Thanks for the mention ToonaRockGuy, but I sure as hell don't deserve that comparison!
Great thread though, and although I tend to go for a more hi-fi, slap-friendly sound, I recently popped Rush - Moving Pictures in the car CD player after having not listened to it for quite a while, and have been appreciating Geddy's sound. (Works great in that context. Not sure how practical it would be for the kinds of music/bands I've played with in the recent past, but would love to try it!)
I like Flea, Les, and Doug. All great players.
Flea
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bassist_25
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I think I was mostly a fan of Geddy's tone from the 80s when he was playing a Wal (i.e. Time Stand Still). I do like his Rickenbacker tone though (probably my favorite Ric tone I've ever heard though was McCartney on Silly Love Songs). It was a big definer of the Rush Sound, so to speak. His tone did get pretty hifi in the 90s, especially on the Counterparts album. I really liked his tone on My Favorite Headache too.
"He's the electric horseman, you better back off!" - old sKool making a reference to the culturally relevant 1979 film.
Ok, guitar player chiming in. Flea does kick ass but Duff McKagen is the ultimate for throwing cool riffs and catchy bass lines.
I actually dig the bass. The impact of a bass player is very important. If the bass isn't there it just isn't happening.
I actually dig the bass. The impact of a bass player is very important. If the bass isn't there it just isn't happening.
Don't bitch to me about the economy while you're still buying Chinese products.
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HurricaneBob
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ToonaRockGuy
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ToonaRockGuy
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RobTheDrummer
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bassist_25
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I hate to pick a favorite bass player, because I'm inspired by anyone who has anything important to say with the instrument, but I suppose that these are the guys I would classify as my "heros."
Billy Sheehan is bad ass though. I wonder if I could talk the guys into doing a Mr. Big song. old sKool's a big Paul Gilbert fan, so it may not be hard to do.
Billy Sheehan is bad ass though. I wonder if I could talk the guys into doing a Mr. Big song. old sKool's a big Paul Gilbert fan, so it may not be hard to do.
"He's the electric horseman, you better back off!" - old sKool making a reference to the culturally relevant 1979 film.
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ToonaRockGuy
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bassist_25
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Colorado Bulldog would be awesome. I really like how Sheehan goes between a traditional walking line to a bunch of tapping pryotechnics in that song. Though the song off that album with the unbelievable hook was How's it Gonna Be. If Mr. Big would have came along a few years earlier, that song would have been a huge hit.
"He's the electric horseman, you better back off!" - old sKool making a reference to the culturally relevant 1979 film.
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bassist_25
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With the new year coming in, I thought that maybe an upgrade should take place. I was thinking possibly the preamp (still won't be doing the switching system idea for a while).
Well, I've spent some time at Basstasters.com. Obviously, to really get a good feel of a piece of equipment, you have to actually use it, especially on a gig; but Basstasters gives a good starting point. I've come to the conclusion that my BBE is a very quality unit, and to truly upgrade, I'm going to have to spend around $1K (if buying brand new) on something like a Kern or an Eden. Anything else is just really going to be moving sideways. The only thing that really intrigued me as far as units at a similar price point to my BBE was the SVP-Pro.
Yeah, you heard that correctly! Can you picture bassist_25 rockin' a piece of Ampeg gear in his rig? Stranger things have occured. I'd really like to try one out. It could be the answer I'm looking for: BBE for clean hifi sounds, and SVP for old school fatness and grit. I've always liked any Ampeg gear I've tried that had tubes in it (both full tube and hyrbrid heads), so maybe I should forget about all of my bad experiences with their solid-state stuff and give the SVP a try.
Todd, you have two Ampeg pres in your rig. What do you think of them? Kevin, what's Port think about his Ampeg pre? Thanks guys.
Well, I've spent some time at Basstasters.com. Obviously, to really get a good feel of a piece of equipment, you have to actually use it, especially on a gig; but Basstasters gives a good starting point. I've come to the conclusion that my BBE is a very quality unit, and to truly upgrade, I'm going to have to spend around $1K (if buying brand new) on something like a Kern or an Eden. Anything else is just really going to be moving sideways. The only thing that really intrigued me as far as units at a similar price point to my BBE was the SVP-Pro.
Yeah, you heard that correctly! Can you picture bassist_25 rockin' a piece of Ampeg gear in his rig? Stranger things have occured. I'd really like to try one out. It could be the answer I'm looking for: BBE for clean hifi sounds, and SVP for old school fatness and grit. I've always liked any Ampeg gear I've tried that had tubes in it (both full tube and hyrbrid heads), so maybe I should forget about all of my bad experiences with their solid-state stuff and give the SVP a try.Todd, you have two Ampeg pres in your rig. What do you think of them? Kevin, what's Port think about his Ampeg pre? Thanks guys.
"He's the electric horseman, you better back off!" - old sKool making a reference to the culturally relevant 1979 film.
Back to Flea, and from a guitar player/songwriter/recording place, the last couple of
RCHP albums, with the real threadbare, stripped down, straighforward sound, have
been incredible. Great songs and arrangements, plus the way they're recorded is terrific.
IMO, so much new stuff just has the same sound (Same distortion sounds, compression
ratios, vocals sound, etc.) and stuff like the RCHP, PJ, etc. have been the saving grace.
RCHP's last couple have been the best stuff they done and Flea's playing, for as good as
he's always been, have just gotten better and more supportive of the songs. I've always
like RCHP (Even back in the Hillel Slovak days) but until these last 2 or 3 albums never
would have put Flea in a favourite bass player category. Now, definitely).
BTW, Geddy rules all and Bruce Gordon (I.M.E.) should be mentioned somwhere!
RCHP albums, with the real threadbare, stripped down, straighforward sound, have
been incredible. Great songs and arrangements, plus the way they're recorded is terrific.
IMO, so much new stuff just has the same sound (Same distortion sounds, compression
ratios, vocals sound, etc.) and stuff like the RCHP, PJ, etc. have been the saving grace.
RCHP's last couple have been the best stuff they done and Flea's playing, for as good as
he's always been, have just gotten better and more supportive of the songs. I've always
like RCHP (Even back in the Hillel Slovak days) but until these last 2 or 3 albums never
would have put Flea in a favourite bass player category. Now, definitely).
BTW, Geddy rules all and Bruce Gordon (I.M.E.) should be mentioned somwhere!
DaveP.
"You must be this beautiful to ride the Quagmire."
"You must be this beautiful to ride the Quagmire."
I have owned a pair of SVT-3 Pros, a V6-B, a 70's V4-B, an SVP Pro and some BSP's. The best sounding piece of gear I have had from Ampeg was the V4-B. Dave Sarge from State College converted it to 6550 power tubes for me...and the thing could grind like nobody's business. The ONLY problem I had with it is that you could only get the grind at rip your head off volume. So I ended up selling it for a rig that could give me an approximation of that tone at any volume. I really regret the decision to sell!bassist_25 wrote: Todd, you have two Ampeg pres in your rig. What do you think of them? Kevin, what's Port think about his Ampeg pre? Thanks guys.
All that being said...if you want grind out of an Ampeg preamp I don't think the Pro is the answer. IMO it is not built for overdrive...and the grind you can get out of it isn't very appealing. The ONLY pre in the Ampeg line I have heard that can do it is the BSP. And the secret to getting a great overdrive out of the BSP (IMO) is to run both channels simultaneously, and don't overdo the overdrive section's gain and volume. Just blend it in a little. It gives your tone an edge. Also, stress the mid frequencies from say 300-600 hz.
For clean tone the Pro beats the BSP hands down, btw. That's one reason I currently use both! Of course if you were running it in a rig like we discussed earlier, you could use just the overdrive section of the BSP and mix that with your clean tone from your BBE...that could be very interesting. Actually, since the BSP is dual channel, there are a lot of interesting combinations you could do with your BBE.
Hope this helps.
Really?!? Maybe I'm hearing different "new" RHCP stuff then because it seems to me every song they've released in the past several years has that same old bland, monotone, rapid fire vocal structure that makes me want to rip out my eye lashes one by one.VENTGtr wrote:IMO, so much new stuff just has the same sound (Same distortion sounds, compression
ratios, vocals sound, etc.) and stuff like the RCHP, PJ, etc. have been the saving grace.
r:>)
That's what she said.
