I think it sounds great as long as you don't push the speakers too far. However, when I had the David Eden 2 x 10 it really did move some air and it has a very Pro sound, I would think it's awesome for studio work. The D.I out is a bonus because it works great through the P.A. It's also ideal for plugging in your electro acoustic and has a compartment for a rechargeable battery pack. They normally retail about £450 I think, but you can bag a bargain on Ebay from time to time.

 

[One Bad Monkey]

Re: Bass amps. Whats your rig?

They normally retail about £450 I think, but you can bag a bargain on Ebay from time to time.

Phil just unveiled the Briefcase Ultimate this week (should be shipping in late summer). It's a limited edition version that's around 160-180w and has updated speakers (taking advantage of the new tech in the Bass Cub and the Double Four). So, deeper and louder than our original.

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Bass amps. Whats your rig?

I'm running the same series head! Mine is the 600, biamped into a 2x10 cab and a 1x15 cab. I love the tones I get out of this thing.

I've been meaning to get a 15 or 18 for mine for the last 13 years
if I ever gig maybe then:scratchch

 

[kilphody]

Re: Bass amps. Whats your rig?

EBS t90

 

[astrozombie]

Re: Bass amps. Whats your rig?

I play this 100 watt hartke combo. Great for practicing and the ocasional guitar playing.