RandomBass Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 11.5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Cloud Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 [quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1393004853' post='2375221'] 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. Make it louder and stick it to The Man. [/quote] Hell yes...this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Full, I control any louder/softer bits by playing dynamics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger2611 Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 [quote name='Mr Stinky' timestamp='1392986165' post='2374932'] You turn up until the guitarist complains, then pretend to turn it down. [/quote] I turn up until I can't even hear the guitarist complain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottomE Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 I always leave a bit of volume in reserve on the bass. Run at about 80%. It gives a bit of room to adapt to the various sounds from others in the band and saves having to walk all the way back to the amp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nash Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 I took both vol and tone out of my p-bass. I use my tuner to mute and play as loud as I can get away with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12stringbassist Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 (edited) Volume on bass guitar set to max. Soundcheck bass against drums for correct amp volume level, then guitar added. Then vocals go into mix and singer tells everyone else to turn down. Pretend to turn down. Edited February 21, 2014 by 12stringbassist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JapanAxe Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Depends whether bass in question is active or passive (or indeed both). Active - volume full on, turn to amp if more required! Passive - volume at about 80% - the volume and tone controls interact, and there is an art to 'driving' a bass this way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roland Rock Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Between 90 and 100% for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebass84 Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Full volume on the bass. Set my amp so I'm audible and if I'm told to turn down I do so on the bass... The turn back up when no one is paying attention Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorks5stringer Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Keep my volume low so as not to offend the singer who often reminds me not to turn it up during the set..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 [quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1393025244' post='2375502'] Keep my volume low so as not to offend the singer who often reminds me not to turn it up during the set... [/quote] Have to admit I'd probably find that slightly irritating, to put it mildly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzyvee Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 When I use my own rack & cabs bass rig i set the volume on the power amp to full and the pre-amp somewhere between 10 and 12 o'clock positions. My bass is then on about almost 1/4 and I control any volume changes with my fingers. If I'm using anything else I tend to set the volume on my bass about 3/4 on and set the volume on the amp to suit the venue or stage. Jazzyvee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary mac Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 [quote name='Thunderpaws' timestamp='1393002501' post='2375186'] 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] I find the same when using my G&L. When I'm using a Fender P the volume tends to be on full but I do make adjustments with the tone setting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary mac Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 [quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1393025244' post='2375502'] Keep my volume low so as not to offend the singer who often reminds me not to turn it up during the set..... [/quote] IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT.......... DO NOT PANDER TO SINGERS This sort of thing just encourages their diva tendancies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LITTLEWING Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 [quote name='M-Bass-M' timestamp='1392995709' post='2375088'] 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]Yup, same here. The only issue though is any bass I've owned with two pups and volumes, (I'm using a Squier VM jazz just now) there only seems to be any appreciable difference at the last 20% of each pot. You say you add a small amount of bridge to the mix, I assume this isn't from 'zero' upwards? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highfox Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Full on a passive, a little more back on an aggressive active Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krysh Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 [quote name='BurritoBass' timestamp='1393000069' post='2375151'] [s]I use the volume control on my bass a lot. I didn't for years but[/s] I play around with both volume & tone a lot [s]now[/s]. [/quote] this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 I put the volume up most of the way, leave a bit of headroom, so I can adjust either up or down on the bass as necessary. I used to put the volume all the way up but that meant that if the general volume was increasing, I had to go to the amp and turn it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Dyer Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 (edited) It's not all about the volume. How you and your guitar player/s set your tone/EQ settings on your amps can also make a profound difference. Many guitar players make the mistake of setting up their sound in isolation bedroom mode, often dialling in loads of bass on their amp settings to get a big crunchy sound and it sounds fine... in isolation. Put this into your live mix and it can sound muddy and lost and so begins the volume competition to try and compensate. I learnt this lesson the hard way after a few studio sessions and numerous engineers trying to point this problem out, usually resulting in the guitarists getting told to stop stealing the bass frequencies and dialling in a much brighter sound. Thankfully, this lesson carried over into our live setup at the time and resulted in a much better mix. Word of warning: Approach your guitar players with caution/long pointy stick when mentioning this, they are sensitive souls with an egotistical time-bomb waiting to explode, be diplomatic. Edited February 25, 2014 by Mark Dyer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoham Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 [quote name='Mark Dyer' timestamp='1393330776' post='2378741'] It's not all about the volume. How you and your guitar player/s set your tone/EQ settings on your amps can also make a profound difference. Many guitar players make the mistake of setting up their sound in isolation bedroom mode, often dialling in loads of bass on their amp settings to get a big crunchy sound and it sounds fine... in isolation. Put this into your live mix and it can sound muddy and lost and so begins the volume competition to try and compensate. I learnt this lesson the hard way after a few studio sessions and numerous engineers trying to point this problem out, usually resulting in the guitarists getting told to stop stealing the bass frequencies and dialling in a much brighter sound. Thankfully, this lesson carried over into our live setup at the time and resulted in a much better mix. Word of warning: Approach your guitar players with caution/long pointy stick when mentioning this, they are sensitive souls with an egotistical time-bomb waiting to explode, be diplomatic. [/quote] My guitarist is a proper pain with this! Always insist on a 'big beefy sound' on all of his guitars (from Les Paul, to pointy Ibanez to Thinline Tele). Worse, he's recently done a 2 year college course on computer based recording and he records our demos. Does a great job of everything, until the power chords come in, then you can hear nothing else! Constantly telling me I'm too loud (which in fairness I can be!) - and his solution is to turn up my presence rather than my volume. Anyway....I'll stop moaning now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skidder652003 Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Volume full all the way, to get louder if necessary I roll off a tiny bit on one of the pickup pots and that seems to increase the volume a bit, to go quieter, compressor off and play more gently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 My G&L has no tone control, just volume/volume for the two pickups, so I adjust the volumes to get a tone I like (normally about 80% on the P / 20% on the J) and then input gains on the head for taste and then master volume to a level where I can hear myself clearly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redstriper Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Volume on a passive bass has a major effect on the tone. The higher the volume setting increases the presence of higher frequencies. I keep the volume on my Jazz bass below 70% for a deep reggae tone - more than that introduces too much treble. Once the tone is right from the bass, the amp is used to adjust overall volume and to tweak EQ for different venues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deedee Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 (edited) I'm very interested in this thread as I'm currently playing in a band where we tune down for certain songs. To save faffing about detuning mid set, I swap basses. I use a MM stingray and (usually) a US MM SUB. However, I've recently acquired a MIM Jazz which plays great but, being passive is just not as loud as the MMs. So my question is, do I just turn my MM volume down to a level that matches my Jazz at full tilt, or are there any replacement Jazz pickups that will give it more umph. Cheers Edited April 15, 2014 by Deedee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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