Your signature rig!

[jeremy c]

I think if I had the bucks and the need for something special, I'd find it more reasonable to have a small amp repair guy or luthier modify my stuff.

 

Been there, done that.

[groovaholic]

Oooh, fun thread!

 

My FANTASY signature rig would be:

1) Dingwall Z-series 5-string bass with walnut body, oil finish and a single humbucker in the "sweet spot" that would connect directly to the output jack with no volume, tone controls, or active EQ mucking things up.

 

2) Custom bass head with a high-gain tube side and a big-headroom solid state side blended together, on-board dbx compression, and at least 2,000 watts. Similar to my Peavey Max preamp, but with more control over the tube side...also had a Mesa/Boogie Basis M-2000 that had all these features but never really zeroed in on the big, nasty powerful tone I want.

 

3) Custom 2x10 + 2x15 cabinets with the 15's arranged in a offset vertical arrangement (think Aguilar 412) and the 10's angled up like the Ampeg PR or IsoVent eries cabs. The top half of the cabinet would also have multiple, phase-aligned Phil Jones-style mid/hi drivers instead of the common Foster horn.

Oh, and we probably better use quality plywood and neo drivers to keep the weight from being obscene...

 

REALITY: What I actually use is pretty darn close; Dingwall Afterburner or Z2 bass, rack system with a Peavey MAX, DBX 166A, and a QSC PLX 3102 delivering the juice. Cabs are a pair of Sunn 410H's and a Peavey 810TX (I only bring ALL of that when we are playing a large venue or trying to be visually intimidating). All cabs have been re-wired with 16-gauge wire and the crossovers have been re-worked so that most of the 10s are running full range and the crossovers are only "seeing" 25% of the wattage coming at the cabs...

 

[evanonbass]

I'd like to have a signature amp that would run @ 8,4, or 2 ohms. The amp would need to be Class H, compact and lightweight, with a wonderfully crafted tube preamp and optical tube compression. The EQ section should be switchable between a 9-band graphic and 3-band semi-parametric as well as an option to combine them.

 

The cabinets would be 8 ohm each with neodymium magnets. Two of them would have a studio monitor design (8" woofer, 6.5" mid driver and two tweeters) and the bottom cab would be a 2X8" sub.

 

Essentially you could run one cabinet at 8 ohms for small gigs, add the sub (4 ohms) for medium sized gigs or stack all three (2 ohms) and bring the house down.

[davio]

I'd like to have a signature amp that would run @ 8,4, or 2 ohms. The amp would need to be Class H, compact and lightweight, with a wonderfully crafted tube preamp and optical tube compression. The EQ section should be switchable between a 9-band graphic and 3-band semi-parametric as well as an option to combine them.

From what I've read, Class H amps, while extremely effiecient, tend to have distortion issues. Most bass amp companies going for size/weight/efficiency so far are sticking to Class D as their best compromise until the tech progresses further. Otherwise, I like the way you think.

 

Essentially you could run one cabinet at 8 ohms for small gigs, add the sub (4 ohms) for medium sized gigs or stack all three (2 ohms) and bring the house down.

3 8Ohm cabs daisy chained would give you 2.66Ohms. If you used 4 you'd get an even 2Ohm nominal impedance. I like your idea but I haven't heard too many 8s that can hang in a live sound setting. That doesn't mean they're not out there...I just haven't heard them yet. Cheers!

[Jazzocaster]

First I'd have the real Acoustic Controls company revived and work with them on a tube pre-amp 2000 Watt bi-amp with two folded horn 18" cabinets for the bottom and two 4x10 cabinets for the high & mids. Built in compression and 10 band EQ. In the back of each 18" cabinet would be a trap door for the body-builder midget roadies.

 

Then I'd have a custom built J-bass set up like a seven tone three pickup strat, all "noiseless" and active....sparkle silver w/ matching headstock, and a twin fretless in gold sparkle

[Danzilla]

I quite enjoy my Phil Jones amps, especially the Six Pak. But that sucker is heavy. I'd have him make me an amp that has prety much the same preamp; but replace the compressor (which is fine) with a dube compressor, like my EH Black Finger. Then change the foot switch connection from it's intended purpose of a volume pedal (how many bass players use a volume pedal?) and make it to switch the graphic and parametric eq's on and off (and the compressor). And I'd add an output pot at the DI.

 

This head would then we attached to 2 5" speakers, horizontal (as opposed to the vertical allignment in the PJ Briefcase).

Additional 2x5 "packs" could attach underneath it, with snap-on connections in the corners, and interlocking speaker plugs either in the corners or maybe just in the middle. That way, if I had a small jam, I could just take the head & 2x5 combo. Coffeehouse gig? take the head and an additional pack for a 4X5, like the Flightcase. Club? Use the head and 3, 4, 5, 6 or more packs for a stack. Yes, Ohm ratings would be important; but since the six pack is 12 ohms on it's own, and can go down to 2 ohms, I think it's possible.

[Norwegia]

Not gonna lie here, I'm jealous of your abilities to use way smaller gear and still be heard. My drummer and two guitarists are all totally goddamn maniacs so I need at least 500 watts and at least a 610 to cut through. =/

 

That said, revised custom setup for metal! I would have my own All-Tube Preamp/DI made by Pigtronix called "The Lobotomizer" or something equally ridiculous. Then to a SVT-VR, I was thinking of removing the 12AU7s for just 4 12AX7s, but I don't know enough about tubes to know if that would be a wise decision. Standard Ampeg 810 cabs.

[calypsocoral]

Not gonna lie here, I'm jealous of your abilities to use way smaller gear and still be heard. My drummer and two guitarists are all totally goddamn maniacs so I need at least 500 watts and at least a 610 to cut through. =/

 

Hah! Being a metalhead myself (or, at least, a metalhead in training), I know where you're coming from.

 

That said, revised custom setup for metal! I would have my own All-Tube Preamp/DI made by Pigtronix called "The Lobotomizer" or something equally ridiculous. Then to a SVT-VR, I was thinking of removing the 12AU7s for just 4 12AX7s, but I don't know enough about tubes to know if that would be a wise decision. Standard Ampeg 810 cabs.

 

Regarding the SVT-VR, those 12AU7's aren't quite part of the pre-amp, but something called "driver tubes"-- I have no idea what that means, as the Ampeg SVT is about the only amplifier I know of that uses that terminology. To my knowledge, the actual gain stages are all 12AX7's.

 

The SVT Classic also has both 12AX7 pre-amp tubes, and 12AU7 "driver tubes", but the circuit is greatly simplified from the original SVT's of the early 1970's, which the SVT-VR effectively replicates. The original SVT's are notorious amongst amp builders for having the longest, most complicated signal path (for a tube amplifier) in the entire industry.

[Basshappi]

Having spoken to a few endorsed artists I realize that main issue around such business arrangements has nothing to do with renumeration, in other words the artist does not recieve a percentage of sale of his/her "signature" product. At the best a small portion of the proceedes can go to some charitable cause but even that is extremely rare. Usually the artist is provided equipment at reduced cost or,in increasingly rare occasions, for free. The most important aspect of an endorsement is service and support, especially on the road.

 

Since a 'signature" product is (I assume) a type of endorsement agreement I would only want to enter into one with a company that would give me the best degree of support and service and whose product I already knew and trusted. Furthermore, I have noticed that most signature gear is simply regular production line equipment that an artist became associated with because he/she was already using it. Geddy's Jazz, Sting's Precision, Tony Levin's Music Man, Stanley Clarke's Alembic etc are examples. The development of a unique piece of equipment seems to be a much more rare opprotunity that very few artists, even very famous ones, are given.

 

That being the case, my "signature" equipment would probably be a Jazz bass or Precision with a PJ pickup config because that is what I use. My amp would probably be a Peavey of some kind for the same reason, probably their VB-2 because I've been very interested in getting back into tube amps. An endorsement from DR strings would be very nice.

 

As for developing unique pieces of gear, well....I'm just not a very unique kinda guy.