• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

cutting thru the mix----huh?

USAJO

USAJO

Apr 13, 2005
1,137
1,480
#1
I read all the time about an amp really cutting thru the mix. This baffles me. I can't imagine any amp that the EQ isn't capable of tweaking to get the bass to "cut through the mix".
I believe most people have a sound in their head that they believe is what a bass should sound like. You give them 10 different heads and with in 30 minutes they will have each amp sounding similar and as close to the sound they have in their head as they can.
The exception to this would be going from an all tube head to a hybrid or SS amp. Then you could possibly tweak knobs for a week and not get a similar tone.
So for me when I hear a person say they just bought the "amp du jour" and it really cuts thru the mix I'm baffled. Is it that someone had snapped the treble and mid knobs off of your old amp? ;););)
 
#2
Personally, I believe a lot of the whole 'cutting through the mix' thing has more to do with the bass used than the amp. The amps voicing can help, but not so much as the type/position of a pickup. For example, a Stingray will always cut harder than a Jazz through the same amp. Same with a Thumb against a Precision. To be honest, I've never really heard or played an amp that can't cut through providing the bass in question is voiced that way.
 
#4
USAJO said:
I read all the time about an amp really cutting thru the mix. This baffles me. I can't imagine any amp that the EQ isn't capable of tweaking to get the bass to "cut through the mix".
Click to expand...
Yeah, you'd think so, but look at all the albums that have been released over the years where the bass is totally lost in the mix.

USAJO said:
I believe most people have a sound in their head that they believe is what a bass should sound like.
Click to expand...
That's true, but getting the tone you want to get with your bass and then mixing that sound with a bunch of other instruments are two different things.
 
#6
needmoney said:
Personally, I believe a lot of the whole 'cutting through the mix' thing has more to do with the bass used than the amp. The amps voicing can help, but not so much as the type/position of a pickup. For example, a Stingray will always cut harder than a Jazz through the same amp. Same with a Thumb against a Precision. To be honest, I've never really heard or played an amp that can't cut through providing the bass in question is voiced that way.
Click to expand...

/\ he said it
 
#7
Thunder Pulse said:
look at all the albums that have been released over the years where the bass is totally lost in the mix.
Click to expand...

That's a separate issue though, in a recording studio the EQ has zip to do with the bass player or the settings on his stage amp, being lost in a recorded mix is entirely the fault of the engineer.

My take on the OP's point is that most bassists have no idea how to slot themselves into the EQ range that will project them best, and the flavor-of-the-day amps that "cut" so well are just pre-voiced a little better for stage use than whatever their old amp was.
 
#8
Yes, you're both right regarding the recording issue. Regarding each individual having an idea in their head about what a bass should sound like.... if a person is a fingerstyle player and likes the nice smooth of flatwounds but wants to play in a band with massively detuned and overdriven guitars, he's gonna have a problem. A person can have a particular way they like a bss to sound when they're playing it by itself, but that sound might not mix/gel with other instruments in a band situation depending on what those other instruments are.
 
#12
Isn't this really the same issue raised in the post "markbass review", in which the amp played alone sounds hollow and weak, yet in the mix sounds great?

Cutting Through meaning, EQ levels set so that the bass sound is not competing with the other instruments, or in other words, the bass player can hear the sound of his/her own bass despite the rest of the band?

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=403207
 
#14
My take on it is slightly different. To me an amp's voice is what it sounds like when all the knobs are set to their respective flat positions. The EQ knobs should be used to adjust for room acoustics in such a way that you maintain the amp's voice (i.e. flat tone). This isn't a be-all-end-all type rule, but I think its a good way to maintain a constant tone from one gig to the next. If you rely on a massively tweaked EQ in order to get your tone out of the amp, the wrong room could make it impossible to dial in your tone.

If everyone played a GK 2001RB none of this would be a problem :p I KID! I KID! :D
 
#15
Surly said:
Like Tim Taylor says: more power!!
Click to expand...

I think I'll have to agree with this one... with all the other factors involved, if you got enough power, you'll be heard and not be competing with anyone... you'll just have to "turn down". :D

It just sucks we as bassists will need a minimum (IMO) of double the guitarists (hopefully just one) power in order to cut through effectively w/o too much effort.
 
#16
If the issue was raised in a Markbass review thread, I'm trying to avoid posting Markbass specific threads and may have missed it.(they tend to get closed or deleted) I like to read others views compared to mine. Sometimes it opens my eyes to different ideas, sometimes it reaffirms what I think.
I would like like to know what solid state head is similar to an all tube head. I haven't heard it yet. My WT-400 with an SABDDI got in the ballpark but not really close.
 
#18
USAJO said:
I would like like to know what solid state head is similar to an all tube head.
Click to expand...

I've found that GK's current line of heads can get a nice range of tones similar in characteristics and behavior to an all-tube amp. The cabinet you run it through also makes a difference.

It doesn't cop everything an all-tube amp can do (no solid-state amp I've ever used can), but for what I play, I'd rather have an SS amp. :)
 
#19
I'd say the problem is more psychological than not, and it's on 2 levels:-

* The perception that the flatter the EQ is on your amp, the batter your rig is..... or as I call it, EQ'ing with your eyes instead of your ears.
* The tone you've used to cut through the mix didn't sound good when soloed or when you're playing on your own. I don't understand why that even matters unless of course you're doing gigs solo....which I don't.
 
#20
The cabs can make a HUGE difference ...

How a cab is "voiced" and what drivers it uses driver size etc:

Not everyone gets to go through the PA, and even when you do the cab is a producer of sound the FOH should be a re-producer. I got to play through a 37 year old Acoustic Control 360 cab last week, a very different from what I usually use. The 360s being more like a modern sub bin. Makes you think twice about just trusting the sound guy with just a DI

;) ... It all matters bass, head and cab.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back