Your EQ settings?

[rydin4lifebass]

Just wondering what types of EQ settings you use. I have a Hartke amp with 7 band eq and wanted to see what styles of music you're playing with what settings..

[scottfeldstein]

It really depends on your bass, your playing style, the kind of music you play and other factors. But if you're playing in a rock ensemble you're probably going to want to boost something in the midrange in order to be heard well. It's not uncommon for bassists in these kind of scenarios to cut Bass and Treble while boosting Mids. This is especially helpful if you're struggling with a bass amp that's not quite as loud as you'd like. EQ it the right way and, bang, you can hear yourself without turning up any louder.

Playing reggae or dubstep would be totally different, mind you. But it probably might apply for metal and some other harder genres.

[Duckwater]

I start off with my bass knob turned almost all the way off, then I tweak my mids, treble, and gain to fit with the current musical situation I'm in, and then I roll the bass back up to taste.

[GrowlerBox]

They're mine and you're not having them.

[LarryO]

[BurningSkies]

Originally Posted by GrowlerBox

They're mine and you're not having them.

I already do have them. And I have mine too. I have two different tones to use now.

[GrowlerBox]

Originally Posted by BurningSkies

I already do have them. And I have mine too. I have two different tones to use now.

Aww, jeez. So what am I supposed to do for tone now?

[JimmyM]

Scanners...rock!

What everyone's trying to say is that eq settings don't transfer to different amps like that. Every amp is different and has its own idea of what sounds good, so they accentuate that. On one amp I may run the bass at noon, on another I may run it at 2:00, or 11:00...all depends on the gig, the bass and the sound requirements of the room.

[GrowlerBox]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

Scanners...rock!

What everyone's trying to say is that eq settings don't transfer to different amps like that. Every amp is different and has its own idea of what sounds good, so they accentuate that. On one amp I may run the bass at noon, on another I may run it at 2:00, or 11:00...all depends on the gig, the bass and the sound requirements of the room.

Can't we play just a bit longer? Dad?

[BurningSkies]

Originally Posted by GrowlerBox

Aww, jeez. So what am I supposed to do for tone now?

Do what everyone else does here...complain about not having any.

[Sartori]

It really depends on your amp.

I run my lows at 2-3, mids at 10, and my highs at 2. But that's because this is close to "flat" on my amp. When playing metal, I use the graphic to boost the mids up a bit more.

But that's not going to translate onto a different amp quite as well, I'm guessing.

[pacojas]

i like to start as flat as possible, then adjust to the room. though every room is different, i want them all to tremble equally. in other words, i want to stimulate the audience's peristalsis! YMMV

[Sumtingwong]

Bass is twice as sensitive to differing room environments than say- Guitars or vocals. I know guitarists (decent, but not great guitarists) who set their tone and pretty much leave it alone, regardless of room and stage size.

I've never had to do much with my old SWR 2x12 combo, but I always had to tweak something, usually ganky mids or the low end. Low end can be enormous but clean in one room and stoopid boomy and overwhelming in the next. It's those rooms you have to fight the kick drum and floor tom rumble coming off the mains as well.

[chaosMK]

Originally Posted by Sartori

I run my lows at 2-3, mids at 10, and my highs at 2. But that's because this is close to "flat" on my amp. When playing metal, I use the graphic to boost the mids up a bit more.

Sounds like you are using the same head as me.

I boost low mids, cut the lowest lows and the highest highs (somewhere around 6k on this head), run gain/master to taste in terms of OD. The rest I can control on my bass and with my fingers (modern metal to hip hop).

[Sartori]

The precursor to your head, actually, but same regular EQ section, though yours might have a slightly more extensive graphic.

[Chef]

I heard you couldn't import tones to Nude Zealand; but maybe customs restrictions have changed.

Originally Posted by GrowlerBox

Aww, jeez. So what am I supposed to do for tone now?

[BurningSkies]

Originally Posted by Chef

I heard you couldn't import tones to Nude Zealand; but maybe customs restrictions have changed.

Its because they call it something different down there in that southern hemisphere faux English they speak and no one can figure out what they're saying when they try to mail order it.

[GrowlerBox]

Originally Posted by Chef

I heard you couldn't import tones to Nude Zealand; but maybe customs restrictions have changed.

Since Rogernomics (look it up!), we can pretty much import anything; NZ has one of the world's more open economies. We just don't need to import tone; the best damn tone in the world is made right here, as evidenced by BurningSkies' decision to nick mine.

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

Originally Posted by rydin4lifebass

Just wondering what types of EQ settings you use. I have a Hartke amp with 7 band eq and wanted to see what styles of music you're playing with what settings..

There are many extra variables involved (the venue, speakers, the instrument, amp...), but anyway you can see my basic approach to tone here.

[KingRazor]

Unless I'm playing a bass with prominent mids through a cab with prominent mids...I pretty much always boost the mid knob. If the mid knob is parametric, or there are multiple mid knobs, I play with them a bit to get the tone I like.

Treble I leave flat or cut slightly.

What I do with the bass knob is completely dependent on the amp, the room, and the situation I'm playing in. But in general I always do the same thing with the mids and treble regardless.