Changing Bass Guitar Instrument Settings During a Gig

[easyj]

I am not sure this is in the correct forum, but I have a question regarding bass instrument settings during live performance, and I decided that it might be a question of technique.

When playing live, do you prefer to dial in your bass guitar knobs/switches for one good tone and leave it? Do you have just a few settings that you switch between and always try to make those work? Do you always make changes and try to adjust for every song?

 

[JTE]

Pretty much tweaking for the room, the song, etc. through the night. Passive, active, a lot of the tweaks are in the right-hand attack. But nothing is stagnant.

 

[ba55i5t]

I'll usually cut lows (ie up to 80hz and under) and use the pickup selector to go between tones. I keep right hand in one spot, but moving that around can get different tones too.

 

[MalcolmAmos]

Someone in the band is the sound guy. He/she will do a sound check before the performance. Once the sound person is happy with your settings leave them alone. If the song needs something else they will do it from the back of the room.

 

[ArtechnikA]

When playing live, do you prefer to dial in your bass guitar knobs/switches for one good tone and leave it? Do you have just a few settings that you switch between and always try to make those work? Do you always make changes and try to adjust for every song?

I dial in the amp (or PA EQ if I am ampless) to suit the room and I leave that alone.
I tinker with bass EQ and pickup balance as the song requires.
Some songs need more "P-Bass / upright" vibe and they get more neck pickup and less treble.
Some are rockers and need more treble, a touch more mids, and more bridge pickup.
I turn down for quiet songs and up for loud ones...
It's no different than effects.
I step on what's needed when it's needed, and I turn them off when they're not. Two pedals help define 'my sound' and are always on. The others are usually there for a particular sound in one or two songs.
If all your songs sound the same, one setting will do.

 

[two fingers]

Passive bass with master volume and tone, P bass pickup at the neck and dual coil soapbar at the bridge. Three way selector for neck/both/bridge and three way selector for series/single/parallel for the bridge pickup. I leave volume and tone wide open. I play with the neck pickup solo a little more than half the time. The rest of the time I switch to both pickups with the bridge in either series or parallel.

The differences are enough to make a difference, but sublte enough to keep things consistent for the sound guy.

 

[Andrew Moss]

Someone in the band is the sound guy. He/she will do a sound check before the performance. Once the sound person is happy with your settings leave them alone. If the song needs something else they will do it from the back of the room.

I agree with this if I know/trust the sound guy. They aren’t necessarily professionals all the time though.

 

[BassAndReeds]

I also agree with the set it and forget it principle. I've tried just changing blend on my bass before, with poor results. Multiple venues. Now I just set it beginning if the gig and don't touch it.

 

[HauntedDave]

Set it and forget it. I've got my basses and amp heads married to make the tone I need and the crowd deserves. If the song commands a different tone/style, I alter where I play between the neck and bridge, and also the attack I use with my pick/fingers. Think of this as my orchestral approach.

 

[lz4005]

I am not sure this is in the correct forum, but I have a question regarding bass instrument settings during live performance, and I decided that it might be a question of technique.

When playing live, do you prefer to dial in your bass guitar knobs/switches for one good tone and leave it? Do you have just a few settings that you switch between and always try to make those work? Do you always make changes and try to adjust for every song?

Every band, and every set list is different.
I've been in bands where I use the same sound all night long. And others where I needed to make subtle changes for half the songs we played.
My current band has two songs in the set where I need a very different tone. On two pickup or active basses I can do that with knob settings. If I'm playing a single pickup bass I do it with an EQ pedal.

 

[jamro217]

Depends on the gig, venue, set list, FOH, basses used, changes to room acoustics, and other band members. If it's the normal dive bar gig, I usually use a P bass and adjust it as needed. Smaller, more intimate settings with no PA, takes a bit more subtle tone shaping. Playing technique is the method most used there, but occasional dial turning is required. Studio work, regardless of basses used (all passive), everything dimed. EQ is the engineer's job. Outdoor gigs are the trickiest with the most variation in conditions. I try not to step on the FOH's toes, but sometimes you have no choice, especially with monitors.

 

[Monkey]

I play fretless basses I built myself, and my main basses use two passive humbuckers with a 3-way pickup selector switch, master volume, and master tone. My volume pot is always on full, and the tone control is on full 90% of the time. I use the pickup selector a lot, often switching to the bridge pickup for solos (I'm playing mostly in a jazz trio these days and solo a lot). I would estimate that I use the neck pickup alone about 50% of the time, and the bridge pickup alone or both about 25% each. I change plucking-hand positions a lot, as well, from way up by the 12th fret (I play a lot of reggae!) to over the bridge pickup. I also use effects occasionally, so I definitely like changing up my sound on a gig.

Soundpeople must hate me.......