LMII: getting low-mid punch

[MikeB_30]

Yeah, like an idiot I thought noon was "neutral" like my Fender head filters....reading is fundamental...lmao!!!

[dave_bass5]

Ha, you aren't the first person to get caught out by them. At least you've found out you can get a good sound out of the amp now.

[Russell L]

So, which pedal would be best with a LMIII? EQ or VT?

[jasper383]

I have been getting good results with a P bass and the OP's original settings.

My Jazz Bass prefers just the bass knob turned down a bit, to 11:00.

The P with the 1030/1030/9/9 setting sounds so good, imo, because it forces you to up the gain farther than usual, and that fattens up the sound. More lows and more creaminess and crunch to the sound will always work with a P.

[CLMSHQ]

I have been having a tough time getting the sound I want from my LMIII into an Avatar 112 with my P-Bass...My Jazz Sounds Great!!!

I want to use my P-Bass more with my current band situation...Mowtown, Horn band. I just cant get that real smooth sound with my amp.

It sounds clunky..or other settings too flat-dark and out of the mix.

And I do not want to get another amp, just so I can play my P.

:0/

[dave_bass5]

I must admit that these days I find it hard not to use my Sansamp Paradriver to adjust my tone. I keep the MB knobs flat and use the EQ on the pedal. It really brings my P bass to life.

[CLMSHQ]

I may try my Boss EQ next time to see what it does...Havent tried that yet.

[guymanndude1]

A suggestion, try a bass reflex action type of cab. Sealed, with no ports, the air pressure will tend to keep the speakers more focused. Not as efficient, but the sound will be more focused.

[Passinwind]

Originally Posted by guymanndude1

A suggestion, try a bass reflex action type of cab. Sealed, with no ports, the air pressure will tend to keep the speakers more focused. Not as efficient, but the sound will be more focused.

Bass reflex = ported.

[guymanndude1]

Sorry, your right, I meant to say, infinite baffle, bass reflex action is ported. My bad, there, thanks for the terminology checkoff there.

[Eublet]

If you like everything about your head except the EQ controls, the Empress Para EQ is almost a no-brainer.

[Russell L]

Tried the OP's original settings and was surprised that it does what it does. But, I don't like the loss of headroom, volume-wise. My situation is a bit different from many in that I use a little fingernail on my plucking fingers. I can do ok by just lowering the high mids, sometimes just the highs, depending on the mix I'm in. But, I'm still grappling for some boost at 100-150 Hz. I think I'll get a pedal.

[Frenchy-Lefty]

It's funny I don't feel that with mine which I use with the control flats with a tad of bass. You may want to try it with a different cab. I think it has some juicy mids typical of Markbass. I have an Avatar 4x10 and a bunch of different basses. But I agree the eq section is not very good and an external eq could come handy.

[joelb79]

Originally Posted by Russell L

But, I don't like the loss of headroom, volume-wise.

But, I'm still grappling for some boost at 100-150 Hz. I think I'll get a pedal.

The headroom should not be lost. Where do you run your gain? full up? Turn it up to compensate for the gain lost by dimming the EQ and there should be little difference.

If you want more 150hz range, dial the VLE up some (9pm) and roll off the lows EQ knob some (9:30-10pm). The combination of both gives the 100-250hz range a boost. You lost gain, so add it back with the gain knob before the EQ. If you need more treble or upper mid cut, then you still have those knobs to add that back in.

To me, its a powerful (enough) EQ. I would doubt you would loose that much gain where the gain knob could not make up the difference. However I will add that this EQ seems to favor mid-heavy cabinets that already have a presence boost at 100-150hz, and this usually comes from smaller cabinets like markbass uses.

[Russell L]

Originally Posted by joelb79

The headroom should not be lost. Where do you run your gain? full up? Turn it up to compensate for the gain lost by dimming the EQ and there should be little difference.

If you want more 150hz range, dial the VLE up some (9pm) and roll off the lows EQ knob some (9:30-10pm). The combination of both gives the 100-250hz range a boost. You lost gain, so add it back with the gain knob before the EQ. If you need more treble or upper mid cut, then you still have those knobs to add that back in.

To me, its a powerful (enough) EQ. I would doubt you would loose that much gain where the gain knob could not make up the difference. However I will add that this EQ seems to favor mid-heavy cabinets that already have a presence boost at 100-150hz, and this usually comes from smaller cabinets like markbass uses.

I'll mess with it some more this afternoon before I play again tonight. I usually run my gain at about 1:00-1:30 (as per the manual), with the master usually ending up around 10-11:00 for many gigs (with one cab). My cabs are Markbass Traveler 151Ps. I think they may have a mid boost, but not sure it's as low as 150Hz, maybe 250? Not sure.

I often use the VLE, but sometimes I want a tad of highs back. I've also tried the VPF up a bit and the lows turned down a bit. That's an interesting combination.

The best news is, in many mixes the dang thing sounds pretty good without doing anything. I don't know how many times I've ended up back where I started like that. Depends on the band and the song, though, of course.

I can play around tonight, since it's the blues jam (I'm in the host band).

[phishaholik]

I'm really surprised that people playing a P-bass into the LM are complaining about any lack of low-mids. I play a LM Tube into a Bergantino AE212 and it puts out tons of low-mids. I would actually say that it puts out the closest thing to my SVT I've heard out of a solid state amp.

Even my Fodera, which used EMG's, has lots of low-mids and the P pickup isn't even wired in series. I usually boost the low-mids on my Fodera with every other amp, but with the LMT, I usually just cut the bass a little bit and have the low-mid know, which isn't really that low, at 1:00 for a little extra clarity.


What cabs are y'all using?


Michael

[Russell L]

Ok, naw, still don't like it. Turning the gain up makes the clip light come on too much for me. With the eqs all at 9:00, master at 10:00, and filters off I had to turn the gain to about 3:00 to get the volume back where it was.

Got an interesting tone with the VLE at 1:00 and VPF at 10:00. Bear in mind I'm plucking with some fingernail. As good as it was, though, I'll bet it won't be good at the jam, LOL. Ya know how it goes. But, the VPF, being a shelving control got rid of some of the 40 Hz and below. It added some highs, but they were above most of what the VLE cuts, seemed like.

We'll see what happens tonight (I worry about others playing my rig, wish I had another I didn't mind hauling down there).

[Russell L]

Originally Posted by phishaholik

I'm really surprised that people playing a P-bass into the LM are complaining about any lack of low-mids. I play a LM Tube into a Bergantino AE212 and it puts out tons of low-mids. I would actually say that it puts out the closest thing to my SVT I've heard out of a solid state amp.

Even my Fodera, which used EMG's, has lots of low-mids and the P pickup isn't even wired in series. I usually boost the low-mids on my Fodera with every other amp, but with the LMT, I usually just cut the bass a little bit and have the low-mid know, which isn't really that low, at 1:00 for a little extra clarity.


What cabs are y'all using?


Michael

Oh, my LMIII sounds yummy through an SVT 810. And my Markbass 121H combo actually has what I'd call a better tone than my 151P cab. But still, I wish like hell my LMIII had semi-para mids. Maybe I want a Momark or SD series?