Bass Setup Part 3: The Amps

Welcome to the last part of my current 2017 bass setup. The last thing we will talk about will be amplifiers that I use.

Hartke Setup on the left, Ampeg on the right

My current bass amplifier setup is dependent on how much I decide to complicate my pedal board (discussed in the previous two posts). The amplifier on the left is a Hartke 500w amp head on top and the speaker cabinet is a Hartke AK410. Combined they only put out 350w of power but it packs a punch and gives me enough power to keep up with loud drums and guitar. All of my synth and distortion/fuzz effects are run through this amplifier.

The bass amplifier on the right (with the red cup full of ear plugs on top!) is a 75w Ampeg 1x15 and is used mainly to drive a dedicated clean channel. In my previous posts, I discussed how I split my signal via the Boss Flanger on my board. The main output (A) is ran through the rest of my pedal board and into the Hartke while another cable branches off directly from the flanger to the Ampeg. This helps create a fuller bass sound.

That will be the end of my blog on the current bass setup I use. Its taken me a bit of time to build, but hasn't changed significantly since early 2016 as I believe I have most sounds covered. Thanks for reading!

Bass Setup Part 2: Pedal Board (2/2)

In this blog I will finish discussing my pedal board. Let's get to it.

The right half of my pedal board.

Bottom Left: Boss DD-3 Digital Delay
Pretty self-explanatory pedal, the Boss DD-3 produces a delay effect that makes any sound played on your instrument play again a set amount of time later. A very basic pedal, it gets the job done.

Top Left: Source Audio Aftershock
The Aftershock is a bass distortion pedal that comes with a cable to connect the pedal to your phone. A free app on the phone allows you to preset 3 different distortions into the pedal and you can mess with the distortion settings via your phone. I use this for a fuller bass distortion sound, as it is a digital distortion effect (compared to the analog distortion/fuzz of the Animato and Black Russian, respectively). I use this pedal equally with my other distortions and think it is a quality pedal, but had I known it was digital, I probably would have opted for something a little more responsive to the bass' touch. Still a pedal that sees frequent use and cuts through the band mix well.

Bottom Right: Digitech Bass Whammy
The bass whammy is a very niche pedal that takes whatever note your instrument is playing and can pitch it up to 22 different ways, leaving a lot of room for experimentation. I only really use the octave or "5th up" harmony settings on the pedal, but it has a sound all its own.

Top Right: Panda Audio Future Impact
The Future Impact was my last major bass guitar purchase back in January 2016 and is a bass synth pedal that emulates many bass synths from the 80s. Like the Bass Whammy, this is also a very niche pedal that has around 99 different presets, however I only stay in the original 9 settings as they cover my synth needs.

Bass Setup Part 2: The Pedal Board (1/2)

Welcome to my blog on what I use in my bass guitar rig. For my next part of the rig, the pedal board, it will be split up into two parts since there is a lot of ground to cover. The time frame to complete this was 2014 to January 2016. Since then I have been very satisfied with this setup.

A full overview of my current pedal board.

The six pedals we will focus on for this blog.

Currently, my board consists of 10 pedals with a few being swapped out occasionally but for this blog we will be focusing on the six pedals in the latter pictures. I will give a brief explanation of what they do and my opinion on them. The signal runs:   AMPs -> Pedal Board -> Bass

Bottom Left: Tech 21 Sansamp Bass Driver 

This pedal serves as an emulator of old tube bass amps from eras past (70s, etc.) and serves as a light overdrive. A very expressive pedal, depending on how hard you dig into the strings of the instrument, they respond with more or less distortion. Personally, this is one of my favorite pedals and I leave it on all the time to stack with my other pedals, to give a more compressed and warm bass sound. 

Top Left: Boss TU-3 Tuner

A very straightforward pedal, this pedal mutes my signal when turned on and lets me tune my instrument. Incredibly useful when switching out instruments and pedals but you do not want to turn off your amplifier. A great deal when found used as it is very durable and holds up well.

Bottom Middle: Vicks Audio Black Russian Fuzz

The Black Russian serves as my bass fuzz for when a song calls for synth-like bass. The fuzz sound is very dynamic and can be as mellow or as chaotic as you demand.

Top Middle: Boss LS-2 Line Selector

This pedal splits my bass signal into two separate instrument chains to combine back together, essentially running the two in parallel. This is especially useful for bringing two effects together to achieve a unified sound, or to have one effect on and have a dedicated clean bass signal. The clean bass signal subtly backs the effect and helps achieve a fuller sound. I have my LS-2 setup to have Fuzz in chain B, and Distortion/Synth in chain A. When this pedal is turned off, my bass signal runs through it like normal with no effects.

Bottom Right: Boss BF-3 Flanger

The Boss BF-3 has a dual purpose. It offers a great, space-like quality to my signal when turned on and also splits my signal (again) as it offers two outputs. One signal runs immediately to a dedicated clean amp (before distortion) and the other signal runs to the LS-2. This pedal is invaluable to creating two channels and sounds good to boot!

Top Right: Animato Distortion Clone

Originally meant for guitar (and not bass), this distortion sucks out all of the low end a bass provides and creates a very nasally sound distortion. This pedal is the reason an LS-2 is necessary on my board, as without it, this pedal would not be heard at all in a band setting. Personally, one of my favorite pedals, especially combined with the previously mentioned Fuzz.

Bass Setup Part 1: The Guitar

Welcome to my blog where I will discuss my setup for playing Bass guitar as of Winter 2017. This will include posts about what Bass Guitar(s) I use, my pedal board (covered in two parts) and my amp setup. In this first post, I will be focusing on what bass guitar I mainly use and gig with.

JB4 w/ White Pickguard

My Carvin JB4 w/ Black Pickguard

Pictured above is my main bass at the moment, a Carvin JB4 Bass Guitar. I purchased this bass new in Spring 2015 and was able to receive it a week before my band had a gig (great timing)! Featuring a Jazz-style pickup arrangement, it is very responsive to different playing styles (pick/finger/slap). I do a little bit of all styles on bass and would distribute it at 15%/70%/15% (pick/finger/slap styles respectively) so my opinion on the bass is mostly for finger style.

This bass also features both active and passive style pickups that can be switched on the fly through the Tone Knob toggle (pulling the tone knob up or down). The electronics include a pickup volume knob, pan knob (to favor either the bridge or neck pickup), a tone knob, and a stacked EQ knob, with the outer knob being Bass EQ and the inner knob being Treble EQ. This allows for a wide range of tonal options that you can switch on the fly without having to adjust them on your amp, very handy in the middle of a gig. I have no trouble cutting through a mix with this bass, but that is also in combination with my pedal board and amp, which I will discuss in future blogs.

The bass itself weighs about 9 pounds and has a very even weight distribution when standing with just a strap. The neck is very mobile and moving along it with your fret hand feels effortless.

Overall this is the bass that has made me stop searching for more since I received it in Spring 2015. My two other basses of mention are:

• A Fender Geddy Lee Signature Jazz Bass (Japanese Manufactured)
• A Pedulla Rapture RB4 (Single Pickup Model)

While I use both of the above mentioned basses from time to time, I always go back to my Carvin JB4. From the construction to the sound, everything about this bass is top notch, and suits what I need it for perfectly. This is my main bass I have used for two and a half years, and look forward to many more years with it.