how to EQ properly?

[budget bassist]

So here's the deal, i SUCK at EQing my bass, does anyone have any tips/guides on how to EQ your bass for myself and other members? That's including the onboard EQ and amps EQ. I'd be very grateful

I know you're not supposed to 'dime' your controls (turn them all the way up) but i don't know how to get a good sound otherwise. I dime the volume and bass on my bass and keep the treble rolled back a bit and on my amp i have the bass, mids and treble near enough all the way up, i kinda like the sound but i hear it's wrong?

[mikeh]

[quote name='budget bassist' post='181194' date='Apr 20 2008, 06:10 PM']So here's the deal, i SUCK at EQing my bass, does anyone have any tips/guides on how to EQ your bass for myself and other members? That's including the onboard EQ and amps EQ. I'd be very grateful

I know you're not supposed to 'dime' your controls (turn them all the way up) but i don't know how to get a good sound otherwise. I dime the volume and bass on my bass and keep the treble rolled back a bit and on my amp i have the bass, mids and treble near enough all the way up, i kinda like the sound but i hear it's wrong?[/quote]

Id say if you like the sound you're there!! I personally dont use a lot of eq, with maybe a little bass and mid boost on the amp. When I say little it is a tiny bit of boost.

[warwickhunt]

If you have everything boosted on your amp you have nowhere left to go!

'When a where lad...' I thought mid had to be cut regardless of what amp and/or cab; smiley face/gull-wing shapes on graphic were where it was at but each venue, bass, cab, amp etc brings its own EQ settings.

Try starting with everything set flat then establish what you don't like... too bassy - roll some off, too nasally - tweak the mid back etc.

Remember a little can go a long way and you can cut as well as boost!

[budget bassist]

Thing is, on my amp if i leave the EQ flat or cut much back then it's really quiet... which really puzzles me.

Edited April 20, 2008 by budget bassist

[warwickhunt]

[quote name='budget bassist' post='181194' date='Apr 20 2008, 06:10 PM']on my amp i have the bass, mids and treble near enough all the way up, i kinda like the sound but i hear it's wrong?[/quote]


[quote name='budget bassist' post='181228' date='Apr 20 2008, 06:59 PM']on my amp i leave the EQ flat or cut much back then it's really quiet... which really puzzles me.[/quote]

Which is it... all the way up or flat/cut back?

I don't wish to sound condescending but you are aware that your EQ settings will affect the perceived output volume as well as tone (though you may well have to rein in the master output to prevent clipping). Turn all your EQ back and it will sound quieter for a given fixed output setting than if you turn all of the EQs up

[budget bassist]

Sorry, typo. I meant to say IF i turn the EQ down. And i know it generally gets quieter if i turn the EQ down but i didn't think it should be as quiet as that.

[bass_ferret]

If you like it like that who is to say you are wrong. What you will usually get in response to a post like this is loads of posters saying what they do on the assumption that it is correct.

What I will say is it sounds like you are leaving yourself with nowhere to go. If you want more bass you have none left. If you get funny acoustics that suck out the bass you have none left.

Boosting the eq does have a significant effect on percieved volume. If it is too quiet then turn it up. If you are boosting the EQ because it is not loud enough then you need a louder rig.

[budget bassist]

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='181295' date='Apr 20 2008, 08:14 PM']If you like it like that who is to say you are wrong. What you will usually get in response to a post like this is loads of posters saying what they do on the assumption that it is correct.

What I will say is it sounds like you are leaving yourself with nowhere to go. If you want more bass you have none left. If you get funny acoustics that suck out the bass you have none left.

Boosting the eq does have a significant effect on percieved volume. If it is too quiet then turn it up. If you are boosting the EQ because it is not loud enough then you need a [color="#FF0000"]louder rig[/color].[/quote]
Yeah, well i bought this a couple of months ago thinking 15" speaker, should be plenty loud. Took it to brand practice the other day and it was clipping all night because i couldn't hear it otherwise. I'm thinking of saving for a warwick profet 3.2 or something similar and get a 4x10 and a 1x15 for it.

[bass_ferret]

There is a lot more to volume than watts and speaker size. There is a good article on the basschat wiki. You dont say what your rig is but until you get something bigger you could always suggest practice at lower volume

[budget bassist]

ampeg BA115, and i'm pretty confident that that particular stack would be a good deal louder than my ampeg. and i would suggest that to them but if we turned down we wouldn't have been able to hear ourselves over the drummer.

[BOD2]

The only tips for EQ I can think of is as follows -

1. EQ-ing the bass itself

If it's a passive bass then start with the volume and tone fully on (maximum). This gives maximum output. Roll back the tone control to cut the treble as required. You can adjust the volume by playing more gently or rolling back the volume (although this often changes the tone slightly too). There's not a lot a variation in the tone controls of a passive bass - it's usually all on or all off.

If it's an active bass then start with the tone controls as the middle position (often there's click-stop on the tone controls at this point). The EQ is "flat" at this point - neither boosted nor cut. Make small adjustments to the tone controls at a time and remember that you can CUT as well as boost. It's generally best not to max out the tone controls on an active bass as this can introduce distortion.

2. EQ-ing the amp

This is trickier as the EQ varies from on amp to another. If you can try to start at a "flat" EQ position this is good. With a graphic EQ that means the sliders should be at the "0" or middle position. With rotary tone controls it varies from one amp to another. A middle position for the tone controls might be a good starting point.

Again - don't just boost to change the EQ. Try cutting to see what that does to your tone. Avoid excessive cutting or boosting if possible.

Don't turn ALL the tone controls up full - that has the same effect as simply turning up the volume control and that's what the volume control is for. EQ is all in the relative positions of each tone control to each other.


There is no "perfect EQ". A good EQ is what gives you the sound you want to hear, but it's often said that a lot of the tone of a bass guitar lies in the "mid" EQ range so make sure you investigate here.

[johnnylager]

[quote name='budget bassist' post='181354' date='Apr 20 2008, 09:16 PM']but if we turned down we wouldn't have been able to hear ourselves over the drummer.[/quote]
Get him some of [url="http://www.flixproducts.com/productssticks.html"]these[/url] for his birthday!

[dub]

Thats all good advice about starting with the eq flat on everything.

Something that's worth doing, is comparing the sound of the eq on your bass with the eq on the amp.

Turning down the tone control (low pass filter) on a passive bass can be really useful for cutting too much string click or getting a dubby double bass like tone.

If you have active electronics on the bass, turn the bass control half way up to see how it sounds, then set it flat and compare it to turning up the same control on the amp by the same amount. Do the same with the other controls and use whichever you like best.

I found that I preferred the sound of the low end turned up on my bass with a tiny bit of mid cut.

One thing to look out for, if you like a lot of bass and turn it up on both the bass and the amp, this can produce high levels of infrasonics (below hearing range) which can actually result in less audible low end and make your speakers crack up.

A high-pass filter can be really useful to help this, (there's a variable one in the fishman platinum DI that works well).

I used to turn up the bass control full on everything and wonder why my speakers were distorting so easily, till I figured this out.

[stevebasshead]

I'd suggest making your EQ changes while the band is playing to see what works best in the mix. Often what sounds right solo'd doesn't sound right in the mix and conversley what sounds wrong solo'd sits perfectly in the mix.

[Jobiebass]

Glad someone else has the same problem as me, I must play with the EQ for a good 30mins a night and still cant figure out what I like best. But, I have been cranking it so I guess that where im going wrong.

on my bass I had bass full, mid-mid, treb off, then couldnt figure out why none of the dials on the amp made any noticable diffrence.

if im after a warm tone, do i need to add a little bass? take mid off a little?? anyone know what order the knobs are on a 3eq 'ray? looking down on it, the left is volume, I guess it goes volume bass mid treb. although not knowing which way the dials go im either turning the bass off and getting a trebble sound, turnign the treble up and getting more of a treb sound, or completly opersite lol.
i could just use the presets on my zoom but id prefer to know what im doing.

[BOD2]

[quote name='Jobiebass' post='181927' date='Apr 21 2008, 03:59 PM']on my bass I had bass full, mid-mid, treb off, then couldnt figure out why none of the dials on the amp made any noticable diffrence.[/quote]

With treble off there's no treble going into the amp so the treble controls on the amp won't be able to do much.

With bass full there's max bass going into the amp - the amp might not be able to produce much more bass so the bass controls might seem ineffective.

That might explain the problems with the amp EQ ?

For someone starting to tinker with EQ I would always recommend starting with all the EQ at a "halfway" point - that way you can cut and boost to see what works for you. Again I'd advise not using any EQ control full on (for an actve bass) to avoid possible overload problems and also it gives you nowhere to go if you want any more.

Generally (although there will be exceptions) if you need to use excessive EQ in your setup there is a problem somewhere. Make a note of your settings, then go back to that "middle position" and start again. Excessive EQ can also introduce noise into your rig which is another reason to avoid it.

[Mr. Foxen]

Other fun with amps is passive vs active eq,some valve amps have passive eq and thats all cut, my DHA pedal has passive eq, found it best to turn all up and turn stuff down to adjust.

[The Funk]

I use a large amount of mid-boost on my Aguilar preamp. But I send a flat EQ signal to the sound engineer from my DI.

Every bass I have has to be EQd completely differently to all the others.

[Muppet]

Go with BOD2's first reply and try to understand what your bass sounds like with no EQ (i.e. flat) and what your amp sounds like with no EQ. Don't play with both until you understand what each sounds like, otherwise you'll never know which to tweak when.

I find that a little goes a long way and extremes are often bad. Learn to play with one range first and I'd suggest Mid. Listen to what it does when you boost it and what happens when you cut, then set it at what your ears tell you. Then move to the next and do the same remembering that it will have an effect on the first setting that you liked and that may need tweaking again. It's all a process of elimination until you get the right sounds for you. Then usuall minor tweaks for different venues are all that's called for.

[budget bassist]

[quote name='Jobiebass' post='181927' date='Apr 21 2008, 03:59 PM']if im after a warm tone, do i need to add a little bass? take mid off a little?? anyone know what order the knobs are on a 3eq 'ray? looking down on it, the left is volume, I guess it goes volume bass mid treb. although not knowing which way the dials go im either turning the bass off and getting a trebble sound, turnign the treble up and getting more of a treb sound, or completly opersite lol.[/quote]
Nope, if it's anything like my 2EQ sub it will be volume, treble, mid, bass looking down on it and turning the knob right or clockwise boosts that part of the EQ and left or anticlockwise cuts it. There should be detents in the middle too, that's flat. I have a 2 EQ sub and that's similar, but it's volume, treble bass and right back is flat, the EQ is more of a boost than a boost/cut i think.

I've also had a go EQing my bass from flat and i just hate the flat sound... it just sounds... well... flat/boring/indistinctive. I like how it sounds with bass on full and treble on about half on the preamp and on the amp itself near enough the same with not quite full bass, a fair bit of treble and boosted mids. I like how that sounds, very flea-esque.

[bass_ferret]

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='181295' date='Apr 20 2008, 08:14 PM']If you like it like that who is to say you are wrong. What you will usually get in response to a post like this is loads of posters saying what they do on the assumption that it is correct.

What I will say is it sounds like you are leaving yourself with nowhere to go. If you want more bass you have none left. If you get funny acoustics that suck out the bass you have none left.

Boosting the eq does have a significant effect on percieved volume. If it is too quiet then turn it up. If you are boosting the EQ because it is not loud enough then you need a louder rig.[/quote]
All good advice but the OP is using his eq to try and boost the volume so until he gets that sorted its pretty much wasted.