NEED TONE HELP ASAP!!!!

[f59bassman]

Hello all,

I recently received an Ampeg SVT 200T head and I love it. Even though it's solid state, it's a great sounding amp. My one problem is that I'm so use to a slider eq and I'm not exactly sure how to set this amp for a deep warm clean tone WITHOUT much (or any at all) click. Any advice? I'm also running a Behringer AUTOCOM for compression and noise gate. If anyone has ANY advice on how to set the head or both head and AUTOCOM, I'd greatly appreciate it

[will33]

Search up the manual and see where the knobs are set. For example the bass knob might be like your 40 and 80 eq slider, or the left side of the eq. The mid knob would be like moving the middle sliders up and down. The treble maybe 4k and 7k or something.

[tangentmusic]

Play with the EQ knobs on the amp untill you acheive awesomeness
(it's different for everyone)

[Duckwater]

I would set it flat with a small treble cut, heavy EQing is almost always troublesome unless you really know what you're doing.

[bassgod0dmw]

Unless you're got a ton of highs & mids dialed in with no bass, that click is more setup/technique.

[will33]

Originally Posted by Duckwater

I would set it flat with a small treble cut, heavy EQing is almost always troublesome unless you really know what you're doing.

It depends on the amp. Some of them have such baked in curves it takes what looks like extreme eq to make them less extreme.

[f59bassman]

There is no manual for it. I've checked everywhere for it on line. Unless anyone may have a manual or I'm missing something haha


It's clicky even with the treble at half. My other Ampeg head was clicky too so there's no way that can be true. The only way I got the click out of my SVT pro3 rack head, was to add a compressor

[f59bassman]

Dang I totally wrote that second part wring haha. Meant that it can't be true when the bass is all the way up and the high mids and highs are at half and lower

[f59bassman]

And by true I'm speaking in tone. Not like lying haha

[tangentmusic]

Originally Posted by f59bassman

There is no manual for it. I've checked everywhere for it on line. Unless anyone may have a manual or I'm missing something haha


It's clicky even with the treble at half. My other Ampeg head was clicky too so there's no way that can be true. The only way I got the click out of my SVT pro3 rack head, was to add a compressor

The clicking may be due to pick-up height. Have you tried lowering them? This may help with the clicking. Dont lower too low, or you may experience a drop off in overall output.

[will33]

Turning up bass doesn't take away click, it adds bass. Click is uppermids/treble. Try turning the treble down.

+1 to bassgod0dmw. If you're clicky all the time, you need to work on your playing technique....maybe check the setup on your bass.

[f59bassman]

Okay gnarly. I'll try that. I've not been playing long on bass. I was a touting guitarist and was asked to play bass in 2007 with a band for touring. I'm a tone junkie but know nothing of how to set up a bass yet haha. I guess that's the next thing to learn. Are there any books on bass set up that are legit? And this is also my 1st classic bass head so it's an overwhelming/exciting experience. Also on the bass set up, I play '70s fender jazz basses now. One is a standard, a deluxe, and a fretless. The fretless is pretty much my main bass. The deluxe is for recording and the standard is a backup haha. But would there be something more to be done with the fretless bass or just a basic setup? Thanks guys! (:

[will33]

Search in the basses side of the forum, tons of info/links there on setup, fretted and non-fretted. As far as technique goes, there's more tone variation in your hands than there is in knobs on an amp. I believe there's a section here called technique/instruction or something with tons of good info/links as well. You're in the right place for anything bass.

As far as the clicky amp sound, some bass cabs do have cheap and/or poorly incorporated tweeters that can give you bad tone to some extent no matter what you do. It's not the tweeters fault, it's the guy who put it all together. In those cases, if the cab has an l-pad (tweeter adjustment) try turning it down, and/or gradually roll off the tone knob on the bass until the click is gone....then work on that technique. FWIW, I'm not some superhero bass player but I do have a cab with 4 piezo's in it and it does not sound clicky, or even trebly, unless I want it to, without touching a single knob on amp or bass. Yes, those controls do things but a lot of your tone is in your hands.

[bassgod0dmw]

A great book on setups/repair: The Guitar Player's Repair Guide - by Dan Erlewine

I'm certainly not saying that is definitely the problem, but it sounds like it's got something to do with it.

[chadds]

Take the compressor out of the chain and hear your bass straight. That's the place to start.

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by chadds

Take the compressor out of the chain and hear your bass straight. That's the place to start.

Word. Get a sound without it before you start trying to work it in.

[deeptubes]

^+1. Compression sucks anyway.

[RickenBoogie]

..only if you don't know how to use one^.

[deeptubes]

Compression robs me of "my sound". Don't care for it at all. If I'm playing soft, I want it to sound that way. If I'm beating the hell out of my bass, I want it to sound like it. I don't want every note to sound the same. Control your own sound. Don't leave it up to a machine.

I have a 400w Fender and a BassPOD XT Pro, both of which have a compressor. They are both set at 0. I've been playing for more than 25 years. I hit my strings very consistently.

If you have a '69 Camaro with a 454, why would you put a 350 in it? That's what compression is to me, a step back.

[bassgod0dmw]

Just because it's not "your sound" doesn't mean it sucks.

I'd be willing to bet that the vast majority of awesome recorded bass tones are using a comp at some point in the process.

I don't use one either, but I will depending on the tone I'm going for.