How should one go about EQing their bass amp? Should they use less or more? How should you you set gain, master etc.
Set everything towards 12 o’clock, then mess around until your ears are happy! Settings change depending on acoustics of the room, stage, or bass guitar. The way I set my amp, I usually start with gain, then mids, then treble, then bass, then I set the overall master volume
Hi Rhodes3944 Welcome to TB! For some good overall info about EQ- ing EQ bassics thread Amp EQ help/advice/insight OR How to cut through the mix without sounding like crud. may the bass be with you Wise(b)ass
Me, and Scott Devine have the same ideas about amp EQ. Master up high, Bass at 1:00, mid (or more than one mid) at 12:00, treble at 11:00. Doesn't matter what brand amp. Use gain control as volume. Rock until closing time.
Keeping in mind, of course, that no battle plan survives the first contact with the enemy. By which I mean, setting your bass and amp to sound good when you’re alone may need to be changed once you start to play with others. This is sometimes called “sitting well in the mix.”
I suppose that you could get into trouble if you crank the bass all the way up, and then crank the volume way up. You COULD potentially damage your cab that way. But other than that, just about anything goes. Some people like a lot of treble, others don't, some go for a "scooped" tone (usually turning the mids down and a little extra treble and bass), some people like more mids and less low end (me). Warm and fuzzy, bright and clangy etc. You'll hear it all.
Welcome to TalkBass!!!!!! Different amps are different. In some cases, knobs are boost only. This means all the way left is no boost or cut. Turning it to the right will boost that frequency range. Some are cut only. Some are boost and cut. So people who tell you to start with every amp at "mids at 2 o'clock" or whatever don't care enough to answer your question seriously. "Turn the knobs until it sounds good" is a cop out. First, tell us what kind of amp you have. Then we can look up what "flat" is on that particular model. Start there. Play a while. Decide if you need more or less of something.
IMHO, best advice yet. Such a (seemingly) simple question, with so many complicated answers. @twofingers is giving you a great place to start.
Typically, I start out with a bass and a rig that generally sound pretty good with flat settings, then I'll EQ as necessary to adjust for a particular room or environment. Doesn't need much tweaking.