Bass amp tone

[Thekiddx1000]

Hello i've been teaching myself to play the bass for a Year exactly on the 31st(my birthday). In the past year I've managed to become at least mediocre using only the equipment that was handed down to my by my uncle, an also bass he found and put back together and a old bass amp. My problem is i dont know how to set the eq with the dials on the amp please give me advice.

[Newfoundfreedom]

I've always been a bit lost when it comes to "tone" to be honest. You hear so many people talking about it like it's the holy grail, and they'll go out and spend thousands on a guitar and amp combination to get that certain sound they're looking for. Not that there's anything wrong with that if you have the money. Especially for professional musicians who are trying to create their own signature sound. I've always found It a bit mind blowing. There are just too many variables. The type of bass. The brand of bass, the type, brand and thickness of the strings you use. The settings on the guitar. The pedals and effects. The type and brand of amp, valve, solid state, combo, stack, speaker selection, etc..... and that's just the gear without even considering the type of music you play or how you play, which is where a great deal of your tone comes from anyway. So, putting all that aside, most of us aren't going to go out and spend 10 grand on a vintage P bass and valve amp for a weekend garage band or jamming with your mates. So this is where I start (and believe me I'm far from an expert). I set the bass to centre position (i.e both pickups on) and turn all the volume and tone controls up full. Then set all the controls on the amp to 12 o'clock. Then it's just a matter of tweaking the controls until it sounds good to your ear. I don't particularly have a great "ear" for it so I generally turn one control at a time all the way down, then all the way up to get a feel for the extremes, then dial it in slowly until it sounds "right". When I've got the amp sounding something like, I then start playing with the controls on the guitar until I get a sound I like. I might then go back to the amp to refine the sound coming from the guitar. Just remember this is all very subjective, and what sounds great to you might sound crap to someone else and vice versa. I wiser man than me once said, "find your own truth".

Edited August 29, 2018 by Newfoundfreedom

[grandad]

Good advice above. I've worked with a few guy's who have very good hearing and have often pointed out/demonstrated subtleties with EQ-ing that I just didn't hear. You could say they had a trained ear and I did not.

But I have found that one's preferred sound changes over time and it's a joy to experiment. Not to forget that with bass in particular, room acoustics play such a big part, and always move around when practicing to find the right spot.

[chris_b]

Many bass amps have controls with 0 at 12 o'clock, with + (adding tone) to the right and - (reducing tone) to the left. 

The controls on your amp don't seem to be set out in this way. They start at 0 and go clockwise to 10. If I'm reading this right you have to start at 0 and turn the controls to where you get a sound that you prefer. You're leaning bass, you also have to learn how to use an amp. Experiment, you'll find a sound you like.

You also have to face facts, this is a practice amp with an 8" speaker and probably less than adequate components.  Maybe there just isn't a sound in there that you'll like. IMO if you've got to the point where you're starting to notice the quality of the sound, then you've outgrown this amp and need to move up to a better combo.

[BigRedX]

Ignore the numbers on the controls and use your ears, to tell you when it sounds good.

Also bear in mind that when you are ready to play with other musicians what sounds good when you are playing the bass on its own won't necessarily sound good with other instruments in the mix.