I'll probably get flamed for this but...

tubaman2 · #1 01-28-2011, 05:23 PM

I used pretty much a smiley face EQ at church the other day, and the tone had me hooked. It's the best tone I've ever gotten out of anything.

It cut through fine as well. I had a few people come and say they could really hear the bass and it sounded good. I wasn't playing at a quiet church either. Anyone else ever experienced this?

(I know most people here think it's a cardinal sin to play without the mids as high or higher than everything else.)

RickenBoogie · #2 01-28-2011, 05:26 PM

Every amp, player, and situation, is different. As long as you're happy with your sound, nothing else matters.

JimmyM · #3 01-28-2011, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RickenBoogie

Every amp, player, and situation, is different. As long as you're happy with your sound, nothing else matters.

+1.

Sundogue · #4 01-28-2011, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tubaman2

I used pretty much a smiley face EQ at church the other day, and the tone had me hooked. It's the best tone I've ever gotten out of anything.

It cut through fine as well. I had a few people come and say they could really hear the bass and it sounded good. I wasn't playing at a quiet church either. Anyone else ever experienced this?

(I know most people here think it's a cardinal sin to play without the mids as high or higher than everything else.)

Can, and does, sound very good. It all depends on a variety of factors whether or not it will work. It certainly doesn't in all situations, though obviously does in some.

Don't expect every gig to sound like the church gig. Don't be surprised if it sounds like crap somewhere else.

fenderhutz · #5 01-28-2011, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RickenBoogie

Every amp, player, and situation, is different. As long as you're happy with your sound, nothing else matters.

+2

Calaverasgrande · #6 01-28-2011, 05:34 PM

I set my graphic eq on my amp in smile curve. Of course it is only on about 10% of the time.
There is also that for a lot of amps, the smile curve works great at low to medium volumes. But is terrible at high volumes.

bassteban · #7 01-28-2011, 05:35 PM

Because I care.

rodsnhawgs · #8 01-28-2011, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RickenBoogie

Every amp, player, and situation, is different. As long as you're happy with your sound, nothing else matters.

+3

Gomeztool · #9 01-28-2011, 05:49 PM

As long as the sonic space is available to you then smiley shouldn't be a problem.

Emprov · #10 01-28-2011, 06:06 PM

I picked up my 55-94 the other day to take in some practice, turned on the amp and started playing. The tone was absolutely phenomenal. Checked the amp, everything flat. Checked the preamp on the bass, bass up about 75%, treble maxed out and the mids cut as far back as they could go, go figure. If it sounds good, go with it.

Sundogue · #11 01-28-2011, 06:11 PM

Hey it's a sound we've all loved playing and it works in a lot of circumstances.

The whole idea of boosting mids instead of cutting was to help cut through a loud mix better, especially in circumstances where there may not have been enough speakers/power.

I personally love a scooped sound and use it whenever I can get away with it. Typically I need to boost mids a bit to gain a tad bit more clarity in a loud band mix. But if it works, I'll scoop it.

GregC · #12 01-28-2011, 06:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RickenBoogie

Every amp, player, and situation, is different. As long as you're happy with your sound, nothing else matters.

Yep. Whatever works for you, man. Also, how scooped it actually sounds coming out depends a good bit on the voicings of your bass, head and cabinet, your strings, technique, the room, etc.

GnRDuff1 · #13 01-28-2011, 06:37 PM

I play a gk and like going gradually higher from treble to bass starting at about 10:00 and up to 2:30. Like the contour on varying degrees depending on the song but 10:00 is usually about where that stays too. Like to have the tone knob up a bit though for a little extra crispness to the note attack. Once in a great while ill crank the contour. Sounds good but very situational

jasper383 · #14 01-28-2011, 07:37 PM

I love to have the VPF on my Little Mark II head at about noon. Pretty scooped.

OPBASSMAN1994 · #15 01-28-2011, 07:42 PM

Welcome to the club. I keep my mids at 12:00, which is akin to flat on a graphic EQ. Treble way up, bass way up. contour. Overdrive.

I love my tone....now I just need a Rickenbacker and it'll be absolutely perfect.

JimiLL · #16 01-28-2011, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RickenBoogie

Every amp, player, and situation, is different. As long as you're happy with your sound, nothing else matters.

+4.../thread

pnut166 · #17 01-28-2011, 07:50 PM

And here I thought I was crazy. I always used a bit of a scoop; nothing extreme. After joining TB, I saw that the consensus is that it`s sacreligious to scoop. I always attributed it to the fact that I was just a basement player, and not in a band. However, I did recently join a band. First thing I did - push the mids. Just wasn`t happening for me. Went back to my mild-scoop sound. My bandmates think it sounds great, and it cuts through just fine. But, it`s all in the amp and, I think, the room. If I ever find myself in a room full of people (a gig !), this sound probably won`t work so well I think. My .02.

Sundogue · #18 01-28-2011, 09:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pnut166

And here I thought I was crazy. I always used a bit of a scoop; nothing extreme. After joining TB, I saw that the consensus is that it`s sacreligious to scoop. I always attributed it to the fact that I was just a basement player, and not in a band. However, I did recently join a band. First thing I did - push the mids. Just wasn`t happening for me. Went back to my mild-scoop sound. My bandmates think it sounds great, and it cuts through just fine. But, it`s all in the amp and, I think, the room. If I ever find myself in a room full of people (a gig !), this sound probably won`t work so well I think. My .02.

It might. Most of the talk of boosting mids is attributed to getting the bass to "cut through the mix" when power and the number of speakers alone won't do it.

Lo-Mids give a sense of low end without having to drive the amp or push the speakers too hard. Mids and Upper Mids give more clarity and definition which helps when the stage mix gets muddy.

This is particularly true at higher volumes. However, if the stage volume isn't too high or muddy, a scooped sound can be heard quite well.

As many have said...it depends and if you like it and you and others can hear yourself well enough, then that is all that matters.

JimmyM · #19 01-28-2011, 10:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pnut166

And here I thought I was crazy. I always used a bit of a scoop; nothing extreme. After joining TB, I saw that the consensus is that it`s sacreligious to scoop. I always attributed it to the fact that I was just a basement player, and not in a band. However, I did recently join a band. First thing I did - push the mids. Just wasn`t happening for me. Went back to my mild-scoop sound. My bandmates think it sounds great, and it cuts through just fine. But, it`s all in the amp and, I think, the room. If I ever find myself in a room full of people (a gig !), this sound probably won`t work so well I think. My .02.

i'll be the first to admit i like my mids. but one of the first things i ever remember bill fitzmaurice saying on here once i starte taking an interest in amps is that most people have no clue what they really like because the voicing in preamps isn't consistent, and even if your amp has flat response when nooned, your cabs won't. he then went on to say some stuff i had no clue about, and finished with saying that most people, even those who like mids, usually end up with at least a mild mid scoop because most of us find that sound pleasing. sure enough, johnk once ran my favorite vt bass setting through a frequency plotter, and it's got a slight mid scoop.

Sartori · #20 01-28-2011, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tubaman2

I used pretty much a smiley face EQ at church the other day, and the tone had me hooked. It's the best tone I've ever gotten out of anything.

It cut through fine as well. I had a few people come and say they could really hear the bass and it sounded good. I wasn't playing at a quiet church either. Anyone else ever experienced this?

(I know most people here think it's a cardinal sin to play without the mids as high or higher than everything else.)

It really depends on what you're doing. At church, are there two guitarists with overdriven half stacks?

If not, a smiley face EQ might work just fine.

I don't use my "mids cranked" sound for playing bass in the folk rock band, as it's an entirely different kind of mix. I only really use that setting in metal.