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I can barely hear my bass on stage

#21
Jeb said:
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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I dont know from what your saying so far i disagree also. More watts = more volume. If you are trying to match a loud guitar player by bringing up your volume to get heard thats the wrong approach and a band band practice IMO.

I have played in massively loud bands with passive basses and 300 watts (S.S.) many times with headroom to spare.
 
#22
bassbully said:
I dont know from what your saying so far i disagree also. More watts = more volume. If you are trying to match a loud guitar player by bringing up your volume to get heard thats the wrong approach and a band band practice IMO.

I have played in massively loud bands with passive basses and 300 watts (S.S.) many times with headroom to spare.
Click to expand...

Bass amp manufacturers love customers who think they could get heard by adding more and more wattage. Same with hearing specialists, unless the bass player of course is smart and a) does not play loud and b) uses hearing protection.
 
#23
bassbully said:
I dont know from what your saying so far i disagree also. More watts = more volume. If you are trying to match a loud guitar player by bringing up your volume to get heard thats the wrong approach and a band band practice IMO.

I have played in massively loud bands with passive basses and 300 watts (S.S.) many times with headroom to spare.
Click to expand...

Bass amp manufacturers love customers who think they could only get heard by adding more and more wattage. Hearing specialists also have new customers, unless the bass player of course is smart and a) does not play loud and b) uses hearing protection.
 
#24
ksandvik said:
Bass amp manufacturers love customers who think they could only get heard by adding more and more wattage. Hearing specialists also have new customers, unless the bass player of course is smart and a) does not play loud and b) uses hearing protection.
Click to expand...


Hearing 'specialists' can get new customers from many sources. Bass amp manufacturers market to the budget minded. Am I mistaken in thinking that the thoughts of some on this forum recommend a simple EQ adjustment on an underpowered amp? Or perhaps a nice discussion with a guitar player will relinquish your 'sonic space' back to you?

Is 150W good enough for you? How about 300W? 400? 600? 1000W? The more real watts, the more headroom. The more headroom? The better your tone. If you only need 300W to be heard, 600 will sound better, not necessarily louder, but definitely better.

There isn't an honest player here who wouldn't prefer a higher powered rig over a lesser powered one. Rationalization is one thing, but reality yet another. For bass players, more watts equals better. Period.
 
#25
Oh. My. god.

All of you, go back and read the OP. She said she can hear the bass fine in the recordings, but there were a few mistakes in the bass playing, due to her not being able to hear herself on stage.

Those of you who suggested adjusting her eq: +1

Those of you who just commented on "guitards": -1
(Seriously, what kind of musicians are you if the only guitar players you attract are "guitards"? I play with a lot of good guitar players, and none of them are "guitards".)


To the OP: Boost your mids. If you are playing through a low-mid powered combo amp, tip it back a bit and aim the speaker towards you. Your stage tone might not be ideal to your ears (and it almost never will be in live, group settings), but the audience is mostly hearing what comes off the board anyway.

Good luck.
 
#26
Jeb said:
Hearing 'specialists' can get new customers from many sources. Bass amp manufacturers market to the budget minded. Am I mistaken in thinking that the thoughts of some on this forum recommend a simple EQ adjustment on an underpowered amp? Or perhaps a nice discussion with a guitar player will relinquish your 'sonic space' back to you?

Is 150W good enough for you? How about 300W? 400? 600? 1000W? The more real watts, the more headroom. The more headroom? The better your tone. If you only need 300W to be heard, 600 will sound better, not necessarily louder, but definitely better.

There isn't an honest player here who wouldn't prefer a higher powered rig over a lesser powered one. Rationalization is one thing, but reality yet another. For bass players, more watts equals better. Period.
Click to expand...

Then there are those who use under powered amps and push em to make them sweat.
 
#28
JaneBass1 said:
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.
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Hi Jane,

I agree with the above: Try boosting your mids. Mid-range frequencies are what let bass tones cut through the mix and be heard. Resist the temptation to EQ like a smiley-face:

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
+- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - +
- + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -
- - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + - - -
- - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - -
- - - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - + - - - - - - + - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - + - - + - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Instead, try EQing like this:

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - + - - + - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - + - - - - - - + - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - - - -
- - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - -
- - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + - - -
- + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + -
+- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - +

You'll cut through much better, especially over distorted guitars and a bass-heavy kick drum tone.

If you were using a monitor system, tell the soundman to give you more bass in your monitor, too.

Depending on your rig, you may also benefit from aiming your speakers at your ears (rather than into the backs of your knees, if your rig is small). You can tilt it back using a stand:

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for $50, or you can put the amp up on a road case, chair, etc.

Higher frequencies are more directional; that is, they have to be pointed at you (or the microphone, for the recording) in order to hear them well. Bass frequencies can more-or-less be heard from any direction.

Hope this helps!
 
#30
I'm kinda diggin the slaving out with the personal monitor idea. then the front of house bass tone is not changed by the EQ that others have suggested. In fact I think I'll take my line 6 studio 110 along on the next gig just to try it out. That way I can adjust the mids on the studio 110 just so I can hear better on stage. I agree about the sound level wars. louder is not always better. it seems guitar players need to be asked to turn down a little at every single gig but it's not because my M-pulse 600 is to quite or to loud causing them not to hear. More because in general, they believe they are the show, with there fancy solo's and what not. Oh well, I'll just kick back and groove with the drumer. fewer mistakes that way.:)
 
#32
turning up, getting a higher wattage amp, boosting your mids.....

jeez....she can't hear herself, it has nothing to do with the sound beyond the stage which you are ultimately affecting by changing all of this....change where the sound comes from.....that will solve your problem.
 
#33
Hello all,

I have a little mark 2 and 2x10. So the LM2 sits on top the speaker. It is delivering like 300 watts. Which is a lot for where I played. Maybe like 100-200 crowd capacity.

I cannot tilt it cause i have the amp sitting on top of the speaker. Unless I can just raise it upwards.

The guitard can play loud sometimes but not that much, during rehearsals he is ok with the sound. Actually during our gigs I have to crank my amp higher after the first song we play.

I guess I didnt ask the sound guy to put more bass on the monitors. On stage I could not really hear the D or G strings. On the recorded mix I can hear the bass OK.

So the problem is only what I can hear onstage.

Maybe I need my own bass monitor or an in ear monitor, or ask the sound guy next time to give me more bass...I don't know
 
#34
With all due respect to all of those who have suggested applying a different EQ to the bass player, or suggesting he/she needs more wattage, maybe he/she is already EQing with bumped mids and is using a massive 500 watt amp.

I am preaching/lecturing to my guitar players all the time about *their* EQ. Especially our acoustic player. Guitar players in my experience typically EQ with way too much bass or low mids in their EQ. I figure it's because they're used to playing alone, and it likely sounds a lot better in that case, because they don't have a bass player to help out with the bottom. The problem is that when they *do* have a bass player, they don't change their EQ. Our acoustic player is now (lately) EQing his guitar flat, with a little bump to his treble settings, and suddenly you can hear all those nice bright high notes that add so much colour to the overall sound.

Our electric player has one of those horrible Digitech multieffects pedals, and he happened to switch settings for one song we were trying out at band practice last week. Everytime he played a G chord, with his index finger on the 3rd fret E string, that chord was all I could hear. Clearly too much bass and low mids in the EQ of whatever setting he was using.

When you're playing guitar by yourself, your guitar is your instrument, and you need a nice full sound. The mantra I repeat for them is "the band is the instrument" and the band needs to EQ accordingly. That includes leaving brights in the guitar tone, and leaving the bass frequencies to the bass.

I remember we tried out a keyboard player once, who was also used to playing alone, and same thing - we recorded it and during "Brown Eyed Girl", all you could hear on the low end was her left hand.

I guess the point is that it's not always about your volume or the guitar player's volume, don't be tempted to bring out the big guns when a little EQ tune up will do the job.
 
#35
Although im not in the gigging stage yet, Great to hear these comments...I usually practice with scooped mids in my bedroom...not an issue by myself but from what I gather, If I use the same kind of settings on stage Ill be drowned out by the others..makes sense..I spent 20 years playing guitar with cranked mids...Ill try and rebuild my tone using more mids now, to avoid this before it happens..Thanks guys...this is Bass Newb heaven.
 
#36
JaneBass1 said:
Hello all,

I have a little mark 2 and 2x10. So the LM2 sits on top the speaker. It is delivering like 300 watts. Which is a lot for where I played. Maybe like 100-200 crowd capacity.

I cannot tilt it cause i have the amp sitting on top of the speaker. Unless I can just raise it upwards.

The guitard can play loud sometimes but not that much, during rehearsals he is ok with the sound. Actually during our gigs I have to crank my amp higher after the first song we play.

I guess I didnt ask the sound guy to put more bass on the monitors. On stage I could not really hear the D or G strings. On the recorded mix I can hear the bass OK.

So the problem is only what I can hear onstage.

Maybe I need my own bass monitor or an in ear monitor, or ask the sound guy next time to give me more bass...I don't know
Click to expand...

I just read this - I have a GK that has about the same wattage as your LMII, run through a 4 Ohm 12" Avatar, so capable of the full 480 watts. At our gigs, usually about 100 people max, I do not go through the PA at all, and my volume is rarely above 9:00, sometimes to 10:00. It sounds pant-flappingly glorious on all strings. The room we usually play in has a lot of wood, and that makes a big difference. Last weekend we played for about 200 people in a larger room that had granite tiles on the floor. My amp was wimping out big time at a volume setting of 10:00, no PA support, and we were approaching a volume war trying to compete with the lead singer, who was cranking his mic in the monitor mix. The stage mix sounded like hell, and heaven only knows what it sound like from the audience point of view - they were still dancing, so I didn't worry too much about it.

So the room you are playing in has a big effect on how well you can hear yourself too.
 
#37
One other possibility not mentioned anywhere else is bass set up.

Check your pickups are equal distance from all the strings, maybe even a little closer to the D & G. That can sometimes help (and using a screwriver is free :))

A compressor may also help, I'de recommend an OptoStomp since it is fairly transparent and can do reasonable help with regard to leveling.

Finally getting you 210 up high is of paramount importance.

Hope this helps!
 
#38
BillMason said:
Guitar players in my experience typically EQ with way too much bass or low mids in their EQ. I figure it's because they're used to playing alone, and it likely sounds a lot better in that case, because they don't have a bass player to help out with the bottom. The problem is that when they *do* have a bass player, they don't change their EQ.
Click to expand...

+1000

When the guitars have too much bass in their tone, then they're simply playing the bottom note of each chord. You can't play a real bass part: as you play a pattern, the root note is "stuck" because it's being played by the "other" bass player...the guitarist. Bad news musically. Try walking up from C to F while the guitarist keeps playing the C. Plenty of dissonant bass in the mix till he meets you at the F.

If, on the other hand, the guitar EQ isn't bass-heavy, you're OK. His note is 1-2 octaves above your bass note, so there's no problem.

And, of course, you can't hear yourself with the guitarist slamming monotonic bass notes.
 

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