Ultra SVT Bass Amp sim & 8x10 cabinet sim

jimfist

Fractal Fanatic
...the long and the short of it...

been gigging for the last 4 months with the Ultra as the sole source of all tones outside of my bass guitar, using the SVT Amp and 8x10 cabinet sims, as well as other drive distortions, chorus/flange, echos and reverbs, etc.

The owner of a sound system we regularly rent, and who also happens to be an old school bassist himself, has heard me play through my old Ampeg SVT Classic w/8x10 cabinet as well as through my new rig with the Ultra. The other night he said that he thought that my new Ultra rig sounded better than the real SVT rig I was previously using - an unsolicited opinion, btw. I know it sounded really good to my own ears, but now I've had it validated by sound techs and band members.

Mission accomplished. My rig is about half the size and 200 lbs lighter now, and fits in the back of my compact vehicle. It sounds great, and is so much easier and SAFER to move around.

Thank you Cliff and the Fractal Audio team. Great products!
 
Awesome Jim! Any tips on your SVT settings? I play bass & guitar in two bands and didn't have as much luck with the Axe-FX direct for bass as I do for guitar - went back to a Tech 21 pedal. I only tried it for 2 gigs I think - I'm sure i was dialling it in wrong... maybe I was using too much compressor. Just tips on a great classic SVT rock sound with a P-Bass. No probs getting good bass sounds for recording, it was live I couldn't really get it together.
 
stevorc321, I also used to use the Sans Amp Bass Driver and I'll be honest - it is a great amp simulator pedal and I've used it for many many years. When I started using the Ultra, I actually had to scrap an entire set of presets b/c they didn't translate properly to the mains PA system, so I guess it goes with the turf that it can take some time to get the bass sound to work well both on stage and in the PA system. It certainly did for me.

How would you describe the bass sound that you are trying to achieve - what influences?

I don't have my Ultra with me right now so I can't give you exact details. I'm sure a lot has to do with the speaker system I'm using as well as the bass I'm playing and playing technique (I play pretty hard), so your mileage may vary. I'm playing a bass with active EMG pickups that are pretty hot with a lot of extended top/bottom. I like really aggressive sounding bass with grit and attack (played with a pick) - I'm a big TOOL fan, especially the first few albums, so that is sort of what I go for in general.

I'll try to get you the .syx file for my basic preset so you can see exactly what's going on. To get the sound described above (from memory): SVT Amp sim - Boost ON, Bright Boost ON, and the Drive is set to add just a little trace of grit; Master volume is up really high (somewhere around 8 or 9) which will also add some slight distortion and "body". Most of the other basic parameters are set to default (bass/mid/treble/presence at 12 o-clock), but you may need to back down the Level due to the high master and both boosts being engaged.

For the cabinet simulation, I use the 8x10 cabinet with NO MIC and all other settings at default.

Now, it is tough to tell how these settings translate to a P-bass with passive pickups - it may sound wretched - who knows? But I've found that those amp settings work pretty well playing finger style (less attack on the top end) if I just roll back the treble knob a bit. You may also want to experiment with a very small amount of Studio Compression, set at a 2:1 ratio or less, just to even out some of the peaks without squashing them too much. I try to keep away from any drastic amounts of any EQ other than that on the SVT amp sim and allow the FOH sound mixer to tweak the tone as necessary in the mix.

Also, let's not forget about the actual speaker system for this sound. I'm essentially running my rig into a pair of cabinets, each loaded with full-range bi-amped coaxial 15" speakers - NOT a traditional bass amp. And it's got to have plenty of juice behind it. I hope that gets you started.
 
Great info thanks! I'm probably going for a very different sound - very old school - Duck Dunn, Jerry Jemmott, Andy Fraser etc...I usually use flats. I think it's, as you say, a matter of tweaking for my bass and amplification. I was sort of expecting to just plug in, set everything at defaults and and blow my pedal emulator away, but it wasn't working quite that easy. It was months and months ago I tried it - I think the main problem was quite uneven string response compared to the Tech-21 or bass amp. That band is on a bit of a hiatus at the moment, but I'd love to get the Axe working for live bass when we get back into it - thanks for your help.
 
...the long and the short of it... My rig is about half the size and 200 lbs lighter now, and fits in the back of my compact vehicle. It sounds great, and is so much easier and SAFER to move around.

Thank you Cliff and the Fractal Audio team. Great products!

Thanks for posting in the Axe-FX for Bass sub-forum (the more posts - the better chance of new Bass Amps in the II & Ultra). :)

Been working with the AXE II w/ Bass & getting great results using SVT but also using Hiwatt & Vox sims.
 
...the long and the short of it...

been gigging for the last 4 months with the Ultra as the sole source of all tones outside of my bass guitar, using the SVT Amp and 8x10 cabinet sims, as well as other drive distortions, chorus/flange, echos and reverbs, etc.

The owner of a sound system we regularly rent, and who also happens to be an old school bassist himself, has heard me play through my old Ampeg SVT Classic w/8x10 cabinet as well as through my new rig with the Ultra. The other night he said that he thought that my new Ultra rig sounded better than the real SVT rig I was previously using - an unsolicited opinion, btw. I know it sounded really good to my own ears, but now I've had it validated by sound techs and band members.

Mission accomplished. My rig is about half the size and 200 lbs lighter now, and fits in the back of my compact vehicle. It sounds great, and is so much easier and SAFER to move around.

Thank you Cliff and the Fractal Audio team. Great products!



Hi thats cool.
I play with it my self.
Care to share the Patch,you use :)
 
I think the main problem was quite uneven string response compared to the Tech-21 or bass amp.

the Axe does have the tendency to replicate the shortcomings of the instrument/technique, where other gear mask them.
uneven string response could be as simple as incorrect pickup height/pole piece height, or maybe the pedal/amp are just compressing more (my guess)

for old-school sounds I really like to use the tube pre plus cab mixed with eq-ed direct signal.

http://forum.fractalaudio.com/axe-fx-bass/35805-laboriel-swingsoul-patch.html?daysprune=-1
 
the Axe does have the tendency to replicate the shortcomings of the instrument/technique, where other gear mask them.
uneven string response could be as simple as incorrect pickup height/pole piece height, or maybe the pedal/amp are just compressing more (my guess)

http://forum.fractalaudio.com/axe-fx-bass/35805-laboriel-swingsoul-patch.html?daysprune=-1
Thanks Don - On reflection, it was my lowest 5 notes of the low E disappearing in the mix (with flats) and I'm pretty sure the tech-21 was compressing a lot more and helping to bring them out through the 12" monitors we use. Could be I didn't have enough low end dialed in with the axe.
 
the Axe does have the tendency to replicate the shortcomings of the instrument/technique, where other gear mask them.
very true.

stevorc321, Duck Dunn and flatwounds...yeah...I can't imagine how that would sound through my presets as I haven't used flats since the late 1970s. lol. We're on opposite ends of the tonal spectrum I guess. Oh well...it's all good!
 
Here's the SVT head/8x10 preset I've been using as the basis for my sound. Again, this is a very bright, modern bass tone, with lots of attack, and I'm using active pickups, played with a pick. Old school, R&B and jazz guys: this may not be your cup of tea, unless you were a fan of Yes or Kansas (lol).

View attachment JP SVT.syx
 
Back
Top Bottom