Turning the bass down..

[tonyquipment]

Last night I was at the rehearsal studio and found that turning the bass on the EQ down a touch actually made the tone louder and clearer more punchy. Mid range honk.

Boosted the mid and highs and the tone was a lot clearer

The bass being turned up was causing the signal to be all farts and just BURRRRRRR droney sounding

Mind you I did have a wall of sound OD and synth going on it so the signal was all fuzzy anyway

Anyone else found similar ?

New tone day !! Cut some of the low end to improve tone qual

Maybe it's all subjective.

[Marc S]

It may indeed be thought of as subjective by many. But turning the bass control down can help
Of course, that will depend on your bass, your strings, amp, and what other instruments are in the mix etc

I find I'm sometimes over-keen to cut the mids. As we're so often stood very close to our amps, we can hear things differently to those stood some distance away from the amps. I've even noticed that in a medium-sized rehearsal room, if I wander over to speak to someone else (long lead permitting) my bass can sometimes sound quite different...

When playing Double bass, I, like so many, tend to turn the treble and mids down (treble, more so usually). But I've noticed that if I have the bass control set a bit too high, the bottom end can sound very "boomy" and not as well defined as I'd like.

[cheddatom]

Yes, most bass sounds I like in a live situation are not very bassy at all. I think most basses and amps are designed to get maximum BASS, and that does work for a lot of music as long as you're not too loud, but for pop, rock, metal etc. it just makes everything muddy

I've tried explaining this to several bassists and they just look at me with a blank expression. The knob on the amp says bass and you're playing a bass, so you turn that knob up - logic!

[The Jaywalker]

.

Edited November 28, 2017 by The Jaywalker

[Ghost_Bass]

I never boost bass on my EQ and i don't cut mids. First EQ change i do in the mixer is to turn on the HPF on the 70~80Hz region. Who said that bass was there to be felt, not heard?!!

[Adrenochrome]

This is pretty standard for live sound onstage, cut the low bass, and rid yourself of the mud. Mids are your friend and where the audible bass guitar sound is.

[jacko]

When I bought my trace SMX in the mid 90's it came with a manual that specifically told me to pull the low end graphic sliders below the mid point to stop the speakers farting to death.

[Dad3353]

[quote name='jacko' timestamp='1499181903' post='3329765']...to stop the speakers farting to death.
[/quote]

That was their 'technical advice', in exactly those terms..?

[cheddatom]

[quote name='Adrenochrome' timestamp='1499178264' post='3329730']
This is pretty standard for live sound onstage...
[/quote]

I wish!!! Which super-enlightened future musicians are you jamming with?!

[PaulWarning]

[quote name='Ghost_Bass' timestamp='1499175925' post='3329698']
I never boost bass on my EQ and i don't cut mids. First EQ change i do in the mixer is to turn on the HPF on the 70~80Hz region. Who said that bass was there to be felt, not heard?!!
[/quote]yep you need very little below 100Hz

[Trueno]

I like this. I'm a low-mid guy myself.

[ribbetingfrog]

I sometimes wonder if I'm a freak amongst bass players, I love new, bright strings and boost my mids religiously.

Everyone on basschat seems to be opposite.

[la bam]

I've found that just turning the bass down to 10/11 o'clock and boosting the high miss, then turning the volume up gives a more dynamic bass sound.

It's the opposite to what I'd have thought would give me the sound I wanted - but it sounds great.

[stingrayPete1977]

It was a long time before I was convinced that taking things away is better than adding more and more, same goes for volume, I've started to make the guitarist turn down after he inevitably creeps up during the first set, everything is in the p.a. that I control so I can easily bring us up to suit but if there's only one thing that has changed since the correct sound check it's better to put that back where it should be! Guitarists

Edited July 4, 2017 by stingrayPete1977

[tonyquipment]

Not just me then !

I think as I play more I will have to keep dialling the bass back as I never change my strings and they are just dull AF.

bright new strings are clanky and zingy but I prefer dull strings as it's less work to maintain heh.

Too much bass leads to mud. That was exactly what I was having. Mud. Couldn't hear any definition. Was a farty mess. Dial the bass back and have a mid range hump. Honkin the night away.

Trade secrets !

[mcnach]

Yup... there's a lot of flab down there. Cutting a bit of bass can help clarity a lot.
Get yourself an adjustable HPF (high pass filter), and prepare to be amazed at how much nicer you can sound once you seriously remove frequencies below a certain point.

[EssentialTension]

[url="http://www.sfxsound.com/microthumpinator/"]http://www.sfxsound.com/microthumpinator/[/url]

[JapanAxe]

Another fan of mids here - do it right and your notes will stay fat all the way up the neck.

[bassjim]

Big fan of the flat eq here. If I can leave it here I will.

Depending on the room and placement of the cab ect ,say down the Dog and Duck, squeezed up next to the drummer and between the fruit machine and gents bog entrance,
: If it needs it, a bit of a bump in the mids at about 200hz to cut through/ more presence, and maybe a slight bit of top to taste but the bass knob 9/10 stays flat and in some cases I back it off slightly.

Turn the amp right down and it sounds wrong but whack it up to band volume and the picture becomes clear.

[Lozz196]

[quote name='ribbetingfrog' timestamp='1499184521' post='3329797']
I sometimes wonder if I'm a freak amongst bass players, I love new, bright strings and boost my mids religiously.

Everyone on basschat seems to be opposite.
[/quote]

I do the same, bright new strings, boosted mids though for me it`s the high-mids/lower-highs at 3kHz that I boost, as well as the treble. But then my sound is pretty gnarly.

[Froggy]

I think maybe I need to learn a bit about eq after reading this thread!
If this works it shows my current set up, however if someone has the time and inclination to explain to me how to get the most out of my eq, I would be eternally grateful.

[gjones]

[quote name='Froggy' timestamp='1499287017' post='3330589']
I think maybe I need to learn a bit about eq after reading this thread!
If this works it shows my current set up, however if someone has the time and inclination to explain to me how to get the most out of my eq, I would be eternally grateful.
[/quote]

Billy Sheehan might help you. He has the same amp.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J1rxp_x5Rs

[PaulWarning]

[quote name='Froggy' timestamp='1499287017' post='3330589']
I think maybe I need to learn a bit about eq after reading this thread!
If this works it shows my current set up, however if someone has the time and inclination to explain to me how to get the most out of my eq, I would be eternally grateful.
[/quote]
[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1499287802' post='3330596']
Billy Sheehan might help you. He has the same amp.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J1rxp_x5Rs[/media]
[/quote]lol

[Ghost_Bass]

I wouldn't say that boosting mids is "the answer". I would say that owning gear properly chosen so that it puts out the closest to your tone possible in "flat" is the main key to this. If you find yourself boosting mids means that you have a "scooped bass" (see how i didn't took the change to make a joke and say "you have a F****r... ) and need to change bass or just the type of strings.

Regarding Froggy's post, looking at his EQ i would say straight away that the 30Hz slider is there to be cutted thus cleaning his signal instantly. Personally i would also cut a very big lot on the 60Hz slider. All the remaining slider i would leave flat and listen to the tone taking away all the things that i think is too much before adding other frequencies.

Somebody mentioned the old Trace elliot user manual in a previopus post and they're spot on in the way they advise people to aproach their EQ, 3 critical rules that, if followed, will result in the best tone possible:

#1 - The sub-bass sliders (between 30 and 80 Hz) are there to be used as cut as it will result in a cleaner tone without mud or boom. the same applies to the top end sliders, they're to be cutted until hiss and other noises disapear;

#2 - Start with flat EQ, adjust gain before everything else. Listen to tone and take away everything that's exagerated before adding whats missing (if the tone is to trebly you should remove highs instead of adding lows first. After each change in EQ re-check the gain and adjust to it's optimal level;

#3 - Don't use extreme curves on the sliders, allways center your EQ curve around the "0db" line for optimal performance. If your desired tone "curve is too low or too high on the sliders move all sliders so they center around the 0dB line; Adjust gain again, just to be sure...


Can't remember the exact words but this is the filosophy i've bee using and it works very well.

Edited July 5, 2017 by Ghost_Bass

[Froggy]

Thanks for the tips and the video, I shall have a fiddle with my knobs when I get home this weekend