D.I. or Amp for Bass?

  • Thread starter Thread starter nate_dennis
  • Start date Start date

D.I. or Amp?

  • D.I. is the way to go.

    Votes: 10 35.7%

  • Mic up an amp.

    Votes: 1 3.6%

  • Depends on the song/situation

    Votes: 17 60.7%
  • Total voters
    28
bozmillar said:
I go DI only. Let's get real, it's a bass. Most bassists are just people who quit playing guitar and don't know how to get good tone from their amp anyways.

Bass is one of those instruments that as long as it's not awkwardly bad, nobody will really care what it sounds like unless it's an obviously bass driven song.
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Funnilly enough, many of rock's bass guitar players from the 60s and 70s were originally guitarists {McCartney, Lake, Redding, Geezer Butler, Lemmy, Sting, Rutherford - there are zillions of them} while many came from the double bass {more the jazz rock lot}. But I think you underestimate the importance of the bass though I suspect your tongue was firmly









































in your cheek....:D
 
grimtraveller said:
I suspect your tongue was firmly in your cheek....:D
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Yeah, it was, but there is some truth to it. I do spend a lot of time trying to get my bass tone right, but that's mostly because I think I'm no good at it.

But I have heard many bassists who are great players but who take a back seat enough to the point where they could be using any random tone and it wouldn't matter because it's almost impossible to make out the tone of the bass.

I think that bass is one of those instruments where as long as it feels good to play, it doesn't really matter all that much what sound is coming out of it. The only person who is ever going to care is the guy playing the bass.
 
bozmillar said:
Yeah, it was, but there is some truth to it. I do spend a lot of time trying to get my bass tone right, but that's mostly because I think I'm no good at it.

But I have heard many bassists who are great players but who take a back seat enough to the point where they could be using any random tone and it wouldn't matter because it's almost impossible to make out the tone of the bass.

I think that bass is one of those instruments where as long as it feels good to play, it doesn't really matter all that much what sound is coming out of it. The only person who is ever going to care is the guy playing the bass.
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Interesting.... I reckon that the bass guitar sort of rose to prominence around 1966-ish and it was about close to ten years before a kind of standard studio bass sound emerged. I call it the generic way of recording bass. But in that ten year period, because the way a bass was recorded evolved, there were loads of different tones across various genres and to my ears, many of them were fantastic. Maybe coz I'm primarilly a bass player, but I really notice the tones. I've started really taking note of the different drum tones. Actually, it's amazing how many different tones have developed on the various instruments. I think we notice them without noticing them, if you know what I mean....
 
DI is just convenient and the fastest for me. If I were looking for a particular sound I might run it through something though.
 
bozmillar said:
Yeah, it was, but there is some truth to it. I do spend a lot of time trying to get my bass tone right, but that's mostly because I think I'm no good at it.

But I have heard many bassists who are great players but who take a back seat enough to the point where they could be using any random tone and it wouldn't matter because it's almost impossible to make out the tone of the bass.

I think that bass is one of those instruments where as long as it feels good to play, it doesn't really matter all that much what sound is coming out of it. The only person who is ever going to care is the guy playing the bass.
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maybe the average listener doesn't pick up on the 'notes' or something, but the feel is SO important with the instrument. i know bass in punk and linear rock can be SAFELY approached as just 'the low notes' but when there is a lot of rhythm in music, it might be the most important instrument because it is then needed to tie the rhythm to the melody.

the left hand only has 12 options. the right hand is unlimited in rhythm and personality and holds your "TONE"... not the DI or the amp/speaker/mic combination.

personally, i learned to take this approach: 'if the listener keeps consciously noticing the bass, you're over playing or playing the wrong notes... however, you need to play enough for them to feel what you're doing in their heart and leave their brain open for the other parts of a song'. from that train of thought, tone IS very important.

even the guys who stick out, (flea, claypool, wooten, etc) who do their own thing are great at letting you hear the rest of the song, even when they're totally truckin on the bass.... and though they spent a lot of money on their amps, basses and tones, you're still hearing their personalities in what they play.

anyways... understood your 'tongue in cheek' approach... just wanted to note that tone is important... but the tone is in the player... not the amp/DI/compressor/microphones/... you're right there... a good player can go direct or mic an amplifier and get a good tone either way.

s
 
haymedic said:
maybe the average listener doesn't pick up on the 'notes' or something, but the feel is SO important with the instrument. i know bass in punk and linear rock can be SAFELY approached as just 'the low notes' but when there is a lot of rhythm in music, it might be the most important instrument because it is then needed to tie the rhythm to the melody.

the left hand only has 12 options. the right hand is unlimited in rhythm and personality and holds your "TONE"... not the DI or the amp/speaker/mic combination.

personally, i learned to take this approach: 'if the listener keeps consciously noticing the bass, you're over playing or playing the wrong notes... they should just feel what you're doing in their heart and leave their brain open for the other parts of a song'. from that train of thought, tone IS very important.

even the guys who stick out, (flea, claypool, wooten, etc) who do their own thing are great at letting you hear the rest of the song, even when they're totally truckin on the bass.... and though they spent a lot of money on their amps, basses and tones, you're still hearing their personalities in what they play.

anyways... understood your 'tongue in cheek' approach... just wanted to note that tone is important... but the tone is in the player... not the amp/DI/compressor/microphones/... you're right there... a good player can go direct or mic an amplifier and get a good tone either way.

s
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ok, I like this explanation better than mine. I guess I mistakenly used the word tone to mean the sound produced by the amp. It's the way it's played, not what it's played through. I know this is true for all instruments, but in the case of the bass, I feel like 90% comes from the way it's played and only 10% comes from the amp.
 
bozmillar said:
ok, I like this explanation better than mine. I guess I mistakenly used the word tone to mean the sound produced by the amp. It's the way it's played, not what it's played through. I know this is true for all instruments, but in the case of the bass, I feel like 90% comes from the way it's played and only 10% comes from the amp.
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groovy.

s :)
 
Bass/ Sansamp/ 1073/ dbx160/ disc.

Id say that Bass amps are as extinct as tape in a recording studio.
 
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