EQ settings for Country Music

[lowdownbp5]

As a wise old bass player told me. Use the KISS method. KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID

 

[Slevage]

Take a listen to the group Alabama with Teddy Gentry on bass. He's a great example of the P bass tone in country music.

Great band.
I remember when their stage wa loaded with Musicman gear.

 

[Wisebass]

hi prater

I am not a country player but...

I have too much midrange for the acoustic and clean leads I'm supporting.

I have played a lot with acoustic ensembles (violins, guitars...)

There is no need to cut through a dense mix, like you have to in rock.

=> skip your drive! No need at all for that (IME)

I don't want to scoop my mids too much and lose all definition like I've heard some guys do.

At my amp I have my Lows at 12:00, Low Mid 10:00 High Mid 2:00 and Treble 2:00

Is that 12 o' clock = flat for the basses ? And 10 o' clock = slightly scooped low mids?

2 o' clock = boosted high mids and treble?

If so: Get the high mids and treble back to 12!!!!! (flat)

No need to have agressive cutting high mids or zzzingy trebly high freqs.

P Bass roundwounds with tone at half

A P bass is a great instrument for that job (and for other jobs as well )

right hand finger techniques

A lot of the tone comes from your right hand and string choice.

Personally I favour worn in roundwounds over flats (but that's just me )

If you are used to play with loud rockbands, you might have a "punchy" right hand technique

+ playing over the pup or behind it?

This will give your tone a lot of attack and a fast decay

(can be great for rock and funk but is not always suitable for other styles)

Playing with a lighter touch gets a fuller (rounder) sound.

Playing in front of the pup (instead of behind) reduces agressive high mids (a lot!!!)


IME and IMO of course!

greetings

Wise(b)ass

 

[MARVIN MECKLER]

Here's the best setting for modern country:

 

[Sam Dingle]

Just flat for me

 

[Swerve]

I play in a rock band and a traditional country band, but use the same GK amp and cab for both. With the country band I use a P with flats and EQ wise I just cut out the grit and leave most everything flat. Of course rooms vary so I make slight adjustments on the fly, but if there is a sound person I'd keep the EQ pretty neutral and let them handle the rest.

 

[Pocket Dave]

Your first guess is probably right. Do what it takes with your rig to emphasize mids. You might want to roll off the bass on your power amp to about 10:00 for starters. I work in an outlaw-country-flavored band backing an acoustic guitarist. My challenge on a P is to lean into the mids & try to avoid too much boomy thump.

Also, with most country, you can't go wrong with a mildly overdriven, vintage tone.

Using traditional backline - Aggie TH-500 > 210 ported cab.

 

[J Wilson]

I played country for years, and aside from not having a Squire or Entwistle tone, I just aimed for a solid tone with just enough mids for definition. No real 'country bass EQ' I'm aware of.

 

[YourGuitarist]

I'm a rock player primarily and I'm about to play my first ever country gig.

Been rehearsing with a band for awhile and haven't really felt confident in my tone. It's traditional country so mostly finger style with a lot of 1 and 5 doop/dops.

In my rock band I'm kind of known for having a great tone with my VT Bass Deluxe and I attribute that to the fact that I push my mids and highs with a little bit of grit and play with a pick mostly.

With the country band that EQ seems too "Whompy" when I pluck and roll off my tone knob on my P Bass.

I've tried cutting low mids and boosting the high mids on my amp without touching the VT bass settings and seem happier with it but can't find the sweet spot where I can both hear myself well and feel I'm effectively supporting the kick for the "two steppers" on the floor and also not over "thumping".

I don't want to scoop my mids too much and lose all definition like I've heard some guys do.

I think that mids are an essential part of the sound but I can't help but feel I have too much midrange for the acoustic and clean leads I'm supporting.

Is there a standard for EQ for country like I feel like there is for cutting rock tone?

For reference here is what I'm doing.

P Bass roundwounds with tone at half

VT Bass Deluxe Drive 10:00, Character 10:00, Lows 2:30, Mid 2:30, High 12:00

At my amp I have my Lows at 12:00, Low Mid 10:00 High Mid 2:00 and Treble 2:00

Our big show is on Thursday and we've had our last rehearsal so I'll probably be keeping what I have but I'm curious if there is a suggestion I can try during soundcheck to smooth out my tone without getting lost in the mix.

I'm not a country guy so take me with a grain of salt. I would actually swap the boost / cut for your mids. Emphasize the low mids and cut the high mids. What I know of country suggests lots of acoustic and telecaster guitars. Teles have are often shy in the lows (<300) and rather forward in the high mids, (1k-3k). Acoustic guitars often notch or high pass in the low mids (especially around 180-360). That leaves some room for you to take low mids.

The mids knob on the VT bass is about 700Hz and the character knob is around there too. I would double on EQing elsewhere here as that's not the best center frequency for targeting the above-mentioned areas.

 

[bigdaddybass12]

It’s not uncommon to hear 5 string basses being played. Listen to Brooks & Dunn. Nice big lows.

 

[wboyd68]

Set it how you like it. There is no such thing as regulation country tone.

 

[Pocket Dave]

Set it how you like it. There is no such thing as regulation country tone.

I'm with the country tone police. Let's see some ID and country tone certifications. S L O W L Y.

 

[LowendG]

Use a P bass. Set the EQ flat. Roll off tone to taste. Go to town. That's it.

Yep. Pretty hard to mess it up. Same even when I decide to bring a Jazz instead of a P for my country gigs. Tone down, front pickup mostly, done. Then it just depends on the song and whether it's fingers, thumb/palm mute, or pick (pick/palm mute is great for a tic-tac vibe, plus plenty of 60's/early 70's country bass was pickstyle).
EDIT: I did a country show recently, 4 bands. All in sort of a more traditional vibe (no modern Bro Country, etc). All of us seasoned country players. There were two P's, a Jazz, and a G&L L2000. Just DI to FOH (same backline stage amp for everyone as monitor). We all had our little preferred gizmos--I like my RC Booster, another cat had an EBS Valve Drive, I don't remember the others. Listening back to recordings from the night, they all sound great, tick all the country bass boxes and frankly you can barely tell them apart. They just sound like "bass".

 

[31HZ]

I own a Zon Legacy Elite Special 6 that saw a lot of time in the hands of Lee Greenwood's bass player, for what that's worth.

 

[InhumanResource]

I'm a rock player primarily and I'm about to play my first ever country gig.

Been rehearsing with a band for awhile and haven't really felt confident in my tone. It's traditional country so mostly finger style with a lot of 1 and 5 doop/dops.

In my rock band I'm kind of known for having a great tone with my VT Bass Deluxe and I attribute that to the fact that I push my mids and highs with a little bit of grit and play with a pick mostly.

With the country band that EQ seems too "Whompy" when I pluck and roll off my tone knob on my P Bass.

I've tried cutting low mids and boosting the high mids on my amp without touching the VT bass settings and seem happier with it but can't find the sweet spot where I can both hear myself well and feel I'm effectively supporting the kick for the "two steppers" on the floor and also not over "thumping".

I don't want to scoop my mids too much and lose all definition like I've heard some guys do.

I think that mids are an essential part of the sound but I can't help but feel I have too much midrange for the acoustic and clean leads I'm supporting.

Is there a standard for EQ for country like I feel like there is for cutting rock tone?

For reference here is what I'm doing.

P Bass roundwounds with tone at half

VT Bass Deluxe Drive 10:00, Character 10:00, Lows 2:30, Mid 2:30, High 12:00

At my amp I have my Lows at 12:00, Low Mid 10:00 High Mid 2:00 and Treble 2:00

Our big show is on Thursday and we've had our last rehearsal so I'll probably be keeping what I have but I'm curious if there is a suggestion I can try during soundcheck to smooth out my tone without getting lost in the mix.

Lots of replies! Too much whomp usually means too much bottom.

considering:

At my amp I have my Lows at 12:00, Low Mid 10:00 High Mid 2:00 and Treble 2:00

I’m going to go ahead and say you might try swapping the settings for bass and low mids. Keep the lows down a bit and dial up low mids if you need more booty.

 

[beans-on-toast]

Your tone should complement the songs and other instruments. Tonal frequencies shouldn’t overlap as much as possible. As was mentioned, there’s many types of country. Listen to the original artists of the songs that you are playing as a guide. Settings depend on the room. Use common sense, don’t boost the low end. Do the gig. Work on your tone settings later.

 

[waynobass]

Try plugging straight into your amp (no pedal). Fewer knobs to turn = simplicity = country.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

I'm a rock player primarily and I'm about to play my first ever country gig.

Been rehearsing with a band for awhile and haven't really felt confident in my tone. It's traditional country so mostly finger style with a lot of 1 and 5 doop/dops.

In my rock band I'm kind of known for having a great tone with my VT Bass Deluxe and I attribute that to the fact that I push my mids and highs with a little bit of grit and play with a pick mostly.

With the country band that EQ seems too "Whompy" when I pluck and roll off my tone knob on my P Bass.

I've tried cutting low mids and boosting the high mids on my amp without touching the VT bass settings and seem happier with it but can't find the sweet spot where I can both hear myself well and feel I'm effectively supporting the kick for the "two steppers" on the floor and also not over "thumping".

I don't want to scoop my mids too much and lose all definition like I've heard some guys do.

I think that mids are an essential part of the sound but I can't help but feel I have too much midrange for the acoustic and clean leads I'm supporting.

Is there a standard for EQ for country like I feel like there is for cutting rock tone?

For reference here is what I'm doing.

P Bass roundwounds with tone at half

VT Bass Deluxe Drive 10:00, Character 10:00, Lows 2:30, Mid 2:30, High 12:00

At my amp I have my Lows at 12:00, Low Mid 10:00 High Mid 2:00 and Treble 2:00

Our big show is on Thursday and we've had our last rehearsal so I'll probably be keeping what I have but I'm curious if there is a suggestion I can try during soundcheck to smooth out my tone without getting lost in the mix.

Bass

Country hits harder than reggea

 

[pepj]

Stick with that with which you're comfortable...let's see who complains. In today's C&W universe, conformity is no longer the norm. I use a SDGR 5 string, Bass Fly Rig, and EBS / Epifani amplification which just screams "Hee Haw", doesn't it?

Riis

I use EBS, Epifani or Vendekley cabs ..or maybe Demeter amp for the EBS occasionally.
All with J5's...
Will do any gig.

As much as certain people may or may not know bass sound, all they want is a great sound.
Now, if you are tooting full monte on the stetsons, you might get a question about where is the P...but thats mainly because they dont know anything else.
Nothing wrong with a P, if its your main bass, btw.

One of the gtrs..who has worked that scene a lot, just wants definition and no wub-wub.

 

[Artman]

I'm a rock player primarily and I'm about to play my first ever country gig.

Been rehearsing with a band for awhile and haven't really felt confident in my tone. It's traditional country so mostly finger style with a lot of 1 and 5 doop/dops.

In my rock band I'm kind of known for having a great tone with my VT Bass Deluxe and I attribute that to the fact that I push my mids and highs with a little bit of grit and play with a pick mostly.

With the country band that EQ seems too "Whompy" when I pluck and roll off my tone knob on my P Bass.

I've tried cutting low mids and boosting the high mids on my amp without touching the VT bass settings and seem happier with it but can't find the sweet spot where I can both hear myself well and feel I'm effectively supporting the kick for the "two steppers" on the floor and also not over "thumping".

I don't want to scoop my mids too much and lose all definition like I've heard some guys do.

I think that mids are an essential part of the sound but I can't help but feel I have too much midrange for the acoustic and clean leads I'm supporting.

Is there a standard for EQ for country like I feel like there is for cutting rock tone?

For reference here is what I'm doing.

P Bass roundwounds with tone at half

VT Bass Deluxe Drive 10:00, Character 10:00, Lows 2:30, Mid 2:30, High 12:00

At my amp I have my Lows at 12:00, Low Mid 10:00 High Mid 2:00 and Treble 2:00

Our big show is on Thursday and we've had our last rehearsal so I'll probably be keeping what I have but I'm curious if there is a suggestion I can try during soundcheck to smooth out my tone without getting lost in the mix.

For country, I usually just play a P bass with flats, tone on the bass rolled down slightly into an SCR-Di with the eq knobs at noon and no overdrive.
If an amp is needed, it's set pretty much flat with just a slight bump in low mids.
And just a tiny smidgen of compression before the di.