So tell me...

[Justinginn]

Why is it a bass sounds great DI'd while a guitar sounds terrible without a speaker or speaker sim? Why are we ok with low sounds straight in but need notches and hp/lp on our higher sounds?

 

[kboman]

A quick guess at one of the reasons: low notes have longer wavelengths and so lower definition? It's easier to hear variations in mid/high registers, which makes it easier to be picky.
Our ears are also more sensitive to those areas IIRC, but I may have that confused with eyes and colour sensitivity

 

[Justinginn]

Yeah that would make sense except that I at least really like the sound of a DI bass, sometimes even better than with an amp but not the same for a guitar. Maybe it's just one of those things where something's been done a certain way for so long that we decide it sounds good that way.  :dontknow:

 

[Superlizard]

Very good question.

I'd tend to think along the lines of (the quality of) distortion & compression in respect to the guitar (not bass).

 

[OzziePete]

Very good question.

I'd tend to think along the lines of (the quality of) distortion & compression in respect to the guitar (not bass).

Yeah I'd be thinking that a lot of good standard guitar tones involve the interaction between the speakers and the guitar as much as how the amp handles it....The bass guitar, on the other hand, doesn't seem to be so greatly reliant upon the bass speakers to further develop the tone, just replicate what is coming out of the amp.

 

[Panthur]

I don't suppose it has anything to do with active electronics ?. The Bass community seem to be more welcoming of active circuitry than the guitar lot. Is it an active bass your DI'ing ?

 

[NLD09]

I personally prefer the thump of quarter pound pickups through an SVT.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

I think it has to do with the speakers and amps we're used to hearing a guitar with.  A good guitar sound is very much the tube head and speakers we're hearing, and the audible range is well suited to a microphone. 

Others may disagree, while possible to sound decent, a microphone does not exist that can accurately capture the range of a bass.  Some do it better than others, but none do it perfect. 

Also, most PA systems, even the cabs carrying the mids and highs, the drivers are transparent sounding subwoofers.  On a bass rig, the drivers are transparent sounding subwoofers.  In effect, a PA is a bass rig already.  So going direct in seems the obvious choice.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

This is borrowed from another online forum:

"....guitar speakers are WAY different than bass speakers. guitar speakers are inefficient and a holdover from the old days where the sound of such speakers became part of the tone. As such, we guitarists like it that way and wouldn't be caught dead playing through anything like a PA speaker.  Bass speakers, OTOH, are designed more like PA speakers for higher efficiency. At the end of the day, what ever sounds right to you is right."

 

[Panthur]

Every day is a school day  :icon_biggrin:

 

[Justinginn]

Yeah I think I'd agree, we like guitar amp sounds because we've grown to like them over time. Bassists probably were happier to move to more efficient speakers because they NEED more thump to get their sound across, especially at such a low register clearly.

This is where Stubhead is gonna come tell us about why we all should play through PA speakers.  :toothy10:

 

[Phrygian]

The clean direct-to-board Strat sound was fairly popular about 30 years ago.  It's the harmonics generated by clipping that are a problem.  We are accustomed to those harmonics being shaped by the response curve of a guitar speaker.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

This is where Stubhead is gonna come tell us about why we all should play through PA speakers.  :toothy10:

I think he would tell us what would happen if we did; something about an ice pick and teeth.  He'd also tell us that the classic sounds were more happy accidents than by design.  Jim Marshall and his surplus prices on speakers?

For bass, it was more out of necessity.  The electric bass as we know it is just a bit younger than the electric guitar.  Add to this, the modern bass amp is younger than the modern bass.  The first ones were guitar amps.  You ever listen to the live Cream stuff?  The bass playing is great.  The bass sound, not so much.

 

[bpmorton777]

still, a bass sounds really nice through a tube guitar amp and guitar speakers. try it some time. :hello2:

Brian