Squier Tele BassWho said they’d neverdo it! First look inside...

$7.50US    All gear, all the time.    bassgearmag.com    Issue 1  August 2008

The Ultimate SHOW Report!A complete review of 2008’s three bigshows, from California to Frankfurt

Markbass LMII A full bench test showsits true power. Wow!

Phil Jones Neo 8B Can eight 5” driverstake on the big boys?

Skjold Lion’s Pride Peter’s take on the hottrad-modern basses.

Boldly goingwhere no

other bass

luthier has ever

gone before!

Jens Ritter

bassgear

In The Doghouse

Welcome to the first installment of BassGear Magazine’s In The Doghouse col-umn. The purpose of this series is toevaluate various pieces of gear from theperspective of the working double bassplayer, most often geared toward livesound applications. With this first article,I’d like to lay down a foundation as towhere I am coming from and providesome context for future reviews. While Iam not a paid endorser of any particulargear, I do have strong preferences in whatI’m looking for, and strong opinions aboutthe gear I use as my reference rig and thefactors that come into play.

106 bassgear

Chris Fitzgerald

My perspective:Throughout my time as a working doublebassist, the goal in my amplified soundhas always been the same thing (a thingoften referred to as the holy grail of dou-ble bass amplification): the sound of ‘mybass, only louder.’ While I feel that this isa noble goal, it does leave itself open to anumber of questions. Chief among thembeing, “my bass, as perceived by whom orwhat, and from how far away?” This is animportant question, since it is commonknowledge that the double bassist is notreally in the best position to hear what hisor her bass sounds like out front.Similarly, an acoustic bass will sound dras-tically different from one, five, ten, ortwenty feet away. In addition, the bass willsound very different playing in the mix ofan ensemble, as opposed to how it soundsunaccompanied. In my case, what I’mlooking for is the sound of my bass as itrecords in the studio – usually as capturedby a large-diaphragm condenser micro-

phone placed about 12-18” out infront of the bridge. Many peoplemay not feel that this is the quintes-sential or most natural double basssound, but I feel it’s important tohave this definition (and the soundclips, below) available as a point ofreference.

My reference rig:The signal chain I use for livesound is as follows: New StandardLaScala hybrid bass strung withThomastic Dominant G, D, and A,and a Thomastic Spirocore Stark E;Fishman Full Circle pickupblended (when possible) with aShure Beta 57 dynamic mic point-ing roughly between the bridgelegs; Acoustic Image Focus 2 (series

III) amp head; and until recently, aEuphonic Audio VL-208 speaker cabinet.The VL-208 has been replaced in the pastyear with one or two EA Wizzy 10 cabs.No matter which speaker was used, I’vealways felt able to dial in ‘my sound’ in allbut the most horrid acoustic environ-ments. This enables me to get about myultimate goal of forgetting about the gearentirely while onstage and focus solely onmaking music...which is what all of the

gear lust is supposed to be about after all,right?

Reference recordings:I have posted a series of sound clips on theBass Gear Magazine webpage (www.bass-gearmag.com) which should help give areference about where I’m coming from,sonically. Let’s face it, everyone has theirown individual preferences, and they don’toften line up. I hope that by being able tolisten to the clips, readers will be ableplace my comments in context, and that

Laying Down aSolid Foundation- Bass Gear’s

First Recordings

“I have come tothe conclusionthat it’s best forme to be a littlebrighter than Iwould normallylike up close sothat the soundout front stillhas presence.”

The mighty Wizzy 10

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they will ultimately get a better idea abouthow an individual piece of gear mightwork for them as they chase their own ver-sion of the sound.

A couple of disclaimers:The clips marked ‘flat’ were recordedthrough the Focus 2R and Wizzy 10 withall EQ control settings at 12 o’clock. Thissound is a bit bright for me, so I usuallyroll off a fair amount of highs and somemids as well. I’ve included several clipsafter the flat versions with the kinds of EQsettings that I would likely use on the gig(keeping in mind that each room is differ-ent). Also, the proximity of the mic to thecab (about 30” or so) tends to emphasizethe forwardness of the mids – an attributewhich mellows and blends with space.From farther away, or in a mix, the bright-ness of the sound you hear would bemitigated by the other instruments and bydistance. In this case, I was trying to givean example of what the player might hearonstage. I have come to the conclusionthat it’s best for me to be a little brighterthan I would normally like up close sothat the sound out front still has presence.YMMV, as always.

The recording process:All clips were recorded dry in DigitalPerformer using an M-Audio Solaris large-diaphragm condenser into an M-AudioTampa preamp. On the acoustic cut, themic was placed about 14” in front of thebass, and slightly higher than the bridge.On the rest of the cuts featuring the amp,the same mic was placed about 30”directly in front of the driver of the cab.The same tune and format were used forall cuts: Strayhorn’s Isfahan is played forfour choruses, and four different texturesare used for one chorus each: melody,double stops representing the changes,walking line, and a solo chorus. I tried toplay the cuts as similarly as possible, usingthe same double stops, walking lineclichés, etc. While they are not identical, Ithink they are similar enough to be ofvalue. As I review each new piece of gear,I’ll record a new clip in the same roomwith the same bass, mic, and specs so that

hopefully, the sonic signatures of each willbe readily apparent.

The clips are as follows:1) Acoustic bass straight into the mic2) Pickup only through the Focus/Wizzywith no EQ3) Pickup only with EQ ‘darkening’4) Pickup and mic blended, no EQ5) Pickup and mic blended with EQ“darkening” (the mic in this case is aShure Beta 57 mounted with the capsulepointed right behind the treble bridge

foot; I use this blended with the pickupon 90% of my gigs.

Bass Gear Magazine strives to cover thefull gamut of bass instruments and ampli-fication products. In future issues, we willfeature both supplemental reviews of gear(giving an upright perspective of productsalso reviewed with electric bass in mind)and full reviews of gear designed primarilywith upright amplification in mind (andpossibly featuring an ‘electric perspective’sidebar). Stay tuned for more! Until then,I’ll be hanging out In The Doghouse. bg: