When less is more regarding EQ

[zaubertuba]

I played a gig this weekend in a barn of a room and redid the EQ on the patch I had on my X3L to suit...

Had a rehearsal with my regular trio last night, using the same patch, and when I went to one of my other "standard" patches it sounded muddy as all get out...turns out the changes I made on the first patch effectively zeroed out the eq--it was mostly flat.

I've been playing around with a Pat Metheny-like patch for the high side of my NS/Stick, and on a lark, at the end of our rehearsal I went mono and ran the whole instrument through this patch mono. The guys instantly loved it and asked what the EQ settings were...

I had changed the amp "model" to a basic modern preamp...the EQ was untouched--perfectly flat. As was the parametric in the patch. The only effects were stereo chorus and delay (O.K. and a little compression ).

I feel a little sheepish in admitting this, because I never took the time to develop a "clean" patch on the X3L, but it's my only preamp so I honestly had never heard my bass completely un-eq'd before. Turns out the best tone the instrument has seems to be the "out-of-the-box" tone. It has active electronics and its tone controls are set flat, as well.

Anybody else figure this out after going on a wild-goose-tone-chase on their instrument?

[RickenBoogie]

I learned long ago that any amp that "needs" alot of eq'ing, is no amp for me. Aside from a wee bit of eq cut for certain rooms, I like my amps dead flat.

[shadow_FIX]

I run my LMIII mostly flat and do most of my EQ'ing on my Stingray. I use a little of the VLE and VPF knobs for a character change, maybe bump the mid-lows a bit, but that's about it.

Sometimes less really is more.

[jpTron]

I love the sound of both my basses completely flat. I only use EQ for exaggerated tones

[Sifl]

I have found that relatively flat on my LMII is best with my P-bass. I have recently removed my BDDI from the equation and I think it sounds great. I do boost the mids a bit. But after fiddling around with the eq on the LMII and BDDI, the best tone is the one "out-of-the-box!"

[craig.p]

Strange this should come up around this time. Day before yesterday I plugged direct into the front of an old SC3000 Carvin head that I was previously using only for its power amp section. This model had no rotary tone controls, just a graphic EQ section. I left everything flat. I ran that into one of my Avatar B212 cabs, powered it up, and started playing.

Wow. There it was. And you all know what I mean by "it."

This never worked all that great with other cabs I've tried this head with; it's always sounded thin and lifeless. I think it's because the B212 has that natural bass extension that many other cabs need to be persuaded (with EQ) to deliver.

Funny thing is that I can get pretty much the same full but punchy sound from my BDDI/RMX pair using the former's drive and blend controls, and with some serious tone-control cuts, but apart from the additional power on tap with the QSC, it does sort of seem like the long way 'round at this point.

There was only one logical thing to do: order a BMAX for the QSC in order to investigate further. (One must have a valid excuse for such behavior.)

[zaubertuba]

Originally Posted by craig.p

This never worked all that great with other cabs I've tried this head with; it's always sounded thin and lifeless. I think it's because the B212 has that natural bass extension that many other cabs need to be persuaded (with EQ) to deliver.

I wonder how much people really are relying on electronics to compensate for, as in your example, lack of bass extension...or other cabinet idiosyncrasies.

Originally Posted by craig.p

(One must have a valid excuse for such behavior.)

Good to see HiFi G.A.S. is as easy to justify as "regular" G.A.S....but could the same apply to "boutique G.A.S?"

[Nightbass]

"Cut to sound better. Boost to sound different."

[will33]

A lot of (most?) "bassheads" are voiced to sound a certain way, flat isn't always flat but in general I'd agree, if a boost or cut has to be a lot of db, steep or sharp or whatever, it's not how it should sound, it's an indication of another problem.

The OP may have heard what his instrument really sounded like without a bunch of extra's and liked it, I know I do.

[MIJ-VI]

Originally Posted by Nightbass

"Cut to sound better. Boost to sound different."

Bingo!

And if I may add: 'gain to sound loud enough to hear where to cut or boost'.