Bass bridge/ preamp

fnpt

Hi guys

I've put together my ow bass with Fender Mex and US official parts. It's set up the way I like it with a low action and it plays well.

I have two questions though:

- It has a wilkinson bridge with brass saddles. Would it benefit greatly if I installed a better bridge and if so which one would you recommend?

- I don´t own a bass amp. I only play at home and use the bass for recording mostly so I use it through my eleven rack. It doesn't sound particularly good to be honest so I was thinking of getting perhaps a bass preamp pedal to improve on the tone and then record it using the 11r just as a DI into PT. Does that make sense and is there a cheap pedal that you'd recommend?

Many thanks in advance.

guitarfishbay

I've never tried multiple bridges on a bass, only on guitar, so I'm not really sure what to suggest.  However some steel saddles theoretically might have some more high end and more initial attack, brass tends to be a bit softer sounding and warmer.

Re: tone - I'm not familiar with the 11R.  Does it not have any bass models?  The first thing I'd do is try those, and also just try running into a bass cab sim in PT.  A bass DI plus decent bass IR should sound pretty decent on its own.  I really like the Ownhammer Ampeg bass IRs if you wanted to buy aftermarket IRs.

What do you actually want from a pedal and what is your budget?  Do you just want an EQ or do you want something that colours the sound more like a bass amp/overdrive/distortion?  

fnpt

The 11r does have bass modelling (ampeg SVT and others) but I just don't seem to get it to sound organic and alive, if that makes any sense. So my quest is for a pedal that mimics a good bass amp tone, which I'm not getting with the 11r.

I am aware that it can be me not being able to dial a good sound as I've heard people complimenting the 11r for bass.

I've never used IR before (impulses?) and I'm not sure how it works.

guitarfishbay

Do you have a way to load convolution reverbs?  If you do, then the files loaded in to them are Impulse Responses, or IR for short.  I'm not a ProTools user so I don't know what their plugin is called.

Cabinet impulses recreate the sound of a particular microphone setup on a speaker cabinet.  If you wanted a clean sound then just putting the DI through an impulse of a bass cabinet should sound ok, then you can compress and EQ it whatever what you want.

If you want some more warmth or character then you could look at plugins or pedals, it just depends on budget and how versatile you want it to be.  For plugins the Ampeg SVX is good, and so is the Studio Devil Bass amp Pro.  For pedals it depends how much you want to spend and what type of amp tone you'd want (clean, or overdriven) - there are a lot of options.  Personally to sound like a bass amp I like the Sansamp VT Bass DI, but I don't use the onboard speaker sim I use an impulse.

fnpt

Thanks for that. I will investigate further all those options.

thermionic

I only really play bass for recording things - either a Fender Bassman model on a Vox Tonelab or some bass amp models in Logic. However I've just bought an Ampeg BA-108 as little practice amp. Best £100 (actually a little more) I've spent for a long time. The thing sounds massive, the eq gives me a huge range of useable sounds and I love the sound of my bass through a proper amp compared to monitors. I haven't tried miking it up to record yet but I'm sure it will sound great. I would recommend spending £100 on an amp (Fender and Orange have similar models in that price range) rather than a pedal. I'm picking it up more often now because it sound so good through an amp.

Winny_Pooh

Buy a sansamp bass DI, you will likely get a better tone with it than 11 by itself (which you can use on top for variation.)

fnpt

@thermionic The problem is that a bass amp at home, even if at low volume, will easily get through the wall into my not very friendly neighbours so unless I can DI it and still get a good tone, I don't think it will be a solution for my specific case.

@Winny_Pooh Thanks, will look into it.

JezWynd

The Behringer Bass DI unit gets very good reviews, definitely worth a punt -

http://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Behringer-BDI21-V-Tone-Bass-Preamp/6LV?origin=product-ads&utm_campaign=PLA+Shop+-+Behringer&utm_medium=vertical_search&network=google&adgroup=1+-+Product+Level+-+Behringer&merchant_id=1279443&product_id=8563d1&product_country=GB&product_partition_id=111959022559&gclid=CP2mtLinnNACFZUW0wodXuIKUg

pintspiller

The bridge on your bass is probably good. I would keep it. When you get used to brass saddles it's hard to play with anything else. 

The Behringer Bass DI is excellent value for money and easier to get the go-to-sound than my Harte DI. But the latter has a broader range of sounds and seems more durable.

thermionic

Bass Pods can be found used for not so much. 

fnpt

That behringer thing seems to be what I'm looking for.