Volume on bass vs volume on amp question

[ShowKing]

I have a question out of curiosity.

I usually played my basses with full volume, imagining I'd get the most out of the onboard preamp.
Now, when I cut the volume on the bass in half and turn up the volume on the amp, it sounds pretty much the same as if my onboard preamp was full.

Sorry if this is really silly to ask but I'm curious if it makes any difference getting max output from the bass vs if the bass was turned down and amp turned up to match it.

[line6man]

It is always preferable to have the highest amplitude possible from early on in the signal chain to keep the noisefloor low.

Conversely, some like to have a little room to turn their volume up from the bass when needed.

[darkstorm]

I think high output basses sound better then low output ones overall. If your useing overdrive you can cut the drive to get a little more crunch and articulation by rolling off the basses volume a little bit. And on full vol for maximum saturated drive. Basses volume then is a little bit of a sound tweaker rather then haveing anything to do with end volume in this regard.

[Rockmusician]

During sound check, I always run my bass at about 3/4 volume. That way I can make adjustments if needed during the set.

[walterw]

i'm more in the "bass full-up" category.

that should be your set volume for the show; boosting it from there can wreck the mix if the soundguy has the bass good and fat out front like he should.

volume dynamics at that point is reflected in how you play, or even in turning down a bit for a really quiet part.

(oh, and don't "sandbag" the soundguy by turning down for check then cranking once the show starts; his first response upon hearing his mix wrecked is likely to be to angrily pull down all the instruments while he tries to get the vocals clear again, since vocals are what the average audience punter notices first, or at all.

if you're lucky, he might bother to put you back in the mix once he's done damage control.)

[bassbenj]

Originally Posted by ShowKing

I have a question out of curiosity.

I usually played my basses with full volume, imagining I'd get the most out of the onboard preamp.
Now, when I cut the volume on the bass in half and turn up the volume on the amp, it sounds pretty much the same as if my onboard preamp was full.

Sorry if this is really silly to ask but I'm curious if it makes any difference getting max output from the bass vs if the bass was turned down and amp turned up to match it.

This is a more complex question than you think. And it depends upon what exact circuits you are running. It depends if the bass is active or passive. It depends on if the bass is 9v or 18v battery.

To start with a passive bass. you need to know that the tone depends on the load on the pickups. The volume control can be a load. Many guitars (as in guitard, not bass guitar) have quite a different tone (looses brightness) as you turn down the volume. Some basses do this too. Active basses tend NOT to do it. This is why some bass players and MANY guitar players like to play with volume maxed out. (there are "bleed" circuits you can add to compensate for this) I play some of my guitars that way just for the tone. But on bass I prefer the volume backed off about 20-25% to allow a bit of on-stage adjustment if needed.

And then there is the question of setting the various volume (gain) controls in your signal path. These can include the volume on the bass, on the preamp, maybe on the output of the preamp, on the input of the amp, and maybe a second one at that output of the amp.

There most assuredly IS a difference between turning one down and the other up. And there is a RIGHT way to do this to minimize hum and noise. Basically you want to set each volume control so that the NEXT stage is almost but not quite clipping on your loudest notes. So say on an amp with a passive bass, if the input is starting to clip you either have to roll back the volume on the bass or use the "active" input on the amp which also reduces volume and eliminates clipping. And the next stages are set the same way.

So to explain how this works if you cut back too much on the bass and compensate by turning up gain on your amp, that gain will also amplify the hiss in the input stage of the amp and you'll hear it in the speakers. But if you turn the bass signal up and the amp gain down then the hiss gets turned down by the same amount. BUT you have to be sure that your hot signals are not pushing the input stage into distortion or clipping as that changes the tone.