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Geddy Lee Jazz - Bass/Amp Settings Help

theevilplankton

theevilplankton

Jul 9, 2009
950
719
#1
Apologies if this is in the wrong section - it kind of crosses two!

Playing the Geddy bass alongside two guitarists - both pretty loud - and found I just couldn't cut through. Top end was missing, and bottom end was non-existent.

Had bass controls all on full - and playing through a Markbass 121P amp with New York cab.

I've always been very bad with amp set-up...

Could anyone please suggest (in very basic terms) a way of getting the best (ie strong, upfront) sound from this combination - Geddy and MB?

I was running the MB with both filters off, gain at 11 o'clock, and everything else at 12 o'clock.

I've seen bassists in harder and louder bands than us (we're rock/pop) using Jazz's, so there must be a way of getting something stronger?
 
#2
couple of suggestions...

make sure your string are not really old...this will help with the brightest and tone of the bass. with the MB amp, you should be able to run the eq pretty flat and get a great tone, i would suggest running a cab that has 10's in it, this will give you a little more "punch". as far as the gain, the amp should barely clip when you hit your hardest and loudest note. if it is clipping continuously, back off the gain a little. set your master volume based on your gain setting.

but there are other lots of other factors. i.e. how close are you to your amp, sometimes when you are further away from the cab it can sound better. what kind of room are playing in and how is it affected the eq where you are standing. what kind of system are you playing through and what kind of monitors using. lots and lots of different things can affect it.

but anyways, play around with a few things and see if you can get the tone you are looking for. a geddy lee into a mb should sound great.
 
#3
Don't have a MB, but I do have a Geddy....While my Geddy sounds great by itself, the sort of hollow sound doesn't have as much meat on it. Turning it into a psuedo precision by turning the bridge down seems to fatten it up. Though I have only done this in a recording situation. ?
 
#4
Thanks!

Turning down the bridge pup seems like an idea.

I tried boosting the mids, and it sounded a little off!

It's just a case of fattening up the sound a bit, getting a slightly clearer tone.

Geddy cuts right through in Rush with his '72 - but he's got a load more gear, and I don't play like Geddy!
 
#5
I have a few suggestions:

1. You can back about 1/4 off of the neck which would in turn let you cut through a bit more.

2. I know the MB sounds good flat but in a band setting it never worked when I had one. I would set it flat and adjust accordingly, like a bit more bass, cut the low mids to about 9 o'clock, hi mid to 1 or 2 o'clock and treble to about 11 o'clock.


I unfortunately sold my MB 2x10 combo and it had no problems but the amp was VERY clean sounding. Too clean for me but I hope the eq'ing helps a bit.

Also, whatever sound works in the bed room almost never works. Sometimes the band mix never sounds good alone but adjust while playing and you'll find it.
 
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#6
OK, so you have been told:
1) Turn down the bridge pickup.
2) Turn down the neck pickup.

Hmmmm. :eyebrow: :D

Either one will work. As soon as you turn down either pickup, you will get a lot of the cutting mids that you lose when both pickups are all the way up. Solo in your room, it may sound loose and ugly. But in the band setting, you will hear the pitch and attack more clearly and it will sound nice and tight.

If you like the bridge-y sound, you may want to boost lows or low mids on your amp. If you like the neck-y sound, you can probably leave your eq flat.

Also, you can try hitting the strings a bit harder, to get that "smack" on the attack as the strings kind of bottom out. You can even hit the strings so they bounce of the frets, which will give you that "clank" that a lot of metal players use to cut through a wall of guitars.

Lastly (maybe most importantly), any 112 will have trouble cutting through loud guitars. You probably don't have enough power or speaker surface area to sit in the mix. Not sure what the "new york cabinet" is, but it sounds like you need to add a good external cabinet, maybe a 212 or a 410.
 
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#7
I have a Fender american standard jazz and play thru a MB 121P as well

I always set my two jazz bass controls to full on and the tone about 70% on

set all the MB121p tone knobs to 12 oclock, set he VLE to the 2nd tick - or 10 oclock
set the VPF off - all the way to the left

Thats what works for me
 
#11
Not being able to hear yourself is frustrating. Been there! Some tips:

Have your guitarists back off on their "bass" EQ a bit, this will give more sonic space for you to cut through.

Make sure you have at least 10x their wattage (for example 600w if they have 60w amps) and most importantly adequate speakerage (4x10" is the minimum I'll personally play with, 8x10" if it's hard rock/heavy metal).

Set the controls on your bass so one pickup volume is higher than the other (both equal will cut some of your mids).

Use a compressor.

Use the right strings for your technique/style and experiment with different positions of your right hand fingers/pick.

WEAR EARPLUGS!!!
 
#12
I think the main problem is the Markbass amp. I've never heard one yet that didn't sound dull and muffled compared to other comparable amps. Ideally, you should be able to get a good tone by setting everything flat and possibly boost or cut a little mids depending on the room acoustics.

Honestly I think the main problem is your guitarists. Aim their amps at their heads and get them to turn down.
 
#15
Great advice guys - I'll try it all out!

The Ged's a great bass - perhaps my favourite I've ever played (including Rics, etc).

It's just getting it to cut through - I know it can do it, so hopefully trying the above will knock out the guitarists domination of the sound.

My gain is set quite low, I must admit...and having both pups on full now seems like the dumbest idea ever!
 
#16
I dunno, sounds like its a band EQ issue more than anything. I had a Geddy, and a MB LMII (run flat) and had no issues cutting through in a 6 piece band. The only issue I had with my Geddy is that the output from the bass itself was on the low side, but the volume knob on my amp fixed that. If your playing with James Hetfield and Kirk Hammet, tell them to cut their bass freqs.
 
#17
One the cool features on the markbass amps is the clipping light. What you do to set optimal gain is to turn your volume down to 0 on the MB then turn your gain up as you hit your string as hard as possible and stop when it begins to clip(roll back a tad bit once it does). That is a cool feature because all basses have different output and that's where it'll be for the geddy.

Good luck
 
#18
Old thread i know.........
1)- jazz bass 2)- new strings rotosound swing bass 66 or similar, 3)- high mass bridge, 4)- crank the neck pickup and treble to almost 11!..., 5)- overdrive effects possibly...and some sort of bigly amp with 2x15" or 8x10"...seems to work
 
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#20
Could be many reasons. Often as bassists we can't hear ourselves that great but everyone else out front can hear us fine. It's just often the nature of bass and low end sound waves. Usually a Jazz bass cuts through better than say a P-Bass that normally sits better under the mix, but there are so many other factors. Maybe try standing somewhere else. I remember being in a band with this issue and I stood right in front of my amp so I could feel the notes!
 

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