How to get a better tone with my current setup?

[JUSTINKP]

I guess this could of went in the Amp forums too, but I feel this pertains with the active on board preamp of my bass as well, and I notice it mostly during live shows.

I have an Ernie Ball Ray 34 Bass with the active preamp on board (the low, mid, treble knobs). I usually keep these right in the middle.

I have an Ampeg PF500 Portaflex head into a GK 4X10 cab. I love the setup, and the sound is good, but I want the tone to be a little better.

I guess I need to know how to setup the EQ on the Ampeg amp. I use the Ultra Lo Function to give the extra "boom" and "thump" which is amazing, but I notice when I do my leads, like for example in "Good" by Better Than Ezra, the tone sounds muddy. I want it to stand out and sound like the fender p-bass sounds when you turn the tone knob up the whole way. Does that make sense? If not, just listen to the way the Better Than Ezra bassist plays that song. You'll know what I mean.

If it helps at all, I notice the "thrash" light has been coming on a decent bit on my amp. Would pulling the battery from the bass and eliminating the active preamp on the bass help any of this?

I just want that distinct and good classic rock and alternative rock tone. The band I'm with right now is a cover band and we do 80s songs along with 90s and todays stuff. All of the rock genre.

If anyone can put some insight into this let me know. Thanks.

 

[Jimbob Jones]

Just a suggestion, you could try turning that Ultra Lo off, and boosting the bass knob on your instrument to get that 'thump', then you can turn it back down for the lead lines.

 

[hbarcat]

I have an Ampeg PF500 Portaflex head into a GK 4X10 cab. I love the setup, and the sound is good, but I want the tone to be a little better.

I guess I need to know how to setup the EQ on the Ampeg amp. I use the Ultra Lo Function to give the extra "boom" and "thump" which is amazing, but I notice when I do my leads, like for example in "Good" by Better Than Ezra, the tone sounds muddy. I want it to stand out and sound like the fender p-bass sounds when you turn the tone knob up the whole way.
. . .
I just want that distinct and good classic rock and alternative rock tone. The band I'm with right now is a cover band and we do 80s songs along with 90s and todays stuff. All of the rock genre.

According to the Ampeg manual you have the ability to shape tone at the following frequency centers:

Ultra Lo - 40 Hz boost + 500 Hz cut
Bass - 40 Hz
Midrange - 220 Hz, 450 Hz, 800 Hz, 1.6 kHz, 3 kHz (selection)
Treble - 4 kHz
Ultra Hi - 8 kHz


Try this for starters:

Ultra low - disengage
Bass - leave flat (12 o'clock)
Midrange - cut (9-10 o'clock) at 450 Hz
Treble - boost (2-3 o'clock)
Ultra Hi - disengage

The trick here is to get rid of the mud which is happening below 75 Hz and to keep from interfering with the guitars in your classic rock band which are keyed in to around 500 Hz. Classic rock bass has very little low frequency content compared to today's rock, metal, hip hop, dance, etc.

Your area of greatest bass impact is between 80 - 150 Hz. By cutting at 40 Hz and also at 450 Hz you are effectively boosting in your key 80 - 150 Hz range. In addition, by adding some boost at 4 kHz (Treble) this will help to make the bass stand out in the mix by giving it a little more definition on top.


Hint: these settings may not sound the best when you're by yourself tweaking your amp but when you need to blend in with the band and sound good as ensemble, it really gets the job done.

 

[groove pump]

Strongly agree with the suggestion of doing without the big ol' Ultra Low. That probably sounds sort of huge at lower volumes, but when you turn up in a live setting, that's usually gonna throw the mud around. If that Ultra Low is also cutting your sound at 500 Hz., that's probably going to really stifle your tone's ability to cut and carry into the room. Remember that your most audible tones as a bass player in a live jam are in your mids. Too much scoop and your sound starts to disappear.

Don't be afraid to noodle with the eq in your bass - the answer might be right there. You might get closer to that tone you're thinking about if you nudge your on-board mid control up just a hair above the flat setting. If that seems too raw or obnoxious, keep it flat and see what happens with your amp's mids bumped up a little bit, either in the 220 or 450 range. As long as you're not actually cutting your mids at either end, you shouldn't be burying too much of your tone.

I'm not too big on higher freq's in my sound, but I'll turn up my on-board control a bit (or open up the tone on my passive J-bass) when I'm going to slap around. Most of the sound you seem to be looking for comes through for me in my 300-700 Hz range. Try bumping up those here and there while the highs and lows stay flat.

 

[Bassdirty]

Would pulling the battery from the bass and eliminating the active preamp on the bass help any of this?

Can you actually do that?

(That bass in that song is cool though.)