This Post Is Only For Bass Nerds - You Have Been Warned!
After much plenty of years searching for my own sound on bass, I finally found it with a signature bass from Ibanez and Gary Willis. Thankfully, the excellent Mr Willis understands the irony of this and, on the latest version of this fabulous instrument his name doesn't appear on the headstock. So, now I have my bass and don't feel the need to buy any other basses. I know! It sounds crazy, especially if you're a fellow guitarist/bassist. Who would ever expect to get to a place where you don't lust after another instrument? I was as surprised as anyone.
This year I found myself doing quite a lot of recording and suddenly my otherwise excellent Boss multi-effects unit began to sound less effective. It's great for live work but on tape (well, digital recording media stuff) I could hear the tone on the bass being sucked out. So, I put the Boss on the shelf and set to work finding a replacement that would work well live but also cut it in the studio. After huge amounts of research and hours spent in music shops trying out devices I have come up with the following. Eventide Pitchfactor into MXR Bass Envelope Filter into the MXR El Grande bass Fuzz. No compressor as I play fretless.
Once or twice I have played the bass plugged straight into the amp and had just as much fun but in 2012 I hope to try out the full, new rig more often.
This year I found myself doing quite a lot of recording and suddenly my otherwise excellent Boss multi-effects unit began to sound less effective. It's great for live work but on tape (well, digital recording media stuff) I could hear the tone on the bass being sucked out. So, I put the Boss on the shelf and set to work finding a replacement that would work well live but also cut it in the studio. After huge amounts of research and hours spent in music shops trying out devices I have come up with the following. Eventide Pitchfactor into MXR Bass Envelope Filter into the MXR El Grande bass Fuzz. No compressor as I play fretless.
Once or twice I have played the bass plugged straight into the amp and had just as much fun but in 2012 I hope to try out the full, new rig more often.
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