I love my guitarist, but if he slams my pick ups once more.......?!

[Gilsdorf]

Eat massive quantities of beans, wait till the appropriate time, and release a rank stankin' SBD in his general direction and ask if that's what he means by "farty".

Dammit I need to start reading before replying >:-((

 

[shoulderpet]

try and get him to describe exactly what he means by farty , and I second the above suggestion to stop scooping the mids, I would start with all the eq flat and adjust from there but do not reduce the mids , keep them at least half way up (flat)

 

[primusfan1989]

@primusfan1989 TC Electronic BG 250w

Bass 2 o'clock, mid 10 o'clock, treble 2-3oclock, of course there is then factoring pedals etc and trying to balance sound with not getting a huge blast when activated especially things like distortion and overdrive.

We have all thought what we really need to do is hire a big room one time and really get a feel for the mix.

Maybe i was being a bit precious when he called my babies farty!

I agree with @Lo-E set all the eq to noon, maybe bump the kids up to 1oclock and see if that helps. try to dial in a good tone before you turn your grit pedal on and then go from there. Im of the opinion that if bass + amp isn't sound good on its own, throwing a pedal on top of it will only complicate matters

 

[xUptheIronsx]

Farty pickups? There's a new one.

Sounds to me like either your amp/cab aren't getting it done, or what petrus is suggesting: you're overlapping sonic space with him.
Seems to me that a bass-heavy tone is to guitarists what scooped mids are to bassists - sounds good in the bedroom but does not play well with others. If this is what's happening then get a broom and shoo him out of there, right quick: "Git on git! Varmint! Git!!"

I was also thinking that the amp still might be eq'd for the pups in Kramer? That is the first thing I would check

Seriously, just keep turning down and ask him how he likes the change - find out whether he knows what he is talking about. A LONG time ago I did that with a guitarist. When my volume was all the way down, he said he liked the balance better, and liked how the band sounded. When I pointed out that the only thing was guitar and drums, it kind of made the point.

I call this "Psycho-acoustics". When I used to do some mixing and engineering, if we had a band member who was being annoying about things, we would just use this trick to keep them quiet. Like a drummer wanting more reverb on the snare....I would just take one of the un-assigned aux knobs and twist it, and give him the "hell yeah" look as I did it. "How's that?" His answer: " Righteous dude!!!" It also works with singers/guit players who feel their parts are "buried by the rest of the band man"

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

Ask him to clearly define in no uncertain terms what he means by "farty". Then smash him in the face with your bass.

Don't do that. It's not good for your bass.

 

[No Vice Novice]

Try a cab-less set up. Straight into a mixer and into IEMs. Add PA speakers after you figure out the mix. Then work in your cabs.

 

[xUptheIronsx]

...and then you're adding distortion on top of that? Yes, that's going to sound farty.

Turn your bass back down a bit. Turn your mids up a bit. Reduce your distortion a bit. That's a starting point you can adjust from.

Running a humbucking bass with scooped mids and distortion as you are, I'm not surprised you're not cutting through. Mids are your friend when playing live - especially when dealing with a Les Paul/Marshall combo. Let him have his wall of muddy low end. You just work your mids and low-mids and sit right above him in the sonic space. You'll cut through just fine.

This is not a matter of pickups being at fault, you just need to get used to setting up your amp and effects for a good live sound. What sounds good to you when you play on your own will often not work well live. As you gain more experience playing with other people, this will become second-nature.

It is so true about the mids thing. I HATE the sound of boosted mids - I was a child of the 70's/80's and grew up in the era of the "Disco Smile" <-- (bass up, mids down, treble up), and fought it for years with my bass rig EQ. About 3 years ago I finally just decided to try it, and every sound guy since then has bought me White Castles after the show cause my sound is so easy to work with now. IO absolutely HATE my bass sound by itself...but love it in the mix.

Our guit player uses Les Pauls with humbuckers; 80's era Jackson's with 80's era EMG's; Flying V's...all through which ever boutique amp is trending and killer homemade cabs...run in stereo.....freaking LOUD!!!!!. I HAVE to push the mids to be herad through that.

My EQ setting is like this (on a Tech 21 RBI Sans Amp PR Amp): bass - 11 o clock / mids: 1 o clock / treble: 12 o clock. This goes throught a QSC Power amp and into an Avatar neoB410 and homemade 2x15 cab.

I keep this EQ the same for my basses:
72 P- with original pups
86 Charvel 3B with 80's era EMG's
92 AVRI 62 Jazz bass with 90's era EMG's
2000 Hamer Import Standard Explorer with Seymour Duncan Humbuckers

The mids suck, but they are magic live

 

[Cuzzie]

@xUptheIronsx @Lo-E thanks both

I run straight into my amp aside from the pedals, but I will defo EQ different, I totally get what you are saying about playing alone and not liking the sound and the difference in a band.
I'll get it sorted.

For reference here is the pedal board, only thing missing is an octaves which sits after manta bass and before compressor at the end. Trying to get hit hand working also which is fun.

 

[Kukulkan61]

Just another arrogant guitar player as the rest of the 90%...

 

[Biggbass]

wasn't there a Seinfeld episode about critical comments? Just tell him his head is too big for his body and that'll
sidetrack him to worrying about something other than your farty bass.

 

[superiorpine]

It appears we have here is a failure to communicate. He says farty. We (TBers) think of farty as applying to speakers farting out , not as applying to instrument tone. What exactly does he mean?

Maybe both of you can walk a bit in the other's shoes as a way to improve your mutual understanding. Switch places. Grab his LP, and slam the bejeesus out of an E minor over and over, and let him tweak the tone on your bass while you're doing that.

This may not bring the perfect tone solution, but it will provide an opportunity to change the conversation.

My band did a really stupid gig with a really stupid sound guy who overmixed the bass from the lead guitar, also the BL. He went berserk telling me to turn down. I turned off. That didn't stop him. But when informed that I had turned off completely, the conversation changed for the better.

At the end of the day its a team sport. Unless you are working with a total nitwit, and you say he's a good guy, then changing the conversation is prolly the next step.

 

[Cuzzie]

At least when I get my new bass i'll have three different types to compare.
Diff types of music, different bases

 

[phillybass101]

Didn't you know that being a Bassist meant that everyone else in the Band can talk about your gear and your tone but you can't say anything about theirs?

 

[Cuzzie]

And their wives think bassists are the coolest cos we lay down the goove

 

[bikeplate]

Tell him to s&@t in his hat and pull it over his ears

 

[4stringmachinepete]

I get the same complaint with my Gibson sg, some players don't like Unique voices for reasons not known to me. My Gibby has soul. If you're Interested in compromising you can get a compression pedal.

 

[13lues]

Just as an experiment. Ask him if he would mind turning his lows to around the 10 o'clock position. If the fart smell is still lingering, It might very well be you.
Side note, I know Jazz Bass players who swell up with pride if you call their tone "burpy" maybe they're related?

 

[Fleebag]

Berate his shoes. Guitarists hate it when you berate their shoes.

He's a guitarist and likely wearing a funny hat too. Set him up with the shoes, then go for the hat, it'll break him (warning: he may rage quit right on the spot).

 

[Jamvan]

@primusfan1989 TC Electronic BG 250w

Bass 2 o'clock, mid 10 o'clock, treble 2-3oclock, of course there is then factoring pedals etc and trying to balance sound with not getting a huge blast when activated especially things like distortion and overdrive.

We have all thought what we really need to do is hire a big room one time and really get a feel for the mix.

Maybe i was being a bit precious when he called my babies farty!

I run TC gear and will say that if you're running any effects/preamp in front of it, start with all your tone knobs at noon and then tweak them according to the space you are playing in. Every room reacts differently and based on what I've read, you could be very bass heavy and 'farty' sounding.

I usually end up taking my bass levels down to around 10 or 11 o'clock and move my mids up slightly while leaving my treble at noon. Cuts through and give a nice, thick, non boomy sound. Reminder: don't go and set your EQ this way, start flat and tweak for the room.

 

[danosix]

I dunno about you guys but.......

I have a Cabronita P Bass and a Fender Starcaster, now i know the Fidelitron is not the highest output pickup, but it has a lovely sound. Similarly the Starcaster has 2 big humbuckers and gives a good rich sound, but he constantly refers to them as being 'farty' and not cutting through the mix, apparently modern music needs more punch, but i do like some subtlety.

Our bases are like our children, and if he offends them, he offends me!

Do i just say 'yes dear' and let him play more loudly like guitarists do, or when my lovely G&L ASAT comes from @ASATMAN in the next few days, do i crank my system, B7K pedal etc. and blow him away.

Whatcha reckon fellas, is he right and are those pick ups are a bit 'farty'?

Well, (and keep in mind I'd give my nuts for one) - the Starcaster is most certainly farty - that's their sound, lots of bass and low mids, not tons of high end and clarity with a tendency towards distorting the front end of an amp - that's "farty".
Having said that, if your guitarist doesn't like it OR your Cabronita, there are several possibilities goin on here.
You are emphasizing too much bass in your tone and getting lost in th mix - what sounds good soloed on bass RARELY sounds good in a band sitruation.
OR you need more power in your amp - if you are not turning the bass up and the treble down, the Cabronita should sound good in a LOT of different musical situations.
OR your guitarist is a douche and you should indeed smash him in the face with the butt of one of your farty basses.
Without being there none of us can tell you which one of these it is.
Is he experienced and known for having a good ear? Listen to him.
Is he a loud-mouthed kow it all about everything whethere he knows about it or not? DON'T listen to him.
If you can get a second opinion from someone with good ears who isn't likely to take sides you should be able to find out.