Bass guitar tone, what kind of amp/cab/eq for this sound?

[tjbassoon]

The sound in the beginning of this video:

Assuming I have a bass with sort of similar pickups and an active preamp, what kind of amp/cab model would get this kind of sound? Most of the bass amp presets on the Helix sound either distorted in some way or very dark/muddy. None of them have this really bright clarity to the sound while being quite clean at the same time.

Even when I'm looking for something more like a Weather Report kind of bass sound most of the time the presets are very dark and lack clarity especially on the lower strings.

Testing with headphones to get the most accurate representation of the Helix.

[duncann]

I'm constantly after this sort of elusive sound, never quite catching it. My favorite amp would be the SV Beast Brt. I keep the drive around 7 and master around 5.6, but that may change depending on the input level. A parametric eq before the amp could be helpful, if you don't have or use an active eq on the bass, to help shape the tone and control the level into the amp. For cabs, a good parallel combination might be a 4x10 Rhino 47 cond 5" and 4x10 Tweed P10R 4038 Ribbon 1". The 4x10 Tweed helps add a crisp brightness and the 4038 at a close distance adds the deep lows. The Rhino and 47 cond focuses more of the midrange. Another parametric eq after the cabs can help fine tune.

As always, it's about finding that perfect balance be the lows, mids, and highs.

[soundog]

The bass sound at the very beginning of this video is actually a tuba.

[ADBrown]

Most of the presets will take some fine tuning to match your gear and playing style. I'd try one of the Cali models or the Agua 51. With bass EQ I like to think of the Bass control as the actual rumble or feel of the note, the mids and high to actually shape the sound of the note.

When I think of Jaco's tone in Weather Report or elsewhere, it is definitely very mid-rich. Which helps to bring out the harmonics and fretless sound, but overall not a ton of bass.

Another trick for bass presets, I will sometimes use the studio tube pre to run a "direct" sound along with my amp tone and blend them.

[jackwagner]

For that tone, I would start with the Woody Blue (Acoustic 360) bass amp. Add the Obsidion 7000 (Darkglass B7K) before it but don't add too much gain. You will also probably want to use an IR instead of one of the built in cabs. YMMV,

 

--jack