+1 to all the eq fix suggestions. Clamping down on the lows won't fix the balance. You can always lighten the touch on the E string.
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Multiband compressor?
- Thread starter SwamiRob
- Start date
And it could be your speaker enclosure. What are you currently using? I checked your profile and see that you have blown a few speakers. Are you boosting a lot of bass frequencies?
Mark
Assuming you ignore that, trace smx dual band compressor isn't hard to get. Handy eq balance control, quiet and cheap to boot!
Cheers for the help guys, I'll try pissing about with my EQ a little more next practise, I'm a bit limited to what I can do with it as it's only 3 band with a 3 way mid contour. I'm not really sure what the end result of what I'm doing in, but certainly doesn't look that uneven, the Marshall has a bright and a deep switch of which I'm only using the bright, and then I'm pretty much boosting treble mid and bass due to the fact it's passive EQ and I need to to make the midrange setting I use work in a certain way (all 3 contours have a different effect when cut or boosted, at least that's what it says in the manual...). Also it sounds really flat and tame when I back off the EQ and boost the gain instead.
My pickups are already very much favoured to the D/G, but maybe I need to mess around with the balance overall between the 2. Got a bridge humbucker that kicks out alot of bottom end, much more then the jazz neck pickup I have, so maybe adding a bit back on the E/A on the jazz might make things balance out a little, I dunno much about phasing between pickups so don't know if that might help phase out a little low end on the E too.
The reason I was after a multiband was so I could use it for bottom end and leave as much as possible un-compressed. Or is that not exactly how it would work? I thought with a multiband I could simply use the bass compression and then leave everything else un-compressed.
Seems like an EQ pedal is the way to go first though, the super low end might also be what's eating all my 400 tube watts and making it distort a little more easily then I imagine it would, trying to replicate frequencies that aren't gonna really be put out at any volume to be meaningful, and is probably causing a bit of a mess overall. Also would be a good way of getting the little hint of brightness I'm missing too.
Using an NV215 at the moment by the way, the only reason it blew was due to crappy mains it turned out, which also took down my friends poweramp at the same time, been using my VBA400 for a good 6 months with it now and it's had no problems.
My pickups are already very much favoured to the D/G, but maybe I need to mess around with the balance overall between the 2. Got a bridge humbucker that kicks out alot of bottom end, much more then the jazz neck pickup I have, so maybe adding a bit back on the E/A on the jazz might make things balance out a little, I dunno much about phasing between pickups so don't know if that might help phase out a little low end on the E too.
The reason I was after a multiband was so I could use it for bottom end and leave as much as possible un-compressed. Or is that not exactly how it would work? I thought with a multiband I could simply use the bass compression and then leave everything else un-compressed.
Seems like an EQ pedal is the way to go first though, the super low end might also be what's eating all my 400 tube watts and making it distort a little more easily then I imagine it would, trying to replicate frequencies that aren't gonna really be put out at any volume to be meaningful, and is probably causing a bit of a mess overall. Also would be a good way of getting the little hint of brightness I'm missing too.
Using an NV215 at the moment by the way, the only reason it blew was due to crappy mains it turned out, which also took down my friends poweramp at the same time, been using my VBA400 for a good 6 months with it now and it's had no problems.
Typically they work by splitting the frequency spectrum into bands and each is compressed separately... So if you hit a really low note that would be compressed (based on your compressor settings) then only the lows will get compressed leaving your highs at full volume. On the flip, if you pick a super high note that would shatter your ear drums it will get compressed down without compressing the lows. Multi-band on a whole is far more subtle, but in my experience, far more musical as well.
I do not know of a system that will completely ignore certain areas of the frequency spectrum.
bongomania
Commercial User
Actually that's commonly done, using a sidechained EQ. The EQ is used to change (a little or drastically) the amount of highs/lows etc. that the compressor "hears" and reacts to, without also EQing the signal we hear.
Also, many dual-band comps allow you to set one or the other band to not have much/any effect.
Also, many dual-band comps allow you to set one or the other band to not have much/any effect.
Also you might already know this but on those Marshall eq stacks flat is something like; low at about 1, mid at 10 (it is a passive cut only) and treble at about 1-2.
That is without having the high/low switches engaged.
The VBA is a dark amp by nature but you can get upper mid grind if you want it.
Have you tried other basses with the same result?
That is without having the high/low switches engaged.
The VBA is a dark amp by nature but you can get upper mid grind if you want it.
Have you tried other basses with the same result?
I've tried a P through it a while back and it had a pretty similar result tone wise, to me it sounds pretty mid heavy personally overall, and you have to force the top and bottom a little, certainly not after something really scooped sounding at all in general, just like to have alot of depth and a little bit of brightness on top that alot of players don't have, rather then getting rid of all the midrange.
Tried my bass through many other amps and it's usually a tiny bit scooped sounding to me, if only a little, it's definitely a bit bassier then other basses I've tried anyway, but not sure whether that's just a perception thing due to it been also very very loud for a passive bass. Anyway I can usually manage to get that bridge humbucker shine through other amps, just not the VBA, not that I want tons of it cos I find it a little obnoxious personally when there's loads of that stingray style click in most situations. The NV215 can certainly get some nice rounded highs out of it too, and have with plenty of heads I've used with it, seems like the VBA just needs a little persuasion perhaps.
Can anyone recommend any solid EQ pedals while we're at it by the way? Seems like the Trace is the only way to go for a dual band that can have the high end of it bypassed, that I have a chance of affording at least. Saw a digitech one that looked interesting cos it's got a modifiable crossover on it, but no bypass for the top end. Although would just not turning the compression up for the top end on a dual band be practically the same? Sure I could live with a pretty much inaudible amount of compression on the top end too.
Tried my bass through many other amps and it's usually a tiny bit scooped sounding to me, if only a little, it's definitely a bit bassier then other basses I've tried anyway, but not sure whether that's just a perception thing due to it been also very very loud for a passive bass. Anyway I can usually manage to get that bridge humbucker shine through other amps, just not the VBA, not that I want tons of it cos I find it a little obnoxious personally when there's loads of that stingray style click in most situations. The NV215 can certainly get some nice rounded highs out of it too, and have with plenty of heads I've used with it, seems like the VBA just needs a little persuasion perhaps.
Can anyone recommend any solid EQ pedals while we're at it by the way? Seems like the Trace is the only way to go for a dual band that can have the high end of it bypassed, that I have a chance of affording at least. Saw a digitech one that looked interesting cos it's got a modifiable crossover on it, but no bypass for the top end. Although would just not turning the compression up for the top end on a dual band be practically the same? Sure I could live with a pretty much inaudible amount of compression on the top end too.
bongomania
Commercial User
The Digitech one is terrible. The "good" dual band units are pricey. The Ashdown is at least worth trying, at a low price point.
Good-enough EQ pedals are plentiful; in fact I can't think of any "bad" EQ pedals, apart from maybe the EHX Metaphors.
Good-enough EQ pedals are plentiful; in fact I can't think of any "bad" EQ pedals, apart from maybe the EHX Metaphors.
Gonna dig this one up since it's pretty much on the same subject, but there's a classified for a bass xciter for a pretty decent price, considering I was after something to try pump a little extra brightness into my signal chain would the big bottom possibly combat some of the bass response issues I'm getting? I assume the aural exciter is probably gonna do a better job of adding brightness in a more natural way then forcing a few dB out of an EQ pedal?
bongomania
Commercial User
As a cheap thing to try, it's worth trying. But I would not assume it would do anything "better" or "in a more natural way". Assuming is bad. But again, there's no harm in trying the Xciter out and seeing if it suits your tastes.
It was more due to what I'd seen about the way it EQs, I imagine after all it's just a glorified EQ pedal in many respects anyway, but from what the manual and various people that use it say about the way it does it in a slightly different way with side chaining and phasing and all that it sounds alot better then using a grpahic or a para EQ. As with many things that could just well be marketing hype and people been sucked into it though.
Your probably right though, I've got a really cheap fender rogue graphic pedal I got from the states for $20 a while back that'd I'd forgot about lying around so it's probably best trying that out first anyway to see what, if any, difference it makes.
Your probably right though, I've got a really cheap fender rogue graphic pedal I got from the states for $20 a while back that'd I'd forgot about lying around so it's probably best trying that out first anyway to see what, if any, difference it makes.
