Sound dropping out... Can anyone help?

[PeterSchofield]

Hi everyone,
I'm having a little bit of a bad time with my sound recently, I've only been playing bass a year so this may sound a bit of an idiots question.. Bare with me!

I've got an Ashdown ABM 500 Combo and also An Ashdown MAG 300 head with it's matching 4x10 to go with it. I usually run a Squier Vintage Modified P Bass for most gigs but I sometimes use an Ibanez GSR 200 for a change.

For a good 10 months of me playing bass of the band that I jumped into 4 days before a gig having never touching a bass before hand, I was pretty quick to find a sound that I like, I quickly started playing around on the higher octaves etc. Messing around the 7th fret and upwards, as I found it was quite a nice element to add to the indie rock band that we are.

Now here is where I need the help, over the past couple of months I just seem to have lost the sound I had, Anything other than hammering a low E, the amps just seem to drop out, regardless of which bass I play, what setting the amps/bass' have- They just seem to drop right out (by this I mean it seems so much quieter) with this I'm finding my sound drops out and when I go back to playing the E string simply I'm getting a real loud punchy sound that I just don't want. It's so miss matched and the sound just drops out the higher I go up the bass'.

No matter what I try I just can't get a sound higher up the bass, it goes quiet.. Almost impossible to notice the bass in the mix when this happens and it's getting very frustrating. It's as if it's only focussing on the very low frequencies.

I don't know if you'll need to know to help me diagnose the problem and/or get a fix, I have a Behringer chorus, EHX Blogger, Ashdown Dual Band compressor and a Korg Pitchblack tuner.. It struck me that one of the pedals might be causing the frequency to blare when it's getting lows. I've always used these though from around a month or two of playing bass and it was fine, which is what is confusing me.

If anyone can suggest to me what the problem might be, I'd be very grateful!

Thanks in advance,
Peter

Edited June 14, 2013 by PeterSchofield

[icastle]

I'd suspect the compressor as a starting point.

[Phil Starr]

Sounds like a compressor problem to me too. Is the Mag the one with compression built in? that or the pedal could be the problem.

[PeterSchofield]

The MAG doesn't have a compressor built in but the ABM does, it still happens without the compressor being switched on however, could they still lead to the problem as the compressor is always on my board but I don't use it a great lot.

Thanks for replying!
Peter

[Phil Starr]

OK the next thing to try is using the amp with no pedals at home or in the rehearsal room but playing at gig volumes on your own so you can really hear what is going on.

Can you get a good tone? Is it stable over time?

Is the balance between strings good?

If everything is now OK it is the pedals. Try adding in only one at a time until the problem returns.


If you have the problems with no pedals in the chain it is bass, lead or amp/speaker. Over to you

[hamfist]

Ummm ..... strings ? Have you changed them in the time you have been playing bass ? As time goes on (and your body juices reek havoc with your strings) they will get dull and lose a lot of tone. If your base tone has a lot of treble and clank in it to cut through, you will lose a hell of a lot of that as the strings age.

Edited June 15, 2013 by hamfist

[PeterSchofield]

[quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1371278385' post='2111968']
OK the next thing to try is using the amp with no pedals at home or in the rehearsal room but playing at gig volumes on your own so you can really hear what is going on.

Can you get a good tone? Is it stable over time?

Is the balance between strings good?

If everything is now OK it is the pedals. Try adding in only one at a time until the problem returns.


If you have the problems with no pedals in the chain it is bass, lead or amp/speaker. Over to you
[/quote]

I've not really had chance to properly dissect the rig to have a massive look as I only notice it at gigs with the band as I don't practice all that loud, I think I'm going to have to crank it to see what is going on.. Thanks for that I'll try it later on if I have chance!

[quote name='hamfist' timestamp='1371278818' post='2111971']
Ummm ..... strings ? Have you changed them in the time you have been playing bass ? As time goes on (and your body juices reek havoc with your strings) they will get dull and lose a lot of tone. If your base tone has a lot of treble and clank in it to cut through, you will lose a hell of a lot of that as the strings age.
[/quote]

It has crossed my mind of it being strings, I've only had these on around month and their Elixir stainless steel, it crossed my mind that it was them, they are far too bright for my liking so some nickel ones have been ordered.

Another thing is, I was playing through an Orange at a gig that a guy in a different band lent out, I was getting a great sound with that and it was only a couple of weeks ago, was using all my pedals and bass though, it's rather confusing!!!

Cheers,
Peter

[bertbass]

Have you tried using a different lead?

[Lozz196]

Strikes me as a possible combination of pickup heights and eq. As you`ve stated you used someone elses Orange rig and it all sounded great, it would lead me towards the eq. Lose some low-end, and up the mids first as that`s easiest. It may not sound so nice on its own, but in the mix it should then be a lot more even and powerful across all strings.

[Acebassmusic]

[quote name='PeterSchofield' timestamp='1371288097' post='2112089']
I've not really had chance to properly dissect the rig to have a massive look as[b] [u]I only notice it at gigs with the band [/u][/b]as I don't practice all that loud.......
[/quote]

As well as all the points mentioned above, have the guitarist(s) changed their sounds / volumes? They could be masking your frequencies! Don’t forget to use the phrase “Oi you!…get out of my spectrum!” …lol

Edited June 15, 2013 by Acebassmusic

[PeterSchofield]

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1371251029' post='2111882']
I'd suspect the compressor as a starting point.
[/quote]
[quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1371251758' post='2111889']
Sounds like a compressor problem to me too. Is the Mag the one with compression built in? that or the pedal could be the problem.
[/quote]

Thanks for all your replies, I'm going to rip my rig to pieces and start from scratch this week.. Could the compressor still be the problem even when it isn't turned on? It states it's true bypass but i'm starting to think otherwise!

[Phil Starr]

Hi Pete, you need to go through the elimination process just to check that nothing is going wrong. the last thing that I can think of is that speakers can get hot if driven really loud and then lose definition and output. I doubt that you'd push your 4x10 hard enough to do that with a 300W amp though.

Another possibility is that you are setting your tone for your practice space not the gig space. Bass amps are affected by room shapes far more than guitar amps and so you always need to re-set eq when you move into a bigger space. I usually end up with some bass roll off but eq differently in every pub we play.

the other thing is the Ashdown gear, I started with a Mag 600 which i thought was great until I bought a little Hartke combo for semi-acoustic stuff. I then realised how much tone I was missing and bought a new amp, suddenly all my speakers gave very different tones from each other and my basses came to life. The Mag was making everything sound samey and was veiling the tone. Your MAG has the same pre amp/tone shaping as mine and may be killing your tone. I want to love Ashdown as a British firm and people who provide great after sales but the MAG isn't good IMO. You may just be getting more demanding as you gain experience.