a good bass sound from my gk

Do you have the manual?

 

Hi rcarew32.

You have an excellent bass and rig.

Assuming that everything is functioning properly, you just have to learn how to use what you have.

Start by:

- As RickenBoogie alluded, reading your amp's manual, then approach your bass and amp setup as follows:

- EQ flat on your bass.

- EQ flat on your amp.

- Turn the amp up to your desired playing volume.

- Then tweak (very small adjustments) your amp's EQ to compensate for adverse room acoustics and/or competition from other instruments.

Yamaha TRB1005

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An unsolicited rant from one who prefers the no-nonsense simplicity of passive bass guitars: $#^*&# active basses with their $^&$# active EQ!

Rant concluded.

 

Check out the analysis fellow TBer fdeck did on the GK Backline 600. He found that the "flat" setting of the EQ was actually a bit scooped. It may not be the same model you have, but I would guess that GK keeps a similar preamp design between models. Go to the bottom of the page on the link below to find the detailed analysis:
http://personalpages.tds.net/~fdeck/bass/

And definitely read the manual.

 

That head should not be noisy. Try this experiment. Turn up the head to where it's noisy then roll off the volume on your bass or unplug the cord from the amp and see if it's still noisy. If it's not, then it's the bass or your cord that's noisy. Set "flat" with tone controls at noon, the GK should be able to do both fingerstyle and slap.

 

My limited experience with the Yamaha TRB series and that their treble circuit can be a little bit noisy, especially when boosted. I would make sure the EQ on the bass is completely flat (i.e. all EQ knobs at center detent). I would then go to the amp and set all the EQ points at or near their center, maybe only boosting low mids a little and cutting treble a little as well. Now, assuming you are using the biamp feature here, slowly turn up the woofer volume until you reach the desired overall loudness, then turn up the tweeter volume to taste. If you still find it treble-shy after boosting the tweeter volume near or past 3:00, back the tweeter volume down quite a bit, boost the highs on your amp in very small increments and turn up the tweeter volume again until you reach the desired amount of sizzle in your tone.

You have VERY nice stuff, the TRB series are very under-rated basses IMO and GK stuff is as solid as it gets. Spend a little time with the controls on both your bass and your amp and you should find a good tone in no time.

 

Follow the manual and you'll discover how to get either a clean sound without noise or any amount of grit from the GK. I've been using GK for twenty years and I find it's one of the easiest amps to get a consistently good bass sound with, depending of course on how good your bass, your speakers and your playing technique is. One of the reasons why GK is found so often in the rental backlines on major tours.

But it does require you get some experience with the amp and learn what each control does. I'm always surprised when I see guys buying a Sansamp to get a sound out of their nice GK rig. I've got one myself but all I use it for is as a D.I.

 

You generally want to set the volume around 12oclock, then adjust sound level with the woofer control. Also the boost control can help with volume levels.

 

That's wrong, GK uses the word "volume" where everyone else uses "gain" and as with any gain adjust, play it very hard on your lowest notes until clipping and back up 5-10%. Adjust your gain with the master volume (called "woofer" by GK) totally closed. Adjust "woofer to taste. Everything else flat and "boost" as desired should get you there...

 

Unless I'm mistaken, the later is actually wrong...The knob on the left isn't a gain, it's a preamp volume, but after the input section. The only way to stop clipping is to use the -10dB input pad, or turn down your bass...that being said, all knobs are pretty much at noon for me, except boost and tweeter output...sounds good to me with a little growl.

 

Preamp volume = gain

Boost adds distortion, I generally leave it around nine. 'Volume' never passes noon on my amp, or the preamp starts clipping. Contour rolls off highs, so I tweak that, the high mids and low mids the most to fit different songs. Bass is always around twelve, plus or minus a little, and treble is always around 8-10

 

Preamp volume and gain are not synonymous, if as Wes contends, it is after the input section. Gain, in it's general usage refers to the signal being fed into the preamp. Which, in this situation, is not the same as the signal being sent from the pre section to the power section.

 

Not sure what your definition of "noise" is, but if you mean hiss, G-Ks (especially older 800RB, not so much with 700Rb II) seem to produce a little more than some other brands. Not enough to bother me though. It also may be that the HMS (bi-amp) circuit could be causing this if you are using this feature. Personally, I and many of us just run full range and don't use this system. be sure to switch your cab to full-range if you go that route.

The 700RB has three gain controls; Volume, Boost, and Woofer. These are positioned in that order in the circuit. A simple rule of thumb to remember is this:
Clean sound; open up the final gain (Woofer) to 3/4 or so, lower the Boost, and adjust your loudness with the Vol control.
Dirty sound; Do the opposite. Lower the Woofer, turn up the Boost and adjust your loudness with the Woofer control. Adjust these until you find the amount of grit (growl,grind,bark,warmth,) you like.

G-K's great(IMHO) Tone/EQ section is self explanatory. You just have to experiment with the four bands to find your own preference. BTW, if you have the Presence control boosted, that could also be contributing to hiss, as it affects the very high frequencies. I always leave mine at zero.

 

I was just saying ~12oclock is generally a good spot where this happens, but sure, that method seems a little more precise and efficient. Otherwise we agree...

edit: Actually I have to admit I've never done that exact test before, I have just left the gain around 12 because I have several basses, and occasionally other players have used my amp. I figured generally if I saw a clip light I would back off the input (which I never did). Interestingly enough, I just tested this with my stingray, and squier p-bass. The stingray would not clip with the volume/input/gain all the way up, and me digging in as hard as I ever do. (BTW I don't play 5 string or drop-D, and I don't slap). But then I plugged in my squier p-bass, and the thing would clip if I dug in much at all on the low E, all the way down. I had to engage the -14DB pad and then it wouldn't clip even all the way to maximum gain. Interesting. And odd because my stingray has an active preamp and the squier is passive. No idea what that's all about.

 

Clarification if in fact you find yourself confused......

The GK's do not have a gain control at the input (other than the pad). The vol knob is in fact preamp gain. I'm sorry wordsmiths.... but preamp gain it is (and again, not to be confused with input gain). The only way to keep from clipping at the input is to engage the input pad. Of course you could always reduce the "gain" from any input devices (pedals for instance... or even try reducing the volume on your bass).

I start to hear slight distortion when the vol knob is up past 11:00, so I try not exceed that. The pickup in my main player is very hot, and I've structured the input gain using my EBS multicomp gain (which just so happens to be output, so gain is not always input as someone above stated), and the volume on my bass. The signal going in is as hot as can be without clipping (or using the input pad).

Other than that, you'll need to experiment with the "gain" structure (there is that word again) of your rig. A bit confusing at first, but once you understand it, you'll be able to dial in your sound in an instant, no matter what the situation. And as mentioned above, utilize the manual.... it's actually pretty clear.