The Great Mystery of Mid Scoop - What's the Appeal?

[Baloney Balderdash]

Not sure if I chose the right sub forum, but if I didn't I'd appreciate if a moderator move it to the appropriate one.

 

First I want to make clear that it is not my intention to ridicule anyone, I genuinely just don't understand the appeal of a bass tone with scooped mids.

 

I am also perfectly aware that personal preferences differs between different people, but that doesn't necessarily mean that we are not capable of understanding what the appeal of those different preferences are to those other people, even if we value other qualities, I don't expect to be converted, it's not that, I am pretty sure I will still very much prefer to have plenty of mid range in my bass tone, no matter how well you explain the appeal of scooped mids to me, but I really just would like to understand better what it is that makes scooping out the mids attractive to other people, since it seems to be quite common, but I non the less fail to understand.

 

So what is the appeal?

 

Personally I tend to boost the mids, and prefer a quite mids heavy tone, as far as I m concerned and can tell it gives better definition, since the majority of the fundamental range of the bass is in the mids frequency spectrum, and it is also the frequency spectrum that human hearing perceive as the most well defined, articulate and present, which is also why scooping the mids is the certain ticket to getting lost in the mix.

 

A bass tone where the mids has been scooped out on the other hand to me sounds seriously lacking in definition, dull and inarticulate, and frankly the best way I am able to describe it in one word, no offence intended, sounding like a wet fart.to my ears.

 

So what is it that so many people find attractive to a bass tone where the mids have been scooped out to a lesser or greater degree, sure they can't possibly enjoy that what they play can't really be discerned in the mix, or sounding like a dull wet fart, or do they really?

 

Or do a scooped bass tone really only sound this way to me, does it not actually sound like a dull wet fart to others, does it on the contrary sound perfectly clear, full and lively. well articulated and present with great detail and pristine definition to others?

 

Please do explain, what exactly is the appeal, how does it sound to you, what is it that makes you think, "wauh!", this is a great tone, that makes me sit just absolutely perfect in the mix and sound absolutely sublime?

 

I do realize that it is not all that easy to translate tone to words, but please do try, cause I genuinely want to at least do an attempt to understand what it is that makes a mids scooped bass tone so attractive to what seems like a lot of bass players.

 

 

 

Edited February 2, 2022 by Baloney Balderdash

[paul_5]

I think it’s something to do with the human ear having developed to be more sensitive around the ‘speech’ frequency -round about 1kHz - too much information around this point in the audio spectrum can be tiring on the brain, so scooping it out makes for easy listening.

 

I could be wrong though.

[chris_b]

People boost the bass so they can feel it and boost the top so they can hear it and that's how the mids get scooped.

[Bilbo]

Have been scooping them feckers out since I had a Trace Eliot in the 1980s. Since had SWR, Eden, Phil Jones and Acoustic Image. Mids have been dialled out on all of them. Bloody hate them. I like the sound of the wood in the instrument and the mids, to my cloth ears, emphasise the electronics so I dial them off. As a consequence, I sound like a God when I play.

Edited February 2, 2022 by Bilbo

[wateroftyne]

The mids are where the party’s at.

[ped]

I just want my EQ to be happy

[Lozz196]

From a mid-scoop kinda guy, I`ve plenty of mids on my Precisions so scoop them to get out of the way of the humbucking guitars - generally choose around 400/500hz for this. But I have to make sure to not have too much going on in the lows as agree, it then just turns to mush.  

[Doddy]

I used to have a slight boost in the midrange, but I've gone towards a slightly scooped sound now. I find that my sound has more definition now- It's clear and full in the low end, and crisp and clean in the highs. I also find that my effects work better now too.

[iconic]

I even scoop my ICE😉

[Munurmunuh]

My ears seem to find the extra treble and bass that Pro Steels have added to my P quite a different thing from the hollowing out of the tone that comes from having two pickups on in parallel. I've seen both described as scooped.

[Boodang]

In a nutshell for those that like mid scoop sound;

Mid heavy = nasal

Bass heavy/scooped = full

 

I play double bass and fretless bg. When I play fretless I pluck over the fretboard around the 17th fret as I prefer the sound and feel. My DB and fretless tone isn't so much mid scooped so much as mid and treble light and bass heavy. This does cause some issues with definition and live sound at gigs, but then that's how it is with double bass generally.

[dclaassen]

Having basically a p/j configuration, I start with the mids pretty much scooped out, and mostly on the front pickup, then roll the bridge pickup on to help cut through the mix without really adding tons of midrange, which I feel muddies the sound.

[mep]

For me a mid scoop sound is lost in the mix. Boost the low mids and it's game on.

 

I've never liked the mid scoop preset on Trace or Ashdown heads.

Edited February 9, 2022 by mep

[chris_b]

Many years ago I was guilty of scooping the mids. These days I prefer to buy an amp that sounds right with the EQ flat, maybe adding the occasional small tweak of bass depending on the room.