Bass amps, cabs - what are you using?

plyall

plyall

Power User
Folks -

I used to use a straight analog circuit to do bass: Bass - UA 6176 - (interface) - Logic.

I would like to use the Axe FXIII for bass as well (in the studio), Would you folks mind sharing what you are using to achieve this? Searching Axe-Edit for 'bass' is not largely helpful.

So if you have favorite amps/cabs for bass, please tell me what you're using!

Thanks!
 
What tones are you looking for in terms of bass?

Many of the guitar amps sound killer on bass, besides the bass amps, depending upon the bass you're playing and the tones you are looking for.

RW has a few bass cabs built in, ML has one I believe, Fractal has a few, and I have 4 in there for your playing pleasure:

Acoustic 2x15
Trace Elliott 1x15
GK 4x10
SWR 1x12 with tweeter
 
I have come to the conclusion that I just suck at dialing bass tones, so I gave up and usually just go direct and deal with the fact that it sounds like ass. :tonguewink:
 
I have setup two banks (8 scenes each) with all Bass-amps of the Axe III and corresponding cabs (some FAS, some Redwirez, some Ownhammer ...) for studio use. The use of teh different sounds/scenes is orientated at the style of music that is needed for the production. It ranges from 4-string basses with passive electronic to 5 string basses with active eelectronic and every mix in between, also varying single-coil and humbucker pickups. I'm absolutely happy with the possibilities of the Axe III, primarily using Sandberg California Basses with Delano-Pickups.
 
Just one hint: It's worth to tune in a bass-sound using the ol' Fender Bassman (with corresponding FAS-cabs) that seems to be primarily intended for use with guitars. I remember the surprise I got when dialing in a bass-sound the first time! The sound range is not made for all purposes but I love it very much for vintage style music.
 
Actually, I'm looking for ANYTHING bass sounds - I know there are great amps in there, I'm just not sure which ones they are (or cabs). I'm very interested in what others are using. I'd like to start with resources that are built into to the Axe (i.e. IR's). Thanks!
 
I just spent a couple hours helping my bassist dial in his Axe Fx III for his Alembic bass.

We started with an Input, PEQ, Multi Band Compressor and Output blocks.

That is his "clean" bass.

After that we added a Drive block after the PEQ (Dark Glass).

That gives a little grit. Not too much drive.

Then we added an Amp block after the Drive (SVT 2).

That allows for 4 scenes with the following combinations going from clean to pretty driven (Chris Squire or Geddy Lee, not djent ;)):

PEQ
PEQ+Drive
PEQ+Amp
PEQ+Drive+Amp

We then added some other various effects such as a Mutron-ish Filter, a Phaser and Chorus.

No Cab block and didn't seem necessary.
 
Thanks Unix-Guy! I will certainly give this a shot. While I don't own an Alembic bass (I have a Fender and a Warmouth), I'm sure this would be a good place to start.
 
Any of you guys who are bassist care to share some of your working presets?
Be interested to see how a bass player tunes his rig.
 
ESW said:
Porta-Bass + 1x15 SV Bass cab works well for me.
Click to expand...
Thanks! I tried a variation on this, made a few scenes with chorus/Darkglass/etc. Even used the FAS Bass amp in one of them. I also ended up using two cabs (1x15 LA bass & 1x15 SV Bass Subkick). The Darkglass adds SO much - really crisps up the bass at low gain levels.
 
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dr bonkers said:
What tones are you looking for in terms of bass?

Many of the guitar amps sound killer on bass, besides the bass amps, depending upon the bass you're playing and the tones you are looking for.

RW has a few bass cabs built in, ML has one I believe, Fractal has a few, and I have 4 in there for your playing pleasure:

Acoustic 2x15
Trace Elliott 1x15
GK 4x10
SWR 1x12 with tweeter
Click to expand...
Where are those cabs? I didn't find much luck on AxeChange...
 
Cube said:
Just one hint: It's worth to tune in a bass-sound using the ol' Fender Bassman (with corresponding FAS-cabs) that seems to be primarily intended for use with guitars. I remember the surprise I got when dialing in a bass-sound the first time! The sound range is not made for all purposes but I love it very much for vintage style music.
Click to expand...

Well, it was actually designed for bass, which is why they named it "Bassman".

Guitarists appropriated it and the rest is history.

The amp actually sounds good for bass, at the limited volume it can achieve - which is a restriction the AxeFX III removes....
 
... and back in the olden days, those 2x12 cabs didn't last very long with a loud bass player, Everyone seemed to find that installing JBL's was the solution (and it was). The JBL's we used back in those days were glorious for loud, clean volume. Sadly (not really), the shift in the industry occurred and it was suddenly cool to be distorted. Go figure!
 
plyall said:
... and back in the olden days, those 2x12 cabs didn't last very long with a loud bass player, Everyone seemed to find that installing JBL's was the solution (and it was). The JBL's we used back in those days were glorious for loud, clean volume. Sadly (not really), the shift in the industry occurred and it was suddenly cool to be distorted. Go figure!
Click to expand...
Upgrading to s Dual Showman with a couple EV 15" drivers is also a good route.

A friend of mine uses an old SUNN Model T for bass.
 
CAE Clean
Band Commander
AC-20
JC 120
IIC++
5153 Blue
Euro Blue
JMP
Hipower Brilliant

all pair well with certain basses and those bass cabs.

@2112 also has a great quick bass tones video.

Another idea is using a 2nd path parallel to the Amp+Cab path where you use and EQ and or Drive pedal as your DI box signal.

Blend the DI and amp to taste.
 
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