Over Under Sideways Down (was: a bunch of names for the octave thread)

[Tim Nelson <psychle62@yahoo.com>]

One thing I haven't seen brought up in the octave
down/ octave up discussion that, while many of you may
take for granted, some of you might not be thinking
about involves full-range amplification.

Like many (most?) listmembers, I'm a
multi-instrumentalist caught between the Scylla of
desiring sonic versatility and the Charybdis of having
to carry too much gear around. My rig varies in size
and complexity depending on logistics, practicality
and laziness; generally, it's guitar-based with a
small tube combo amp for straight guitar signal and a
full-range stereo mixer/power amp/speakers setup for
the reverb and loops, plus for other instruments I
loop that might not sound great through a guitar amp.
Depending on the situation, the speakers might be
larger cabs with horns and 15" woofers, or modified
12" wedge monitors, or these little cabs I made by
sawing a  car speaker thing in half. Obviously, the
best low-end response is when I'm using the big boys,
but not only do I then have to transport them,
sometimes the setup doesn't even fit on the stage. The
12-inchers don't have a very good low-end; a fact that
David Kirkdorffer tactfully pointed out to me once.
I'm currently experimenting with a subwoofer/satellite
system that might be the best size-to-ooomph ratio
I've tried yet, but it's not ready yet.

When I'm playing with other folks and wearing my bass
player hat for the whole evening, obviously I bring
along a bass amp. But for times when bass is either an
adjunct to guitar or simulated with circuitry, I don't
usually feel like bringing both amps, so the low end
suffers. That's why I hardly ever use either of my
doublenecks; the bass just sounds wrong when
inadequately amplified. (If anyone remembers my
cobalt-blue quasi-Teuffel Tesla doubleneck with the
two-string fretless bass neck above the headless
6-string guitar neck, several months ago I removed the
bass neck. I wasn't using it much and it kept whacking
my mic stand...)

So, in critiquing the various octave and
pitch-shifting pedals, we have to remember that the
playing field isn't exactly level....

-t-


                
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