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"Cutting Through" on a Bongo

T

Thejamesjordan

Mar 2, 2006
138
3
www.spiderricorock.com
#1
hi guys,

I am in a cover band doing mostly rock/ pop. I am playing a Musicman Bongo, and I was looking for some guidance on how to make my tone "Cut through" a bit more.

I have been told by a few folks that is best to adjust tone on the bass as opposed to through the amp. I am looking for a tone with a good amount of "Attack" like you would get through a Sansamp pedal (Without using Sansamp pedal).

I am assuming the secret lies in the mid range frequency, but I am having trouble dialing it in. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
 
#6
The Sansamp Bass Driver with the EQ knobs at noon and the blend on full actually scoops your mids a considerable amount while fattening up your overall sound, very similar to an SVT; you can, however, dial in quite a bit of 'cut'/attack by boosting the presence knob, which affects a frequency somewhere around 1.5kHz-2kHz.

In my experience, you'll find more 'cut' by boosting by boosting the upper mids somewhere between 800Hz-1.5kHz, and more 'punch' but boosting somewhere between 200Hz-600Hz....A LOT depends on your particular bass, amp and how they interact, but the answer definitely lies in the midrange.

Follow your ears, and enjoy experimenting ;)
 
#7
does rolling the pickup balance back to the bridge pickup a fair bit help?

My experience:

PUs both 50/50: Bass delivers a nice foundation and cushion for the band to ride on
Bridge PU solo or favored: more cut and midrange, more attack and more focused tone. Tone loses bass and gets a tad nasal
Neck PU: broad, open and in your face bass sound like a P.

And don't judge the tone by it's solo performance. Especially the bridge pu heavy tone really shines in a band setting and sounds rather horrible on its own compared to both PUs full.
 
#10
Thejamesjordan said:
Thanks for all of the advice. It is the HH model by the way. I usually favor the neck PU, but perhaps I should try rolling back to the bridge a bit.
Click to expand...

I think this is the way to go. I've had a few HH bongos and have usually found that favoring the bridge pickup a little bit makes a huge difference in how the bass sits in the mix.

Actually, I can't remember a time when I boosted any band of the Bongo on board EQ - I did pretty much everything with the Pickup balance and occasionally cutting an EQ band depending on the room and mix.
 
#11
Here are my common settings for the preamp in my Bongo 6 HH that I like for pop/rock:
(Disclaimer: I am using a SansAmp)

Bass - about 10% down from center detent
Treble - center or 10% down
High Mid - center or 10% up
Low Mid - 10-15% up

So the mids might be the sound you're lacking. For the pickup blend I usually have it on one of two positions: either 20% up or down from center. For some reason I like the tone when the pickups are blended about 70/30 one way or the other. When the rhythm guitar is playing in the lower register with distortion I put it about 70/30 to the neck for smoother deeper tones. Then if the guitar is clean or playing a higher lead then I put it at 70/30 to the bridge to give me a slightly more driving aggressive sound. These settings help me stand out apart from the guitar in the mix.
 
#12
bvdrummer said:
Here are my common settings for the preamp in my Bongo 6 HH that I like for pop/rock:
(Disclaimer: I am using a SansAmp)

Bass - about 10% down from center detent
Treble - center or 10% down
High Mid - center or 10% up
Low Mid - 10-15% up

So the mids might be the sound you're lacking. For the pickup blend I usually have it on one of two positions: either 20% up or down from center. For some reason I like the tone when the pickups are blended about 70/30 one way or the other. When the rhythm guitar is playing in the lower register with distortion I put it about 70/30 to the neck for smoother deeper tones. Then if the guitar is clean or playing a higher lead then I put it at 70/30 to the bridge to give me a slightly more driving aggressive sound. These settings help me stand out apart from the guitar in the mix.
Click to expand...

This is right on the money and where I usually run on eq/blend as well. The only other thing I would add is to keep the amp eq flat or slight cut/boost on low/mid freq's....same as the bass. This will give you a cutting machine like no other.
 

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