Unhappy with my tone.....

Mind you this is my first realish bass rig (my old one was an sx jazz (flatwounds) w/ a behrigher sansamp copy), and i'm a guitar player thats especially anal about my tone. Anyway i'm guessing its not the bass. I bought a pv mark iv head and 1810 cab for $150. Yea so its a really cheap rig, but just doesn't sound anywhere near how I want it to. Also I sometimes run a hartke bass attack pedal in front, but not sure if i like it better with or w/o. All in all it just sounds a thin (plinky) and unrefined.

I've spent a lot of time with the different channels and the eq with no avail. Also I feel like the limiter comes on way too early, even at lower settings.

So what steps should I take to thicken/liven things up a bit?

New head?

New cab?

Compressor?

Get some flatwounds?

Any suggestions?

I guess the first question is, what tone are you looking to achieve? What type of music do you play? A T-40 can sound great through any rig when dialed in.

I've heard that the SX jazz copies are a really good bang for the buck. While inexpensive, very well made. I know some people who have changed out the electronics and tuning keys and would up with a great playing bass. I'd like to try one out.

I've played many brands of flats and they all have pro's and con's. TI flats have a great tone but are very low tension.. I couldn't get used to how loose they felt. D'Addario Chromes have a great feel and tone, a bit too bright for me. I've tried LaBella flats and they are very high tension but sound great. By far the best flats I've found are Pyramid flats. They are very expensive but get better with age. Silky smooth feel. I've had the same set on my T-45 for almost 3 years now and they're just awesome. High tension but the 45 neck handles it just fine (the 45 neck is virtually the same as a T-40). Don't worry about tension, it can handle it. This bass is used exclusively for McCarntey/Jamerson tone. Lots of thump

I guess I must also say that the T-45 I use has a Dark Star pickup which probably makes a big difference. I've never used flats with T series pickups. So this doesn't help much.

I'm going for a more modern rock sound. I just want something less jangelly. if that makes any sense. I'm thinking flats are the way to go, so i'll start there and report back. But i'll probably need to set her up after all that, and maybe adjust the thruss rod (yikes!).

as always thanks for the input.

Flats may give you the tone you are looking for, and the brands that Scott mentions are all good ones.

Another opption for a rounder, less jangly tone might be pure nickle roundwound strings. (not nickle wound steel, but "pure Nickel") Fender is the most common brand for these under the "Original Bass" label in 3 different tensions. Rotosound also makes a good set, and I assume other brands do also.

They start out reasonably bright, but very quickly (within a week in my experience) they warm right up. I like a round, not jangly tone, and they are now my exclusive strings on nearly all my 4 string basses. They sound great for recording and playing live. As an added bonus, Nickel is a very soft metal, so it will prolong the life of your frets.

humm....I like the sound of that, I think I'll try those first. I don't think flats would sound good for some of our heavier songs. Maybe I should buy a t-45 for flats.

A couple other things to consider in your quest for tone.

Is the phase swtich accidentally on?

Are your pickups too high or too low?

Best of luck.