Metal bass EQ frequency settings

[poochiecheeks]

If you're going to go down that path and you already like Ibby's, I've seen older used Ibanez Premium SR 5 strings selling for very cheap on Reverb lately. I own one of these and nothing cuts like the Nordstrand big singles. Just listen to this dude So you could potentially get a professional level piece ready to go for under $800.

IMO an SR405 with steels and new pups would play and sound better than those two basses you mention. Regardless, you must have top notch pups and electronics to compete and those stock models do not. Don't be fooled, even those coveted $2K+ Dingwalls would be clown without nordstrand designed pups and Darkglass pre.

That is INSANE... looks like an SR 2605. Still a $1500 bass but I see your point.
Here's the bass in question, SR 405, not a current model but the closest price I could get is roughly $400. Tone capsule is $170, set of EMG 40DCXs is $220, the Alex Webster Seymour Duncan pickups are $350, so that's $400-$500 dollars in just electronics into a bass only worth that much. I more or less got this bass for "free" though, got paid for a days work with it, so that might change things. The nut and pots are crap though and it was missing two tuners but it plays pretty well.

I'm only making a big deal out of it because I've spent more than enough time putting lipstick on a pig, or throwing a TON of money into a pos bass to know that it just doesn't work. My best sounding bass is a Warmouth PJ with EMG's, probably worth around $700 in parts or less, and it sounds better than every other bass I've had or tried to fix or make that costs way less. I would much MUCH rather spend money on a quality instrument than spend $400 in parts to make a midrange Ibanez slightly less bad and have it be yet another waste of time.

Wouldn't it be worth it to buy something comparable to the vid for $1500 instead of wasting time with cheap basses, or Ed are you right in saying that it's more the pickups that make a difference rather than the bass itself?
Now I'm just more confused.

 

[poochiecheeks]

I see a lot of good advice here and am taking notes. Assuming you're a finger player (I'm a Webster fan too), I would suggest experimenting with your right hand technique, picking closer or farther from the neck than you're used too. Helped me. Oh yeah, and ditch the Ibanez and find yourself a used Spector Euro. I don't care how long and hard you have to look for the right deal, it will be worth it.

You beat me to what I said in my last post lol. Save up for a spector then? And what's the difference between the Euro or the US models or the NS, I know Alex has his signature Euro 5 but aside from price is there any real difference?

I find playing on the neck PU sounds the best but sometimes I have to go to the bridge. I'm trying to learn Frantic Disembowelment right now and the bridge section after the main verse riff is near impossible to articulate if you're not on the bridge PU.

 

[poochiecheeks]

Pat Quilter himself helped me out with a question one time!

I made my own XLR M to F cable to use a VT Bass Di with which worked great. The Boss Driver which I may or may not keep now has a 1/4" TRS balanced stereo out which I've never used but would image does the same thing. Adaptors for that are pretty cheap but I think I have some old radioshack parts in my basement and I'll just make one.

For now I'll use it with the Master up and Gain down, it seems to work great from what I've tried so thanks

 

[Ellery]

You beat me to what I said in my last post lol. Save up for a spector then? And what's the difference between the Euro or the US models or the NS, I know Alex has his signature Euro 5 but aside from price is there any real difference?

I find playing on the neck PU sounds the best but sometimes I have to go to the bridge. I'm trying to learn Frantic Disembowelment right now and the bridge section after the main verse riff is near impossible to articulate if you're not on the bridge PU.

Euros have the same 3 piece hard rock maple neck that the USA models get. The US models get premium wood on the fingerboard and wings as well as larger bridges; the Euros will still be excellent quality. I think it is safe to say price difference, especially used, is greater than the quality difference. If you don't end up with a bass for life, they are very resellable.

 

[edthebass]

That is INSANE... looks like an SR 2605. Still a $1500 bass but I see your point.
Here's the bass in question, SR 405, not a current model but the closest price I could get is roughly $400. Tone capsule is $170, set of EMG 40DCXs is $220, the Alex Webster Seymour Duncan pickups are $350, so that's $400-$500 dollars in just electronics into a bass only worth that much. I more or less got this bass for "free" though, got paid for a days work with it, so that might change things. The nut and pots are crap though and it was missing two tuners but it plays pretty well.

I'm only making a big deal out of it because I've spent more than enough time putting lipstick on a pig, or throwing a TON of money into a pos bass to know that it just doesn't work. My best sounding bass is a Warmouth PJ with EMG's, probably worth around $700 in parts or less, and it sounds better than every other bass I've had or tried to fix or make that costs way less. I would much MUCH rather spend money on a quality instrument than spend $400 in parts to make a midrange Ibanez slightly less bad and have it be yet another waste of time.

Wouldn't it be worth it to buy something comparable to the vid for $1500 instead of wasting time with cheap basses, or Ed are you right in saying that it's more the pickups that make a difference rather than the bass itself?
Now I'm just more confused.

Ibanez SR 1200 premium | Anthony's Gear Depot | Reverb
Same pickups, same deal without that epic blue poplar burl but there ya go, $750. Granted no shipping but I swear I've seen a lot of these selling around this price and its a freaking steal.

I agree now, not really worth it to trick out the SR405. Lipstick on a pig seems to be accurate and since you said it, I'll reiterate lol.

There may be some disagreement BUT I strongly feel that pickups and electronics is 80% of the TONE especially for aggressive tone. Playability is another story. It doesn't matter brand name, warwick, spector, etc. it can all sound good or all sound like crap. In terms of what matters, it goes #1 pickups, #2 strings, #3 scale length, #4 preamp, and after that, the tone wood, the construction method, and everything else all becomes very nebulous.

 

[socialleper]

There isn't one bass tone for metal. You have to pick your fight, and also work with what the guitar players are leaving available. Good metal bass tone is about finding the EQ spot where they aren't. Control of you mids is usually where you will find the most room for impact to your tone. A good EQ will give you control over your low mids and high mids.
Technique is important to figuring out your tone. Are you a pick player, a light player, a heavy digging in player. All of this impacts what EQ will do for you.

 

[AdamR]

what frequencies depends on the entire band. If your drummer is triggering and using a real clicky kick sound, you're going to want your lows under it. If he's not using triggers, you may want to be right above it. Mids and highs will depend on guitars.

First thing I would do is lose half of those pedals. Ive been down that hole. it just makes things a nightmare. What I would suggest is adding a good compressor. The boss comp sucks though. Either keep your eq and overdrive, or sell them both and get the Ultra version of the Alpha Omega. The quilter is a great amp, I ran one when I was using a good sized pedal board in to a par of GK 210 cabs.

 

[poochiecheeks]

what frequencies depends on the entire band. If your drummer is triggering and using a real clicky kick sound, you're going to want your lows under it. If he's not using triggers, you may want to be right above it. Mids and highs will depend on guitars.

First thing I would do is lose half of those pedals. Ive been down that hole. it just makes things a nightmare. What I would suggest is adding a good compressor. The boss comp sucks though. Either keep your eq and overdrive, or sell them both and get the Ultra version of the Alpha Omega. The quilter is a great amp, I ran one when I was using a good sized pedal board in to a par of GK 210 cabs.

Yeah I'm in the process of selling off a ton of stuff for unrelated reasons. Simpler seems to be the idea here.
What bass comp would you suggest? Always kind of liked the MXR studio comp that tells you how much your signal is being compressed, same for the DG hyper luminal but thats a bit pricey. Right now I'm just thinking bass>tuner>comp>some kind of DG preamp. I really like the ultra pedals, I was looking at the Microtubes X ultra or the B7K ultra.

 

[AdamR]

Yeah I'm in the process of selling off a ton of stuff for unrelated reasons. Simpler seems to be the idea here.
What bass comp would you suggest? Always kind of liked the MXR studio comp that tells you how much your signal is being compressed, same for the DG hyper luminal but thats a bit pricey. Right now I'm just thinking bass>tuner>comp>some kind of DG preamp. I really like the ultra pedals, I was looking at the Microtubes X ultra or the B7K ultra.

Ive never tried the MXR comp. Ive used both Darkglass pedals, The Cali 76 and the EBS. I like the EBS the most. As far as Darkglass overdrives, The Alph Omega or X7 were my favorites, But I'm currently using a Sansamp D1 2112

 

[rafitoprtx]

In my little experience with metal the tone needs to be less bass more treble, specially when is complicated riffs. I use an Aguilar Agro with my amp.

 

[AdamR]

In my little experience with metal the tone needs to be less bass more treble, specially when is complicated riffs. I use an Aguilar Agro with my amp.

This is true. Low-end build up will make a mess. Which is the reason you hear very clicky kick drums in Tech Death,

 

[Rip Van Dan]

Hello,
I'm entering the world of live and recorded metal bass and I need help on how to EQ it.

I've looked for threads that give some advice on specific frequencies such as this one
Metal Bassists - How to get your Dream Sound (and do it for less than ,000.00)
but nothing focused specifically on what frequencies are good or bad for hearing the bass in a live band. I've seen "don't scoop the mids for the love of god" countless times and read about rolling off frequencies that interfere with the drums such as <~80Hz or >~2.5kHz, and I understand this is kind of a subjective thing but I'd love to hear what you guys think.

For background I am trying to become Alex Webster in a metaphysical sense and I've attatched a pic of what I'm working with, that's on top of a fender 8x10 and an Ibanez Sdgr SR 405 going into it that I'm going to put EMGs in soon once I have the money... the LMB-3 is gonna be replaced by the boss Bc-1X as I'm a boss fanboy and want more of a compressor than a limiter. I'm currently developing a fairly decent 3 finger "hitting the fretboard slap sound" technique and it's tuned Bb standard with DR high beams (obviously)

I was thinking of getting one of those 15 or 20 band eq pedals and throwing that in before the DI so i can adjust every frequency, or mixing the GEB-7 with a GE-7 to get the few extra frequencies that it has and going from there but writing it out makes it sound kind of silly... I really just want a tone youd get in a studio coming out of the balanced output going to the board. Jeez I really have no idea how this works

I used to have the GEB-7 set up looking almost like a cosine wave but I can easily see that getting eaten by the guitars and bass drum. From what I've seen the 120hz slider makes it obnoxiously boomy, and the 400hz slider sounds really whiny, but thats really where your Lows, Low Mids, and High Mids are right?

When I set it up as seen in the pic it just sounds really dull and muffled, and I understand that a good tone in your living room is not a good tone on a stage, but what do I do here? I want to practice with the sound that I'll hear on stage, but what's the point if I can't hear it period?

If this has already been covered specifically in another thread please let me know and I'll delete it to avoid a +1 to the unending list of threads titled "how do i get a nolly metal djent bass tone from my line 6 50w guitar amp and my $80 P bass with 3 yr old strings plz respond"

Thank you and all the best

Nick

Hey Nick, bear in mind that what sounds good with you playing alone may not, in fact usually won't, sound good in a group whether live or recorded. I have a couple of suggestions for you that might help.

There's two spots that you can adjust to both give definition and presence to your playing and put a little edge on it. One is the low-mids anywhere from 250Hz to 500Hz. I personally use 250Hz with my passive Jazz bass with my Eden amps, but 500Hz when I'm going through my WTDI (DI with built-in Eden WT preamp plus an adjustable compressor) into a sound board without going through one of my amps. Usually just a little boost will do it. With a semi-parametric control that will cut/boost 15db, I run my low-mid boost usually between 1 o'clock and 1:30. Trick is to boost it slowly until your sound honks at you (you'll know it when you hear it), and then back it off until it stops or just a little below that. That's usually a decent sound when playing by yourself, but a great sound when playing in a group or recording for mixing with other instruments.

The second spot you can try adjusting a bit is at 2Khz to 2.2Khz. That's considered high-mids and will add a little "edge" to your sound. That is also very often the lower limit on a treble EQ shelving control where it boosts or cuts everything frequency above that too. If you use a shelving EQ to adjust that frequency you often end up with a lot of string and fret noise that you don't really want. But a semi-parametric centers on whatever frequency you set it to and then adjusts frequencies around it in sort of a tent shape ^. A "real" parametric adjusts in a needle shape. The "semi" one is a smoother, more musical adjustment, without getting to be a shelving EQ. So as you turn this up you can get some nice edge to your sound. If you hear it start to make a clanking sound, you've boosted too much, so back it off a bit (unless you want it to clank, then just go for it!).

Now all of this is with a passive Jazz Bass with volumes and tone maxed. So you may not need as much or you may need more for your bass. Listening to the sound will tell you what should work best with your bass. I have three Eden amps and I have one semi-parametric on one of them, two on another one, and three on my big Eden amp. If you can only boost one frequency, do the low-mids and then try boosting the treble just slightly for that edge. You won't be able to boost much with a treble control, but you "might" be able to get the edge without the clank with it. With the 2 and 3 semi-parametrics I can easily adjust both if I want to.

So give those two adjustments a shot and see how it goes.

 

[DistortedBass]

There is no guidebook or pointers that will be of any real use without having some kind of audio, and in a mix with the other players. Saying to cut one range or boost another isn't going to work for you if you are already over enhanced or weak in those areas as it is. Doing that without hearing it could just as easily make already problematic eq worse. Without hearing it, there isn't much that can be done. The most important thing is to get your sound in a mix context. Solo sounds tend to go right down the toilet the second the guitar players fire up.

You never know how it may work out for you. The guitar tone may be weak at 2k, and you can punch through there. It may need to be more 1k. You never know until you hear it together. I did a video on how radically your perception of the bass can change based on the eq of metal guitars, I think it may help you a bit.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

666 hz

/

 

[Ric5]

Hello,
I'm entering the world of live and recorded metal bass and I need help on how to EQ it.

I've looked for threads that give some advice on specific frequencies such as this one
Metal Bassists - How to get your Dream Sound (and do it for less than ,000.00)
but nothing focused specifically on what frequencies are good or bad for hearing the bass in a live band. I've seen "don't scoop the mids for the love of god" countless times and read about rolling off frequencies that interfere with the drums such as <~80Hz or >~2.5kHz, and I understand this is kind of a subjective thing but I'd love to hear what you guys think.

For background I am trying to become Alex Webster in a metaphysical sense and I've attatched a pic of what I'm working with, that's on top of a fender 8x10 and an Ibanez Sdgr SR 405 going into it that I'm going to put EMGs in soon once I have the money... the LMB-3 is gonna be replaced by the boss Bc-1X as I'm a boss fanboy and want more of a compressor than a limiter. I'm currently developing a fairly decent 3 finger "hitting the fretboard slap sound" technique and it's tuned Bb standard with DR high beams (obviously)

I was thinking of getting one of those 15 or 20 band eq pedals and throwing that in before the DI so i can adjust every frequency, or mixing the GEB-7 with a GE-7 to get the few extra frequencies that it has and going from there but writing it out makes it sound kind of silly... I really just want a tone youd get in a studio coming out of the balanced output going to the board. Jeez I really have no idea how this works

I used to have the GEB-7 set up looking almost like a cosine wave but I can easily see that getting eaten by the guitars and bass drum. From what I've seen the 120hz slider makes it obnoxiously boomy, and the 400hz slider sounds really whiny, but thats really where your Lows, Low Mids, and High Mids are right?

When I set it up as seen in the pic it just sounds really dull and muffled, and I understand that a good tone in your living room is not a good tone on a stage, but what do I do here? I want to practice with the sound that I'll hear on stage, but what's the point if I can't hear it period?

If this has already been covered specifically in another thread please let me know and I'll delete it to avoid a +1 to the unending list of threads titled "how do i get a nolly metal djent bass tone from my line 6 50w guitar amp and my $80 P bass with 3 yr old strings plz respond"

Thank you and all the best

Nick

Typically a lot of metal bassists scoop the mids ... I prefer boosting mids

 

[Chrisk-K]

Lemmy and Geezer: mids boosted
Ellefson: highs and lows boosted
Harris: highs and mids boosted
Newsted on “Justice for all”: all frequencies cut

 

[poochiecheeks]

Newsted on “Justice for all”: all frequencies cut

so THATS the secret to the justice bass tone....

 

[dkelley]

Disengage both the boss limiter and the boss driver. Darkglass should be able to get you there alone, with those EMGs when you get them. If you are going for the Webster percusive style you would probably want to also adjust your Boss EQ. Boost the lows instead of cutting them because strings barely get to oscillte when you play with that percussive style instead of stroking the string. Also that high boost on the EQ is also unnecessary, again - Darkglass should be able to get you that clank.
I find that compressors/limiters before the dirt pedal often tend to really neuter it completely and aren't all that necessary. Less is more in this case.

I do agree that I would only use one of the boss or the DG. I dunno about the limiter - up to you, but the DG is renown for working great on it's own.

Limiters, if they are constantly limiting the signal due to them being set that way, will darken the tone tremendously.

I couldn't tell by looking now, but I def would try not using the boss and the limiter, as dax21 said.

Get a great tone with only the bass and EQ pedal first.

Then add the DG TO TASTE, so it sounds great too.

never add more than one pedal at a time, imho, if you are having trouble with the final output of the whole chain of pedals.

Remember, pedals aren't like mixing tracks where you can still hear everything great even if the levels are wrong or if one track sounds terrible.

One pedal could be interacting with another, or one could simple sound bad and be preventing the rest from working great...

or each one could be somewhat darkening the tone (except hopefully that eq setting) and the sum ends of being too dark.

I also can't tell from the EQ pedal settings if you have the highest frequency completely turned off. If you do, then I think you shouldn't. On that pedal the eq points somewhat cross over each other, and bringing one frequency range all the way down will affect frequencies lower than that somewhat also.

 

[dkelley]

Ibanez SR 1200 premium | Anthony's Gear Depot | Reverb
Same pickups, same deal without that epic blue poplar burl but there ya go, $750. Granted no shipping but I swear I've seen a lot of these selling around this price and its a freaking steal.

I agree now, not really worth it to trick out the SR405. Lipstick on a pig seems to be accurate and since you said it, I'll reiterate lol.

There may be some disagreement BUT I strongly feel that pickups and electronics is 80% of the TONE especially for aggressive tone. Playability is another story. It doesn't matter brand name, warwick, spector, etc. it can all sound good or all sound like crap. In terms of what matters, it goes #1 pickups, #2 strings, #3 scale length, #4 preamp, and after that, the tone wood, the construction method, and everything else all becomes very nebulous.

I totally disagree (but then that was expected LoL). ANY of the SR series, even the 300, can be setup to sound great with bright strings on it and an actual understanding of how it's EQ works, and putting the pickups close enough to the strings to sound great without being too close.

Most cheaper soundgears are TERRIBLY setup from the factory.

 

[dkelley]

I also want to say that for metal, generally there is quite a bit of high end, attack sound... but it depends on the player.

I was just listening to some Dream Theater - OMG on this one song the bass is just the fundamental coming through (dull low end only audible in the mix), but when you listen carefully you can hear he has a ton of fuzz going on with it, but with treble rolled off. Then on their live album I was listening too he has only a little overdrive going on and a TON of high end cranked up so you hear attack like metallic attack all the time. They both sound good but I personally would never go to Myung for tone suggestions - great though he is!

I think just get a great tone with a bit of grind to it... a subtle thing with the DG and don't EQ until you find what is wrong with your sound that you want to fix with it.