I have a Bass Max amped through a Hartke 3500A and a delicious Aguilar GS112. I tend to go for the most natural sound I have, which ends up being a "u" shape on my eq. However, this sacrifices volume. How do you guys keep you EQs?
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Double Bass EQ for DB!!!
- Thread starter Greg O
- Start date
Greg O said:
How others set EQ is not likely to be of much help to you. Even assuming we were all after the same sound, which we are not, the variations of EQ settings would still be enormous. Individual basses, pickups, amps, speakers, rooms, etc. all effect EQ settings. Your "U" shape is basically an attempt to compensate for a boomy mid-range. To the degree it reduces perceived loudness, that is a good thing because you don't want that frequency region to be so prominent. You must compensate by turning up the gain.
All of that being said, it does not surprise me that you must set your EQ that way. In fact, IMO, it says that you, indeed, are looking for a natural sound. No offense, but the Bass Max is a very "hot" pickup with an exagerated mid-range. You are trying to use EQ to fight its response. That's always a tough proposition and, unless you have a multi-band (perhaps more than the 10 bands you have) or parametric equalizer, the results will usually not be satisfactory. I believe the Hartke 3500 has a 100 kohm input impedance, which is quite low for a piezo pickup. It would be best to use a pre-amp with an input impedance of no less than 1 Mohm. Still, IMO, that is not likely to give you the "natural" sound you seek.
I submit that if you wish to stay with a bridge wing pickup, then you would be wise to order an RS2 from Upton Bass. You won't believe the difference! The RS2 is also quite tolerant of non-optimal input impedances although I would still suggest that it look into no less than 1 Mohm.
Greg O said:
When you say "natural sound" do you mean the sound you're hearing from where you're playing the bass, or are you talking about the sound which the audience is hearing?
- Wil
If the strings have changed, you would have noticed that in your last gigs too, since they don't change that quick but distributed over a long time period. It is possible that they did and you haven't noticed it before and did in an unusual setting.
But I recommend carrying a set of spare batteries with you. That way you would have been able to exchange them in a case you described an quickly find out if it was the battery that was at its end of life. If you may forget to replace the spare when you needed to use it, better carry two spare sets with you.
BTW, there are nice rechargeable NiMh "ready-to-use" ones available now that hold their charge for several months if not in use. Even 9V blocks are available and real good ones with more than 7.2 or 8.4 volts. They hold as long as an alkaline battery now, maybe even longer.
Get a good recharger for them and you never need to look for batteries when you need to tour around.
But I recommend carrying a set of spare batteries with you. That way you would have been able to exchange them in a case you described an quickly find out if it was the battery that was at its end of life. If you may forget to replace the spare when you needed to use it, better carry two spare sets with you.
BTW, there are nice rechargeable NiMh "ready-to-use" ones available now that hold their charge for several months if not in use. Even 9V blocks are available and real good ones with more than 7.2 or 8.4 volts. They hold as long as an alkaline battery now, maybe even longer.
Get a good recharger for them and you never need to look for batteries when you need to tour around.
Hi folks. Reviving this thread rather than starting a new one, since I'm essentially addressing the same topic.
I'm not much of a knob twirler on the gig. I generally have my sound dialed in but make the occasional adjustments as the room or venue dictates. However, tonight - at what is a semi-regular gig - I found myself futzing with my tone controls quite a bit more than usual. I just wasn't hearing "my sound".
It's been over a year since I replaced my strings. Thought about that. Wondered if the battery in the preamp needed replacing. Through the course of the evening I added or reduced bass, mids, treble and adjusted the HPF up & down.
So, in the interest of satisfying my own curiosity and perhaps learning a thing or two along the way, I'm wondering what my fellow bassists have their EQ or tone controls set at for a typical upright bass gig. By "typical" I mean small group jazz gig, medium to medium-high volume, a fair amount of soloing for the bass player.
I'll get things rolling with my setup and where my EQ is currently at:
Amp - Acoustic Image Clarus
Speaker - Single 12" w/ tweeter
Strings - Zyex medium
Pickup - B-Band D1 (has a built-in preamp in output jack)
EQ:
Bass - 9 or 10:00
Mids - 12:00 (flat)
Treble - 12:00
HPF - anywhere from 9 to 11:00
So, what's up? Who's in? What have ya got?
And thanks.
I think DoubleMIDI is on point. If nothing changed in the room, more/less people, open/closed windows or doors, same positioning, same number of tables and chairs... ah, but that's probably it, they closed the windows Saturday because it was cooler? If it wasn't an environmental change, it could be a battery that's depleted but not quite dead, as DoubleMIDI suggested, but the most likely cause if it's not the windows is your strings because I usually find synthetics - Obligatos, Evahs, Zyex - last about a year before I have to replace them. Spiro's last a lot longer and Chris Fitzgerald has been using the same set of Dominants for years.
