Lakland 55-02 w/ Barts. What's your EQ settings?

[bobknowsbass]

I searched the forums and couldn't find anything on this. I just got a Lakland Skyline 55-02 w/ the Bartolini pups. I'm super excited and in love with everything about this bass. There are many tone options so I wanted to get an idea of how you guys are using the pre-amp on this bass.

While I was at home noodling with the bass I found a great tone. All pups on with the highs slightly cut, mids flat and bass slightly boosted. This worked great at home but at rehearsal it didn't quite work. Got lost in the mix.
Style is alternative rock with dynamics and ...pretty stuff.
I play through a GK 800 RB set flat and two Eden 1x15's, one with a tweeter set half on.
Tried a bunch of stuff out and settled on just using the bridge p/u, no blend with both coils engaged, Highs cut, mids flat and bass slightly boosted. Sounded Stingray-like, which was cool cuz I used to play one in this band. I just feel like I could get a better sound and use more of the neck p/u.
Haven't messed with the mid controls or the pre-amp gain inside the bass. Thinking about upgrading to the new Lakland pre but don't think it's necessary, I got a great tone easily when I used an Ibanez SR-506 with Bart Mk-1's.(Don't bother to tell me to use the Ibby instead of the Lakland) Any suggestions?

[SebbyNC]

I have a 55-94, same electronics. I don't use too much of EQ'ing, the bass sounds great pretty much flat. According to the amp/cab or PA system I play on, I tend to roll off some highs. I rarely boost the bass. Nice "vintage tone" every time, I often get good impressions from people on my bass tone.
Regarding the pickup selection, it really depends on the vibe of what I play. I play different styles, from blues to jazz to reggae to funk to caribbean music... lots of tone variations is a good thing, and even if I generally use both pickups blended (more or less), sometimes I use only the neck pickup (for deep bass blues for exemple) or the bridge pickup (island music, some jazz for a more middy/cut-through sound).

In your case, don't pay too much attention to the tone in your rehearsal room -I rarely have a good tone during a rehearsal- but instead try to find good tones at home, and if you play live, use these tones I'm sure the sound guy will love your sound, as long as you don't overuse the EQ and let the PA do it for you.

[JTE]

Not a fiver, but I've got two US 4-94 with the Barts. I run it like I run any active bass- my default is to start with the EQ flat. I also have the blend knob in the center, and the coil selector is generally set to select the neck coil of the MM PUP. Then I adjust it from there for specific sounds on specific songs. For example, "Born Under A Bad Sign", "White Room", "Badge" get the mids boosted a bit. "Thank You (Falletine Me Be Mice Elf, Again)" gets the lows nudged up a bit and the highs cut a bit. "My Girl" gets the neck PUP soloed, the highs cut a bit and the mids and lows goosed a very tiny bit.

But the bottom line is my basic setting is everything flat.

John

[bobknowsbass]

Cool, yeah, with this bass I find that it's nice when you pretty much leave it alone. I guess when you start on passive Jazz basses like I did, you get used to turning those knobs all the way up!

Originally Posted by SebbyNC

In your case, don't pay too much attention to the tone in your rehearsal room -I rarely have a good tone during a rehearsal- but instead try to find good tones at home, and if you play live, use these tones I'm sure the sound guy will love your sound, as long as you don't overuse the EQ and let the PA do it for you.

Interesting approach, I guess live is where you have to deliver anyways, right?

[pickles]

You had to pan to the bridge pickup in order to cut through because you're boosting bass. If you don't use a bass boost, you'll be able to cut with the other blend settings. For rock, I like selecting the neck coil of the bridge pickup, using an even blend, and cutting a tiny bit at 600hz (or whatever the closest EQ point to that is on the mid control -- take off the control cavity cover and look), maybe boosting the highs a little. Or all coils, even blend, same EQ.

[bobknowsbass]

Thanks for the advice, y'all!