Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I went by the store last nite and broke the bank and put down my $6 for a Stereo - Mono Y splitter.

My guitarist left a couple cabinets here from our last gig so I tried it with one of those and my Yorkie. Mind you, I only have one amp of my own. Initially I wasn't impressed with the results. I have a fondness for the phase sound of the two pickups working together - plus, a guitar amp doesn't sound anywhere near as good as a bass amp. It just sounded like two clanky basses thru two amps. So I tried running my sansamp on one of the pickups thru one of the amps. Interesting results, but still lacking a nice cohesion. (Admittedly because of the amps, I'm sure.) Then I took the split signal, ran one thru the sansamp and then mixed them back into one bass amp. SHAZAM! It added a lot of color and nuance as well as retaining some of the phase sound that I like. Also running one pickup thru heavy distortion gave a real Hammond like feel. Dig in and get resonating distortion, play normally and get nice bass with presence. When I record bass, I often double track with different effects to get a more unique sound - this may be a way to replicate that live.

I can now see the possibilities using this system. Unfortunately it seems there may be a pedalboard in my future, and I don't mean the Taurus type.

You might want to try one of these for your amp.

Another alternative would be the Markbass LMK. The reason I mention these amps is due their having two independent channels with complete EQ on each channel. Of course, I don't know what amp you currently use, but these would be something to consider, also.

This whole experiment has got me Gassing. I've tried the MB a few times but always been underwhelmed by the sound. I may go and test drive some amps and see what sounds are out there.

I've thought about splitting my signal when I get a 4003. My board is already wired with a two channel loop, but thinking about ROS makes me wonder at the following setup:

Bass PU -> Boss LS-2 Line Splitter (A)
Treble PU -> Big Muff Pi (Russian) -> Turbo RAT -> Boss OC-2 -> Dunlop 105Q Wah -> Volume pedal -> Peavey Delay -> Boss LS-2 Line Splitter (B)
THEN
Boss LS-2 (Combined) -> MXR M-80 Bass DI+ -> Gallien-Krueger 700RB-II -> 4x10

With a setup like this I can always have some bottom end running through and the Treble PU channel will be mixed louder on the LS-2. I imagine I will be running the vintage sound most of the time because I like the clank/growl and I can always roll back the Treble PU volume on the bass if it is too much. The volume pedal in the dirty channel has always allowed for some nice swelling effects.

What I am trying to imagine is which effects will be best suited to running in the Treble PU loop and which ones won't, ie:
- Would it be best to have Delay on both signals, coz treble delayed and bass not might be weird?
- I like the sound of the Big Muff through Octaver, gives that MUSE type sound
- The late (RIP Dean Turner) bass player of Aussie band Magic Dirt ran a custom octave splitter, with only mid and high running through his Big Muff and Wah

I know what my previous bass sounded like through these effects and the bottom end was not fantastic through the Big Muff or RAT. How does the bottom end of Ric sound through serious distortion?

This is all going to take some experimentation, I am curious what you guys think.

Scott, When the venue is big enough I try to use ROS. Although now with a non ROS 4004L8 things get a little complicated. For the bass (neck pickup) I us an old Carvin with a 2x15 cab. For the treble (bridge pup) I have a Peavey Delta Bass with a 4x10 cab. I guess I'm a solid state kind of guy. I have found that starting with the bass amp set for almost all bass and the treble set for almost all treble – set the bass to full volume and tone bass for bass and treble for treble pups – now set the amps to have about the same level of volume. Now you can play with the room to see what mid you might want (usually a little on the treble amp). Blend with the controls on the guitar. Effects can be very cool with the ROS set up. Have fun (most seem to)!!

It definitely seems like it'll be quite a bit of fun and lends itself to a lot of effects experimentation. Next week we have a rehearsal and I'll roll it out and play with it a little.

Please post results!

s4001 wrote:This whole experiment has got me Gassing. I've tried the MB a few times but always been underwhelmed by the sound. I may go and test drive some amps and see what sounds are out there.

Buy a pair!

johnallg wrote:

s4001 wrote:This whole experiment has got me Gassing. I've tried the MB a few times but always been underwhelmed by the sound. I may go and test drive some amps and see what sounds are out there.

Buy a pair!

I used to split a 4001 into the two channels on my one of my SVT's, bridge in the main and neck in the 2nd, great sound. I ran a 4001 stereo into two SVT set ups like the above except they are 70's amps a few times at outside gigs and big clubs with my Ric-O-Sound adapter, you can get a really nice deep clear sound like that, kind of heavy though.

johnallg wrote:

s4001 wrote:This whole experiment has got me Gassing. I've tried the MB a few times but always been underwhelmed by the sound. I may go and test drive some amps and see what sounds are out there.

Buy a pair!

I'd need to buy a second truck for that.