Finding my Tone -- what bass?

[IotaNet]

Actually it's a bit more complicated than that.

I've been playing in church for several years now. Every First Sunday plus two annual concerts as well as miscellaneous fill-in work. Sound-wise am have been always DI through the house and using the GK head/cab as a monitor. Pretty straightforward.

A couple of months ago I joined a gospel quartet (these Brothers: www.TheMightyRevivals.com) and life has become VERY different.

Besides playing a LOT more often -- pretty much every week -- my bass tone situation has totally changed. We go to a LOT of different churches and we have yet to have house support. It's all about plugging in my GK MB212 and letting that drive my sound. For the most part, that's cool because the GK is an excellent amp. 500 watts @ only 37 pounds is almost unbelievable. The problem is getting my tone sorted out.

I have a custom Jazz bass with a U-Retro preamp that kills. It's the typical J-Bass on Steroids tone that we're all familiar with.  I also have a Fender Deluxe Precision and a Musicman Bongo and as much as I like those basses, they're not getting the job done to my satisfaction.

Like most Gospel bassists, I've run across a few Ken Smith players and I LIKE that tone!!! (We did a gig with Keith Wonderboy Johnson and his bassist was KILLING on a Smith!) I'm wondering what other bass out there will get me that "Modern" sound. I know that the Peavey Cirrus is one but truthfully, I'm not a fan of the 17.5 mm spacing. (My Bongo has this spacing and it's getting difficult for me to adjust to after playing my J.) I also don't have unlimited funds -- I'll probably have to sell/trade one of both of my backups to get something done.

Bottom line: What other basses out there are copping that Modern Gospel tone without costing a fortune?

[lowlife350]

Hey Iota,
I am not sure if my experience can help, but I've run into similar problems and after years of gear searching and playing with my EQ am only recently (the last month or so) really honing in on a tone that I can live with.
My guess is that it may be your amp more than your basses, but after spending ALOT of time, those GK's can be pretty sweet.

I do not have the MB212, but I have the MB210 and am familiar with the platform.  For basses, I use a modern sounding MTD and a passive Godin P/J.  With either bass my GK is naturally hi-fi sounding and offers difficulty when trying to coax smoother tones out of it.  I am not home to look right now, but for me, I am finding it best to leave my onboard EQ flat and on the amp I am near flat, but with a nice boost in the low mids, cut on the lows and slight cut of highs.  The longer I own the GK, the less I find the need to cut lows as drastically.

That gives a nice, super modern ton which I love, but is very distinct and not very versatile.

For me, the answer has been the Tech 21 VT Bass (I have the deluxe, but the newer non deluxes have an amp simulator defeat switch, which I am not sure is necessary).  I have been fighting the urge to use it with my GK, or my SWR because of the time I spent to find plug and play equipment; but the fact of the matter is, it really enhances my tone no matter what I am playing through and allows me cop close to any tone that I currently need.

You could look at other basses, but I've heard the Bongo crush it in gospel.  I am also of the belief that a P-bass can cut it with evened lows and heavily boosted mids.  If you do go with another bass, make sure you try a similar one with a similar GK MB.  Every bass I have played through an MB sounds dramatically different than it would through any other amp.

If you are interested, I can take some shots of my set up later this week.  I could probably do clips to, but am not sure that I will have the time.

[SavnBass]

I just bought a Fender V with a UR preamp in it... and I have to say.. maybe you need to just experiment more with the basses you have .. or maybe it isn't the bass at all.. or a combination of bass and amp and all a matter of settings. Before you think about buying anything else I suggest you grab your amp and your number one bass and go to your church one day/afternoon/evening when you can get the sanctuary to yourself for about an hour or so.. or any big area where you can crank things up in a bigger room than your basement or wherever you practice.. and see what goodness you can pull from what you have because that UR is nice.. and the GK MB212 is nice as well. My Jazz has the 19mm spacing on the strings.. but I love it... and the tones that I can get out of that thing are just so varied... I really cant see needing another bass any time soon.. (I know that is inviting GAS but.. )

[IotaNet]

Thanks for the feedback.

As I mentioned, the Jazz bass is fine -- totally killer.  I am more concerned about what the other two are doing. I did take the flatwounds off the P bass and that helps a lot.

[funkStrat_97]

I did take the flatwounds off the P bass and that helps a lot.

If you want anything that resembles a modern bass sound, flatwounds are NOT the way to go.

[phbrown]

my exteremly limited understanding is nothing sounds like a smith except a smith ....

[malthumb]

my exteremly limited understanding is nothing sounds like a smith except a smith ....and some USA Peavey Cirrus basses

Fixed it for ya   

[floaded27]

nothing can be the original better than the original (even my reflection gets being me wrong to an extent, since it reverses everything). So nothing does a Smith quite like a Smith (things like the Peavey come really close) but is that what u want? From my limited experience, the Smiths dont have as much versatility as some other basses. So to me it feels like do one thing perfectly vs to a few things very well. (im not a fan of the ken smith sound from what i heard [love their strings though] so i might be biased.)

[IotaNet]

I just bought a Fender V with a UR preamp in it... and I have to say.. maybe you need to just experiment more with the basses you have .. or maybe it isn't the bass at all.. or a combination of bass and amp and all a matter of settings. Before you think about buying anything else I suggest you grab your amp and your number one bass and go to your church one day/afternoon/evening when you can get the sanctuary to yourself for about an hour or so.. or any big area where you can crank things up in a bigger room than your basement or wherever you practice.. and see what goodness you can pull from what you have because that UR is nice.. and the GK MB212 is nice as well. My Jazz has the 19mm spacing on the strings.. but I love it... and the tones that I can get out of that thing are just so varied... I really cant see needing another bass any time soon.. (I know that is inviting GAS but.. )

Dude -

You are righter than you can ever know. I did exactly what you suggested -- I have spent some REAL quality time with my Jazz w/U-Retro and your comments are right on point. There are so many tones in this bass that another one really does seem redundant. The EMG J pups along with the U-Retro provide more options than you can shake a stick at.

[SavnBass]

Dude -
You are righter than you can ever know. I did exactly what you suggested -- I have spent some REAL quality time with my Jazz w/U-Retro and your comments are right on point. There are so many tones in this bass that another one really does seem redundant. The EMG J pups along with the U-Retro provide more options than you can shake a stick at.

My bass has the Duncan Design pups on it.. and I play it through a 9.0 and a AvatarB212 ... I find that I often have to totally rework the settings because we are now using avioms and going more through the house.. and I can use the same settings with the subs as I would with an open cab ..