EQ Sharing

[A. D. Fairhurst]

Hello! Just thought I'd make this thread where we can share our amp EQ's so we can learn different sounds off eachother. If there's a similar, older thread, feel free to delete it, moderators. I'll go first. My EQ in my current band is:

Gain-1/ 8 o'clock
Low-8/ 3 o'clock
Mid-10/ 5 o'clock
Treble-8/ 3 o'clock

I also wear a thin soft glove to cut off the extreme highs from my long fingernails. That way I can play fast without sounding like I'm using a pick. (I need to be quite mid-bassy with a bit of treble to cut slightly.) You can hear my sound in this (dreadful) video I made.


I hope you last the whole thing without my voice making you kill yourself. I know I sound horrendous. At least my bass doesn't...

 

[musicman7722]

Wanted to say welcome as nobody has been polite enough to do so yet. I like your honesty about not knowing what a lot of things mean like the string dimensions etc., but you will over time learn it all and grow to understand what they mean and how in some cases they impact your sound and playing. And nice playing by the way. Wish I could have played that well at your age.

Cheers

Chris

 

[A. D. Fairhurst]

Wanted to say welcome as nobody has been polite enough to do so yet. I like your honesty about not knowing what a lot of things mean like the string dimensions etc., but you will over time learn it all and grow to understand what they mean and how in some cases they impact your sound and playing. And nice playing by the way. Wish I could have played that well at your age.

Cheers

Chris

Thank you! I'll learn about string dimensions.

 

[walterw]

that's some pretty clear, even grindy tone from flats, especially with the pick! nicely done.

I also wear a thin soft glove to cut off the extreme highs from my long fingernails.

why not just trim the fingernails? you don't want those for bass. (i'm not sure you want them for any instrument besides nylon-string classical guitar.)

 

[BazzTard]

welcome mate.

Thing is our ears are all different,what sounds good to me sounds like mud to you etc.

What amp do you use? it helps to know the amp when you mention EQ levels.

yeah mate cut your fingernails. NOW.

I'm a habitual nail biter and I still trim them hehe

Don't wear a glove if you want to attain credibility and respect, just don't. Trim the nails.

And.......... have a GOOD time, ALL the time !

 

[Rick Auricchio]

Not only is every amplifier different, and everyone's desired tone different, but nearly every room you play in will require EQ adjustment to get the tone you want.

So the answer unfortunately is "it depends."

I've used quite different EQ settings on my amp for indoor room, outdoors, and in a few cases to compensate for the height of the ceiling in a room.

 

[A. D. Fairhurst]

that's some pretty clear, even grindy tone from flats, especially with the pick! nicely done.

why not just trim the fingernails? you don't want those for bass. (i'm not sure you want them for any instrument besides nylon-string classical guitar.)

I can't play very fast without them as they're like little picks! Plus, I regularly play Steve Harris basslines and it's essential for that tone. Bassically (pun intended) I need them for fast riffs in my band, but to avoid compromising my warm-ish tone, I wear the glove to dampen the sound. When I can play fast enough on fingers alone I'll probably trim them.

 

[A. D. Fairhurst]

welcome mate.

Thing is our ears are all different,what sounds good to me sounds like mud to you etc.

What amp do you use? it helps to know the amp when you mention EQ levels.

yeah mate cut your fingernails. NOW.

I'm a habitual nail biter and I still trim them hehe

Don't wear a glove if you want to attain credibility and respect, just don't. Trim the nails.

And.......... have a GOOD time, ALL the time !

I use a Marshall G50R CD guitar amp. My only bass amp is a farty little practise one. And as for the nails, I can't play very fast without them as they're like little picks! Plus, I regularly play Steve Harris basslines and it's essential for that tone. Basically I need them for fast riffs in my band, but to avoid compromising my warm-ish tone, I wear the glove to dampen the sound. When I can play fast enough on fingers alone I'll probably trim them. But for now, the glove stays on. Scott Devine seems to agree with me..! Even if it is for a completely different reason. I'll wear a glove on my other hand from now on so it doesn't look too silly.

 

[A. D. Fairhurst]

In regards to the 'different room, different sound' thing, I just mean the EQ that you have in your home practise room.

 

[Rick Auricchio]

At home I just set whatever EQ sounds pleasing while practicing. When using the Musicman Stingray, I'll roll the treble all the way off (on the bass) while leaving the mid and bass in the middle. (When playing live, all three tone controls go to the middle position.)

And, truthfully, I really don't care much about how my solo practice tone sounds: if I couldn't get something pleasing, that wouldn't interfere with my ability to learn song parts and improve my technique. Concentrating on a pleasing tone distracts from the little practice I do. (I've been playing for 45 years, but I've always been poor about practice.)

 

[A. D. Fairhurst]

At home I just set whatever EQ sounds pleasing while practicing. When using the Musicman Stingray, I'll roll the treble all the way off (on the bass) while leaving the mid and bass in the middle. (When playing live, all three tone controls go to the middle position.)

And, truthfully, I really don't care much about how my solo practice tone sounds: if I couldn't get something pleasing, that wouldn't interfere with my ability to learn song parts and improve my technique. Concentrating on a pleasing tone distracts from the little practice I do. (I've been playing for 45 years, but I've always been poor about practice.)

Is your Stingray by any chance blue?

 

[seanm]

At home I don't use an amp, just straight into a small mixer and headphones. I have to admit it took a bit of getting used to... but I now prefer it.

 

[A. D. Fairhurst]

At home I don't use an amp, just straight into a small mixer and headphones. I have to admit it took a bit of getting used to... but I now prefer it.

So do you have an EQ, or just run everything flat?

 

[Rick Auricchio]

Is your Stingray by any chance blue?

Indeed it is! See it here: Invalid Link Removed

It originally had a black pickup cover; I replaced it with white.

 

[Rick Auricchio]

As for the original topic, I should also mention that rolling off most of the treble during solo practice isn't always a good idea. Doing so tends to mask fret and finger noises, which means you don't improve your fretting technique. When you can hear the fret buzzes, you can work to minimize them.

 

[seanm]

So do you have an EQ, or just run everything flat?

I do have EQ.... but I run everything flat for my bass.

The nice thing about using a mixer is that I can play files from my computer, or songs from a CD, or even from the radio. Typically, when learning songs I have the bass EQ cranked as high as it will go. Once I have learned the song, I put the bass back to normal.

 

[A. D. Fairhurst]

I do have EQ.... but I run everything flat for my bass.

The nice thing about using a mixer is that I can play files from my computer, or songs from a CD, or even from the radio. Typically, when learning songs I have the bass EQ cranked as high as it will go. Once I have learned the song, I put the bass back to normal.

Cool!

 

[FergusonRJ]

Kudos, young man. You've a good start there

 

[A. D. Fairhurst]

Kudos, young man. You've a good start there

Thank you!

 

[A. D. Fairhurst]

Update:
I recently changed to get a bassier sound. It's now this:

Gain-1/ 8 o'clock
Low-10/ 5 o'clock
Mid-5/ 12 o'clock
Treble-0/ 7 o'clock