mixing bass

  • Thread starter Thread starter Rusty K
  • Start date Start date
Good Morning!

CMiller......I checked it out. It is impressive but....I'm more confused now than ever. I don't really think I will need all these different patches. I play a very basic traditional style "roots" sound. I may want more bass or more treble on a particular mix but I never use effects on stage and so far haven't during recording either.


Gidge.....I can't find the Courtyman DI at Musician's Friend. Who makes it?.....I called my fav music dealer here in Austin and he said they run around 2bills but he'd have to order. Haven't called The Guitar Center yet.

Have a good one.

Rusty K
 
Rusty, I know exactly what you're saying. You could look into a Bass Driver by Tech21. Those run around $150 or so. It has no effects and sounds pretty damn good. Slackmaster and a couple other guys around here use them. I've played around with both in-store, and I'm torn too!
 
CMiller, have you heard the J-Station with bass?.....preamp,compression,effects.....
 
Gidge,

Yes I have a Lynx One but as I said it's cannon jacks for digital I/O. Ok...one more question about the Courtryman. I have an active bass. Actually it can be active or passive. Would an active DI be redundant with an active bass?



CMiller I'll check out the Bass Driver

Thanks... I think I'm getting somewhere.

Rusty K
 
Gidge, I haven't heard the J-Station. I would love to, but I haven't gotten near one yet! If you want to record a few blurbs of raw bass for us...man, I know I'd appreciate it.

While we're talking about alternatives, I notice that MXR makes a Bass Driver/DI type thing now too. I found it in my AMS catalog. I thought I saw it in Musicians Friend too, but I can't seem to find it now. Its called the M80 Bass DI. I think it might be on their website, but no sound clips. Anyone familiar with this yet?
 
Rusty, with active pickups you can go either way.....most will tell you that if you can get a sound with just the bass plugged straight in, do it, because you are eliminating a step in the chain, which almost always helps....however, if you arent happy with the sound, you will probably experiment with a few different things....btw, im looking at the specs on the Lynx One and it says it supports S/PDIF, but im not sure how to go about it with those jacks....i bet when Ed shows his ass around here again he can let you know if (and how) it can be done......

CMiller, will do on those clips...however, i am not a bassist, nor do I play one on tv, and i have a $129 Fender Squier bass, so I dont know how much justice I can do......
 
Gidge......Well that was my theory in just plugging direct from my bass into my puter. One less gadget to add noise....... As I stated earlier, I get a low level but all the bass seems to be there.

My dissatisfaction with my bass sound could very well be a mixing problem...just not knowing how to get what I want out of my eqing. The tips on spearating bass from kick have helped a bunch though I've tried to apply the same formula to a second song with less dramatic effect. I'm still trying to figure that out.

CMiller.....I will look for the MXR DI. The music dealer I spoke with yesterday, about the Countryman, claimed that others had come out with comparable quality at a lesser price. Of course he's a pro at redirecting a customer to equipment he has in stock.

Thanks again and keep it coming if you have any other suggestions....I'm thinking now that a good quality recording DI might be a help. It may have to wait awhile as I blew a speaker last night....Damn! Is there a speaker supply house that any on you know of where I can get a deal?

I reconed them a year and a half ago but I think I will go with new this time.

Rusty K
 
Id keep plugging away with what you have...no use spending $$$ before you have to.....

keep hacking away at the mixing aspect....keep all the other junk (guitars, vocals, etc) as much out of the low end as possible and let the kick and bass carry it.....give them each their own space, but try to let them come together as one.....

sorry about the speaker.....thats what happens when youplay so darn loud:D
 
here's my recommendation:

SansAmp Bass Driver DI into the Bass POD

while the J-Station and Guitar POD are OKay for bass, these two don't touch the Bass Driver Di into a Bass POD. the Bass Driver is great by itself and so is the Bass POD, but these two together are better than twice as good.

also, the Bass POD is not just the Guitar POD for BASS. it's a different animal.

i've got all of them: POD Pro, Bass POD Pro, SansAmp Bass Driver DI, J-Station, and SansAmp GT2. for Bass, go for the processors designed for Bass.

also, another great guitar combo is the GT2 into a POD.

-kp-
 
I like the way you problem solve! :D

You are an all or nothing kind of person, aren't you?
 
Ok, this was the Ampeg model....completely dry and flat , compression only.....fingerpicked, which I suck at even more than with a pick.....like i said, not much justice......

theres also a SWR, Trace Elliot, and Fender Bassman for sure.....for $149 you get a direct box, compressor, effects......what the J-Station does for a bass sonically is pretty much in line with the BassPod as far as quality, only fewer models....i never fooled with the effects part of the bass pod when I tried it, but I know the J-stations effects quality and flexibility were better than the regular Pod......
 

Attachments

...and Sonixx wins the Gear Slut of the Week Award.......:D
 
I had to listen at Musician's Friend to see what you were talking about... Personally, I have never used any of the effects on the bass Pod exceptfor the compression. Musician's Friend just recorded a bunch of samples using the presets, which all use efx... but you really should look at it as a collection of 15 nice bass amps, not as an efx box. The efx are not it's strong point, and not what I would buy it for.
 
Sonixx....I'll check it out. So if I could just afford one piece of gear it would be....? The Sans Amp Bass Driver DI?

Gidge....Hey every guitar player I've ever met thinks he's a bass player:D but it sounds pretty good. And by the way we're not that loud....a large covered pavilion in Lukenbach Texas...don't ask me how an oldies R&B band came to be playing there.

Charger....Ok I really do need to check some of this stuff out because I am as "in the dark" as ever on what this gear can do.

Rusty
 
Rusty K said:
Sonixx....I'll check it out. So if I could just afford one piece of gear it would be....? The Sans Amp Bass Driver DI?
Click to expand...
if you only want to afford one it depends on what you're after:

recording only: BASS POD

live: Bass Driver DI

i actually like the Bass Driver DI better than the Bass POD based on TONE alone. but, IMO, the Driver DI and the Bass POD really complement each other.

if you can afford both...watch Ebay for the Driver DI

-kp-
 
OK, I understand that you love the J-Station, Gidge, but I think it sounds shoddy compared to the Bass Pod... just my personal opinion.

Trace Elliot/SWR are the kind of solid state amps you would use for that popping and slapping stuff that was popular in '94. Nevertheless, Bass Pod has a model of each of those, plus a nightmare GK amp. I'd bet that 95% of Fender Bassmans are used with guitar, I don't really think that's a bass amp except in name.

But where the Bass Pod really shines is in big, phat tube bass amps, the SVT, Sunn Coliseum, an Eden, a couple other Ampegs, a Vox, some Marshalls, the huge "sub dub" sound... (I notice you demoed the J-Station with the SVT sound, have you ever found the SWR or Trace useful?)... The Bass Pod has 15 amps, that you can mix and match with 15 cabinets... There are a LOT of great tones in the bass Pod, and I find it hard to believe anybody would choose the J-Station over the Bass Pod for bass tone alone, if price was not a factor. I understand getting the all-in-one guitar/bass 150$ solution is incredibly appealing, but the bass Pod blows it out of the water.

I know this bbs is all about opinion, but I also know a lot of people just buy their gear based on opinions on this board, without ever sitting down and trying them side-by-side. I think that's cool if you're a guitarist dabbling in bass or you just need a cheap quick fix, but if you're a bass player who's serious about tone, not even auditioning them side-by-side, and buying based on someone's opinion is setting yourself up for disappointment, no matter what you choose.
 
Gidge said:
but the best thing to do is like i did...sit down in Guitar Center for about 90 minutes going back and forth while the wife gets frustrated and see which one you like......
Click to expand...

yep....

charger, i love my J-Station but whatever gets Rusty his sound is the best answer.....i still think he can get it direct, bass to soundcard with some plugins to dress it up......

also, the Bass Pos should kick the J-Stations ass for bass...$150 vs $300-$350....but I dont think it does....i dont think its THAT much better.....
 
and like I said, that clip I posted is nowhere near the capabilities of the J-Station...hell, you could give me a $1000 bass and a real Ampeg, and Id still sound like crap.....
 
Ok charger.....I'm on hold, financially, right now so I'll have time to give it a listen. I am a bass player and I do want to record a better sound than I have been though I'm not that interested, yet, in effects save for a little flange perhaps.

As far a the Fender bassmen is concerned....if you're talking about the bassmen fourx10 it is very much a bass amp albiet limited to the studio or small venues. That's the only amp ever built by Fender that I could get a decent tone out of and I go back to the days when your only choices were Fender, Sunn, Ampeg......and ugh! Custom.

Also I play the SWR 900 with a fourX10 cab and an 18inch. Very little slap....not that good at it. Mostly oldies, blues, r&b, rocknroll.
Plenty of EQ to get whatever. It will never be my fav.....SVT....but it's made me money and I get compliments on my live tone.

I'm gonna look a DI's as well.

Rusty K
 
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