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Help with my sound

B

Brandon Trussell

Apr 17, 2014
4
0
34
Sylacauga, AL
#1
Okay. So I've been playing bass for about 10 years now. I hate to say it, but I know NOTHING about tone, sound, or anything of the sort. I know how to play and that is it. I've tried learning about tone, but it's all confusing to me. I'm not sure if anyone can really help me honestly, but I figured I would give it a shot. I've never been happy with my sound at all, so I decided to buy all new equipment a while back. I was always a Schecter fan, but I went to a local music shop one day and tried out an Ibanez Soundgear and immediately fell in love with the sound. So I bought an Ibanez Soundgear SR400QM. It sounded awesome in the store, but when I got it home, it sounded like crap. And I had a pretty crappy rig, so I bought the following:

Ampeg SVT7PRO
Ampeg SVT-810E

After getting this, my bass sounded a lot better, but the treble was ridiculous on it. I've done a lot of research on it and people have had the same issue out of their Ibanez basses. I tried tweaking around with the settings, not knowing what I'm doing at all. I can either get the treble loud with no bass at all. Or I can get a decent amount of bass, but when I play anything on the higher 2 strings, the volume is halved. When playing live, if I use those two strings, nothing can be heard. And when I try to boost the bass a bit, it ends up sounding like fart.

I figured it may have something to do with the bass. The bass is somewhat cheap. So I just bought a nice bass. I got an Ibanez Soundgear Premium 1400E.



This bass sounds SOOO much better, but I still have the same issues as before. I have done so much research and haven't found much on a fix. I honestly know nothing about sound or music theory at all. I just wanted to see if anyone had some recommendations on what I could do to help. I just want a solid sounding setup and steady volume no matter where I'm playing. Any and all feedback will be accepted. I can also send pictures or sound clips/video clips of everything if anyone is interested in helping me.
 
#2
I never really knew anything about tone. I don't think anybody really knows anything about tone until they experiment with it. It's not really teachable it comes through ear. The only advice I have is to sit in a nice controlled room with your amp and bass and fiddle with the amp and bass until you feel your tone is there and your comfortable with it. I always take a picture of the controls on my amp where I like them to be. Good luck
 
#4
It sounded good in the store, wich amp did you try it on? If its too bright sounding try some different strings mabye, ...ive sung the praises of DR strings a few times on TB, many differnt styles to choose from.
 
#5
Tone is subjective to the listener, there is no wrong tone, there is no wrong way to play, thats the beautiful thing about music, if it sounds good to you and it makes you smile it has worked.......but Im off on a tangent, took my meds early, just play around with it until it sounds good to you, there is no wrong answer.
 
#7
Finding your tone for the first time is sometimes more difficult than learning to play. First, make sure you get the bass properly setup - often times coming from the store it may be way off where it should be, even if it seems to play nicely. If you can't do this take it to a tech, but make sure you learn how to do it soon as it will be important to your sound and your pocket book to know this.
Second, remember that cutting some frequencies on your amp is often better than boosting others and usually small adjustments are better than big ones. I am not someone who praises or promotes a flat setting, but you don't want to get out of control with it usually.
Lastly, strings are likely the biggest factor in finding your tone after getting proper gear and setup. It is amazing just how much different they can make your tone. And remember, this goes beyond just steel or nickel or flats - each brand and type can sound differently. For instance, I just removed Sadowsky blue steels from my bass cause they had too much in the upper frequencies and replaced them with Labella HRS steels that seem to focus in the lower areas kinda like Fatbeams.
Have fun!
 
#8
All above posts are great advice.

I might suggest checking out some good bands at local clubs, and see if any good bass players would be willing to come over to your house sometime and give you a tutorial. (You might offer a six-pack or something)
 

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