Can't hear highs when rehearsing with a band

[Sagittarius a]

Hi. I've been playing bass off and on for 20 years or more and am starting to get back into it, jamming with a drummer and guitarist. We play mostly rock based stuff and generally pretty load. Currently I'm getting a clear and powerful sound out of notes on the E and A string but as I move up to D and G they become barely audible. I'm using 25 year old Squire Jazz with a 500w Little Mark 3 and 2 x 210 MB cabs. What can I do to get more power and clarity out of the higher notes?

 

[Grumry]

Are your pickups the correct distance from the string?

Are your strings set up properly with the correct height and radius?

Do your strings buzz out and stop vibrating on the higher notes?

 

[AEVAREX]

@Sagittarius a, if your answers to Grumry's post are yes, yes and no, a compressor can help bring the string volumes closer to each other and get you what your looking for. Only other thing that comes to mind is how old are your strings?

 

[Gearhead17]

Are you stacking the cabinets vertically or horizontally? Vertical alignment will result in you hearing the high end much better since the speakers will be closer to your ears.

 

[DirkP]

Are they too low in volume, if it is just you playing? Could be that the frequencies of the guitar "erase" the higher pitch notes on the bass. What are the settings on the Markbass? Do you use the VPF or VLE? I would try it without or with very low settings on the VPF.

 

[Steve Dallman]

My 64 P bass had weak D and G strings...regardless of how I adjusted the pickups. (The pickup hummed a bit too.) I replaced it with a Dimarzio P pickup when they first came out. Problem solved.

I pulled the original Fender pickup out of the junk box 10 years later, and examined it. I found the D and G coil to be underwound compared to the E and A. That was the hum and unbalanced problem. I took off enough wire on the E and A coil to match the D and G, and used it on a friend's bass. No balance or noise problems after matching the coils.

Not the same with a Jazz bass, but perhaps different pickups could help the balance.

 

[Ulf_Hansson]

generally pretty load.

Grumpy old guy here, but could the "pretty loud" part be a hint? When playing at lower volume, does the strings balance better then?

 

[monsterthompson]

Might be worth looking into a new pickup, new strings, a compressor, cabinet type and orientation, overdrive and eq settings, where you stand relative to all sound sources in the room, any combination of the above, and a host of other potential gremlins.

Pickups have various output and voicing combinations. Some are better in a mix than others. Strings can have a significant relation and impact with the pickups.

EQ and overdrive can be helpful and troublesome. Overdrive creates compression, which can help, but sometimes a compressor is better for compression. The compressor could even out the level differences and push a more uniform signal to the amp. Sometimes cutting lows helps the mids and highs show up, as all things are relative and should be considered in proportion. A little overdrive will help things growl. So will picking closer to the bridge.

Different cabs have different dispersion characteristics. Bass frequencies radiate in all directions at once. Higher frequencies will beam from the sound source. If you stand right beside your cab, the lower frequencies will make it to your ears, but the higher ones will beam from the speaker in a more directional way, and you won't hear them as well. If your guitarists or other band mates are also playing frequencies in the range of your bass, you may run into phase cancellation issues, or the brain trying to process the sounds and determine the origin, which may trick you out of "hearing" them from your cab. You might also be getting into coupling issues with floors, walls, and/risers.

There are other gremlins possibly at work here, but these are some of the usual suspects.

 

[s0c9]

question.. how old is the OP?
Quite often ones ability to hear upper frequencies deteriorates greatly with age..
It might be a factor, s'why I'm asking.

 

[Silas Stingy]

A more balanced tone is usually the answer. I follow the same procedure at every set up.
1.Turn the lowest frequency right down on the amp
2. Now play along with the rest of the band and turn up volume until you can hear yourself
3. Now turn the lows up until you fit into the mix. If that doesn't sort the problem then look at pickups.

 

[Sagittarius a]

Thanks for the responses. There's a lot of info that I can relate to and experiment with. In relation to s0c9's response, my wife works with hearing impaired people and she agrees that the hardware in my ears could be wearing out!!! Nah, that can't be it.

 

[StraffordMike]

A more balanced tone is usually the answer. I follow the same procedure at every set up.
1.Turn the lowest frequency right down on the amp
2. Now play along with the rest of the band and turn up volume until you can hear yourself
3. Now turn the lows up until you fit into the mix. If that doesn't sort the problem then look at pickups.

Does this really work? Not to hijack this thread but I find the opposite, I feel the sound guy is pushing the subs too hard and all I hear is this low rumble. Low end becomes one big hum and I can't hear any note distinction. I'll try this since I feel like I'm p-ssing up a rope with my BL. It's so bad I'm not wanting to play out again till it's fixed.

 

[seanm]

Is it with every song, or just some? There are a couple of songs where I have to stay low or I get lost behind the guitars.

 

[Sagittarius a]

Is it with every song, or just some? There are a couple of songs where I have to stay low or I get lost behind the guitars.

Hi Sean. I've been experimenting with a few suggestions made in this thread but it seems that one of the main factors is the higher frequencies clashing with the guitar as you mentioned. The guitarist I'm playing with is using a Musicman 112 with a lot of effects and we play in small rooms. Sonic Youth would be a good example of his style. It's probably when his amp starts to scream that I'm disappearing. Perhaps I need to engage in an arms race and increase my rig.

 

[Lobster11]

Are you stacking the cabinets vertically or horizontally? Vertical alignment will result in you hearing the high end much better since the speakers will be closer to your ears.

Right. If your cabs are blasting the back of your knees, you'll be able to hear the (omnidirectional) lows but not the mids and highs. In that case you might sound great to everyone else; you're the only one in the room who can't hear yourself well.

Which raises the question: Are you judging just by how it sounds to you while on stage, or have you listened to a live recording of the band and confirmed that this is a problem out in the room as well?