jammed with a full band for the first time last night

[rollyolly]

...and it was awesome! I've only been playing for around a year, and these guys all have around 20+ years experience. We stuck to blues chord progressions and I felt like I did really well for a rookie. They even said I sounded great, unless they were BSing me.

The problem is that I could barely hear my D or G strings. I was playing a jazz with chromes through a pf-500, eq flat. The horn on the 15" portaflex cab was set to "off"...could this be the reason? It sounds better off for solo practice, but maybe its needed in a band setting?

Anyways, I'm really excited because I feel like its only gonna get more fun from here. That's all!

 

[kraigo]

Some of it is just getting your ear used to finding your bass in the mix. You've obviously been reading here long enough to have heard of "bedroom tone" - a tone that sounds good by itself but doesn't really cut it with an ensemble. In my experience you have to learn to embrace (at least some of) the mids that don't sound good when the bass is soloed. They probably weren't BSing you totally - you probably did fine.

Congrats

KO

 

[kanonfodr]

A little bit of compression could help your D and G strings be heard. And like Kraigo said, give it some extra mids to help cut through a bit.

Peace,
Greg

 

[joelb79]

I have found that pushing the Ultra Low and cranking the Low EQ knob can sometimes make D and G strings disappear because the frequency that they are loudest at has been greatly dialed out. Try a flatter EQ perhaps. Also some rooms can create nodes and reflections that can cancel out the same frequencies, creating the same problem (or making it worse). But since your EQ was flat, then perhaps this is not the issue.

Another cause could be improper pickup height settings. I like to use a 2mm Allen Wrench as a guide for the G string. Pressing down at the last fret and placing the 2mm wrench over the magnets I adjust the pickup height until the string sticks to the allen, then I back it off until the string rings freely. Do this for both pickups. For the E string height, use a 7/64 inch (2.77mm) allen, and do the same thing; again for both pickups. Then try your D and G string. They should balance in level then.

A lot of EQ problems I found are solved by using those setup measurements for the pickups. It takes in consideration that the D and G strings do not move as far over the magnets as the A and E, so they D and G strings need to be closer to the pickups than the A and E (found them on Fender's Bass setup guide).

Hope this helps!

 

[EricssonB]

I have found that pushing the Ultra Low and cranking the Low EQ knob can sometimes make D and G strings disappear because the frequency that they are loudest at has been greatly dialed out. Try a flatter EQ perhaps. Also some rooms can create nodes and reflections that can cancel out the same frequencies, creating the same problem (or making it worse). But since your EQ was flat, then perhaps this is not the issue.

Another cause could be improper pickup height settings. I like to use a 2mm Allen Wrench as a guide for the G string. Pressing down at the last fret and placing the 2mm wrench over the magnets I adjust the pickup height until the string sticks to the allen, then I back it off until the string rings freely. Do this for both pickups. For the E string height, use a 7/64 inch (2.77mm) allen, and do the same thing; again for both pickups. Then try your D and G string. They should balance in level then.

A lot of EQ problems I found are solved by using those setup measurements for the pickups. It takes in consideration that the D and G strings do not move as far over the magnets as the A and E, so they D and G strings need to be closer to the pickups than the A and E (found them on Fender's Bass setup guide).

Hope this helps!

How functional. Good input.