• 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.

Does anybody not like onboard EQs?

#41
I think it's all about the specific execution. I think my problem with most active basses is that they start with a very neutral pickup sound and then the EQ is supposed to shape your tone. I hate that. I like my bass to start with a lot of character (like a P-Bass), such that the EQ, if one exists, can hover around 12 o'clock and just add and subtract a little as needed. I also like to have passive bypass for tonal options and extra gig-worthiness. A good neutral EQ shouldn't do much when it's at 12 o'clock.
 
#42
So many companies offer their basses with on-board EQ as a default. I consider that to be a hassle. I decided to alter a bass with relatively renown on-board EQ and make it passive - my way. Take it with a grain of salt.

I shape my tone with the other links in the signal chain instead of using onboard EQ. I've stumbled onto a recipe for G&L basses. So I'll share my idea with the link below. It's not the be all end all but a list of ideas. The L-1505 in the link is mine and has absolutely no G&L electronics (except for the bridge ground wire and the MFD's). I do use a treble bleed cap on the volume pot for quieting the tone. Otherwise, I play it with the volume full up. I've owned a L-2000 and although they do sound great, I can assure you that the non-onboard EQ mods I made are a vast improvement. This bass sounds really, really, really great. It sounds like a G&L L series bass unharnessed. And I use the word "unharnessed" because the MFD pickups are so hot and full that they sound a whole heck of a lot better (to me) with a very, and I mean very simple wiring scheme. I like everything about G&L's except their onboard EQ.

bassesbyleo • View topic - My gig tested L-1505 with lots of modifications

 
#44
I never use them. Seems like I can get most of the tone adjustment I need on a gig by moving my right hand. I have one active bass, but I seem to always have the EQ flat.

Anyway - on-board EQ, maybe an EQ in your pedal chain, EQ at the amp, EQ in the FOH. How many do you need?
 
#46
Depends on the bass for me. I tend to gravitate towards passive basses but I do have two actives that love. One active is my SR1205 which has an active/passive switch, the other is a Fender Jazz Okoume bass. The SR1205 doesn't sound so great in passive mode but really shines in active mode. Most of the time I play my Precision or my SG. So the correct answer for me is that it depends on the bass and that choice is dictated by the gig.
 
#47
Altitude said:
I never use them. Seems like I can get most of the tone adjustment I need on a gig by moving my right hand.
Click to expand...

#1.

I don't mean to keep bagging on actives or people who play them. It's a personal preference thing, not a "right or wrong" thing.

But between your playing technique, WHERE on the instrument you are playing, amp settings, pedals, etc., and FoH as Will mentioned above, I just don't see much point or facility to onboard stuff. Again--for ME, personally.

But I'm kind of a cavemen player anyway, as far as gear. I'd like to think I have at lest a modicum of talent for playing, but I'm largely bass--->amp, sometimes with a pedal or two.

Some players like tretless 9 strings with a whammy bar and active EQ and a pedalboard the size of Pittsburg. It's all good.
 
#50
I have a 6-string active/passive bass. I find that when I run it passive (all it has for passive mode is volume. The rest is flat), I can get some massive tone out of it if I EQ my amp right. I won't say that I always keep it that way...I actually don't use it that way all that much...but I like having the option.
 
#52
I generally dislike having multiple EQ sections in my signal path. And when I do have one, I prefer a graphic. Of course, I'm weird, in that I like to have the broadest possible range of frequency response available in my setup, so I can shape it to my heart's desire.
 
#53
FatboyJ115 said:
Just like the title says... Does anybody not not like onboard EQs? I feel its more annoying than it helps. like even when considering basses I try to avoid ones with 3 band EQs built in. I guess I just hate having so many options. Just, Too many knobs for me, I even took all the knobs off my sr300 except for a volume. I prefer the simple lay out of a P-Bass.

I'm really not sure how to explain this anymore but I'm just making sure I'm not alone on this. :bag:
Click to expand...

I'm with you. All of my favorite bassists played passive basses, and so do I.
 
#54
I like em but really prefer an active/passive bass. Gives me a lot of control. I play ampless a lot and I always want eq that the soundguy/venue can't take away from me. I never use passive tone anyway I run it full on 97% of the time
 
#57
I like the predictable plug and play aspect of a stock, passive P-Bass with the volume and tone controls wide open and the desired tone dialed in on the amp. I've been experimenting with a Barber Linden EQ stomp box which is essentially the Baxandall EQ section of an Ampeg B-15. I'm using it as a preamp into the Line In jack on my Ashdown ABM500 EVO II head into a Schroeder 1x15 and it just kills … STRAIGHT WIRE, BABY!!! … as simple as simple gets, yet it spits out a classic, pure sounding P-Bass thud that sounds right at home just about anywhere.
 
  • Like
Reactions: M.R. Ogle and Geri O
#58
I had a J copy with passive pickups. After a year I finally pulled the trigger on a Bartonlini 18V system. Had to rout out a control and battery cavity in the bck and drill 2 more holes for the extra pot shafts. Now, I couldn't be without it. Before I found myself using the EQ on my amp more, but now I just set that (standard V shape, skewed toward the bass end, scooped mids and a little treble), with the bass boost and treble knobs about half. Anything I need to adjust I can adjust on the bass without having to stop playing and turn around to my amp.

Have an EQ and preamp on my Gibson-Epiphone acoustic electric guitar, and its great! Three band parametric, with a brightness slider/feedback control. That was my first on board, and after getting used to it (couple days, maybe a week) I can dial it in.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back