Flat All Night

[Russell L]

Yep, I ran my Little Mark III flat on the dials all last night. It was medium size room, no PA support, and I ran it through my Traveler 151P cab (115). This was for the local blues jam. Also, the gain was at 10:00 and the master only up to around 9:30. That's actually more volume than you'd expect.

I played for the first set with the host band. Afterwards, when the jam opened up, two other bassists used my rig, still set flat, no filters. One guy played a Fender MB-5, the other, a custom P/J kind of bass. It was cool to sit out there and listen to my rig. The tone was spot on, I thought. Plenty of lows coming from that cab, and tight, too, with just enough highs to give some definition, although not sparkling highs. It fit the blues just fine. This just goes to show that scooped mids and overly eq'd lows are unnecessary, and usually lead to becoming lost in the mix. I have tried the same room under those circumstances and found that to be true.

Another thing is that this small Markbass rig really kicks some butt. Actually, for the second guy, I had to sneak up there to turn the gain back since he was causing the clip light to come on too much, I thought. I didn't wanna take any chances. I really don't prefer for others to play my rig, but it's ok if I am right there to turn knobs if needed. My goodnes, the amp was barely on by the time I got through with him, and still, he was LOUD. The whole band had gotten loud by then, too, especially with my ole bud, Rick, on guitar. He was screaming, but sounding good, too.

I love my rig!! It sounded really GOOOOOD!!

[msb3671]

Flat is where its at!

[JimmyM]

Flat is where it's at if it sounds good. Otherwise it's not so good

[MODELL]

Most of the time I play my CMD 121P flat with the exception of the VLE which is at around 11:00. This is to "tame" the tweeter which has no control. When I add the Traveler 121H at larger venues, I can actually turn the VLE to below 9:00 and keep that cab's tweeter off. If only the combo had a tweeter control, it would be the perfect amp.....

[T. Alan Smith]

I was recorded at my last rehearsal; DI out the back of my LMII, 2dB boost on the low mids and around 10PM on the low pass filter, everything else flat...sounded amazing. I didn't think the DI was supposed to be all that special on the LMII. But it sure sounded like it.

[Selta]

Ok? I've run "flat" and loved my tone. I've also run "flat" and hated it. I don't get the point... especially since in most cases "flat" isn't really a flat response. EQ for the room, and let it go from there - do what you need to sound good within the mix and room.

[MuzikMan]

I think the point is that it is a common perception that extensive EQ is required to get a good sound out of anything, regardless of the equipment and/or room. It never occurs to some people that flat might actually work

[MODELL]

Originally Posted by MuzikMan

I think the point is that it is a common perception that extensive EQ is required to get a good sound out of anything, regardless of the equipment and/or room. It never occurs to some people that flat might actually work

Amen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[KJung]

Originally Posted by Ray Salamon

Ok? I've run "flat" and loved my tone. I've also run "flat" and hated it. I don't get the point... especially since in most cases "flat" isn't really a flat response. EQ for the room, and let it go from there - do what you need to sound good within the mix and room.

If you replace the word 'flat' with neutral, this all makes a bit more sense.

What the OP is saying is that he's found a rig that has a tone 'right out of the box' that he likes very much. That can be a wonderful thing, and results in very little 'extra EQ', except in really problematic rooms.

Again, in general, +1 to your comment. Replacing the word 'flat' with 'neutral/default' tone settings would remove a lot of the 'drama' from these sorts of discussions

[JHAz]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

Flat is where it's at if it sounds good. Otherwise it's not so good

Who cares what it sounds like?

What I care about is how the TB community will react when I describe my rig/settings . . .

Mandatory

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by JHAz

Who cares what it sounds like?

What I care about is how the TB community will react when I describe my rig/settings . . .

Mandatory

LOL!

[Avezzano]

Flat is where it's at if it sounds good. Otherwise it's not so good

yes, that is the wise & right approach. I normally play flat, too, as much as I can, unless the room requires to tame some boominess or requires some more (or less) highs etc. But I personally prefer to twist the bass (guitar) controls, in case.

Funny thing is I even endorsed here on TB the idea of a... "flat & powerful-but-not-expensive" basic 3/400 watts combo, say, for a student or any broken bassplayer to start from a good basis anyway but... I had to run for my life!!!!



Fact is that flat is, generally speaking, a good thing if you have a good sounding amp/cabinet couple; consider that emphasizing one part of the spectrum (either adding/subtracting highs or mids or lows) if on one side corrects the ambience response (read "eq"), on the other side it "tends" to change in part the "natural good basic sound of the amp" self (mvho)

[BurningSkies]

I never 'play flat', whether it was with my LMII or any other head. I will say that I never had any complaints about the DI on my LMII. I thought it sounded nice. Also, when recording in a more controlled environment its nice because you can control the DI level out with the Pre level and keep the main down or off.

[jokerjkny]

Originally Posted by JHAz

Who cares what it sounds like?

What I care about is how the TB community will react when I describe my rig/settings . . .

Mandatory

nice...

[KramerBassFan]

Maybe its just me, but i've always just turned the knobs until it sounds good.....

[will33]

Originally Posted by KJung

If you replace the word 'flat' with neutral, this all makes a bit more sense.

What the OP is saying is that he's found a rig that has a tone 'right out of the box' that he likes very much. That can be a wonderful thing, and results in very little 'extra EQ', except in really problematic rooms.

Again, in general, +1 to your comment. Replacing the word 'flat' with 'neutral/default' tone settings would remove a lot of the 'drama' from these sorts of discussions

+1 to this.

Even if an amp is "flat", your bass and your speakers sure aren't and thus your sound isn't either.

That said, if you find an amp that has a "straight out of the box" tone you like, great. For me, that's a Peavey T-MAX. Doesn't sound particularly rich or sweet on it's own that way but man, works great in a mix. The only time I have to eq it is in bad rooms. That means pulling 100hz down a little and maybe adding a little upper mids. A lot of the time nothing is needed.

If for some folks that means leaving the knobs alone on a Markbass, good. Folks just need to know flat is not flat even if the amp is.

[Marley's Ghost]

I always run my LMII flat, and EQ my bass as needed to cut through or compensate for room acoustics.

[taurus1]

unless you gig in an anechoic chamber, there's no such thing as "flat".