Ibanez tone formation

[Faithless]

Hello folks,

So, I got Ibanez SR Prestige in ma pocket. That thing is equipped with VARI-MID III [pre-amp?], in the concrete - [i]pickup balancer[/i], [i]volume knob[/i], and [u][i]Bass/Treble boost/cut[/i][/u]; [u][i]Mid Frequency/Midrange boost/cut[/i][/u] knobs.

I'm playing some Metallica covers with mates, mainly fingerstyle, so I was looking for Rob Trujell'ious tone.
Few days ago on some tread about 'metal bass' I've seen people using Treble and all those high things to form the tone.

Then I noticed, that I've never ever tried to adjust Treble thing - I was so concerned about 'deep end', so I mainy used Bass boost, some Mids and Mid Freq turned to the 'deep' side. Treble was off.

So last night ant today I've tried to look for a new - deep and, altogether, harsh/cutting tone, but the prob is - that VARI-MID III gives you Sooooo much choices to make a tone, and if you dunno how to use it properly, you're in deep sh1t. So am I.

I'm not concerned only about Treble question - the thing, that interests me, is, how you guys, especially those playing rock/metal, form your tone on your Ibanez [SR and other models' with VARI-MID preamp owners]?

What's more, I'd need some as possible clear guide about doin' things with VARI-MID III..

Of course, all good advices about forming the tone from non-Ibanez owners are also welcome



Sorry if this all looks stupid, but I'm so lost...


I'm using my amp as cabinet, and 'taking everything' from bass, but, man, those two knobs can kill you...

Edited April 23, 2008 by Faithless

[lowhand_mike]

I dont have the vari mid on mine i have the bartolini mk1 eq and pups but i can give some help i think.
My ibby (SR500) is very sensitive to adding treble and tends to be on the bright side anyway. for metal and rock i tend to roll back the mid a touch and push things towards the neck pup which gives a harsher tone, more like a 'P'. as for trujillos tone i would imagine there is a certain amount of distortion added to the mix which tends to add top end anyway.
Also where you play on the bass will help, play over the neck pup and if you can try playing towards the neck, this will give a deeper tone but will also give you some top end as the strings are more flexible around this point and make contact with either the pups or the neck which give a kind of click buzz type thing (not fret buzz though it quite nice)
best thing to do is start with the EQ flat and then roll off mid and go from there but only little bits at a time other wise you'll get lost.

hope that helps if it doesnt i appologise.

[Tait]

i got the SR500 like mike, and an ashdown amp (EDIT: just realised, also like mike lol). my tone's easy to get. bass all the way up on the amp, bass all the way up on the bass. mid stays on flat on both amp and bass. treble boosted by about half on bass, same on amp. then i have my deep switch pressed in on the amp. i have it favouring my front pickup slightly. thats when im playing with a pick. with my fingers i only boost the bass by about half on the bass rather than all the way up and then make the bass favour the back pickup slightly. other than that all settings stay the same.

love the one in your avatar, by the way, faithless. im guessing thats the one your asking about.

Edited April 24, 2008 by lwtait

[Faithless]

The only bad thing about all this is my poor English, so I can misunderstand somethin'...

Yeah, I'm using neck pup, as I play only fingerstyle, so I've discovered that 'secret distortion' formula about hardly-pushed string's and pickup's relationships

I'm now goin' to rehearse, got about an hour free, so I'll play with that EQ thing.


I know, I'll got some questions, but later.

Cheers for answers, guys!
Faith.

Btw, lwtait, that's the same Ibby there

Edited April 25, 2008 by Faithless

[lowhand_mike]

[quote name='lwtait' post='184334' date='Apr 24 2008, 10:06 AM']i got the SR500 like mike, and an ashdown amp (EDIT: just realised, also like mike lol). my tone's easy to get. bass all the way up on the amp, bass all the way up on the bass. mid stays on flat on both amp and bass. treble boosted by about half on bass, same on amp. then i have my deep switch pressed in on the amp. i have it favouring my front pickup slightly. thats when im playing with a pick. with my fingers i only boost the bass by about half on the bass rather than all the way up and then make the bass favour the back pickup slightly. other than that all settings stay the same.

love the one in your avatar, by the way, faithless. im guessing thats the one your asking about.[/quote]

lol

i started reading that and thought blimey bass all the way up on both and then saw "thats when i'm playing with pick" and though phew! try that with fingers and the amp wont be happy. i find the bass pot on the bass has loads to give so i dont use too much of that

[Faithless]

So, last night, before rehearsing with fellas, played a lil bit with Ibazzy's eq - turned off Mid's, added about 1/3 treble and half bass. It wasn't that 'low-boomy' anymore, but it was quite crunchy and mates said, they like the sound better now.

I dunno if I'll keep it, but i think that will be ok for next gig on Wednesday..

Cheers again guys, still gonna report about sound changes, and don't forget to drop some yours, if you'll find anything good

Faith

[lowhand_mike]

how did it sound in the mix when all playing together?
i tend to find i get a sound i like but then in the band situation i can get lost, and what has usually happened is i've rolled off the mids too much, so adding a little can bring it back up in the mix but i'm liking a deeper sound at the moment.
i'f you have it on your amp increase the low mids as for me this adds some punch.

[matty589]

A slight narrow-bandwidth boost in the low mids (200-250Hz - try sweeping with the VariMid frequency), with a corresponding slight cut in the same area from gtr (if you can get them to do it!) will really cut through a dense metal track. Maybe also try a slight kick at around 3Khz will give a little upper-end sparkle too. This might be easier from your amp's controls. The other advantage is that when you record is that you'll be able to hear the bass in the mix when played on all types of audio system - boost the bass end too much and a) the mix gets muddy you won't hear the bass part at all on a cheap beatbox and c) the engineer will turn your level down too much.

What was that John Entwistle quote - something like "played at this 20,000 seat arena for the first time, got my usual sound - clean and bassy - sounded like a B-17 bomber was flying overhead!"

[Faithless]

i've defo found kind of killing tone, surely, not without your help, guys


The only prob for tommorow is that there's gonna be some other combo, Trace Elliott, they said, so I'm uncertain a bit about [i]tone[/i] thingies...

So, gig's tommorow, wish me luck, pals

[lowhand_mike]

good luck fella

if you are using a different amp then try and leave your bass set as is (or at least make a note of your settings so you can get them again) and tweak the amp to your bass and you should be able to get near to your current sound, you can then always do subtle tweaks onyour bass eq.

[budget bassist]

I don't own an ibanez, but as a general rule i tend to boost the bass and boost the treble, though not quite as much. That suits near enough any sound for me, metal - funk. Sometimes a bit more of a bass boost for metal.

[umph]

low end is overated get more mids ;<

[Faithless]

Just back after the gig. Impressions tommorow at the 'last night's gig...'

So, there was some Trace's 150w amp, and, my doubts really proved out - i've used the same eq on my bass like during rehearsals, on my Laney, but sound was soooo sh*tty... Of course, turned amp's eq off, but it didn't help a thing..

Finally, found sorta sound, but I can't say I liked it that much.. I had to practically 'kill' bass boost, increase mid's..


Couldn't cleary hear myself a sh1t, I mean, 'swaps' and so on.. due to that messed up in solo.
So, once again, it proved - no matter how much/little you know about the amp's, you can 'judge' them by simply plugging in and checking the sound(using same basse's eq) like if you'd playing on your 'staff' amp..

I think, if there'll be any possibility in future gigs, I'll be bringing my own beloved Laney...

[geilerbass]

Sorry to hear that - though if it's any consolation, I can think of only a handful of gigs that I've played where I've been able to hear myself even slightly. I played a show in Madrid last week and due to the construction of the stage, every hit of the bass drum and every low note on the bass caused huge reverberations, such that the onstage sound become a wall of muddy low end - I struggled to pick out any clarity in my sound, even after they pumped up the mids and highs of the bass through the monitors. That said, I was told that it sounded great through the PA.

If you can take your own amp, then that's always a boon. I actually use a Trace Elliott head and have found my sound to be sooooo much better the few timest that I've got to use it live, rather than borrowing someone elses. The other thing you could maybe do is get hold of a Sansamp, or something similar and DI straight into the PA.

[Adrenochrome]

You need some mids brother! Run you bass flat, both pups on full, then just tweak the EQ on your amp a little, or slightly move the balance/pan (whatever it is on the ibby) to slightly favour whichever pup you prefer.

[lowhand_mike]

shame dude, but then you have learned a valuable lesson. take your own stuff, cos it can take a while to find your sound on another rig that you dont know.

[Faithless]

[quote name='Adrenochrome' post='189488' date='May 1 2008, 11:45 AM']You need some mids brother! Run you bass flat, both pups on full, then just tweak the EQ on your amp a little, or slightly move the balance/pan (whatever it is on the ibby) to slightly favour whichever pup you prefer.[/quote]


Oh, I was using mid's, though, not much, but I didn't 'kill' them.

Well, I'll have some spare time now, for sound-searching, so, I gonna play with that EQ thing little by little.