Testing your bass setup

[BottomE]

I confess to having a bit of a fiddle with the action and PuP heights on my gigging basses. I do this at home and test through headphones via a USB soundcard. Sounds great at home. Sounds sh*t on stage!

Caught me out this weekend and was saved by my old reliable Hamer that was almost exactly in tune after 4 weeks unplayed in its case.

Before i fiddled with the basses i would have the amp EQ flat and did whatever i needed for the room with the onboard stuff when gigging. Night before last in a panic i started to try and optimise my sound using the amp EQ because the basses played differently but didn't get what i wanted in the time i had to do it.

Is there a good way to test a bass setup at home through headphones? Unfortunately i can't rig up properly at home and test at the levels that i gig at. I think i already know the answer is no but if there is some trick or software or something that can help it would be great to know.

FWIW:

Bass > USB Soundcard > Cubase 5.something > Average £40 Headphones

Thanks

B

[ped]

First of all you'll need very neutral headphones. I have always used Shure E2Cs with foam inserts. I play through my Vbass unit and it's the same sound I have on stage (Vbass goes into a poweramp)

Other than that, it's all about keeping everything flat where possible, or at least mimic the characteristics of your amp. It's a difficult one but I suppose only you'll know when you get the same sound everywhere. I find having one bass helps because you can get to know it's sound in a variety of environments and know what to expect from it.

ped

[Blademan_98]

[quote name='BottomE' post='1362369' date='Sep 4 2011, 10:42 PM'][b]I think i already know the answer is no[/b] but if there is some trick or software or something that can help it would be great to know.

FWIW:

Bass > USB Soundcard > Cubase 5.something > Average £40 Headphones

Thanks

B[/quote]

As you say, the answer is no.

A rehearsal room is the only way really.

I use a Pandora (Korg ToneWorks) but as soon as I plug in through the main rig, I get the same result as you do!

[icastle]

[quote name='BottomE' post='1362369' date='Sep 4 2011, 10:42 PM']Is there a good way to test a bass setup at home through headphones? Unfortunately i can't rig up properly at home and test at the levels that i gig at. I think i already know the answer is no but if there is some trick or software or something that can help it would be great to know.[/quote]

Not really.
Headphones don't reproduce sound in the same way as your bass cabs, the room acoustics vary from venue to venue and what sounds 'good' at home stands a good chance of becoming 'mush' when you play live.

As far as possible, I leave everything on the amp flat - that way I can have a reasonable amount of control from the 'bass end' if I need to do a slight tweak during a gig.

[henry norton]

[url="http://www.cafewalter.com/ha1/index.htm"]This[/url] is meant to be very good for giving you the true sound of your instrument, although it obviously won't reproduce the sound of an amp and cabinets. I usually try out a new setup/pickup/bass/string type by playing it through a headphone amp. You're absolutely right in that it won't produce a gigable sound but I test everything on the same, flattish settings which is useful to compare and contrast one to another. It's no good for optimising your sound though. That really needs to be done at the right volume into the right equipment.

[BottomE]

[quote name='henry norton' post='1362637' date='Sep 5 2011, 10:04 AM'][url="http://www.cafewalter.com/ha1/index.htm"]This[/url] is meant to be very good for giving you the true sound of your instrument, although it obviously won't reproduce the sound of an amp and cabinets. I usually try out a new setup/pickup/bass/string type by playing it through a headphone amp. You're absolutely right in that it won't produce a gigable sound but I test everything on the same, flattish settings which is useful to compare and contrast one to another. It's no good for optimising your sound though. That really needs to be done at the right volume into the right equipment.[/quote]
Thanks Henry