Can I hear myself?
Can the audience hear me?
Can I play softly?
Can I dig in and get some grit?
Do I need to cut some bass so it sits better in the mix?
As a working cover band bass player, I tend to focus on these questions at the gig, rather than aiming for some platonic ideal “tone”.
If I’m recording, or playing an “important” gig, that might be different, but I’ll most likely have personal monitoring and engineering help.
The parametric mids on my amp usually change from bass to bass, but not (usually) from room to room. Sometimes I have to start over and dial in mids at a gig, but that usually comes from switching between outdoor and indoor venues (or, of course, switching basses).
Mostly I dial in room sounds with just gain, master, and the shelving bass control on the amp. I often have to tweak as the night goes on because I want to play harder (material dependent), softer (fatigue), the room sound changes (fills with people or empties out), or the other players adjust volume. But I generally don’t start messing with the mids, I use the aforementioned three knobs.
Maybe if I was more fussy I’d get more, or better gigs, but I doubt it. Even though I carry some big firepower, it’s been a long time since anyone has told me to turn down.
