Help with P Bass Tone

[SactoBass]

Don’t boost any bass and increase your mids. It’ll cut through like an axe. It doesn’t sound that good when you’re playing alone, but in the mix it is sublime.

^^^THIS!

OP: to demonstrate what 96tbird said, go to youtube and listen to some "isolated bass" videos from songs that you are familiar with. You'd be surprised how little "bass" and pronounced "mids" the bass has. It may not sound all that great alone, but in the mix, it's perfect. For example, here is Limelight by Rush isolated bass...



Now here is the exact same bass playing in the mix...

 

[Jeff Hughes]

What about the speaker setup? I think you have four EQ curves if every pedal is all on. It is possible you are getting some exaggerated frequency that only the audience and singer can hear given you are possibly very close to your setup.

 

[doctone]

Apologies in advance if this is dumb: have you tried plucking a little more towards the bridge?

 

[Mike Vee]

IMO, a HPF is 100% necessary with bass. You might THINK you are taking bass away, but only the muddy parts. This helps the good, sweet parts of the bass shine. And I think you have too many unnecessary pedals as well.

 

[Micha84]

Before turning this into rocket science: Maybe try plucking closer to the bridge? Or... turn down the bass frequencies?

 

[Pirate Captain]

sorry...but how the F is your singer going to know what your tone sounds like to the crowd from the F'n stage...trust your sound guy/gal and tell him to park it

 

[kringle77]

Run the Hartke eq with bass and treble all the way off and mid all the way up. That is flat response. Set the comp the way you like it. Start there. If you still have too much clubby bottom use the ge7b to eq reduce the lowest frequencies of, find any boomy notes in the room and reduce. Both the amp and vt pedal are cutting mids and accentuation the bottom.

 

[five7]

What color is your p bass. A lighter color will help with the 85%

 

[alack]

I’d ask your singer to name some recordings featuring the kind of tone he’d like you to chase. If what he wants is a modern J or MM tone, nothing you do with your P bass will work.

Should you find the P bass can get you there, strip it back to bass and amp. Try cutting the lows and boosting the mids and highs:

 

[Danny C]

All good stuff here. I also add a Gramma iso pad on stages where necessary. Always use variable HPF. And I do have an Empress bass Para EQ that is used for possible correction of a problem frequency if necessary.

 

[funkinbottom]

OK, I'll be that guy...buy a jazz bass, problem solved.

 

[JohnnyChatter]

Allright... So first you should show us your settings... Also... what style of music are you playing? You're going to get a lot of advice, but every rig is different to an extent and people have different tastes and unfortunately, the English language can be interpreted differently by different people when it comes to describing sound. Next time you all are practicing or setting up to play a show walk away from your amp and grab someone to stand next to your amp and play with knobs. Put everything at noon. I sometimes like to turn everything down and one by one turn everything to 100% just so I can hear the frequency its adjusting. Kinda depends on the amp a bit for how successful that can be. I am iffy with compressors and external HPF's. Some people swear by them.... personally, less is more in my opinion when it comes to those things. I have rigs I run none of that stuff on because it kills the tone/feel and others that if they aren't there, I have to really pay attention to my attack.

To me mud means lots of lows and no definition of the notes. This happens when my strings get old. Now old stings aren't good or bad. The strings on my p are old as dirt and they stay that way because I use it for Motown. My Stingray I use for rock/punk so I get brights and change them once a month.

 

[oldcatfish]

I agree that we would have to know more specific details about how you are setting everything. A P bass should give you a great foundation by itself. But here is something to try, before you purchase anything.

1) Set the control knobs on your p bass wide open.
2) Set the eq on all pedals flat…straight at 12:00. Or you can just bypass the pedals altogether, then add them back in, one at a time.
3) Set the amp eq controls flat…except the bass/low knob down a little to about 10:00.

Try that setting and see. If your setting’s still don’t sound more clear, boost the mids on the amp up a little, to no more than 2:00. Don’t cut the mids below 12:00, or you will probably have more of a problem.

If everything sounds too harsh, you can back the treble down a little, to no less than 10:00. You should be able to get it close to what you want with just the bass and amp. If not, then it’s time to try the eq controls on ONE of the pedals.

Keep in mind that low frequencies project better than high frequencies, especially as you play louder. That’s why a lot of people are suggesting an hpf. That would help, but you might be able to get by with just cutting some of the bass frequencies down a little, and possibly boosting the mids.

This is how I approach playing on an unfamiliar instrument and amp. I can usually get a decent tone fairly quickly this way. Occasionally though, I do have to use a parametric eq to cut/boost specific frequencies. But it’s rare, especially with a p bass.

 

[mambo4]

my tone had "a LOT of bottom end" (which is what I thought is what we go for as bass players)

"a LOT of bottom end" can be done wrong, and inexperienced players often do so.

The low mids ~250-500 Hz are where the articulation of low notes comes from.
These are the EQ ranges that will let a bass sound like a bass through the crappiest, smallest of speakers.
Most bass / low knobs are impacting frequencies under 150 Hz

the best way to "do it wrong" is to boost knobs labeled "LOW" or "BASS" at every opportunity.
Those knobs are for reducing mud , to add clarity, in rooms with boomy acoustics.
Boosting "LOW" or "BASS" knobs do not make better bass tone, they make mud.

As lots have posted "HPF" High Pass Filters - ones that cut out the lows - are popular for good reason.

Another effective way to do it wrong
is to dial in your tone alone in your bedroom,
and ignore the result when you play with others.
bedroom tone is irrelevant, you must Mix for the band at hand

 

[Maxcat17]

I agree with everyone…simplify down to bass/amp/nee strings, and rebuild from there.

 

[Topkat13]

Tell him his mouthwash ain’t work’n.

 

[mikecd1]

Like others have said, a HPF can kill the mud, but your Pbass should always have a good fundamental midrange pronounced tone. Set the HPF slightly above the rated low end response of your speaker cabs. Might also suggest if you're running all those pedals to go in through the effects return - don't think the Hartke has an aux input and that might help clean up the overall signal chain. All those pedals plus the EQ of the Hartke is a lot to adjust. IME the simpler the better.

 

[logdrum]

If it sounds bad or uninspiring standalone it probably is the right tone at gig levels with the whole band. Cut the bass and use an HPF. You have too much low end

 

[BassBrass]

With the pedals you mentioned, the Spark Boost has 3 eq settings. Don't use the "fat" setting. On the VT, raise the mid knob level and move the drive freq up a bit (to the right). The supposed svt sound is around is 9-10 oclock, try 11 to noon. Also cut the low on the VT, that knob has lots of gas. On your amp, cut the lows a bit. Increments to get some mids.
What kind of strings are you using and how old are they?

 

[micguy]

I'd look into a high pass filter. That, along with light compression, should do it.

The comments seem to all point towards you having too much low end. A high pass filter may help that, but a compressor will work against you - compression helps the tail end of a note (which is all low end) stick out more. In this case I'd say take away the compressor if you have one.

And yes, you have too many pedals. The Sansamp and eq pedals might help, but they could also hurt you sonically - unless we can hear what's going on, and see (at the same time) where things are set, I'd suggest nixing those from your signal chain.