why is cutting better than boosting?

[mozarwasagenius]

I've read that this is more natural, but I'm not sure I agree.

I'm really referring to the active eq on my bass. Let's say I'm using a bridge pickup only. It seems better to me to boost the lows than to cut the mids and treble. Part of this is the gain structure and headroom. Part of this is the equalization circuit design (I don't actually think it sounds the same to boost the bass and cut the volume than to cut everything but the bass and boost the volume... doesn't it depend on the eq center points?)

Not trying to be a smart alek... I just don't understand why this comes up so often as "gospel"

[MrDOS]

I have not heard this in reference to bass guitar.

For live sound, boosting produces peaks which can cause feedback.

[knumbskull]

also not sure in ref. to bass.

in studio mixing, it's a good principle. think of it like sculpting - you just cut away all the bits that aren't a work of art

...and you avoid sticking ugly bits of wood filler to make stuff that wasn't there to start with.

if that makes sense :/

[mozarwasagenius]

Originally Posted by MrDOS

I have not heard this in reference to bass guitar.

For live sound, boosting produces peaks which can cause feedback.

Oh, perhaps I have missaplied what I heard. Thanks for the clarification!

[Lesfunk]

I my case, Cut takes away suck while Boost adds it.

[carl h.]

My take came from a production class in school. Most noise in signal paths come from amps. The EQ, being an inexpensive amp when boosting and closest to the original signal source, can add a lot of noise to the signal. Whatever noise it produces is also amplified by any other amplifier in the signal chain.

Seemed logical at the time, got me a good grade, and has worked for me since then too.

[wmheilma]

I wouldn't say cutting is better than boosting on an onboard preamp, but it can be useful. I recently learned that the boost and cut frequencies are not necessarily the same for my bart preamps. Somtimes boosting lows on the amp and cutting on the bass results in a different voicing that works for a particular tune. The same goes for treble. You can change the voicing by working the bass and the amp against each other a bit.

I am not a fan of cranking the onboard preamp all the way up all the time. I think this generally sounds bad, but some guys get a great tone that way...

[electracoyote]

Yeah, this applies more to recording sound processing than personal EQ on your bass. However, even on bass, it is a good idea to try cutting offending frequencies to enhance desired frequencies first. All EQ boosting will introduce more ambient noise into the output. I use a combination of subtle boosting and subtle cutting with my onboard and amp EQ settings.

[mozarwasagenius]

Originally Posted by wmheilma

I wouldn't say cutting is better than boosting on an onboard preamp, but it can be useful. I recently learned that the boost and cut frequencies are not necessarily the same for my bart preamps. Somtimes boosting lows on the amp and cutting on the bass results in a different voicing that works for a particular tune. The same goes for treble. You can change the voicing by working the bass and the amp against each other a bit.

+1

[Matthew_84]

I've never used an on-board but my experience with EQ's in general is that if you have a 10-band EQ which covers the whole range and you cut all frequencies right down as low as they go, or set all the sliders flat, or boost them all completely up, there will be no difference in tone, but there will be obviously a huge difference in volume.

I do agree that boosting too much on an inexpensive EQ can cause some extra noise, so I would just cut everything relative to eachother and boost the volume afterwards. I'm not sure, but I think the extra noise is produced by how the EQ goes about boosting the certain frequency.

I keep the volume level on my graphic EQ in the middle, and boost and cut evenly, so let's say with all frequencies I have cut into negative db's, I will add up the sum of all cuts. If it totals say -10db, then I will try and boost other frequencies so that they total +10db. If I don't want to boost that much then I'll raise some of my cuts and vice versa.

I just find it's easier and better to keep it all balanced, but that's simply my opinion of course.

[JimmyM]

If your boosting sounds natural and good to your ears, then do it. And it really depends on the equipment whether it sounds good or not to boost...I have an amp where it sounds better to boost the low end and mids and cut the highs. I have another one that sounds better when you cut the lows and boost the mids and highs. I used to be into cutting rather than boosting, but I'd invariably find myself boosting something on every amp I used to get my sound, so I quit fighting it...as long as it sounds good and natural and not overboosted, it's OK.

[Munjibunga]

Cutting is self-abuse. Boosting is stealing. I can't decide which is better.

[WalterBush]

Because of the way most EQ circuits work, boosting a particular frequency can cause phase distortion, which may or may not be desirable--usually it isn't, but the phase problems caused by subtle boosting aren't generally noticeable, so it doesn't matter much to most people IME.

Cutting a frequency doesn't set up phase problems, so most engineers will tell you that cutting is better.

Other engineers will tell you that phase distortion and overcompression are the sound of modern music, and use what were once seen as excessive levels of EQ gain to create an over-the-top sound, especially on drums.

Do what sounds good, and you'll be fine.

[KingRazor]

Another thing I've heard is to cut narrow and boost wide (referring to EQ with Q control)

[Toastfuzz]

It all depends on the situation, and I think its really subjective, although the notes here about the boost amplifying noise and harsh frequencies is true. On my onboard pre on my basses, I always have the EQ's set equally at 75%, or around 25% boost. This gives me the "hot pickup" sound that I'm looking for, correctly drives all my stupid pedals, and my basically-flat amp pumps out "my" sound. Then, when a song calls for a warm bassy dubby tone, I just cut the treble down to zero, so bass-mid are still boosted, and I get the exact tone I want there. I'm really a 2-tone kinda guy, and using this method I can switch from Geddy Lee to John Paul Jones at the twist of a knob.

Now my basses must have decent pre-amps in them, because I don't get any feedback or spikes while playing like this. On my Ibanez ATK750, Ibanez SR506, and Carvin LB75, all pre's are set this way and they all sound good, each with their own distinct natural tone.

[teleharmonium]

Most EQ circuits built into instruments - or into low to medium end mixers - are cheap and crappy sounding. You hear this more in boosts than in cuts. And the nature of a real time analog EQ is that it introduces a phase shift around the band, which can have a detrimental effect (sometimes it can be kind of cool). Again, more noticeable on a boost than a cut.

I wonder if anyone has bothered to put in a high end, inductor based or fully parametric discrete EQ into a high end bass. That would add $500-1400 to the cost, but it's not like boutique builders aren't looking for reasons to charge more. It would be pretty cool to actually have a no excuses studio quality little solid state Pultec type circuit, or a graphic format API 560 right on your bass. Might be too much weight, but an inductor based EQ doesn't usually look like it would weigh a lot outside of a full chassis.

[teleharmonium]

Originally Posted by Toastfuzz

Now my basses must have decent pre-amps in them, because I don't get any feedback or spikes while playing like this. On my Ibanez ATK750, Ibanez SR506, and Carvin LB75, all pre's are set this way and they all sound good, each with their own distinct natural tone.

Feedback has nothing to do with EQ quality. If you dial in a large boost at a resonant frequency, it should feed back, otherwise it isn't really giving you the boost you dialed in. A parametric EQ is a powerful tool that can and must be able to do what the controls say including cause problems.

[rockstarbassist]

I boost the B and T on my basses, and then just basically cut from "flat" on my amp w/ the graphic EQ to get the rest of the tone shaping done. Works great.

[JohnMCA72]

If you haven't allowed for any EQ boost in your gain structure, you may find yourself clipping. If you have allowed for it, but don't use it, you may reduce your dynamic range.