pre amp settings on your bass

[actionpig]

i just picked up a MM-Sting Ray and the sales man tells me he cranks all his tone knobs to 100%. i have always kept all my knobs neutral and coloured my tone with my amp. whats the pros and cons of cranking your tone knobs and dose anyone do this?

[JackANSI]

I usually get the tone as close to what I want on the bass, then use the amp to finish it off.


In the end, its a matter of what you like, not someone who works in a music store...

Turn them till you like what you hear.

[line6man]

The salesman must have been high or something!

I don't know how many dB boost/cut the preamp is capable of, but you should never have to boost a band all the way up, and if you do, you need to seriously rethink some element of your rig.

EQ use should always be kept to a minimum.
Start flat and only boost or cut if needed, and always use the least amount of EQ possible.

[actionpig]

Originally Posted by line6man

use the least amount of EQ possible.

thats what i thought man. i have been playing for a long time, and i bought a devastating rig to get the tone i need. i don't even know why you wouldn't leave your preamp flat!!!

[JTE]

My default setting on active basses is the EQ set flat, set the amp for the room, and tweak at the bass for specific songs/effects/whatever. I'd never want to run an active bass with all the EQ maxed out. That's a LOT of signal, but more importantly it's skewing your EQ all over the place. If it's a 20-band, you're getting a huge boost at two places with the effect of the mids being a lot lower- and I HATE, just DESPISE that putrid "stupid smile" EQ sound. If it's a 3-band, then you've got two dips in your sound.

John

[bassgod0dmw]

I'm assuming the music store guy doesn't know that it's a active bass? Sure...crank em' up to 10 on a passive, but on an active?

I have all of my active basses flat for the most part, maybe a little bass boost.

[actionpig]

thanks guys. its nice to be reassured that im not crazy.

[BassLife77]

some bass players like all the tone knobs wide open. that salesman must have been one of them. probably because their hearing is trashed and they can't hear higher frequencies as well anymore

[Rano Bass]

Just a little bass boost for me.
But that depends on the bass itself.

[line6man]

Originally Posted by JTE

I HATE, just DESPISE that putrid "stupid smile" EQ sound.

Not as much as I do. I despise the scooped mids tone with a violent passion.

What a horrible thing when such a sound should enter your ears.
Makes me sick to the very pit of my stomach.
An evolutionary response, as the sound of the subsequent vomiting helps to distract me from the EQ sliders that grin so merrily at me, taking demented pleasure in the torture they have wreaked upon my ears.



But seriously, tons of mids for me, be it in my guitar tone or my bass tone.

[Johnny Crab]

Originally Posted by bassgod0dmw

I'm assuming the music store guy doesn't know that it's a active bass? Sure...crank em' up to 10 on a passive, but on an active?

I have all of my active basses flat for the most part, maybe a little bass boost.

+1
Plus for LIVE use, some wireless units may get really mad(distorted in a bad-sounding way) if you send that much juice into them.

Usually set the amp for the room and use the onboard(ACTIVE) eqs for any "while we're playing" adjustments or minor changes for certain songs.

[TortillaChip520]

i like to set the eq on the amp heavier on the lows so i can keep em down a bit on my bass, and boost 'em from the on board whenever i feel necessary. I like to have as much headroom as possible.

[BassLife77]

mid scooping can be applied in certain situations but thats rarely. that Marcus Miller mid-scoop-on-all-the-time sound drives me nuts. the mids is where the voice of the bass is.

[FunkMetalBass]

On my stingray, I boost my mids all the way keep treble flat, and bass halfway in between. I slowly roll some off from there.