I once sold a bass because it had a "clicking" sound every time I played a note!!
Turned out I needed to trim my fingernails.
Turned out I needed to trim my fingernails.
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Better EQing vs. Buying A Different Bass?
- Thread starter jnammy
- Start date
A lot of your tone comes from your fingers, style and technique. None of us will ever have the exact same tone as our favorite players.
I run my test rig the same for any bass I demo: bass boosted to 1 or 2 o'clock max, low mids set to 120Hz with a boost to 1 or 2 o'clock, hi mids and treble flat. This is how I typically use any Genz Benz amp, I adjust the gain depending on the instrument's output. The amp does have a way of making basses sound good though. Not a problem in my opinion!
My goal is to present the instrument as true to form as I can. If the bass features onboard eq, I usually try to show what it can do. No additional eq occurs, though mic placement may vary from shoot to shoot, just slightly.
Ed, thanks for chiming in! What's your take on the original question? By the way, you sold me on the Fender P5 and I'm loving it.
Coool... nothing drastic there. And if that's your basic setting for all tests, that lends consistency to them. If OTOH you came across a bass for example that was sorely lacking in mids and you had to do a big bump to address that, not knowing that wouldn't help the listener.
As far as the original question - yes, I have sold many basses because they didn't sound the way I wanted. And yes, eq can make up for some of what might be lacking with a bass... but I feel if it's not in the bass naturally, I'm not going to be happy with it. For me it's about choosing the right wood combination and pickup configuration first. And of course, that is still no guarantee, tone is an individual thing. Not every alder body Jazz bass sounds equal.
If I have to rely on the amp to fix it, the bass will not stick around long.
If I have to rely on the amp to fix it, the bass will not stick around long.
That's been my MO for years and it's saved me a ton of time. I don't have to fight instruments on gigs just to make them sound decent.
I've been doing that too, but I think at a certain point, I became over-critical as I'm on my 25th bass. I just wish I had been more open to fiddling with the EQ more to get different sounds out of my basses, instead of getting a different bass for each particular sound.
+1 - If you don't get a smile on neutral settings with your rig, it's not worth tweaking to find the sweet spot.
You're right but here's why I agree with the other guy
: it's been far less time consuming/frustrating for me to find things that work great without tweaking to spend time tweaking something that doesn't. And I've never had something I had to tweak sound better after tweaking than the other gear that sounded great without it.As a gigging musician, where time can be critical, tweaking is the last thing I want to be forced to do with an instrument.
If you're dealing with one bass and really want to like it, cool. It hasn't been hard for me to find gear that fits my mindset.
25? Is that because you're replacing them due to issues?
I have a lot of basses but not because of any sonic issues. They usually aren't replacing anything.
You're right but here's why I agree with the other guy
As a gigging musician, where time can be critical, tweaking is the last thing I want to be forced to do with an instrument.
If you're dealing with one bass and really want to like it, cool. It hasn't been hard for me to find gear that fits my mindset.
So, it's ok to invest lots of time in perfecting the set-up, but not investigating the possible sounds of the bass?
Who said anything about on gigs?
I get my sound through both the bass I play and the amp I play it through. I've "tweaked" it to do what I want, with what some might consider extreme EQ. I found my settings at rehearsal and at home, though, not at gigs.
Gig or rehearsal... to me, it makes no difference. I'm familiar with EQ in general, and also the EQ specific to my gear. So, if I need to tweak for acoustic anomalies... or simply want to tweak just for grins... it doesn't take me long.
I'm perfectly happy with all of my gear when set flat, but sometimes I like to tweak EQ for variety's sake. There's no reason not to -- many of the greatest rock bass tones, from Entwistle to Tony Levin, are heavily processed. I experiment most often with my hard rock band: at some gigs I like aggressive snarl and bite, for others (especially if my strings are stale) I go for more punch or growl. It's fun, and not the least bit complicated.
This isn't a matter of turning my P-basses into something they're not... my top three have only one middle pickup, and won't sound much like a J-bass regardless. However I can get all kinds of great P-bass tones by varying technique, EQ, and sometimes OD. FX would add more variety still -- I think it would be cool to add chorus or octave when desired -- I'm just too lazy to bother.
I did. Why? I was agreeing with Ed.
That's nice. Those settings are usually useless IME when I change environments.
Can you honestly tell me that's what you got from what you quoted? If it is, I'll explain it again... maybe reword it.
For YOU. You might pursue a very different sound than I do. I overdrive the amp and crank the mids up while cutting out a little bit of low. I'm not aiming for amplifier transparency at all. You might be the opposite.
No need to get all sarcastic and snippy.
What exactly are YOU smoking?
You quoted a response I made to Ed Friedland by asking me who said anything about gigs. The answer truly was that "I" said something about gigs so your question seemed odd. Was there a point you were trying to make about what I said in reference to Ed?
There's been no sarcasm intended all along. And I keep saying IME which means in my experience and IMO which means in my opinion so of course it means for ME.
What exactly am I missing that you're reading from me?
Edit: I went back and reread what I wrote. The comment you quoted was based on how Ed said he did things. I said I did the same and mentioned that because >>>I<<< do things that way B]I don't have to fight instruments on gigs just to make them sound decent[/B]. Now if there was some way for you to take a comment that clearly had nothing to do with you as sarcasm or anything other than my personal experience...
I don't see it. You are clearly trippin'.
