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Can you please attenuate that tweeter?!?

#21
The diplomatic way would be along these lines:

"I think we are overlapping into each other's frequency range. I'm going to back off my low frequencies, if you can turn down your tweeter we should have a better, clearer sound."

Or, when he's not looking, turn off the tweeter,then compliment him on his great new tone. :)
 
#22
setyaback said:
So has anyone ever been asked this lovely question, and how did you respond? I feel uneasy about making specific "sound" requests from my band members, but I'm at my wits end here.

I'm a bass player and a guitarist, play in two different bands. In the band where I play guitar, the bassist is fantastic except for his love of the tweeter. We're an indie/garage rock trio and I just want the bass to sit low and stay out of the upper frequencies. I feel like we'd sound so much better and more balanced if he would cut the tweeter. So much clickety-clackety fret noise.
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This agrees with you Live bass sound tips
A tweeter in any project I have been in would cause noise, the reason I do not use them
 
#24
sevdog said:
The tweeter knob is on the back of his cab right? Get him to leave the room and turn it off yourself. $100 says he doesn't notice and he may even decide he somehow sounds better than before.
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That's ridiculous. Just slip an ice pick up your sleeve and when he's looking down to adjust a pedal, let it slide down into your hand and, with one fluid motion, drive it thru the metal grill into the offending driver. Get the timing right and he'll think he did it while tweaking the chain.

Riis
 
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#25
sevdog said:
The tweeter knob is on the back of his cab right? Get him to leave the room and turn it off yourself. $100 says he doesn't notice and he may even decide he somehow sounds better than before.
Click to expand...

I remember a difficult singer that had a love affair with awkward keys (like D#) and simply 'couldn't sing' in E, we told him that we met earlier and de-tuned our guitars and bass a semi-tone just for his voice. Suddenly singing in E was 'no problem at all' . Moral of the story, never underestimate the power of the placebo.
 
#26
Quilbert said:
I remember a difficult singer that had a love affair with awkward keys (like D#) and simply 'couldn't sing' in E, we told him that we met earlier and de-tuned our guitars and bass a semi-tone just for his voice. Suddenly singing in E was 'no problem at all' . Moral of the story, never underestimate the power of the placebo.
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So, if I were the bass player in question, I'd tell the OP that I turned it down while leaving it exactly where it was, and go with that placebo effect. Come to think of it, I believe I've done exactly that with our guitarist....hmmm, are you sure you aren't our guitarist?
 
#28
Wow, great variety of responses here -- thanks everyone.

I would never turn it down on my own, especially without ever even mentioning to him that it's an issue. If someone did that to me I'd probably walk out.

@David Jayne is right -- I guess it has a 50% chance of going over well, depending on his maturity and psyche. I don't know him well enough to predict, but I don't necessarily have any reason to believe he'll react negatively. Especially if I couch it in a way that implies I'm open to adjusting my own amp as well.
 
#29
I said what I said because we musicians are some of the most thin-skinned, insecure yet at the same time most egotistical people on earth. :D It can be tough sometimes. I gave up worrying about it years ago and now I just let the fur fly. But then, I'll be fifty in June and don't have time for this crap anymore. Now get off my lawn, it's my ball now.
 
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#30
I would go with the direct approach:

"Hey, I'm really enjoying partnering with you as a musician. As a whole, we sound very good, but I think we could sound even better; the guitar frequencies are occupying, and muddying, some of the upper frequencies the bass is putting out. Do you think we could try attenuating the tweeter? That way, the bass will occupy a sonic space all on its own and it will actually IMPROVE clarity and note definition, while allowing the guitar to contrast with and play off of that sound. If you don't like it, we can always brainstorm other solutions. I think that this will sound great though!"

Try to not use the word "but." It makes everything you've said before it seem disingenuous. Opt instead for a slight pause while maintaining eye contact. :)
 
#31
Pacman said:
And how would you react if someone did that to you?
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This, it would be really interesting if the other bass player start a thread: Guitar player does not like my sound and wants me to turn the tweeter off. I can see the answers: what he knows, bass is not only about low frequencies, if he ever touch the tweeter on my cab I will smash his head with my P that weights 11 pounds..etc
 
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#32
setyaback said:
So has anyone ever been asked this lovely question, and how did you respond? I feel uneasy about making specific "sound" requests from my band members, but I'm at my wits end here.

I'm a bass player and a guitarist, play in two different bands. In the band where I play guitar, the bassist is fantastic except for his love of the tweeter. We're an indie/garage rock trio and I just want the bass to sit low and stay out of the upper frequencies. I feel like we'd sound so much better and more balanced if he would cut the tweeter. So much clickety-clackety fret noise.
Click to expand...
I might suggest trying it out but wouldn't word it as an open request as suggested in the title.
If asked to I'd try it out and see if it sounds better, which it might.
 
#33
The thing about bass sometimes if your standing next to a (physically) low amp you can hear the full sound. I bet if he stood back from the amp (say 10 feet) hes probably hear the clickety clack you can hear.? worth a try.

I know that any band I've been in, we tell each other straight out if our sound is bad in rehearsal, how else are you going to improve?

When I think back on some of the bass lines I played and I thought were cool at the time that were actually totally goofy, I think to myself , 'I wish somebody told me'.
 
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#34
David Jayne said:
I said what I said because we musicians are some of the most thin-skinned, insecure yet at the same time most egotistical people on earth. :D It can be tough sometimes. I gave up worrying about it years ago and now I just let the fur fly. But then, I'll be fifty in June and don't have time for this crap anymore. Now get off my lawn, it's my ball now.
Click to expand...

Amen...the biggest cause of bands breaking up is egos.
 
#35
Quilbert said:
The thing about bass sometimes if your standing next to a (physically) low amp you can hear the full sound. I bet if he stood back from the amp (say 10 feet) hes probably hear the clickety clack you can hear.? worth a try.

I know that any band I've been in, we tell each other straight out if our sound is bad in rehearsal, how else are you going to improve?

When I think back on some of the bass lines I played and I thought were cool at the time that were actually totally goofy, I think to myself , 'I wish somebody told me'.
Click to expand...
I had this with a guitarist, his Strat into a Fender Twin ice pick tone was perforating my eardrums. He maintained there was nothing wrong with it so I suggested he walked over to where I was stood, he soon changed his attitude and brought an amp stand where he could angle it to point at his head not mine. Problem solved.

I know I went through the clickity clackity phase when I got my first bass cab with a tweeter, fortunately for all concerned it did not last long. In that band each of us stood with our amp pointing at ourself, not blasting past our knees to the ears of others so I was the main person to suffer it..
 
#37
pedroims said:
This, it would be really interesting if the other bass player start a thread: Guitar player does not like my sound and wants me to turn the tweeter off. I can see the answers: what he knows, bass is not only about low frequencies, if he ever touch the tweeter on my cab I will smash his head with my P that weights 11 pounds..etc
Click to expand...
Right. I'd probably say some variation of what the guy in the black jacket said:
 
#40
After a little more experimenting, I have to chime in and say that @DiabolusInMusic and @jive1, have probably hit the nail on the head.

I spent some solo time at our rehearsal space last weekend and again last night. I turned the tweeter off and plugged his P-bass, intent to prove myself right. It sounded "better" with the tweeter cut, but still not "great." There was still a noticeable amount of trebly click clacking happening. I tested the tweeter at various levels and, to be honest, it really didn't make an enormous difference unless turned up to -2db or so. He typically keeps it on -4.

I brought my SG bass in last night and plugged it in, just out of curiosity. Sounded amazing. Deep and full and punchy, great spectrum of frequencies without the harsh high end noise and clacky stuff. And get this -- I even found that I almost LIKED a bit of the horn mixed in, albeit a bit lower at about -6db. With just the bridge pickup and some nice pick attack it was grinding away right on the edge of overdrive. With the neck pickup mixed in the big fat bottom end just kind of blossoms out into the room and blows you away.

So it's not the amp; and it's not the cabinet; it's not his technique (my playing is very different form his, but with his P I still get the clack); so i guess it's the setup. Which actually makes it a harder thing to tackle, unfortunately. He has a variety of basses and I've noticed the clackiness on each of them. I'm not very experienced with bass setups so I don't really know what the cause is. The action doesn't feel absurdly low, but it's definitely lower than I play.

At any rate, I feel much less comfy asking him to adjust his setup, which seems like more of a personal choice. This band is just for fun, not making any money or even trying to -- so I'll just have to learn to deal. Have to say though, I just don't get the appeal of that sound.
 

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