Here is the eq tutorial I promised.
Let me preface this by saying it is NOT a tone tutorial. There are thousands of tutorial videos online already. This tutorial is about sound reinforcement. This tutorial will give you a way to find and correct flaws in rooms using what you have. Every room is different. Thats why we cant share settings with each other. I will give you the tools to find and correct imbalances in your tone using 2 basic techniques. More importantly, I will share which method to use and when and how to instantly know the difference to be able to get to something approaching an acoustically balanced sound, so that things dont fall apart when you play somewhere unfamiliar.
Who this is for.
If you can tune a room by ear or work FOH for a living this will likely be pretty useless to you. Feel free to move on. If you find yourself unsure of how to approach your eq with purposeful intention, if you run a lot of effects and want those affects to behave logically from room to room or if you just want better, more consistent sound, read on, I will attempt to share my method for laying a solid foundation to build your tone on.
There is no magic here. A clear, powerful tone comes from balance. You can push the boundaries but a balanced sound will always be the most versatile.
To start you will need some information about your gear. Being honest, how many of you actually know all the specific center frequencies for every eq knob you have?
This works best with an eq that can be used specifically for correcting the room. Ideally that eq will be last in the chain. Weather it be a pedal or your amps eq. Having a dedicated eq strictly for room correction will allow your settings on all effects and instruments that come before the eq to not have to be adjusted as much when you change rooms or venues. This can be done with your amps eq but a good graphic is better. A parametric best.
Personally I have 3 sweep-able mid bands available at all times.
Whatever EQ you intend to use, you will need to know its center frequencies for every dial or fader. This is critical. If you do not know them you will be shooting in the dark. This method is going to use your gear to tell you exactly which frequencies need adjusting.
Now that all of that is out the way, Lets go.
First thing. There are 3 major types of flat when dealing with audio. Mechanically flat (all knobs at neutral) , Electrically flat (your gears signal in the electrical system)and acoustically flat (a flat response coming from your speakers).
Turn yourself up to the volume you intend to play with all eq set to mechanically flat (all eq knobs set to neutral, usually 12 oclock.) Because of the way human hearing works, we hear frequency different at different volume levels. If you want to know more about that, google fletcher munsin.
Once you are at playing volume, eq set to flat , sequentially start playing down your E string 0ne note after another.
Ignore any desire to adjust tone at this time. You are strictly listening for evenness .
Every note we play has a specific frequency as its fundamental. We are listening for notes that are stronger than others or notes losing power.
If while you are playing down the string you hit a single note that loses power in the bottom end, you are in a null or cancellation. So if at any time the sequence of notes sounds like this, Strong/weak/Strong you need to make an adjustment. You have 3 options. Move your cab, move yourself in relation to the cab or try to eq. Unless you have an adjustable Q eq you need to move the cab. Eqs made for adjusting tone just arent surgical enough to dig in to narrow frequency bands. Even if you have an adjustable q eq, you cannot eq up a true null. The sound is bouncing back on its self in a way that is causing it to cancel itself. Simply changing the angle the cab is facing can correct most of the issue.
Make your adjustment to the cab and continue playing down the E string until you arent getting any sudden jumps in power from note to note. Its ok if notes gradually get louder or softer, thats what eq is for. We just dont want a sudden dip between notes. If you are having trouble hearing the deviations, you can roll off your highs and boost your bass for that part.
Once you are happy with cab placement, its time to move on to eq. If you have reached a point where you can run all the way down your e string and the notes stay balanced, you have found your sweet spot. Any eq you do from there is purely personal choice. If some notes are still stronger than others, you can apply some eq.
Here is how to find the frequencies you need to eq. I like to start with peaks.
Every note we play has a fundamental frequency. E for example is about 82hz. 1 octave up on the E (the 12th fret) is about 164hz. The 24th fret is about 328hz. It doubles in frequency for every octave.
Here is a chart that gives the frequency per note.
View attachment 3450400 Open E is E2 in this chart. E at the 12 fret is E3 in the chart.
So doing some quick math we know if we have a volume spike at A,thats 110 hz, or one of its harmonics which are just multiples. 110, 220, 330, etc. I dont look up the exact number. No one wants to do that. I know that e is 82 hz and its first octave is 164. so if i have a volume spike at the 5 or 6 th fret i know the frequency im looking for is about right in the middle of those 2, or about 120 hz in the bass region or 240 hz if its too much low mid.
The way to find the specific frequency to be cut is to play the notes sequentially. If we have aligned our cab properly, the note will gradually get louder. we are looking for the loudest note. That notes corresponding frequency is the frequency we should be attenuating. After doing this a couple times, it becomes instinctive and you will no longer need any math. You will quickly learn which note equals what frequency by ear.Once you have removed the peaks, play down the fretboard again, this time listening for dips. If any dip is found, find the weakest note and adjust its corresponding frequency up until the weak spot fills in. Once satisfied with your low end and low mids and you have achieved a good note to note consistency, you can adjust your high mids and highs to taste. I suggest starting by balancing them to the lows and cutting what you dont like from there.
I never do this past the A string. As bass players, the amount of upper mids and highs we use are just too personal and often change heavily. You can absolutely apply this to the other strings if you chose. I only use it to make sure I dont have vanishing notes and so that i have a solid low end. From here, knowing you have a well balanced low end, you can proceed to shaping your tone how you see fit on any eq up stream. if you get in the habit of doing this, your tone will be much more consistent from room to room and you can rest knowing the power region in your bass is solid. I do recommend checking after your personal tone adjustments that you havent damaged your low end by playing down the E string again. If you have some bad peaks or dips, you may want to adjust your tone.
Though that was a very long winded post, in practice it takes about 2 minutes. Hopefully this all makes sense and you guys can understand the reasoning behind it.
Im not good at explaining through text. I will edit it for simplification when I have more time.
My personal strategy is to elevate the speaker and aim it at my ears. I want to hear the direct full range the speaker produces. But not everyone likes hear the full range of the bass. I get the impression that many only want to hear up to about 400-700hz or so.
