How Do You Set EQ?

[BobDeRosa]

Lots of excellent info here. Just don't try to judge your sound as you tweak the knobs. That's much too close to the amp. Do your tweaking and then move out in front of your cab as far as your cable will allow. That will give you a much better idea of what the audience is hearing.

 

[BigThumps]

Lots of excellent info here. Just don't try to judge your sound as you tweak the knobs. That's much too close to the amp. Do your tweaking and then move out in front of your cab as far as your cable will allow. That will give you a much better idea of what the audience is hearing.

Agree here... Having a wireless guitar system is super helpful. Not only for fine tuning tone but for sound check in general. Just wander out a bit to the audience area and work with your bandmates to make adjustments. I have a Line 6 G30 that has worked great for me.

 

[el murdoque]

What has worked for me in the past:

From Top to bottom:
1. Low Pass Filter. There is nothing of interest in 10k and above for a bass guitar track. I set mine way lower, around 3-5k. I start with the filter wide open, then play and close it. Unwanted sounds will disappear. Then, as I close it further, it will start cutting wanted frequencies - as soon as that happens, I back off a bit and have found my setting for the LPF.
2. I leave everything between 1k and the LPF flat.
3. around 1k is a lot of definition for your notes. Slight boost here.
4. Around 500-600 is where you want to boost if you're playing a role that does melody and drives the band, or you want a little cut if someone else is doing that.
5. In the area between 90-150 there often is that one frequency that resonates with the room (often the low G). A notch filter helps here.
6. Boost the rest of the low end some, for fat and rich bottom
7. High Pass Filter. Operation is the same as the LPF. Start wide open, then close down until it gets worse instead of better, back of one notch, done. It's quite often a lot higher than one would anticipate. In my case, around 65Hz.

 

[N Scott Shaw]

Lots of great advice here. Personally I found that experimenting with a parametric EQ, and understanding some magic frequencies, was a huge help.



3. There is a sweet spot in the mids where notes become clearer and much more audible in the mix without actually turning up your volume. Right in the 500 Hz region. I learned this trick from Uncle Will Lee.

The Will Lee thing, yes I remember it well. Back in his Letterman days you could hear him even on little TV speakers.

 

[Rib 13]

i always start flat and stay as close to flat as possible with exceptions: a slight bump between 400-500hz and I always bump 2K (or a frequency near it depending on room/stage) about +3 db for clarity and resolution. Some stages and rooms resonate in the lower end, especially 250 hz (a frequency that just about every instrument lives in such as guitar muted chugs, low vocals, and drums) so I may dip that. Theres occasional times that I feel like my isolated EQ sounds like crap but fits perfect when all the rest of the instruments are in play

 

[logdrum]

I make it sound bad unappealing by itself. That tone is usually the one that will sit well in the mix. Some drive helps too specially for rock.

Getting a little nerdy here -- do not boost the resonant frequency of the room and the bass drum.

 

[Passinwind]

This is of interest to me. Do you mind sharing how you do this? Is it a stand-alone unit you bring to gigs or software you run through a computer? Phone app maybe?

@fdeck rolled his own software analyzer, which he has shared here IIRC. Room EQ Wizard is another piece of freeware that can do that and quite a few other things as well.

 

[vvvmmm]

As some others have said most people try and get their alone tone to sound good with a loud band ....

My new "band name", The Alone Tones.

 

[agedhorse]

Note the almost complete lack of agreement on the comments. This highlights how different personal tastes are. It also shows reasons for the difficulties many players experience with the concept of eq, and why fully parametric eq’s are not common in the MI industry.

Also, the almost constant references to “flat” and “12:00” is ironic because most bass amps are not flat with the controls at 12:00, their response is as the designer intended to appeal to a particular family of tonal tastes.

 

[MtManiac]

Some great advice here, maybe not all of it is that accessible for someone who is starting at “zero” in terms of knowledge on the topic however.

For the Darkglass amp, start with your bass tone/EQ up all the way or at flat if it’s an active EQ, then on the amp set all the sliders so they’re dead on in the middle, there’s a detente to tell you where the middle is. Then very slightly bump up the center one, and very slightly bump down the one on the far left. If you find your tone too bright, slightly bump down the one on the far right. If your bass is a passive bass, dial back the tone to about 50-80%, or down to 20% if you prefer. If active dial back the lows slightly and then dial back the highs slightly. If you still can’t be heard, give your active bass EQ a slight bump to the mids (assuming it’s three band). If it’s passive and you still can’t hear yourself, turn up your volume.

Last bit of advice - convince your band to use IEMs along with a mixer that gives you each a unique monitor mix, like the Soundcraft UI or Behringer X32.

 

[jnuts1]

cut all of my treble down to zero on my bass and 85% on my amp. slight boost of the mids on my amp. bridge pickup 100%

 

[Passinwind]

Note the almost complete lack of agreement on the comments. This highlights how different personal tastes are. It also shows reasons for the difficulties many players experience with the concept of eq, and why fully parametric eq’s are not common in the MI industry.

Also, the almost constant references to “flat” and “12:00” is ironic because most bass amps are not flat with the controls at 12:00, their response is as the designer intended to appeal to a particular family of tonal tastes.

I got a pretty hard lesson on that when I started bringing DIY amps to my friend's NAMM booth. As a thought experiment we tried realigning the bass knob on one of them to skew to a little boost at noon to see how that affected user perception. The result was hilarious, and quite predictable to me.

 

[WillyW]

I like the sliders for EQ.

I make a happy or a sad face depending on my mood.

 

[Kael]

I usually set my EQ with the knobs, lol. Flat, always start flat. IF the tone needs tweaking, I strongly prefer to do it with a passive tone knob and playing technique. If an amp needs major knob twiddling, it is on it's way out the door for me. Exception would be double bass gigs where I am EQ'ing a boomy room to tame feedback.

 

[bmusic]

So much great advice. After a couple songs, I did end up cutting the low shelf a bit, and it helped. (I would never do the scooped/V-shaped graphic thing. Even by myself, at home, I don’t care for that sound.)

I forgot to mention that I play La Bella Deep Talkin’ Flats, and that my P is passive (a 74 Fender), so hi-freq stuff is not really an issue. (Built-in LPF! Haha)

Naturally, I like the idea of buying a new bass amp. But I’ll try to avoid that. I could try bringing my Ampeg PF500 along, as I’m a little more familiar with it, but it seems like a step down from the backline.

Super into the idea of getting the cab off the floor (maybe I can bring a little stool) and going wireless so I can easily walk around and see what it sounds like away from where I stand.

Thanks, tribe!

 

[Cleezmo]

Lots of overlap, and also lots of variation in these comments. At the end of the day, YOU have to turn the knobs a bunch and figure out what works for you, your bass, and the room. It takes time but it's worth it. I spent a ton of time when I purchased my current amp getting there, but the simple fact is you have to turn all the knobs and hear the differences, and none of us know what you want to sound like.

FWIW I do think the use of a HPF is kind a of universal positive and I don't think you'll find anyone who has used one that didn't like it. But EQ settings are a different story.

We all have our baseline settings that get tweaked based on the gig. Just like racers have a 'baseline' chassis and suspension setup that they tweak at each track. Backed into a brick wall corner at a small bar is gonna sound different than on an open-air stage outdoors, being on wood stage is different than a concrete floor, etc. If you don't change your baseline setting, it's gonna sound fine in one room and not fine in another.

 

[mrcbass]

This is such a ridiculously broad and stupid question that I don't know how to search for existing threads. I know, in the end, it's going to boil down to "Just use yer ears, mate," but a little head start would help.

I don't play at drum volume a lot. Never have. Now I'm jamming covers with these guys, walking cold into practice rooms, plugging in and struggling to sound good. Struggling to be audible without being too loud.

The backline gear is not the issue. Last night it was a Darkglass Microtubes of some sort (into I-don't-know-what-cab); last time it was an Aguilar Tone Hammer. I'm driving a P with a Lindy through a MarkBass Compressore, into the head. I'm moving my fingers from the neck back to the bridge, trying to find a spot where the E string isn't invisible and the D string isn't massive.

The question, I think, is figuring out what room nodes (is that the term?) are doing to the tonal balance and using EQ to counter them. (In retrospect, I think last night I was primarily standing in a horrible place, next to a wall across the room from the cab.) And also, how to find a place to live alongside the two guitar players and keyboard player.

So yeah. How do you do that? You walk into a room, you're getting set up; where do you start with the EQ?

For me, I use a HPF/LPF pedal to help tame specific rooms. Generally I can leave all of my EQ settings alone and just dial out the boom points with the HPF and help control unwanted higher pitch noises with the LPF. I use the Broughton - can be hard to get and not cheap) but if I had to cut down to one pedal, it would be this one. I get lots of tone compliments.

 

[Wfrance3]

where do you start with the EQ?

Start flat and work from there. It might seem squirrely to suggest increasing the highs and mids and maybe even backing off the bass a touch, but your tone can disappear into the kick drum and they keyboard player's left hand pretty quick if your tone is all about the bass. Playing with the mids and leaving yourself a little top end is the key I think...

 

[brianrost]

How I set amp EQ:

1. Unknown amp? I set everything to 12:00 to start. This may or may not be flat. My own amp is probably still set up from the last gig.

2. Bass with passive EQ, set tone wide open to start, active EQ set to no boost or cut.

3. Play a bit and listen.
— Too bright? First roll off the tone control on the bass a bit (I often set at about 75%) Dial down treble on the amp a bit if needed.
— Too thin? Boost bass on the amp a bit.
If your bass has active EQ, boost bass if that works better.
— Boomy? Dial back bass on the amp a bit.
If your bass has active EQ, cut bass if that works better.
— Too clanky? Dial down upper mids on amp (if possible).
If your bass has active EQ, cut mids if that works better.

4. Tweak amp EQ to fine tune.

 

[sean_on_bass]

This is such a ridiculously broad and stupid question that I don't know how to search for existing threads. I know, in the end, it's going to boil down to "Just use yer ears, mate," but a little head start would help.

I don't play at drum volume a lot. Never have. Now I'm jamming covers with these guys, walking cold into practice rooms, plugging in and struggling to sound good. Struggling to be audible without being too loud.

The backline gear is not the issue. Last night it was a Darkglass Microtubes of some sort (into I-don't-know-what-cab); last time it was an Aguilar Tone Hammer. I'm driving a P with a Lindy through a MarkBass Compressore, into the head. I'm moving my fingers from the neck back to the bridge, trying to find a spot where the E string isn't invisible and the D string isn't massive.

The question, I think, is figuring out what room nodes (is that the term?) are doing to the tonal balance and using EQ to counter them. (In retrospect, I think last night I was primarily standing in a horrible place, next to a wall across the room from the cab.) And also, how to find a place to live alongside the two guitar players and keyboard player.

So yeah. How do you do that? You walk into a room, you're getting set up; where do you start with the EQ?

I tend to be starting from where the amp was set last time it was played, then cut or boost frequencies from there. Starting with a flat EQ is not a bad idea either. And yeah, you gotta use the ears at the end of the day.