EQ'ing... How often?

[Mr.T]

I am just thinking out loud here, It has only just dawned on me....

Since using my MarkBass and TC amps, I tend to tweak my EQ settings pretty much every gig.
However, when I had my Trace SMX and 1x15 + 2x10, I rarely ever touched (or needed to touch) my EQ settings!

Does anyone else have a similar experience?

[Greg Edwards69]

Perhaps it is because the newer heads are more transparent.

Or it could be over time with more experience, your ears are more discerning.

[Mr.T]

[quote name='Greg Edwards69' timestamp='1401128952' post='2460398']

Or it could be over time with more experience, your ears are more discerning.
[/quote]

I will discount the 'experience' theory, as I used Trace gear for about 20 years.
If anything, my ears are not as good as they were :-)

[BassBunny]

I use a MarkBass head and never touch the EQ. Leave it flat and occasionally use the VLE/VPF controls. That's it.

[EssentialTension]

Many years ago I used to spend ages messing with EQ. Now I rarely bother and do my best to avoid EQ fiddling. Instead, play in a different manner, move my right hand, neckwards or bridgewards. Play more lightly and turn the volume up or play harder and turn the volume down.

[Mykesbass]

Keep it the same for most gigs except one which is a quiet little pub which the guitarists do acoustically. Takes me ages to get that one right, then back to normal straight afterwards.

[JTUK]

Even if I rotate cabs I very rarely have to EQ on the amp.
I might set the horn and dial in or out some top on the bass.
Bass onboard stays the same every gig.

[Lozz196]

As most of the gigs I do nowadays seem to be through FOH, I leave the eq as it is unless the onstage sound is booming too much. Then I reduce the bass on my amp/the amp provide. As I DI from my Tech21 VT DI pedal my sound to FOH stays the same irrespective of what I do with the onstage amp.

[Mr.T]

Thinking about it a bit more....

I have only been 'EQ Fiddling' since playing with the Guitard in my current band.
His sound is all over the place.... sometimes too loud, sometimes too toppy, etc.... Which can make it difficult to hear myself clearly!
I could just turn up the wick on my amp, but dont want to drown out our singer.

The volume levels in my previous bands (when using my old Trace) were always far more restained and consistant.

Maybe that is the problem?

[Lozz196]

That would be it. In an old band I was in we had the same problem, guitarist with different sounds for each song, with no thought of actually getting each sound to be the same volume. All you can do to stop it becoming worse is stay at the same level and plug away with the drummer, if you start upping volumes as well it will become dreadful. I`d suggest recording a rehearsal, then as a band listen back to it - then spend a whole rehearsal working on getting the guitar levels equal on all songs. That does need a willing guitarist though.

[badboy1984]

I tend to leave my EQ flat and most of the time I don't need to boost any low or treble. I only mess around with mids to suit my taste. If sound tech is mixing my sound via DI, then I can just dial in tons of mid so I can hear myself onstage.

[neepheid]

[quote name='Mr.T' timestamp='1401128696' post='2460388']
I am just thinking out loud here, It has only just dawned on me....

Since using my MarkBass and TC amps, I tend to tweak my EQ settings pretty much every gig.
However, when I had my Trace SMX and 1x15 + 2x10, I rarely ever touched (or needed to touch) my EQ settings!

Does anyone else have a similar experience?
[/quote]

Not really, I've got the settings which I like on my amp and I rarely change them. Always been that way (not that I chew through amps - only on my second ever amp/head). Different story in the rehearsal rooms of course - sometimes when I arrive, I look at the amp settings the player before me left and think "WTF?" to myself

[lefrash]

I try to avoid mucking about with my EQ at all. I use a pedal preamp/DI/EQ so the sound I have set up in rehearsal is the sound I want to send to the PA. I may just boost the mid a touch or perhaps take a touch of bottom end off, but we're talking 1 notch of a tun. In rehearsal I use the return on my bass amp so the EQ is actuall bypassed anyway.

[CamdenRob]

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1401182304' post='2460797']
....sometimes when I arrive, I look at the amp settings the player before me left and think "WTF?" to myself
[/quote]

I get this too. I wonder how the amps survive some of the settings I've found them with... Its usually bass on 10, treble and mids on -10, volume and gain on 10... Must be utterly inaudible.

[badboy1984]

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1401184844' post='2460826']
I get this too. I wonder how the amps survive some of the settings I've found them with... Its usually bass on 10, treble and mids on -10, volume and gain on 10... Must be utterly inaudible.
[/quote]

It was like that on saturday when I was using a spomebody else amp on stage and everything was crank to full (SS amp) and already produce distortion sound. When I plug in my bass the sound is bad and the worse thing is it doesn't cut in on stage in terms of sound and lack of volume as well. My bongo bass was max out and I fear the amp will die soon because my bongo is a very hot bass.

Edited May 27, 2014 by badboy1984

[Mr.T]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1401173900' post='2460703']
That would be it. In an old band I was in we had the same problem, guitarist with different sounds for each song, with no thought of actually getting each sound to be the same volume. All you can do to stop it becoming worse is stay at the same level and plug away with the drummer, if you start upping volumes as well it will become dreadful. I`d suggest recording a rehearsal, then as a band listen back to it - then spend a whole rehearsal working on getting the guitar levels equal on all songs. That does need a willing guitarist though.
[/quote]

I have suggested that our Guitard needs to set his Patch levels and EQ settings.
All I got from him were sarcastic comments!
Our Roadie/Soundguy has also told him that he drowns out our singer... And got a similar response.

Maybe I should start another thread titled.....'How do I get our Guitard to sort his sound out?'

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

I EQ for every room, because every room sounds different. The main differences in rooms tend to be in the midbass, 100 to 250Hz, so that's where I usually have to adjust for the room, leaving all else alone. That means you need an EQ capable of working within that bandwidth alone, a graphic or parametric. 3 or 4 band EQs typically don't give you the adjustment accuracy that you need to account for room acoustics.

[Mr.T]

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' timestamp='1401230782' post='2461588']
I EQ for every room, because every room sounds different. The main differences in rooms tend to be in the midbass, 100 to 250Hz, so that's where I usually have to adjust for the room, leaving all else alone. That means you need an EQ capable of working within that bandwidth alone, a graphic or parametric. 3 or 4 band EQs typically don't give you the adjustment accuracy that you need to account for room acoustics.
[/quote]

Thanks for the tip.
I am gigging twice this weekend with my RH450 and will try and soundcheck my gear (without the Guitard) and just tweak the 100 to 250hz area as you suggest.
I will then not touch my amp all night and see what affect the g**tar frequences are having on my sound.

[Dad3353]

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' timestamp='1401230782' post='2461588']...to account for room acoustics.[/quote]

...which will be constantly changing for many of us as folks come in and leave. The difference, for many bands, between sound-check and performance is radical. The sound engineer will deal with that if there's an FOH tech; if not one can really only quickly compensate and go with the flow. Some venues and styles will not have this, of course, but many (most..?) pub and small club venues won't, ime, benefit from having too precise a system.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1401235619' post='2461615']
...which will be constantly changing for many of us as folks come in and leave.
[/quote]Out in the room, to some extent. Not on the stage, where the main determinants of midbass response is the distance between the amp, the nearby boundaries, and you. Upper mids and highs aren't affected much, as those frequencies are too directional. Deep lows aren't affect much, as the wavelengths are too long. The non-directional midbass of medium wavelengths are very much affected, and as the distance relationships between the amp, nearby boundaries (both walls and ceiling), and you vary greatly from room to room so does midbass response.

[Roland Rock]

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' timestamp='1401230782' post='2461588']
I EQ for every room, because every room sounds different. The main differences in rooms tend to be in the midbass, 100 to 250Hz, so that's where I usually have to adjust for the room, leaving all else alone. That means you need an EQ capable of working within that bandwidth alone, a graphic or parametric. 3 or 4 band EQs typically don't give you the adjustment accuracy that you need to account for room acoustics.
[/quote]

Hi Bill,
I'm in the process of setting up a pre/power rig where the pre has a gorgeous core tone, but very little in terms of tone shaping capability. However, the power amp can be programmed (via Band Manager architect software) with up to 15 presets.
If I were to create say five '100-250hz room' presets, what settings would you suggest?

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1401265026' post='2461707']
If I were to create say five '100-250hz room' presets, what settings would you suggest?
[/quote]Usually the issue is midbass boom, which you need to notch out. I'd make the filters all -6dB cut, each at a different frequency, say at 80Hz, 120Hz, 160Hz, 200Hz and 250Hz. Then you can scroll up through them to find the right one for the room you're in. If your cab tends to run on the boomy side anyway you might want to make it a -10dB cut. Most guys like a tone that's fat in the lows and the mids, and getting it as often as not doesn't mean boosting the lows and mids but rather taming the midbass that can mask them.

[Roland Rock]

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' timestamp='1401279790' post='2461938']
Usually the issue is midbass boom, which you need to notch out. I'd make the filters all -6dB cut, each at a different frequency, say at 80Hz, 120Hz, 160Hz, 200Hz and 250Hz. Then you can scroll up through them to find the right one for the room you're in. If your cab tends to run on the boomy side anyway you might want to make it a -10dB cut. Most guys like a tone that's fat in the lows and the mids, and getting it as often as not doesn't mean boosting the lows and mids but rather taming the midbass that can mask them.
[/quote]

That's great, thanks for that.

Might be a good idea for a head manufacturer to have a 'no room boom' dial with those five options to try :-)

Thinking about it, I have a vague memory of Dave Marks demonstrating an EBS head, and his description of the 'notch' control sounded similar to this.

Edited May 28, 2014 by Roland Rock

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1401279967' post='2461944']
Thinking about it, I have a vague memory of Dave Marks demonstrating an EBS head, and his description of the 'notch' control sounded similar to this.
[/quote]A parametric works very well, you set it for a narrow notch and simply sweep the frequency until the boom-boom goes bye-bye. It's the best tool for the job, but seldom seen on bass heads, as most bass players tend to be intimidated by such high tech tools.
Parametrics are ubiquitous on good PA consoles.

[paul_5]

My Sm400 stays flat the vast majority of the time, occasionally I need to cut the boom out, but it's easily done with the para/graphic setup on board.