• 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.

EQ settings (Newbie Question)

C

Captain Christ

Mar 13, 2008
6
0
#1
So, I'm doing a course in sound engineering in college and I have to do this thing called a graded unit. I chose for mine to record bass guitar techniques and choose the best mic'ing technique for each. What i want to know is with a 7 band EQ (50 100 250 500 1k 2k 5k) how you guys would set your amps for:

Picked Bass
Fingered Bass
Slapped/Plucked/Pinched Bass

And maybe a why as well, like for tonality or whatever.

CC
 
#3
Okay the hypathetically, say you were trying to bring out certain qualities in the sound, how would you do it with a 7 band EQ this is from a completey objective view as in you know what sort of frequencies basses tend to give out but you're not a player and you're knowledge would be based on technical specifications..?

*EDIT* I knid of need more than just a flat EQ, I made this kind easy for myself, I play bass myself and most of my EQ comes from my preamp, and i tend to flatten out my amp but this is more so I can say something about it and use visual representations of the EQ for pictures if you catch my meaning.
 
#6
Normally I don't use the EQ on my SVT 3 Pro, BUT lately I've been playing around with a new EQ setting for some extra punch. I used to scoop the mids (300hz - 900hz) and use a U pattern when I played in a punk rock band because it was the only way I could get through the guitars. Then I played with a pick and I could get more definition in my lows, but now I find myself almost exclusively doing fingerstyle so I'm tweaking. My EQ is 9 band so hopefully this can translate to what you're looking for.

33hz +6db
80hz +3db
150hz -2db
300hz -3db
600hz -2db
900hz flat
2Khz +10
5khz +5
8 khz +2

that bump at 2khz gives me some clarity that I've been looking for
 
#7
Thanks for that, I'm finding it quite difficult to browse the site from campus, it really doesn't like loading up the pages, but Jimmy thanks for that, I think i can definetly do something with that. If anyone else has any more input I would be greatly appreciative. I'll check back later.

CC
 
#10
Captain Christ said:
So, I'm doing a course in sound engineering in college and I have to do this thing called a graded unit. I chose for mine to record bass guitar techniques and choose the best mic'ing technique for each. What i want to know is with a 7 band EQ (50 100 250 500 1k 2k 5k) how you guys would set your amps for:

Picked Bass
Fingered Bass
Slapped/Plucked/Pinched Bass

And maybe a why as well, like for tonality or whatever.

CC
Click to expand...

Youl be looking to get the best signal as possible. If your recording, EQing your input signal is not a good thing because no matter how good your EQ is, it WILL alter your input to tape and you might run into problems cutting it in the mix.

Before touching the EQ ( not recommended) try different mics and different positions.
 
#11
i find that a flat eq to start with first is best, then a click here and a click there to adjust to the room, i know sometimes it sounds thin on stage,but it pounds out in front, thats why the guitar man and i differ with each other, he likes that boomy deep sound (as we all do) but in life sh#^ just doesn't happen, you make it so
 
#13
how you set your eq is entirely dependant on what bass you have, what amp you have and what sound your ears like... it's also dependant on what other instruments are in the mix as to what eq is gonna let the bass sit best in the mix or cut through...

for my taste:
picked bass - scoop the mids a bit between 300 and 600 somewhere
finger style - flat or with a slight mid boost
slap bass - slight low and treble boost
 
#14
Watch the high mids when doing pick style, can get clicky really fast around 2K, bit of 2K is nice for finger stuff if like a fair bit of string/finger noise present if that's how you wanna cut through.

All depends on the mix though as people have said. I pretty much always boost low end for whatever I'm playing, but I'm usually playing pretty heavy or rocky music. But that's due to the magic enhance control on my amp that allows me to do so without loosing a nice tight sound, just makes it sound nice and deep and rumbles the floor.

Floor rumbling doesn't matter as much in the studio cos it's best to get a clear sound and you can add the lower end back when mixing and mastering in my experience.
 
#16
I don't use the EQ on the amp. I mainly use my MXR80 to get my sound. Use the color buttom to get the sound i wanted, then use my amp to push the low mid or mid abit to cut via the mix. If low end needed i can always use the bass knob on the MXR.

So basically i leave everything flat on my amp.
 
#18
i use almost the same settings as boss suggests for slap bass on their geb-7 eq
you can download their manual and check out other sample settings
other times i have the eq curves resembling a hump with peaks ranging from extreme low mids to high mids depending upon the sound requirement and how old the strings are
 
#19
Captain Christ said:
So, I'm doing a course in sound engineering in college and I have to do this thing called a graded unit. I chose for mine to record bass guitar techniques and choose the best mic'ing technique for each. What i want to know is with a 7 band EQ (50 100 250 500 1k 2k 5k) how you guys would set your amps for:

Picked Bass
Fingered Bass
Slapped/Plucked/Pinched Bass

And maybe a why as well, like for tonality or whatever.

CC
Click to expand...

Here are some random thoughts I wrote down that may be of help:

EQs are treated like the plague on this board. Personally, I use the hell out of mine. That's why it's there. One thing to be aware of is that a lot of amps have built-in EQ curves, so you may want to check that out for your project.

Rooms and cabinets vary, but in my opinion, there are a few things that are universal.

Given your 7 EQ bands: If I was playing slap and wanted more attack, I would boost at 1.6K. You don't have that band, so I would try splitting the difference with the 1K and 2K. If I wanted more attack when I was popping, I would boost around 3K, or try the 5K on your EQ.

Live, I would set the high end bands of the EQ like I'd want it for slap, and then adjust my technique and tone knob to tame the high end for finger-style.

For recording, be aware of the increase in noise (hiss) you'll get by boosting the 2 and 5K.

In my opinion, 100Hz is the magic frequency for bass, and the most important band on your EQ. That's your "punch" and the meat of your tone. Don't go too crazy with it. I think 100Hz is the only slider on my EQs that I would NEVER cut.

I think of 250Hz as the "honk" control. If you want a more smooth sound playing finger-style, try cutting it a little. If you want to stick out a lot, try boosting it a little. If you want a modern slap tone you may want to cut this one a little. If you want an old school slap tone, leave it flat or boost it a little.

Set the 500Hz till you like the tone.

50Hz is a tough one. Frequency bands this low REALLY depend on the room/cabinet situation.
 
#20
I'll play.

Picked Bass
50 - 3:00
100 - 3:30
250 - 4:00
500 - Flat
1k - 10:30
2k - Flat
5k - 3:00

Fingered Bass
50 - 4:00
100 - 4:00
250 - 2:00
500 - Flat
1k - Flat
2k - Flat
5k - 11:00

Slapped/Plucked/Pinched Bass - I really don't know, I'm not much of a slapper.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back