Okay, I have my ultimate signal chain idea mapped out.

[Big Jimi Cee]

Well Paul your sure opened an can of worms here, hell even I am posting.

There have been many interesting things mentioned here, but the common thread is keep it simple. I personnaly like your idea if you are in the studio but it looks as if you are talking a live rig.

First and formost, you have the skill sets that you don't need alot of things in the signal chain to make you what you are, rely on your skills as a musician.

Secondly don't rely on a soundman to determine your sound unless this is someone that works imtimately with you and truly understands what you are trying to accomplish. The sad fact is that in most FOH you are going to be lumped in with the kick and your upper frquency's are going to be notched so that don't muddy the guitar player and vocalist and most of what you are trying to accomplish will be lost.

Going back to Ron's post you are just complicating things by the more you add. I have been down this road running a Rick in stero with crap in the signal chain for both channels and mutipule amps, what a friggin nightmare not to mention setup, teardown and hauling the crap.

Not to say that I am right or wrong, playing bass I am using one of three guitars (Tim please don't beat me up for name dropping) it's either my old Rick which is pretty much retired, a Fender P-Lyte or my Ken Smith, from a guitar standpoint this kind of covers the range of moderate factory to custom. These go direct into an SWR with 4x10's and a single 15 if I am in a larger room and new a little added wattage and coverage. I run direct into the SWR, I have several core tones that I work from dependent on who I am playing with and what I am playing from that point I try to rely on my limited musical ability, stay in the pocket and do what I can to support the sound and my fellow musicians ( I believe that you already have a handle on this).

If I am in a situation of running through a PA my preference is to mike my cabinet(s) then let the FOH guy do his thing. There is truly a limited amount you can do to a pre eq'd bass guitar signal on a board compared to your amp or pre-amp.

What I would suggest for a live situation and I know that you are not a big fan of Line 6 products, but I would give a Bass Pod or even the regular POD a shot for the live situation. While out of the box they I fell they fall a little short, but after doing some tweaking they will get the job done, that is what I have on my guitar rig and if I can find a used Bass Pod for cheap somewhere I'll pick on up to play with.

So good luck, and that's my two cents worth.

[BDR]

Getting ones sound sometimes never happens for some musicians because they dont understand where it comes from first.

Awesome quote.

r:>)

[bassist_25]

For me, its the elitist way you put things Paul, and you got called on it, big deal, ill flame all day. Some people actually can see through the smoke.

That's fair if you see some of the things I post as being elitist. I have my opinions about things. It's cool if people flat-out disagree or don't like it at all. Again, whether we're talking about rig A vs. rig B., or how I think that live tuning in the middle of a set is a no-no, or the myriad set of other things that get brought up, I put it out there and people can react accordingly.

Anyways..many thank yous to the feedback from everyone. Jim, thanks for the points about how the sound engineer is going to handle all of this. Having a normal sound guy for every gig would make things easier, but oftentimes, that's not the case with inhouse guys or times that your normal guy isn't available, and of course, not having FOH support at all, which having FOH support is what a lot of these ideas are based on. A lot of you guys are definitely suggesting one source signal, which is probably the easiest way to go. Probably the simplest thing to do is just run a dual channel preamp or put a quality overdrive unit in the FX loop. Maybe I am over-complicating things a bit here.

[BDR]

Probably the simplest thing to do is just run a dual channel preamp or put a quality overdrive unit in the FX loop.

Dammit, I was just about to suggest that ...

r:>)

[old Skool]

How does that saying go, something about "the road less traveled"? Seriously though to each their own. I've heard killer rigs both small, compact & inexpensive to mammoth & insane. Don't really think there's any right or wrong here, just a matter of personal preference. As long as you're having fun what the hell?

[onegunguitar]

I don't know what any of this $hit means .
.. but I was toying with the idea of using rechargable batteries (probably nickel metal hydride) in my mic intead of alkaline Duracells.

Thoughts?

r:>)

Haha,I used to use those over priced batteries myself,until I came to the conclusion that the good old black and yellow Dollar General batteries(9v) work just as well and last almost as long-and you can buy them 2 for a dollar,sure,you may have to change them an hour or so sooner,big freakin' deal-they are a heck of alot cheaper!!!!!

[Banned]

Don't really think there's any right or wrong here, just a matter of personal preference. As long as you're having fun what the hell?

So true. Some players are happy playing the same equipment every night for years at a time. Others have more fun experimenting. Either way, good players will have good results.

I'm an experimenter all the way, so more power to you Paul! The worst that can happen is that you'll further define what does and does not satisfy your personal tone mojo.

May you be blessed with honest and communicative soundmen who will let you know if you're heading down the wrong path. You play City Limits; you should be okay. I don't think I've ever gigged there without getting a full catalog of my idiocy from Zilly. And that's a good thing.

FWIW, I dig the way Bad Daze sounds now. You generally have very good separation of the instruments. Sparse, tight instrumentation can sound way bigger than a dense mess o' noise.

[MeYatch]

For me, its the elitist way you put things Paul, and you got called on it, big deal, ill flame all day. Some people actually can see through the smoke.

BURN THE WITCH!!

Come light a match under my ass there choad.....

The witch in this scenario is Paul. He turned me into a newt, with his rediculous bass rig.

[BassFinger]

For me, its the elitist way you put things Paul, and you got called on it, big deal, ill flame all day. Some people actually can see through the smoke.

BURN THE WITCH!!

Come light a match under my ass there choad.....

The witch in this scenario is Paul. He turned me into a newt, with his rediculous bass rig.

...but you got better.

[HurricaneBob]

Ahh, my bad Mitch!

Paul and i exchanged pm's, i was grouchy......Sorry all.
Music makes ya crazy sometimes.

[BDR]

I don't know what any of this $hit means .
.. but I was toying with the idea of using rechargable batteries (probably nickel metal hydride) in my mic intead of alkaline Duracells.

Thoughts?

r:>)

Haha,I used to use those over priced batteries myself,until I came to the conclusion that the good old black and yellow Dollar General batteries(9v) work just as well and last almost as long-and you can buy them 2 for a dollar,sure,you may have to change them an hour or so sooner,big freakin' deal-they are a heck of alot cheaper!!!!!

I replace my bats every show and I used to throw out perfectly usable ones in doing so. Now, I give my "old" bat to Bert the Light Guy each show. I don't know if he saves them or not, but he takes them.

I've used Duracells since that commercial said that Bon Jovi uses nothing less. And you know how the old saying goes, "If it's good enough for Bon Jovi, it's good enough for everyone."

(It's not a great saying, but it is a saying ...)

r:>)

[bassist_25]

Ahh, my bad Mitch!

Paul and i exchanged pm's, i was grouchy......Sorry all.
Music makes ya crazy sometimes.

Yeah, Bobby is someone I like and respect as both a person and musician, so I felt that I should talk to him when he was just busting my stones to remind me to keep my ego in check. I know that my candidness on here can sometimes be really abrasive.

One thing we can all agree on though is that batteries dying in the middle of a set can be really embarrasing. I had my instrument cable finally short out two weeks ago. Luckily it was just a low-key private event, but it happened during the last song, which really made the set anti-climatic. LOL

[MeYatch]

Hey Paul, after a little bit of research the pedal I mentioned is the Akai Unibass. Just do a search on ebay for it, there's three on there now. I think they are kind of expensive, but probably no more so than anything else you were looking at. Scuttlebut is it works pretty well.

I've noticed a big difference in my wireless unit between using cheap batteries and energizer/duracell. Luckily it has a light that turns red when the batteries are dying, and its usually enough power to finish out the set.

[TJ Kelly]

How many custom boutique basses have you had, Tim? Most of the bass players I see around here are using Fender Ps and Js, Ibanezes, and Ernie Balls. You might see the occasional Rickenbacker or Spector. What's it matter what people use around here? As long as it's quality piece and it does for them whatever they want it to do. You flip basses every couple of months. I've never played the pretentious European stuff (not that I ever claimed that I have), but at least have some experience with the brands that I mention. I'm lucky that I found the bass that I fall in love with every time I pick it up and play it (I think the picture of its headstock has been my longest running avatar on here). I'm just wondering how I can improve rig-wise. You've obviously found the rig that you're completely happy with. I found the bass that I'm happy with. It's no different.

Geez, I didn't realize that a fucking tech thread about a bass rig was going to get so many people freaking out.

Paul that wasn't directed at what brands of basses people are playing. You always drop this name and that name when equipment is talked about. And I guess I can't figure out how you have all this first hand experience with this brand and that brand due to your age, amount of time playing in bands and your geographical location I guess for me it's the "Wise Old Musician" been there done that attitude that rubs me the wrong way. But hey that's just me!

[BassFinger]

A couple years ago, I saw a pedal that would split the your signal in two, keep one the same, and add another signal an octave up, and then add a 5th above that. You could then send the octave/5th signal to another amp, or anything you wanted. I don't remember the name of it, and I havn't seen anything since, but I always thought that would be an awesome pedal for use under a guitar solo.

You might be thinking of the Akai UniBass. It's now discontinued in the US. It would do octave up, 4ths and 5ths. It's built in distortion was crap but like you said, you could use the effect only out to use your own overdrive pedal. I used to own one....shouldn't have sold it. It tracked better than any other octaver that I've owned...even the EBS stuff. You can only find them on Ebay or order them from some stores in the UK.

[bassist_25]

Paul that wasn't directed at what brands of basses people are playing. You always drop this name and that name when equipment is talked about. And I guess I can't figure out how you have all this first hand experience with this brand and that brand due to your age, amount of time playing in bands and your geographical location I guess for me it's the "Wise Old Musician" been there done that attitude that rubs me the wrong way. But hey that's just me!

LOL

Okay, I dig what you're saying Tim. I've played a lot of the brands I mention (though not all of the particular models), but there are a few I haven't tried. Like I said, I haven't touched any of the European stuff (EBS, Glock). Though in this thread, I only mentioned a Bmax, SansAmp, and Agro, which I've all tried...well, except the Agro, because it hasn't come out yet.

[metalchurch]

Don't worry Paul, the things that you always talk about are things that only a gear head can appreciate. I'm 28 and while I haven't tried everything I'd like to, I have had alot of shit over the years, so I have first hand experience like you said.

All in all a very good discussion as always.