Bass on a budget

rocker66

New member
I would like to get a fuller, warmer bass sound and have been struggling to find something that makes me happy. By happy I mean Aguilar DB750; lots of punch, clarity and tube compression.

Signal Chain:
I am playing a Music Man Sting Ray 5 string bass direct into a Mackie Onyx mixer then through a Drawmer DL214 Auto Compressor into my desktop sound card.

Constraints:
1) I can't afford $1500 for a Universal Audio LA-610.
2) I play live, so something that I can use to record at home and on the road would be a real plus, although not a firm requirement.
3) I record in a house where children are sleeping. Miking up an 8x10 cab isn't feasible (although I love that old Ampeg sound).
4) I also need to record acoustic guitar and vocals using a Studio Projects C3 for both, so any DI I buy would have to work for all three.
5) I play pop, blues, rock but I like my bass clean (no hard distortion) but full.

What I have already tried:
1) Direct into the Mackie - this works about as well as anything else I have tried. The bass sounds "okay", but lackluster.
2) POD XT - love it for guitars, but for bass - not so much.
3) Sans Amp Bass DI - everyone loves these, but it just doesn't do the trick for me. I think I am looking for something more "tubey".

What I am considering:
1) Tube DI - where do I even begin? Anyone excited about using the Studio Projects VTB-1? Electro Harmonix 12AY7? EH Blackfinger?
2) Dedicated Bass Pre?

Many thanks in advance.
 
So you would really like a tube mic pre with an instrument in.
Something that can drive the tube hard to get the saturation that your looking for on your bass.

Well I'll get bood for this, but the art mpa gold makes a pretty good bass DI. You can swap tubes in one channel and have one side bright and one side warmer. It is however around $300.00 and not exactly compact.

That's the only thing close to your price range that I have used. It can be driven hard to get warmth out of it. I have swapped tubes on mine.


Have you tried different strings by chance? It's hard to for me to hear words like "lack luster" and think that a tube pre is the answer.
If it was me I would be trying several types of strings before buying a new pre. I personally landed on DR. They have the rotosound boing, but sound good for waaaaaaaaaaaaaay longer.

The other question I have is about what compression you are using if any? You did not mention it so I thought it worth an ask.

F.S.
 
New strings and a new battery were the first things I changed. I tried the DRs for awhile, but they seemed a bit inconsistent. I am trying the Elixir strings but I think they negatively impact my sustain. I even borrowed a friend's $2500 Alembic bass with Bartolini pickups to A/B the basses. The Alembic was smoother, but the difference wasn't huge. I am using a Drawmer DL412 for compression.

The ART MPA is definitely in my price range and can be used with acoustic guitar and vocals. It seems to get a lot of great reviews, but I haven't heard much about it's use with bass guitar.
 
New strings and a new battery were the first things I changed. I tried the DRs for awhile, but they seemed a bit inconsistent. I am trying the Elixir strings but I think they negatively impact my sustain. I even borrowed a friend's $2500 Alembic bass with Bartolini pickups to A/B the basses. The Alembic was smoother, but the difference wasn't huge. I am using a Drawmer DL412 for compression.

The ART MPA is definitely in my price range and can be used with acoustic guitar and vocals. It seems to get a lot of great reviews, but I haven't heard much about it's use with bass guitar.

I would agree about the elixir strings. I have not had the problem with the DR's you describe. They always have that bright piano wire sound that fades a bit over the first while and then they pretty much hang on for a long time. I love rotosound jazz strings, but I can't afford to change my strings every month to maintain the sound I like. Tobias makes some pretty good strings too. Not quite as bright as either the rotosound or DR. They last somewhere inbetween the roto's and the dr strings. Bit of a tighter feeling string to me also. Anyway, I like a very full spectrum sting, subtractive eq being the better and easier way to go.


As far as the MPA goes.....
There are not alot of lovers of the MPA on this site. On the other hand over at gearslutz.com there are plenty of people that really like it. They all swap out tubes and some of them spend outragious money on the tubes they install. You can go to places that will tell you the charicter of each tube they sell and you can buy pretty decent tubes for $20 t0 $40 a piece. If you want vintage new old stock tubes then you get very pricey up to around $150 each and more. I'll stick in the lower range and be able to try more of them out my self. I have used the mpa as a bass DI and it worked good for me, but I won't presume to know exactly what your looking for. I am currently using a JoeMeek OneQ that I got used for $400.00 and I am very happy with it for a bass channel and vocals. It has a adjustable harmonic distortion inducer and a heavey handed compressor. Solid state though. I personally run it only through the pre most of the time.

F.S.
 
I think a Eden Navigator would make you VERY happy.

Tube preamp, INTENSE eq section, killer compression and limiting, multiple outs and effect loops.

I got my used for $550. Seen one recently on craigslist in Portland Oregon for $500.
 
Solo 610, Simple and can be used live. It will also make a good DI box if you play a gig with a large sound system. Most sound companies employ a countryman DI or even less.

A sans amp stinks IMHO especially live.

The other unit I have seen that bass players love is the Avalon U5. It's a simple DI also but can be used with the speaker out from your amp head as long as you use a load. Which is basically a bunch of high wattage resistors.

But I am a little confused do you also need a bass amp too?

I think a Solo 610 into something like a GK RB 800 in to a good cab with the 100 watt section powering the horn should be a wonderful live setup. Add a DBX 166 compressor, one side each for the poweramps, they have an effects send/return. You can control a lot of the sound with one of those used correctly.

That's a great live setup with any good cab, just get rid of the passive crossover in the cab which really kills the sound. It adds distortion and is a power soak and tone suck.
 
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