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I can barely hear my bass on stage

J

JaneBass1

Jul 23, 2008
69
0
#1
Could somebody give me some tips on what to do. I played last month in a gig, and the sound guy recorded this. Just until now he sent me a copy.

I am listening and I messed up on a couple of lines. But when I played I couldn't really listen to these lines, it was just playing by memory.

These lines were around the 12th fret and above. I could not her them as the guitard was playing the distortion loud.

Could you recommend some tips or something affordable. When I say affordable this means less than $200.
 
#2
What sort of EQ are you using? Mid range cuts are the usual culprit for not hearing your bass both on stage and off.

If you are someone who uses a smiley face EQ, the easiest thing to do is turn the smiley to a frown, and bump up your mids.
 
#4
I used to have the same problem. Lots of bass and volume on the low notes but play past the 12th on E or A, or anything on D and G and it got lost in the mix.

I rolled off some bass and boosted mids on the bass and amp (had to play a bit) and then increased gain and volume to push through the mix once I evened the EQ out. Didn't cost me a dime.

Then I added an ME50B to the rig and started the EQ inconsistencies all over again for 6 months haha :D
 
#8
Depth_Charge said:
No. It's "Band Politics".

(S)he? (unsure sorry) is competing with a guitarist for sonic space. That's a power struggle hence political ROFL.

:hiding:
Click to expand...

You indeed need to agree with the guitar players concerning the volume levels. Otherwise you get into the decibel wars each one adding more wattage to the setup, resulting in this wave of noise that few in the audience could hear any details, nor any music.
 
#9
+1 on the EQ settings

After that, listen to the recording with the guitard and ask him how the bass sounds in the tracks...it is possible that he has no idea that he's drowning you out and doesn't realize it. We're not just talking about hearing your bass in the mix...we're talking about not hearing yourself on stage!

Bigger, better amp perhaps? Asking to bump up the bass in the FOH mix from the soundguy? Ask the guitard to turn down? Remember the squeaky wheel gets the grease & you get 100 % of what you DON'T ask for.
 
#10
I own more than a dozen basses ... my favorite is a 5 string jazz that I built from parts ... it has the j-retro preamp...

So yesterday I was playing with my band and the bass totally sucked ... I couldn't figure it out so I played my Rickenbacker ... Then I picked up the jazz again and the eq was wrong ... I usually boost low mids and somehow the knob was turned so it cut low mids ...

So the moral of the story ... you need to properly eq your bass to sound good, be heard, and cut through the mix ...

But then again maybe the problem is you just need to get the guitard to turn down ...
 
#12
I'm surprised that no one has mentioned power. Watts are the bass players friend. Generally speaking, the more watts you have behind you, the better you can hear yourself. Add even MORE watts and what you hear sounds good.

I run a separate power/pre-amp into a single 2X12 8ohm cab. Power 'rating' is 900 watts. More than enough for anything on stage that I'll ever do. Thats why I invested in it. Being able to hear your notes is one thing, being able to hear your TONE is another. More watts equal better sound quality.

$200? A practical rig costs $1000 or more. I mean there are lots of people that say you could do "this or that" but I've been down that road and it just costs more money trying to "settle" for something. If you're serious about it, you need power to be able to hear your notes (and especially your tone) on stage.

Getting a guitar player to turn down? Hahahahaha! thats a good one.
 
#13
ksandvik said:
You indeed need to agree with the guitar players concerning the volume levels. Otherwise you get into the decibel wars each one adding more wattage to the setup, resulting in this wave of noise that few in the audience could hear any details, nor any music.
Click to expand...


agree here. i have no problem turning to either of my guitar players and asking them to turn down. we all respect each other and realize that in asking this, it's not an ego thing, but a concern for the sound of the group as a whole.
 
#14
i also found that 2 diff things work eaqually as well.

1. get your baqss up off the floor / or tilt it back so that it is aimed towards your head.

2. this is the one i do. i got me a little hartke kickback 10" and put it on top of my main amp and bi amped it with my main. the amp sits back tilted because of the cabinet design. you can control the volume independently for your own need while affecting the overall sound minimally.
 
#16
how this was recorded, from the audience or from the mixer? if was from the mixer the soundman just cutted you off, and that is probably why you could not hear yourself in the stage as you did not had enough bass in the return monitors and probably in the mix, that usually happens to me why I bring my own rig to the stage and the soundman thinks that I am too loud and cut me off from the mix, or don't like bass sound, or even, instead of cutting some mid from the guitar thinks that the bass sound is creating mix problems.
 
#19
standupright said:
2. this is the one i do. i got me a little hartke kickback 10" and put it on top of my main amp and bi amped it with my main. the amp sits back tilted because of the cabinet design. you can control the volume independently for your own need while affecting the overall sound minimally.
Click to expand...

+1 This is a trick I have used in loud bands and it works just great. You essentially give yourself a bass monitor and you have control over the volume.

Using a more powerful amp will indeed improve your tone, especially when it comes to pumping out the lows, but you can't win that "guitar is too loud so I need to turn up" game. It just ends up driving up the band's overall volume to the point that it's a sonic mess and then the bar waitress brings you a snotty note written on a napkin (guess what it says)
 
#20
Rick Auricchio said:
I have to disagree with jeb until there's more info. At this point, adding wattage for the bass just escalates the volume.

The biggest problem is guitars with too much volume, and too much bottom end. Fix that, and most bass amps are adequate.
Click to expand...

If I hear of another bass player complain of a too loud guitar player? Sigh.

If you play bass in a band, you deal with this stuff. If you have a rig that you can rely on to hear all of your notes (and your tone), you play better. More watts for the bass player is ALWAYS good. I've played with enough guitar players and farted enough $200 amps to be done with that business. I know what I'm talking about.
 

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