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GK MB210 EQing for 5 string

miketallica315

miketallica315

Aug 16, 2009
506
45
43
Toledo, OH
#1
I am quite new to the GK world. I recently purchased the GK MB210 with the matching 115MBE cab (8ohm). I have great tone and power with my fours, but my fives get a little (not much) farty. Can anybody with experience with these units help give me some five string EQ suggestions? Thanks!
:bassist::help::hmm:
 
#2
miketallica315 said:
I am quite new to the GK world. I recently purchased the GK MB210 with the matching 115MBE cab (8ohm). I have great tone and power with my fours, but my fives get a little (not much) farty. Can anybody with experience with these units help give me some five string EQ suggestions? Thanks!
:bassist::help::hmm:
Click to expand...

Turn the bass knob to decrease the low end a little bit. That should minimize your issues. Make sure the gain knob is set correctly too. Are you boosting a bass knob on your bass guitar? If so, DO NOT DO THAT. Put it at the "flat setting" (no boost or cut). The idea is to get a good tone in frequencies with minimal boosting, as you turn up louder, the low end will become stronger sounding.
 
#4
Thanks for the replies. I will admit that I have a bad habit of boosting with my on-board pre. I guess just because you can, doesn't mean you have to. I do like a deeper tone with my fives. It seems that my Warwick fares better to that amp than my American Deluxe. It will be hard for met to played with the contour out, but I am eger to try your suggestions . Ask I write this, my bass knob rests at about ten or eleven o'clock. It is important for my sound to have a strong bottom. Do you think it needs to come down more? I guess the best thing to do is exactly what you said, just to play around with it. I will let the contour out and note boost any signals on the bass. If anyone has more ideas I am interested in your thoughts. Thanks again!
 
#5
The advice you already got is perfect. A mid-scooped, overly bassy tone doesn't carry well, and it requires a lot more power for equal loudness. It also doesn't work well on the gig.

At home or in a small practice space, a fat bottom end with the contour pushed in sounds great, and a lighter tone with more mids and treble seems too thin. But in a band context, the drums, guitars and vocals drown out most of the "snap" from the thinner tone, and it blooms nicely in the mix. In contrast, the fatter tone turns to mush.

The secret to making a mid-forward tone that still sounds full, is to push the low mids slightly. A lean low end with a nice bump around 250Hz will still sound like a bass, have a tasty growl, and use a lot less power than simply maxing out the bass knob.
 
#6
How would you guys EQ that amp? I am not looking to copy someone elses tone, but rather ask a blueprint to build off of. GK's are a completely different animal compared to my Ampegs (that is a good thing) Can anyone share some settings ideas with me?
 
#8
The fives are going farty on you because you are boosting bass past the cabs ability to make the fundamental tones. If you go too hard with your E string you'll get the same.

I can can shelve my bass with an XTI poweramp at 60Hz and it sounds same as 40Hz, minus speaker flabbing, but everything below D drops out. You can't have a strong B string and play really loud with very many cabinets. If your cabs can put out a strong 60Hz you can. Mine can't and I bet yours can't either.

My Trace 1518 loses its authority at C with the EQ I run on the Trace amp. It's a pretty darn good cab and it's not getting going properly until 70 or so Hz, wherever 1st harmonic of D is.

I can live with that. Guys that can't live with that thrash their speakers. Your choice.
 
#9
The compromise of that particular series small size and weight is that they aren't voiced for deep low end. If you have an EQ pedal or otherwise you could cut at 30 hz and boost at 60. If not, cut your bass and boost your low mids a bit.

I never used the contour on my GK or scoop my mids. It might sound cool on it's own but it makes you utterly invisible in a band mix.
 
#10
I have that amp as my smaller portable rig. Now I probably go for a different sound than you as 99% of the time I am using my 4 string jazz with very dead flats. I find the contour button useless. When pushed in it pretty much cuts all the frequencies that come through in a mix so i never use it. I run the treble right around noon, high mids between 2 and 3 o'clock, low mids between 1 and 2 o'clock, and the bass around 11 and never past noon. It varies depending on the room but that's my starting point. I also never use the tweeter and at low volume playing I have the boost tuned up much higher than in louder settings. The combo handles a low D pretty well on the rare occasions I need it and I have never gotten the speakers to fart out. As said already start with everything on your bass flat and the amp's eq at noon. I wouldn't boost the bass on the amp maybe even cut it and boost a little of the low mids. It may not sound like you have the full low end that you think you want but with a band it will undoubtedly be there.
 
#12
Hey guys,
Just checking in. I did some experimentation with the tone controls. It is amazing how much differently my amp responded to the B string with the contour out. I was even able to boost a bit of bass. I will definitely have to get used to the sound, but at least it isn't a "bad" sound. I want to see what else I can get out of it, but the girls are in bed so it will have to wait until tomorrow. Thanks for the suggestions. If anyone has anymore thoughts, please by all means pass them my way. Until next time, take care!
 

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