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Do you use your "volume" knob?

#41
To the OP:
Your level of send to your effects can have major influence. A distortion might not distort as much, your reverb level will not be the same, dynamic effects will not act as they should, ect.

Using a volume pedal AFTER all the other stuff would be the best way to not mess with the effects but still have control.

Concerning volume and soundchecks:
Please please please start with your bass wide open. Don't sandbag the engineers. One of the biggest complaints I have as an engineer is that most bands do this. They play at about half volume for the entire soundcheck and then come out BLAZING in the beginning of the show. I've come to know this and try to compensate but I just can't be right. It also has a tendency to scare the heck out of the audience and engineers. A soundcheck should be at full volume. If you come down after that, it's okay. You also might wanna tell the engineer that you'll be fiddling with the volume on your instrument so he doesn't think of it as a problem.

Ps. I wonder if that article also talked to Carol's engineers and asked how much that kind of thing ticks them off?
 
#44
Stingray5 said:
I think there's a bit of an overreaction here. The difference between 3/4 and full volume is hardly a 'nightmare' scenario.

Sound men are making adjustments all the time. After the sound check, if he's suddenly got too hot a signal from the bass or hears that it's too loud, he'll simply adjust. I don't really see the problem here. Hey if it makes remainthesame feel like it gives him a better chance of having some oomph in the mix then more power to him.

Personally I am always running at full volume on the bass and make dynamic adjustments with technique.
Click to expand...

+1
 
#45
remainthesame said:
I soundcheck with my bass at about 3/4 of the volume and then when we start to ply i slowly bring it up to full. after that, no i do not touch my volume knob.
Click to expand...

Ahhh, yes - sandbagging the ol' sound man. I do it, too, just in case I need that little extra push over the cliff. Then again, I am the sound man, so who am I trying to kid?
 
#47
I run the volumes at full, and adjust my levels with my technique. It helps to have a very sensitive tube amp. If it's a quiet passage, I'll play softer with my fingers closer to the neck. Louder with a sharper attack, near the bridge with a heavy pick, etc..
 
#49
remainthesame said:
I soundcheck with my bass at about 3/4 of the volume and then when we start to ply i slowly bring it up to full. after that, no i do not touch my volume knob.
Click to expand...

If I were the soundman, I would eventually return the favor...

The sound-person needs to know what your max levels are, for setting gains and compression and what-not. It won't work well if you are messin' with your levels... might even make him angry - you don't want the soundman to be angry.

(I'm assuming that there is a soundman/FOH, if not, game on!)
 
#50
derrico1 said:
Why sandbag the soundcheck levels and risk distorting in the PA until the engineer catches on to your gag?

If your bandmates habitually crank their levels once the first set starts, get whatever extra level you need for monitoring from your stage rig, downstream from the DI send. Better yet, persuade them to knock it off.
Click to expand...

Same here. I keep my volume open so they can set my channel for the max I'll give them and then control it with my playing dynamics. The more you do it the easier it gets.

And controlling your stage volume can make it much easier for the house to control your overall sound.
 
#51
Volume always 100%....always
When playing - Use my clean Boost , and Mid boost from on-board eq for added punch (when needed)
Use my volume on the AMP but use dynamics for volume.

IME....no need to piss off the sound guy by playing at a low volume then turning all the way up later in the night :scowl: you'll always have bad sound or at least a sound guy that doesn't care if you sound good by doing this... yup...reality :eek:
 
#52
remainthesame said:
I soundcheck with my bass at about 3/4 of the volume and then when we start to ply i slowly bring it up to full. after that, no i do not touch my volume knob.
Click to expand...

This is why there's a battle going on between musicians and sound engineers. If you aren't happy with how they mix, why not try communicating with them beforehand? You can either learn to have a little faith in the sound guy and set your volume to 11 where God intended it to be and leave it there, or pull moves like pumping your volume after he is done checking it and continue this war.

Enough blood has been shed.
 
#54
the explode man said:
This is why there's a battle going on between musicians and sound engineers. If you aren't happy with how they mix, why not try communicating with them beforehand? You can either learn to have a little faith in the sound guy and set your volume to 11 where God intended it to be and leave it there, or pull moves like pumping your volume after he is done checking it and continue this war.

Enough blood has been shed.
Click to expand...

works both ways..... have never had a sound guy explain himself. .... but after reading and reviewing this stuff since the last large PA gig, we have a few things to discuss....
 
#55
For me always full volume.
Some of my pedals would not track well (octaver, synth) or give the same effect (overdrive, compressor) if I would vary the volume. I use technique for dynamics.

I sometimes use the volume knob on the bass to mute, but usually use the mute on my EBS Microbass II preamp. That's the last in the chain so mutes everything.

Of course I'll run full volume during soundcheck and don't mess with my levels afterwards. I want the soundmans' job to be as easy as possible, so he can concentrate on the important things.
If I need more of myself in the stage mix, I can always turn up my amp (=glorified personal monitor). That wouldn't affect the FOH much since I usually use DI, but I still always make a conscious effort not to in order to keep stage volume as low as possible.

I like to have a volume knob on my bass though for muting during home practice.
 
#58
I set my stage level during soundcheck. I adjust my volume up or down then depending on feedback from my bandmates, my own ears, and the sound engineer. Then, I never touch my rig for the rest of the gig other than to kick it on stand-by during breaks.

Constantly fiddling with your on-stage volume is just going to drive the engineer bananas and is going to destroy your mix if you're running your own sound.

For dynamic passages, I just adjust my technique and playing style. Unless you're playing a Carvin Bromberg model with those special electronics that retain the exact tone no matter where the volume pot is set, you're effectively killing your tone as well as volume when you run with a volume pot anywhere but on "10" (I'll always have at least one pickup turned the whole way up on a bass with Jazz Bass style electronics). IME, for the most part, a bass isn't like a guitar where you can clean up a tube amp by pulling back the volume and then cracking it on "10" for crunch.
 
#59
Hi,

I usually run wide open on the volume knob. I will adjust the tone knobs as necessary on my active pickups.

I jumped up on stage for a jam session the other night. The regular bass player was using an old P-bass into a vintage Ampeg SVT with a 4-10 cabinet. When I plugged in my bass it was WAY too loud. There was house sound too. I'm sure the FOH guy was a little worried. Rather than mess with his amp settings I just dialed the volume down on my bass and played a few. It was quick and painless.

The only time I use the volume knob is when I have to make quick adjustments like that. Otherwise it's wide open all the time. On the breaks I actually unplug my bass so that it saves the battery.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 

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