mesa boogie 400, NOT the 400 plus..

[TaylorO']

EQ settings..... any ideas? my band plays loud, fast punk music, but only one guitar..... i want it to obviously be "bassy", but without "farting" when playing the E string alot... i understand alot has to do with taste, but i havent owned this amp long, still trying to figure it out. sometimes it doesnt seem loud enough, but that could just be me.. plus, with all the pull knobs on it, thats a little confusing too..

any help anyone?

thanks in advance...

i use a USA P bass with Fender pups, DR mediums, and two 4x10 ampeg cabs...

[Hollywars]

It's naturally mid scooped I believe, at least on the 400+. bass at 2, mids at 10, and treble at 2 are supposedly flat on the 400+. It should be plenty loud, but maybe to get the volume you want it will have to get a little distorted. Also, more mids = more loud generally

[TaylorO']

thats fine i like the distortion, for this band... it sounds good to me... also, im still trying to find someone on here to break down to me what is involved in swapping the 6L6's for KT88's in this amp. will the tran handle it? biasing, etc etc etc??

[BurningSkies]

The 400 & the 400+ have very similar if not the exact same tone stack. It naturally is also a scooped mid cab, so bumping the mids up may be half the battle.

Also, the 'farting out' has less to do with the head and everything to do with the cabs.

I would 'pull' the bass knob, as that moves the frequency up a bit and will give you more punch but less low-low.

I'd also start 'flat' with that tone stack, which is closer to 2-10-2 or so.

[Yools]

I have a Buster Bass 200; very similar to the 400. On the EQ, try boosting the low mids (should be 250 Hz) and the highs way up, cut the higher mids, and back off on the lows a bit. See the attached image for a suggestion. The low mids really fill out the sound with a loud guitar; it should sound really fat in the mix.

One other suggestion: don't try to find a good tone while you're playing by yourself; instead, make your adjustments while the rest of the band is playing. One rule of thumb for bass tones in bands with loud, distorted guitars and loud drums: if it sounds good by itself, it will get lost in the mix with the rest of the band. On the other hand, when you get a tone that sounds good with the rest of the band playing, it will most likely sound like s*** when you play alone.

-Y

[TaylorO']

ok cool thanks everyone.. ive been playing bass for awhile, years actually, but im so unfamiliar with this amp... i used to use an SVT, but wanted something different..

ok so we all agree this amp should be plenty loud enough then, right?

[bazzanderson]

if you're not doing so get a y-cable and run both inputs at the same time. I know you can do that with the 400+ and I assume you can with the 400. Believe me you'll get the most out of your amp this way.

[bazzanderson]

Originally Posted by Yools

I have a Buster Bass 200; very similar to the 400. On the EQ, try boosting the low mids (should be 250 Hz) and the highs way up, cut the higher mids, and back off on the lows a bit. See the attached image for a suggestion. The low mids really fill out the sound with a loud guitar; it should sound really fat in the mix.

One other suggestion: don't try to find a good tone while you're playing by yourself; instead, make your adjustments while the rest of the band is playing. One rule of thumb for bass tones in bands with loud, distorted guitars and loud drums: if it sounds good by itself, it will get lost in the mix with the rest of the band. On the other hand, when you get a tone that sounds good with the rest of the band playing, it will most likely sound like s*** when you play alone.

-Y

amen to that. My tone w/my two bands sounds ratty as sh*t solo but cuts through like a knife and sounds great in the band(s) setting.

[MAMMOTHvolume]

Originally Posted by TaylorO'

thats fine i like the distortion, for this band... it sounds good to me... also, im still trying to find someone on here to break down to me what is involved in swapping the 6L6's for KT88's in this amp. will the tran handle it? biasing, etc etc etc??

it was originally designed to run 6 6550s so you should be fine putting replacing the 6L6's you'll certainly get alot more headroom going on that way.

[Caca de Kick]

What kind of cabinet are you using with the head?

I too run my 400 with lots of low mids, and slightly less in the high mids and highs because it can get sizzly easily.
Never had a volume problem, even without PA support, but I use at least one Mesa 2x15 cab.
For KT88 tubes just swap and go. It'll run on either.

[TaylorO']

Originally Posted by Caca de Kick

What kind of cabinet are you using with the head?

I too run my 400 with lots of low mids, and slightly less in the high mids and highs because it can get sizzly easily.
Never had a volume problem, even without PA support, but I use at least one Mesa 2x15 cab.
For KT88 tubes just swap and go. It'll run on either.

Im using two Ampeg 4x10's..

ok, so i obviously need to just make sure the KT88's are matched, right?

and yeah i use the y cable with it as well..

[Caca de Kick]

Yup get a matched set. Mesa's cold bias setting design is to be able to just swap tubes and keep going without any adjustment. Heck it's worked fine for decades for them.

Just for reference, my settings are:
knobs; mid 10, bass 10, treble 7, master 6-7, both inputs at 2.5. I do not pull any knobs out, and I use the master as the volume adjustment control. I do not use a Y cable because I run active basses in input 1 and passive basses in input 2, and have never needed to adjust any settings when switching basses at the gig.
sliders starting from left; 1st on middle line, 2nd ontop of middle line, 3rd on middle line, 4th ontop of lower line, 5th ontop of lower line, 6th ontop of lower line.