EQing flats and rounds in a dense live mix

[mdlewis]

Just curious if anyone out there feels the same, or it's just my limited experience.

I much prefer the sound of my dead LaBella 760's when recording or practicing by myself. These sound great live also when playing old school soul, R&B etc. which has "room" for bass, especially when I can use my own equipment. However, I've noticed when playing live denser music live (rock with two distorted guitars, or one distorted guitar and a prominent keyboard, it's much trickier to EQ these "into range" than roundwound nickels (or even steels). Enough so that when I head out to a fly gig where I have an unknown backline and I can't even really take my pedal board, I tend to choose a bass with round wounds. Not an issue though if I can bring my own amp etc.

Is this just my lack of experience with playing out with flats with this type of music or do any of you find this as well? And if you do, are there any tricks? I was using rounds (the inevitable Rotosound Swing Bass) for almost 35 years before I started with flats.

 

[Luckydog]

IMO, it’s a journey you have to make to decide for yourself what works best. I too love the 760FL (as well as many other flats). How they fit into your soundscape is going to be based a combination of factors, such as type of music, the other instruments involved, the volume/tone of yourself as well as others, your playing style, the age of your strings, the eq settings, and the room. You will need to determine for your situation of the moment what works best. I don’t know of any single setup that sounds perfect for all situations. I do use rounds for most things.

 

[4StringDave]

I found my Fender 9050L flats sat better than rounds until very recently where they became a bit dead, after 5 years

 

[blr2]

The way to eq for dense mixes is to turn down the bass a bit and give it more mids, especially above 250-300 Hz. Doesn't sound that attractive soloed, but cuts through better.

 

[michael_t]

Is this just my lack of experience with playing out with flats with this type of music or do any of you find this as well? And if you do, are there any tricks? I was using rounds (the inevitable Rotosound Swing Bass) for almost 35 years before I started with flats.

I follow the general rule, "It's easier to EQ down than to EQ up." That means rounds/pressurewounds most of the time. Currently only one of my seven basses wears flats - Fender 9050L on a Fender Jazz, which can hold its own strong presence in a mix as long as it's not too dense.

 

[mdlewis]

I follow the general rule, "It's easier to EQ down than to EQ up."

Yeah, I think that’s what I’ve concluded is going on here. Thanks for the confirmation.