A Working Bassist Changes His Profile

This simple and effective approach to bass was my launchpad. When I played a house party at age 14, I made sure they had a stereo so I could play that day—my first backline request. Eventually, practicality took hold and I saved up to buy an amp, then another, and another, until I had a massive Peavey rig with matching 2×15 cabs.

My humble beginnings shaped my approach to bass: simply plug in and play. As gigs changed and experimentation started, effects leached their way into my signal chain. A chorus pedal here, maybe an EQ boost there. In time, though, I would always go back to the simplest, most direct approach possible, which was little more than a tuner into an amp.

Then the digital age pushed us all into new territory. Guitar players started showing up to gigs with little red bean-shaped devices chock full of overdriven tones, which eventually made their way onto untold numbers of records in the ’90s. Other floor and rack units followed suit until the technology became really good, and players started ditching bulky amps for these easier options. Modeling and then profiling technology became a norm rather than an exception, and all of a sudden just about any tone from any amp or era was possible.

Modeling an amp or effect involves a series of attributes and components from that piece of gear which are already loaded into the modeling unit. Profiling is replicating the sound of a piece of gear or effect and automating the code. This process can capture subtle nuances that are unique to those pieces of gear.