notable9 Posted August 4, 2013 Share Posted August 4, 2013 Watched a few bands at a large summer show today in Portsmouth with a good size PA using a desk tent in the middle of the field. The thing I noticed was every bass guitar, including P's, J's L/Pauls, SG's, Arias etc tonally all sounded the same, not to mention loud and bloated, ha I nearly had a word but thought better of it....can you imagine the commotion that would have caused.... But Is'nt it amazing how the sound out front if not handled with sensitivity can completely negate any fiddling we do with guitar preferences, pickups or strings etc. We truly are at the mercy of the guy on the twiddly bits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icastle Posted August 4, 2013 Share Posted August 4, 2013 That's probably because the sound engineer has a set idea of what bass should sound like and has no idea what sound you're actually after. We have our own sound person when we're supplying the PA, but if it's a venue provided one, the first thing we do is buy the sound person a drink and make friends. We've yet to find one that doesn't give us the sound we want once we've done that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted August 4, 2013 Share Posted August 4, 2013 [quote name='icastle' timestamp='1375646215' post='2163883'] We've yet to find one that doesn't give us the sound we want once we've done that. [/quote] This is great advice - but please do remember that no-one will be listening to the bass anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notable9 Posted August 4, 2013 Author Share Posted August 4, 2013 (edited) ae722a21f425d39 [quote name='icastle' timestamp='1375646215' post='2163883'] That's probably because the sound engineer has a set idea of what bass should sound like and has no idea what sound you're actually after. We have our own sound person when we're supplying the PA, but if it's a venue provided one, the first thing we do is buy the sound person a drink and make friends. We've yet to find one that doesn't give us the sound we want once we've done that. [/quote] Boy was the bass loud and over fat, can't imagine anyone not noticing. Surely it would have been better for the guy to have run everything flat, that way the individual traits of each bass would have been clearer. Seems to me he just whacked the lower mids and bass right round the dial.....ouch! Edited August 4, 2013 by notable9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icastle Posted August 4, 2013 Share Posted August 4, 2013 [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1375646413' post='2163886'] This is great advice - but please do remember that no-one will be listening to the bass anyway. [/quote] I know. Being gorgeous can be a real hindrance sometimes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted August 4, 2013 Share Posted August 4, 2013 We've had a thread on this recently. The generic festival bass tone: Gut-rearranging, yet inaudible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icastle Posted August 4, 2013 Share Posted August 4, 2013 [quote name='notable9' timestamp='1375647365' post='2163904'] Boy was the bass loud and over fat, can't imagine anyone not noticing. Surely it would have been better for the guy to have run everything flat, that way the individual traits of each bass would have been clearer. Seems to me he just whacked the lower mids and bass right round the dial.....ouch! [/quote] Yep, it's certainly not the sound you had in mind. And therein lies the problem. Bassists are notoriously 'picky' about their sound. Many of us upgrade things, tweak things, buy things, buy more things and then tweak those things - all in search of the sound that we have in our heads. Give anyone other than yourself, or someone who's worked with you, control of your sound and, unless you gently and diplomatically 'correct' them, it's going to be the sound that they perceive to be right and the chances are it's not going to be the sound that [b]you[/b] had in mind. The other possibility of course is that all the other bands had bought him a friendly drink and he was p*ss*d. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted August 4, 2013 Share Posted August 4, 2013 I`m not fussed in one of my bands if that happens, but in the other, where we have 2 basses, it`s essential that each is given their own actual sounds/identities. One (me) is "thud-bass" working closely with the kick-drum, the other is "twang-bass", as it sounds really. If we were both given a round thumpy bass heavy sound it would completely destroy the sound of the band. But in one-bass-only bands, as discreet said, who will be listening to the bass anyway. And to be honest, in our 2-bass band, I doubt anyone will be listening to either of us, especially on seeing our gorgeous singer, The Minx. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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