Need a good tone for acoustic set

[Waster]

Hey guys,

I'm playing at a stripped back acoustic thing this Sunday; 2 acoustics, 2 vox, keys, cello and me on bass. Basically I need to set a good tone to complement the other instruments. It will be a folk-ish praise and worship thing.

I have a OLP Stingray MM2 which I'm playing through an Ashdown ABM Evo II 300. The guitar has bass, treble and master tone, and the amp has bass, middle, treble and a four-band eq (180Hz, 340Hz, 1.3KHz and 2.6KHz). It also has separate volume controls for input and output.

Thanks in advance for your advice,

Connor

[will33]

In a deal like that, you pretty much have the lowend all to yourself, so you don't need the "more mids/cut through" approach.

I'd leave the lowend in there, and maybe pick on spot in the uppermids to leave in to have some definition to your notes. The rest of your eq I would experiment with cutting. Not scooping out all the mids but move whatever sliders are needed to get out of the way of the cello, vocals, etc. down a couple notches and give those instruments a place to sit in the mix and be heard.

This is a case where dropping some mids won't get you lost in the mix, you'll still be easily heard. It's a case where you don't want to overpower/drown out the other instruments. All instruments should be heard clearly just off their natural volume, so, I'd just put a foundation under them, use just enough upper harmonics for some definition, and then use the rest of your eq to get out of their way.

[Gearhead17]

Originally Posted by will33

In a deal like that, you pretty much have the lowend all to yourself, so you don't need the "more mids/cut through" approach.

I'd leave the lowend in there, and maybe pick on spot in the uppermids to leave in to have some definition to your notes. The rest of your eq I would experiment with cutting. Not scooping out all the mids but move whatever sliders are needed to get out of the way of the cello, vocals, etc. down a couple notches and give those instruments a place to sit in the mix and be heard.

This is a case where dropping some mids won't get you lost in the mix, you'll still be easily heard. It's a case where you don't want to overpower/drown out the other instruments. All instruments should be heard clearly just off their natural volume, so, I'd just put a foundation under them, use just enough upper harmonics for some definition, and then use the rest of your eq to get out of their way.

+10
Keep the knobs at 12 noon (or whatever the neutral setting is) and slowly bring down the treble range (1.3khz and higher). Small adjustments are key here and will have to be made on stage.

[PaulMacCnj]

It seems like you may be competing a bit with the cello. Playing low and under it will sound nice. Maybe try plucking the strings fingerstyle closer to the end of the neck vs. the bridge for a full, deep bass tone.

Sounds like an interesting gig! Have fun!

[saustindavis]

I play in a similar situation at church on a fairly regular basis, and I don't do anything very different than when I play rock. I roll off a little treble maybe, and play closer to to the neck. In that situation I might change my playing style, just sticking to the basics rather than adding a bunch of fill notes. Sounds like fun!

[Waster]

Thanks guys for the good advice! I think I've found what I'm looking for!

Connor