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EQ Help?

hey i use a Hartke Kickback 12 combo (120 watt) and it comes with a "unique shape control" that changes the sound and gives "different tonal options", not sure what this means but i do kno it shows what i think is different frequency levels that could be enhanced with the control. also the shape control can be enabled or non-enabled with a switch on the amp. it also has a simple 3 eq knob set (bass, mid, treble). currently i have the shape off and bass and treble at +4 and mid at +2 (these controls range from -15 to +15). I like lots of different types of tones, anywhere from Geddy Lee sounding or John Entwistle or Kris Novoselic to a round deep sound (cant think of any bassists off the top of my head with that type of tone). In other words, i like many sounds whether trebley and bright to warm and deep. I was wondering if anyone could give me different eq presets that produce different sounds (including the shape control if u kno how it works). thanks so much for ur time and advice.
 
I just run everything flat in pretty much every amp I use. Maybe I'll turn a tweeter off or roll off some extreme treble, but flat always works for me to get a wide range of sounds.
 
I'm not sure what speaker cone is this hartke uses. But i think is a Alu cone. This is what i don't like about Aluminum Cone Hartke amps. I try this combo in the shop, no matter how i EQ the amp for my bass, it is always clanky and trebly. If you like this sound for John Ent, then you much better off getting a ashdown.

But back to your question:

+1 on above post about setting all EQ flat, and tweak when needed to see do you need cut or boost etc
 
I use the Kickback 12 as my practice amp and I like it very much for that purpose. Although I'm also a "set it flat" kinda guy, I experimented with that "unique shape control" quite a bit and found that it colored the tone way too much for my liking. It essentially does what it says: boosts the hell out whatever frequency range you have selected. I find the normal 3 band on the amp works better and sounds more natural.

And although it does have the aluminum cone, I don't think this little combo gets too brittle for my tastes (whereas other Hartke cabs did give me that). Like I said before, it's a nice punchy lil combo for practice purposes. Not too diverse, but it sounds wonderful with my SR5.
 
I agree with starting EQ set flat. I do most of my tweaking on the bass controls, and usually only mess with the amp controls for fine-tuning.

I believe the shape control you're referring to is tied to the midrange specifically. You can probably get a good understanding of what it will do to your tone by boosting the mids up a bit, then sweeping through the shape control and listening to the differences.
 

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