Do you set it and forget it at gigs?

[JGbassman]

My amp settings are pretty much set the same, I'll adjust a little for the room, but about the only thing I'll change during a show is the volume, maybe roll a little treble off if the sound is too brite.

Most smaller shows I run the sound from my iPad, so I'm able to get a pretty good bass sound when I'm tweaking the pa (multiple subs, mids, horns) so by the time I'm done I'm pretty happy with the sound. Stage is mostly monitor. During bigger shows with an engineer and longer throw stages, I have the luxury to focus on my bass tone, and will dial a little of this or that into my stage mix during the first few songs. Playing mostly passive p basses and jazzes, I never have a bad sound.

 

[wizerd]

I'll tweak the blend and tone knob to suit the tune, or my mood, then I'm fiddling the volume knob to the point where I can hear without catching stink eye from the singer.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I buy my amps in part because of their versatility and I love playing around with gain and eq at home, but find that I get my sound at a venue and never look back again. I rarely even touch my bass controls on some gigs! How about you?

Pretty much I’m a set and forget it player. I almost never mess with the controls on my bass. My Warwick is set at flat and both pickups on full. If I’m playing my Fender PJ, both volumes are wide open and the tone is open as well. The EQ on the amp with both basses is flat with a slight bump up at about 150-200hz.

Anything else I need from tone changes, to volume levels a done with the fingers, thumb, and where I’m plucking the strings and how hard I’m plucking.

 

[MegaSwing]

I tweak for the space. Every one is different. The challenge is to sound strong and clear without being too loud or boomy. IME, what sounds good at home never sounds good at the gig. Then, I make one volume adjustment, usually during the first song, and there it stays—unless I change instruments. I refuse to play the 'volume wars' game.

 

[jmon]

I have a wireless so I walk out front during our sound check song. (Usually an improv 12 bar blues). I tweak to the room a bit. Once we start I’ll roll back the tone on my P for fatter stuff. Sublime ect. And roll it up for the more grindy stuff. Start off at a reasonable volume and slowly bring it up if needed. I use in ears since I sing so much so I put my trust in my band mates if they walk out front and think I need a little more or less of something.

 

[Element Zero]

My amp I set and forget. On my basses, I change stuff up depending on what type of tone the song calls for.

 

[2F/2F]

Generally I don't mess with it. There's one or two songs that need more treble, so I turn it up on those (when we choose to play them).

 

[BadExample]

This issue has been addressed, subsequently resulting in the design and existence of foot pedals, since Bible times

Jesus loves bass.

 

[Munjibunga]

Yes. I use the pickup blend and a little EQ on the bass if I need to change anything.

 

[EMoneySC2]

Set and forget as much as possible. I'm even in that mode with my pedalboard to the point where I'm thinking about transitioning my pedals to a small rack case with a pull out shelf.

 

[Runnerman]

Don't change amp or bass eq settings at all. Just pedals. I have a couple songs I change the channel on my Sansamp and a couple songs I use the Micropog on the chorus but that's it.

 

[two fingers]

I have a bass with a P bass pickup at the neck and a dual coil... sort of like two jazz pickups stuck together.... at the bridge.

I set my amp and leave it.

I dime my tone knob all night (passive bass).

I use the P pickup only 60-70% of the time. And sometimes I use the P bass pickup and the other pickup in either single, series or parallel.

So, pickup selector and fingers only after sound check for me.

(I do run a few pedals for mild dirt and fuzz and octave.)

 

[Woofer]

Dial it in during sound check or the first tune or two, then it's autopilot the rest of the night.

 

[Stumbo]

Dial it in for the room. Tweak with the 3 band active bass eq. depending on the song. Mostly leave it alone.

 

[WI Short Scaler]

I run our PA, 3 pc group, and our lights while playing bass and singing. So my amp is generally tweak for the stage and leave the amp the rest of the night.

 

[40Hz]

I dial in for the room and mostly leave things alone after that. I might make a minor adjustment after the place fills up (ha! yeah right) and there are bodies on the dance floor. But even then it’s usually not necessary. After a lot of years I’m pretty good at nailing my settings during sound check.

FWIW I’m personally of the opinion that an audience is far more willing to put up with a less than ideally adjusted amp than they are with someone up on stage who fiddles with their amp settings all night long.

 

[ezstep]

Mostly I uses a P/J, and I set the amp, get a sound check, volume check, and then I rarely touch the amp again. However, for some old sounds, I roll back the J, and for more modern sounds I roll up the J and back off the P. But, touch the amp? Almost never.

 

[dls119]

I set and forget the amp.
I tweak my Jazz Bass pickup blending tons during a set depending on which song we're playing.
I have a Sansamp Bass Fly Rig pedal and can do quick tweaks to the pedal EQ if needed, but it's rare.
If I need a different tone I can usually get there with my fingers or by turning down the bridge/neck pickups.

I play in a Cover Band that covers everything from Beatles to newer songs from the past 2-3 years. Versatility is important. Stage presence is important. Can't hype up the crowd if I'm back at my amp tweaking knobs.

I also use a bass fly rig - what do your settings look like?

 

[five7]

I have to do it quickly as we go right into the next song. I know the controls well on my 800+ so I can make some before the down beat.

 

[bordinco90]

I set all my knobs on my Hartke KB15 flat. On my Warmoth P Bass, depending on how fresh the strings are, I usually set my tone knob at about 70%. As the strings get more and more dead, I just leave the tone knob all the way up. I get a great sound using this method and with the bass/amp combo.