Dialling in your tone

[alembic1989]

With basses, amps and extras all offering a mind boggling array of tonal flexibility I am interested in the starting point that players use when dialing in their tone.
For example if you have an active bass with a 3 band eq....and an amp with (say) a 5 band eq...assuming that we start off flat.....do you boost /cut from the bass THEN the amp....or the other way round....and why.
your thoughts gentlemen please.

[OutToPlayJazz]

I usually run the amp at one overall setting and then eq on the bass from there. A lot of it depends on the particular bass. The Status preamps run at a very different frequency to the others, so you can usually get the best sound from maximum treble and bass, with the mid position switch to the flat setting. With the Sadowsky preamp, I usually use 50 percent of both treble and bass. That seems to give the nicest overall sound. The treble control (and pickup positioning) on the Ray is a lot more sensitive, so usually I'm only a gnat's whisker above flat on that one, but again, mids flat and bass boosted to max.

Basically, I like a scooped sound with plenty of richness from the bass frequency & plenty of treble for sparkling highs.

Usual amp settings are input/gain at 25%, bass at about 60%, treble at 75%, mids all flat in the middle & output volume at 50%. The amp settings may sound odd, but with a powerful preamp on the bass, half of the job is already done. Also, making sure you're using a lot less input gain than output volume seems to give a much sweeter sound overall.

Rich, aka. The eq hooligan!

Edited October 22, 2009 by OutToPlayJazz

[peteb]

Personally I always leave the bass eq flat and tweak the amp (warm bottom end, slight boost in the upper mids, a subtle cut in the upper mids, flat top end and slightly overdrive the front end)

[Musicman20]

Plug in P or J, play.

Thats usually it.

I dont like having lots of average options and a few good ones. I just like a few REALLY good tones.

Sometimes a bit more picky when it comes to the Stingrays...but I usually have a little bass boost...mids slight boost, treble left flat.

[RayFW]

I almost always run my rig as follows:
Tweeters on cabs around 50% to leave some sizzle without it being overpowering.
On my Sadowsky I run it active with 0 treble boost and just a smidge of bass boost. Amp all flat with input gain set as high as poss without clipping from my loudest notes. Sounds great.
My MTD needs some treble cut and bass boost to warm it up a tad but I leave my amp flat as above.

I do cut the bass and/or mid on my amp in boomy rooms but I don't often need to do this since buying some Auralex foam to put my cabs on.

[bubinga5]

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='633883' date='Oct 22 2009, 09:42 PM']I usually run the amp at one overall setting and then eq on the bass from there. A lot of it depends on the particular bass. The Status preamps run at a very different frequency to the others, so you can usually get the best sound from maximum treble and bass, with the mid position switch to the flat setting. With the Sadowsky preamp, I usually use 50 percent of both treble and bass. That seems to give the nicest overall sound. The treble control (and pickup positioning) on the Ray is a lot more sensitive, so usually I'm only a gnat's whisker above flat on that one, but again, mids flat and bass boosted to max.

Basically, I like a scooped sound with plenty of richness from the bass frequency & plenty of treble for sparkling highs.

Usual amp settings are input/gain at 25%, bass at about 60%, treble at 75%, mids all flat in the middle & output volume at 50%. The amp settings may sound odd, but with a powerful preamp on the bass, half of the job is already done. Also, making sure you're using a lot less input gain than output volume seems to give a much sweeter sound overall.

Rich, aka. The eq hooligan![/quote]For a start set it flat.....then go from there..its easy to get lost in something like a John East pre etc..

Im with Rich, i love a mid a scooped sound. but not so much you loose mid punch..also like Rich said.....it really depends on you bass and amp..seeing as these are your 'controls of tone'.
im a big believer in setting everything flat on bass and amp.. then testing what sound is good to your ears...i pull on a little bass, turn back the mids, turn up the treble...depending on your bass you really have to experiment..

[tombboy]

Start off with amp flat, soundcheck then tweak to the room... punch the mids according to the soundman.
Tend to trust him during the gig for the frontline but will tweak the bass if I feel I'm lacking something in the flappy department!!

[Delberthot]

I usually start off with one of these bad boys as it allows me to dial in my tone, surf the web and sink the titanic in one handy location





In all seriousness, I would normally set everything flat on bass and amp then adjust the amp first, using the bass for the final tweak

[bubinga5]

[quote name='Delberthot' post='633980' date='Oct 22 2009, 10:56 PM']I usually start off with one of these bad boys as it allows me to dial in my tone, surf the web and sink the titanic in one handy location





In all seriousness, I would normally set everything flat on bass and amp then adjust the amp first, using the bass for the final tweak[/quote]
Bloody great!!!!!.ha ha....nearly choked on my Rogan Josh

that was perfect

[bubinga5]

[quote name='tombboy' post='633954' date='Oct 22 2009, 10:28 PM']Start off with amp flat, soundcheck then tweak to the room... punch the mids according to the soundman.
Tend to trust him during the gig for the frontline but will tweak the bass if I feel I'm lacking something in the flappy department!![/quote]
i usually forget the amp, tweak the barmaid, then punch the sound man..tend not to trust him during the gig as he fancies the barmaid and im feeling too pissed and flappy in the trouser department...

[chris_b]

[quote name='alembic1989' post='633866' date='Oct 22 2009, 09:19 PM']....With basses, amps and extras all offering a mind boggling array of tonal flexibility I am interested in the starting point that players use when dialing in their tone....[/quote]
First you start with the best gear you can find. Then run it flat and take all the credit!

[Gwilym]

i mainly just use the pickup pan to change the tonal character. amp eq flat, and very minor tweaks to on board eq very occasionally. it's mostly like adding salt and pepper - season to taste at the rehearsal/gig. i don't use any effects.

[marcus bell]

my set up is very easy to do these days as i go straight from bass into zoom b2 then into headphone so its as simple as boosting the bass and treble on my jaydee full and cutting the mid slightly. And the slight adjustments on the pedal to give me a titchy amount of reverb and chorus and eq messing around i click both the jaydees pickups on for slap and click back for the fingerstyle pieces.
My squier jazz bass fretless is usually run with the bridge pickup solo'd and the tone on halfway this gives it a real jaco sound and just sounds lush.
The precision is run with everything up and eq tweaking on the pedal including a slightly dirty drive feel, not fuzzy in any way just a kind of valvy sound. And the eq is bass up almost full low mids quite high mid dipped slightly high mids dipped slightly treble boosted lightly.
The violin bass is run completely flat to preserve its natural character.
The status is run with the bridge pickup almost solo'd the treble up full and eq adjustments made on the pedal

im getting a laptop soon and the tc electronics desktop thingy so that will allow me to record some stuff im also getting a squier jazz bass vintage modified fretlted so ill have all the tones i need, the jaydee slappy mark king sound also great as a solo insttrukent and a great all rounder many tones available and can do a great jaco impersanation.
Fretless jazz for the jaco moments and just great to mess around on and when your feeling different.
Precision bass for a great 70's sound just sounds perfect on forget me nots by patrice rushen and the smiths stuff
the status for when i want to sound like a dead piece of plastic, not my thing soundwise think its poor but playability wise its lovely
and my fretted jazz soon for an amazing all rounder and so versatile for my u2 stuff that im watching check out thee vertigo tour dvd which is fantastic i cant stop watching it...and marcus!

x

[Chris2112]

I plug the bass in, turn it up to maximum volume and then set the amp, usually flat with a slight boost in the mids if the room is sucking them up. Otherwise, I keep it flat because it doesn't need a lot of tweaking. My main bass is a Warwick Thumb these days, which is pretty much pre-EQ'd to sound amazing by the nature of it's construction.

[Doctor J]

I generally plug in and bypass the amp EQ and take it from there. That's about it. I'm fortunate to have some basses which sound amazing by default and generally don't need too much messing around with.

Edited October 23, 2009 by Doctor J

[Adrenochrome]

I switch my bass and amp on.

(If I'm on a boomy stage/area I might cut some bass and boost some mids, that's about it)

[retroman]

I like to keep things simple

I tend to just plug my bass straight into my SVT CL, set the volume on the bass full, set the tone control about half way, and then fine tune the levels using the amp. I tend to favour passive basses, and a vintage tone, with plenty of trouser flapping low end.

I've just ventured into the world of the active bass, and got a Stingray. Got that on flats, with the treble flat, and full boost on the mid and bass pots. Sounds amazing on my practice rig, although haven't tried it through the SVT yet.

Top quality gear, and keeping it simple pays dividends for me

[Clarky]

I keep amp flat, except boost gain for some grit, and use the tone controls on my bass. With my Ps I roll back the treble slightly (1/4 turn-ish) and with my J I just use the 'low Z' setting on the Audere (with tone controls flat) which gives a slightly Jazz-ified version of my preferred P sound

[WonderHorse]

All knobs turned up to full on my Jazz.

Then set the 7 band Trace Elliot EQ on my amp.

To be honest I'm getting annoyed now - there's too much flexibility with those 7 sliders - I'm never happy.

Boost the bass slightly and the low mids, cut the treble, high mids about flat I think.

[Les]

Bass full on (2eq stringray) amp flat, then go from there. I don't touch the bass at all except for about 2 numbers I play with a pleck, then I back the treble off a bit.

[Toddy]

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='633883' date='Oct 22 2009, 09:42 PM']I usually run the amp at one overall setting and then eq on the bass from there. A lot of it depends on the particular bass. The Status preamps run at a very different frequency to the others, so you can usually get the best sound from maximum treble and bass, with the mid position switch to the flat setting. With the Sadowsky preamp, I usually use 50 percent of both treble and bass. That seems to give the nicest overall sound. The treble control (and pickup positioning) on the Ray is a lot more sensitive, so usually I'm only a gnat's whisker above flat on that one, but again, mids flat and bass boosted to max.

Basically, I like a scooped sound with plenty of richness from the bass frequency & plenty of treble for sparkling highs.

Usual amp settings are input/gain at 25%, bass at about 60%, treble at 75%, mids all flat in the middle & output volume at 50%. The amp settings may sound odd, but with a powerful preamp on the bass, half of the job is already done. Also, making sure you're using a lot less input gain than output volume seems to give a much sweeter sound overall.

Rich, aka. The eq hooligan![/quote]


With the hooligan,, on input gain,,,

Every time Ive bought an amp, esp Traces,, was always told to run input gain as high as poss,,and see many players do just this,,, I dont care,,,, it sounds pants,,,,,,a much sweeter sound IS obtained from being sensible with Input gain....

Dont think John Chambers amps even have a adjustable input gain,, (thats another story tho).......

[Darkstrike]

Set my amp either flat, or a very slight mid boost, tweeter in the speaker turned off.

Then I just use whatever bass sounds the way I want it to, i.e. if I want a P bass grind, use a P bass, let the basses natural tone shine.

Edited October 23, 2009 by Darkstrike

[NickH]

Set the Staus preamp to totally flat, mid blend. Tinker with the amp to suit the room, so it sounds like my "neutral" sound. Normally slight bass boost, pokey middle, treble down a little.
Then use the controls on the bass for variation between the songs, the blend more than the EQ.

[7string]

I try and get the sound from the bass with the amp flat. Even if the bass has a trick eq, I usually find one setting and then leave it alone.

I do like some compression as well. So set bass, add compression and play.

[trent900]

With my GK and Epifani or GK/Epi/Aguilar, then everything pretty flat.

Presence and whatever the other amp filter is pretty high on the dial.

Fastish attack and slower release on compressor 1, ratio about 3:1, fairly low threshold. Very fast attack and release on compressor 2 (in series), ratio about 10:1, high threshold.

Preamps and pickup volumes on the Tobias maxed, for nicest tone and to combat the stunningly low output. Still haven't figured the Status fretless, I cannot make it sound nice with the GK. Epic fail.

If often play at church where I have a Hartke 3500 into my Aguilar and a Hartke 15" as a drum monitor. Mid boost there, pre-amp valve only no solid state (it sounds lame). Then just turn it up to about 7 - the Ag makes the Hartke work very hard indeed.

And if you made it through that, you need another hobby.

Jon