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All lows?

#41
707GK said:
It was post EQ, he was happy when I dialed out literally all the treble and high mids (anything above about 500hz) on my rig. I even used my compressor’s “treble” knob and dialed that all the way back. I also had to turn on the amps distortion circuit and use the tone knob on that to dial even more out of it. I basically had all my treble knobs counterclockwise as far as they could go.

My wife was in the audience and is a vocalist, she has a pretty good ear. She said it was muddy and the guitar was overpowering everything to compensate, in order to be heard. She was not a fan of the mix.
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You should just hit the pre button, and let him do what he wants. It comes out almost the same anyway.
 
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#43
707GK said:
It was post EQ, he was happy when I dialed out literally all the treble and high mids (anything above about 500hz) on my rig. I even used my compressor’s “treble” knob and dialed that all the way back. I also had to turn on the amps distortion circuit and use the tone knob on that to dial even more out of it. I basically had all my treble knobs counterclockwise as far as they could go.

My wife was in the audience and is a vocalist, she has a pretty good ear. She said it was muddy and the guitar was overpowering everything to compensate, in order to be heard. She was not a fan of the mix.
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That sounds extreme, but if it's a gk post eq at noon, it'll be on the bright side, but sounds like something wasn't right.
 
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#44
707GK said:
Played a gig with a new group this weekend. Plugged in the P Bass, compressor set to very minimal settings and flat on my GK Legacy 800. Was told I had way too much highs, “the bad kind” by the sound engineer. I took out all the high mids gradually until they were gone, still complained. I took all the highs out, still complained. Got my Jazz bass (mid scoop, essentially no high mids to begin with in comparison to the P) and still complained. Rolled the tone off, then it was too muddy. Put the tone back on full and he said, “it’s workable”

I am not the most experienced out there but I’ve played hundreds of gigs and I’ve worked with at least 50 different engineers both live and in the studio and this is the first time I’ve had to dial out that much high end.

I felt like I was playing a synth or MIDI bass. It was essentially all 80-200hz and everything else was sucked out.

Is this normal? I went along with it, but the mix was so muddy. I could only hear bass and some vocals. And kick drum as I was standing right next to it. My wife mentioned the mix from the seats was also very muddy.

Honestly it made playing super boring. There’s so much more to bass than just that frequency range.
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I hate stupid soundmen who have tin ears and low IQs
 
#48
707GK said:
Played a gig with a new group this weekend. Plugged in the P Bass, compressor set to very minimal settings and flat on my GK Legacy 800. Was told I had way too much highs, “the bad kind” by the sound engineer. I took out all the high mids gradually until they were gone, still complained. I took all the highs out, still complained. Got my Jazz bass (mid scoop, essentially no high mids to begin with in comparison to the P) and still complained. Rolled the tone off, then it was too muddy. Put the tone back on full and he said, “it’s workable”

I am not the most experienced out there but I’ve played hundreds of gigs and I’ve worked with at least 50 different engineers both live and in the studio and this is the first time I’ve had to dial out that much high end.

I felt like I was playing a synth or MIDI bass. It was essentially all 80-200hz and everything else was sucked out.

Is this normal? I went along with it, but the mix was so muddy. I could only hear bass and some vocals. And kick drum as I was standing right next to it. My wife mentioned the mix from the seats was also very muddy.

Honestly it made playing super boring. There’s so much more to bass than just that frequency range.
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Sounds like a BL/guitarist I used to play with. We practiced at his house and he has all the amps set up at his position and he would set my eq.

It was awful! I never had such a muddy, lifeless tone in all my life. You could hardly tell I was playing different notes. Nothing but bloody boom!:banghead:

Needless to say. It was a short-lived experience. His GF/lead singer was a total drama queen too and everything had to be in Bb.

Met a really good vocalist/drummer there though so it wasn’t a total loss.:smug:
 
#49
You just highlighted one of the many advantages of becoming successful enough to have management personnel present at all your performances, and being able to pre-negotiate certain aspects of your performance with the talent buyer, and include the agreement in your contract rider.

If you show up at a gig with no one to mix your set or show, and / or, to at least represent the band back at the sound board, you are at the mercy of whoever has decided to call themselves a sound man / gal that night. It's as simple as that.
 
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#52
707GK said:
Played a gig with a new group this weekend. Plugged in the P Bass, compressor set to very minimal settings and flat on my GK Legacy 800. Was told I had way too much highs, “the bad kind” by the sound engineer. I took out all the high mids gradually until they were gone, still complained. I took all the highs out, still complained. Got my Jazz bass (mid scoop, essentially no high mids to begin with in comparison to the P) and still complained. Rolled the tone off, then it was too muddy. Put the tone back on full and he said, “it’s workable”

I am not the most experienced out there but I’ve played hundreds of gigs and I’ve worked with at least 50 different engineers both live and in the studio and this is the first time I’ve had to dial out that much high end.

I felt like I was playing a synth or MIDI bass. It was essentially all 80-200hz and everything else was sucked out.

Is this normal? I went along with it, but the mix was so muddy. I could only hear bass and some vocals. And kick drum as I was standing right next to it. My wife mentioned the mix from the seats was also very muddy.

Honestly it made playing super boring. There’s so much more to bass than just that frequency range.
Click to expand...
Producer switch may have fixed everything.
 
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#55
I agree with others that what the sound tech was asking you to do is unusual. When I work with sound techs, they rarely ask me to adjust my sound-they work with what I send them...BUT I send them PRE signal...

It is easy to conclude that the sound tech was inexperienced/moron. It might be so.

But lets try to make sure that there was no merit in what he was saying.

707GK said:
Was told I had way too much highs, “the bad kind” by the sound engineer. I took out all the high mids gradually until they were gone, still complained.
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I wonder why did you start taking out (high) MIDS when he told you that you had too much HIGHS? It seems that you took out all high mids before you started adjusting highs... Then he was left with no mids to work with. No wonder the sound was muddy. Unlike bass frequencies (which can be brought back by FOH to certain extent), if you take out mids, it cannot be corrected at FOH. IME.

707GK said:
Is it standard to cut all the high mids and highs out? Have I been living under a rock for the past 20 years?
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It happens. Nowadays, some sound techs do radical frequency slotting which results in bass guitar being audible in low frequencies only. IME, it happens more often if the sound tech doesn't have much time for the sound check (festivals) or if he is not familiar with the band.

707GK said:
It was post EQ, he was happy when I dialed out literally all the treble and high mids (anything above about 500hz) on my rig. I even used my compressor’s “treble” knob and dialed that all the way back. I also had to turn on the amps distortion circuit and use the tone knob on that to dial even more out of it. I basically had all my treble knobs counterclockwise as far as they could go.
Click to expand...

How were "Presence" and "Contour" knobs set on your amp? Is it possible they were engaged (in the up position)? If yes, that might be the explanation of too much highs in your signal...

All in all, the best prevention against such (unreasonable) requirements from FOH is to send "PRE" signal. That way, it will be up to the sound tech to sculpt your tone for FOH....and you will be free to do whatever you wish (almost) with your amp's sound on stage.

Good luck!
 
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#56
And that's exactly why I will only send the pre eq signal to the FOH (plus sometimes a mic in front of the cab to add some dirt). You do what you have to do with your knobs, I will handle mine.
 
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#57
I agree about the tech but maybe he has problems with an unmatched or should we say unbalanced system. Perhaps an analyzer should be used during system setup. After that, there’s no excuses.
 
#60
dramatwist said:
...you've got a doofus sound engineer... you're the bass player in the band... not beholding to him/her... make your sound what you want, and let the chips fall where they may... I'm guessing he isn't Daniel Lanois... the sound guy isn't there to dictate anything... it's your a** on the line for your bass sound... no audience member goes home and says... "Oh, that sound engineer really sucked..."
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I think there is a rule here about not insulting sound people, so I will refrain. But from your description, the “engineer” seems to be the problem.
 

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