John Cellario Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Just interested to hear what everyone else usually does. Volume right up on the bass and any adjustments made via the amp, or as I do, always have about 'a quarter ' left to increase on the volume knob...can't seem to stop myself from setting things like this though I'm not sure why! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Stinky Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 You turn up until the guitarist complains, then pretend to turn it down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveK Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 I've never used the volume control on a bass as anything other than an on/off switch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fionn Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 [quote name='SteveK' timestamp='1392986382' post='2374936'] I've never used the volume control on a bass as anything other than an on/off switch. [/quote] What he said. My volume is set to full on the bass. On occasions when a bit of a boost is required I stomp a box for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earhook Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Full or off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M-Bass-M Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Yup, full or off for me too. If I generally need more volume, then I turn the amp up. If I need more volume mid-song, then invariably I'll create dynamics by plucking softer / harder. Only exception to the rule is using a Jazz style V-V-T setup, and I want to bring in a small amount of the bridge PuP to add a bit of bark... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 I always have a bit of volume in reserve, for the inevitable moment when the guitarist cranks things up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevB Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 As previous and with M-Bass_M the ony time I change relative vol pots is on a jazz to occasionally give a bit of diff tone. Mostly the vol is full on and all other adjustment done downstream on amp, preamp pedal and whatever. Lots more control than on the bass itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merlin Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 bass up full,amp hi,then use a soft touch,well to start with ,then get that look from the guitarist I do mess with the tone thingys sometimes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrismuzz Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 I have the pickups on full, then set the amp to where I can hear it comfortably. Then during soundcheck I stand in front of the stage and if I'm not loud enough I'll go onstage and turn up as much as possible. I learned from experience that if the bass isn't already audible in the mix, that's either the way the sound engineer intended it, or the PA can't handle that much bass so I just use my backline Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CamdenRob Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Full welly for me... do the rest on the amp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat Burrito Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 I use the volume control on my bass a lot. I didn't for years but I play around with both volume & tone a lot now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Sausage Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Dave Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 I always think that if I have an amp where I'm happy with the sound when all the knob are around 12 o'clock then the amp's happy too. It's not needing extreme boosts or cuts. Same with the vol. At 12 o'clock it's neither pissing about or straining. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderpaws Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 With my G&L my volume is at about 75%. Seems to work/sound better with my amp that way. Think it's fairly HOT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lw. Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 I think the tone of my bass is probably at it's best at about 3/4 on-bass volume, so sound check/start set at half volume then sneakily turn it up to 3/4 on the bass when I feel the need. I never touch the amp when I'm playing - both tone & volume changes are done with the bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.I. Joe Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 I'm another that uses the volume pot on the bass as an on/off switch. The only time it is anything else is when I'm quietly "warming up" before sound check Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dingus Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 How do I set the volume on my amp playing live? Loud. Very loud. You need to be loud because everybody else has a vested interest in stopping the bass player from being heard, and what's the point of spending all that time learning to play if people can't hear you? If I had wanted to be a f***ing mime artist I would have moved to France and painted my face white a long time ago. Loud is better, because loud is...louder. Billy Sheehan did an advert for Di Marzio pickups many years ago that said " It's easy to make a bass loud, but it's not so easy to make it heard". Well Billy, that might be true, but what's for certain is that if your bass is too quiet, people won't hear you regardless of what pickups you have got. Don't believe the hype about controlled stage volume. What they really want to do is control you using volume, or more accurately the lack of it . Make it louder and stick it to The Man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mep Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Another for full on or off on my basses. I set my volume with my amp. Depending on which venue I'm at it seems to either 1.5 or 2.5 on my TE AH200. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 (edited) Um... I believe I read somewhere that if you don't have your bass volume up full you're not getting all the available signal.* This is true of the tone control too, I think. Makes sense, really. *Edit: By which I mean all the available tone... Edited February 21, 2014 by discreet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Full up on the volume and I can then add bass, treble or mid vol during a song if I need it... not really going for this for much more than a stop gap as that isn't the tone i started with... If I need more volume, I go to the amp at the end of the song... I set the stage volumes against hearing myself through the drums and rest of the band. The good thing here is that no one is racing to be the loudest so it is just a question of mix... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Full on, it may as well be a flick switch. If your not full on cos' your leaving a bit of reserve for when the dickhead guitarist starts you then become part of the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogerstodge Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 [quote name='SteveK' timestamp='1392986382' post='2374936'] I've never used the volume control on a bass as anything other than an on/off switch. [/quote]yup, me also Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dingus Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1393005442' post='2375231'] Um... I believe I read somewhere that if you don't have your bass volume up full you're not getting all the available signal. This is true of the tone control too, I think. Makes sense, really. [/quote] That is true, especially on passive basses. On active basses there is far less appreciable degradation of the signal if you turn the volume down a touch to compensate for the boost provided by using the EQ controls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skankdelvar Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 [quote name='BurritoBass' timestamp='1393000069' post='2375151'] I use the volume control on my bass a lot. I didn't for years but I play around with both volume & tone a lot now. [/quote] This. And a treble bleed cap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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