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Tone help needed, stat!


Funky Dunky
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Mods, feel free to shift this if it's in the wrong arena.

I'm recording bass for a mate on Saturday and he has requested a very specific tone. He wants the bass to dominate the track, he wants me to use my Fender Jazz bass and he wants it to sound really fat.

Now...

I have the Jazz bass, I have a Fender Bronco 40 modelling amp which we have managed to extract some surprisingly awesome tones from in the past - the wee amp records well - and I have a Behringer BD121.

Help! Any EQ, settings or tips to help me achieve something close to this?

Thanks guys

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Try and loan parametric EQ if you can.

I would suggest to cut below 40 Hz, a small boost at 80-90 Hz, small cut at around 190-195 Hz. A lot of the Fender character is in the 1kHz range so try a boost there. That is generally what I do.

In my experience single coils need careful eq-ing around the 100Hz mark as that is where most JB fundamentals lie, depending on setup boosting or cutting just below and above yields good results. Perhaps you can also try cut 80Hz and Boost 140 Hz instead of the above. Probably not as good as above, but a lot depends on your specific bass too.

Your attack will lie around the 700-1000 Hz and deep bottom at around 50-80 Hz. Get these right and you should be golden.

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[quote name='HazBeen' timestamp='1468329623' post='3090165']
Try and loan parametric EQ if you can.

I would suggest to cut below 40 Hz, a small boost at 80-90 Hz, small cut at around 190-195 Hz. A lot of the Fender character is in the 1kHz range so try a boost there. That is generally what I do.

In my experience single coils need careful eq-ing around the 100Hz mark as that is where most JB fundamentals lie, depending on setup boosting or cutting just below and above yields good results. Perhaps you can also try cut 80Hz and Boost 140 Hz instead of the above. Probably not as good as above, but a lot depends on your specific bass too.

Your attack will lie around the 700-1000 Hz and deep bottom at around 50-80 Hz. Get these right and you should be golden.
[/quote]
Useful info. Will have a play tonight, thanks.

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EQ may be one part in getting to a 'fat' tone. The other element is compression, which can really fatten up the bass. It depends what you have access to, as I don't have experience with the Bronco modelling amp. If you're using audio software on a computer, I would suggest experimenting with the compression also.

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[quote name='zero9' timestamp='1468348794' post='3090365']
EQ may be one part in getting to a 'fat' tone. The other element is compression, which can really fatten up the bass. It depends what you have access to, as I don't have experience with the Bronco modelling amp. If you're using audio software on a computer, I would suggest experimenting with the compression also.
[/quote]

A very relevant point, indeed worth exploring. Also keep in mind that cutting frequencies is more effective than boosting. Quite often cutting above or below the frequency you want to emphasize works better than boosting the frequency. I also tend to cut with a narrow Q and boost with a wider one.

Edited by HazBeen
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All good advice above! Especially regarding subtractive EQ and use of compression.

Another way to approach this is what's known as 're-amping' - recording your bass DI (direct into mixer) and then afterwards, sending the signal back out of the mixer, through your FX chain and amp, etc, and recording the processed signal on a separate mixer channel. Sounds a lot more complicated than it is in practice! ;)

Why would you do this? So that you can concentrate on just nailing the playing during the original take; and then afterwards focus on shaping the sound you want using your FX, amp and other outboard gear (ideally in the context of the overall mix). It's a technique very commonly used by professional bands - the Stones being one of the early pioneers.

You'll need a re-amp box to do this, or you can sometimes get away with using a passive DI box 'in reverse'.

Obviously, this isn't a trick for getting the sound you want - but it's a good way to avoid worrying about getting the tone [i]exactly[/i] right during the recording itself, and then focus on twiddling knobs afterwards.

More info on Wikipedia for anyone interested:
[url="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Re-amp"]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Re-amp[/url]

Edited by Skol303
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Wow, some really great points coming out if this thread, thanks to everyone for the input (wee gear pun for you there!). I like the tip about playing closer to the neck to fatten the sound - definitely going to employ that wee trick. The re-amp trick sounds awesome but I don't know if we have the gear we need for that. It's a really simple set-up and my mate wants to do as much of it as possible on the way in so he doesn't have to so a lot of post work. I explained to him that most of what he wants in terms of fatness is achieved in post, so he's going to try eq'ing as suggested above. Will let you know how it goes. Thanks again.

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Regarding re-amping, I know this is very widely used and I have tried it myself. But, I have found that I play things slightly differently when different tones are involved. Especially overdriven tones. Occasionaly when using overdrive I will find certain notes can highlight some very pleasing harmonics, so I might just hold that note a little longer of accent it a bit more (if it fits the tune). So, personally I try to find the best tone for the performance and then try to capture it as best I can.

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[quote name='AndrewJordan' timestamp='1468658075' post='3092387']
Regarding re-amping, I know this is very widely used and I have tried it myself. But, I have found that I play things slightly differently when different tones are involved. Especially overdriven tones. Occasionaly when using overdrive I will find certain notes can highlight some very pleasing harmonics, so I might just hold that note a little longer of accent it a bit more (if it fits the tune). So, personally I try to find the best tone for the performance and then try to capture it as best I can.
[/quote]

Absolutely, GIRAS - get it right at the source. Joe Gilder ( of home studio corner) says if you don't like the sound you're hearing, don't hit record. The performance will inevitably be modulated according to what we're hearing by as we play. But once it's down and you're happy with the performance, then "cheat" as much as you like to get it sounding as awesome as yo can.

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We set up bass - BD121 - amp - recording gizmo with a belter of a tone and hit record. We didn't diddle about with any settings, other than he played around with compression until he had something he liked. We went the GIRAS route, and we were both happy. He said he may try EQing in post, but that's his problem now!

Thanks to all.

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