Need Help - Bass Rig sounds Boomy/dull/lifeless

[will33]

I'm thinking along the same lines, that's a stadium gig worthy amp set up. You gotta feed those big dogs some real power or they don't light up.

You'll blow the windows out at it's
happy volume.

That rig would coasting at a bar gig. For bed room practice, it'll just get you evicted.

I've got a GK 1001 rb 2 and some fEarfuls, same thing, I wouldn't try to use this rig for low volume practice. It sounds terrible. Great fun at a gig, but it likes to be loud. Since I'd use a MXR m80 to warm it up at low volumes, I just started practicing going into a small mixer with headphones.

I'm a big fan of headphone practice, it keeps the peace on the home front.

Check out the Zoom B3 for a unit that can sit on your desk and gives you a huge tool box to practice with. Runs off a usb, interfaces for playback and recording, tuner, drum machine, metronome, looper, tons of amp and cab sims and tons of effects. Work it all from your screen with the free software editor.

Used, it'll set you back $150. And you can use it as a pre, di, or effect in front of the big rig. Or, since it runs on aa batteries, you could throw it in a gig bag with earphones and practice anywhere. ( I wish it had a mini stereo aux in, but you need usb for playback). Laptop will work.

You can get great sounds at low headphone volumes.

Perfect for bedroom, dorm room, living room practice.

I never used to like any of these sort of multi-effect gizmo's. They all used to be sort of half-assed at doing lots of things but not good at anything, but I gotta say, technology is fixing that at a fast pace.

Zoom has some pretty good stuff out there now from multi-effects units to handheld digital recorders, etc. Cool stuff.

 

[TrevorOfDoom]

I'm gonna be the Negative Nancy here and ask:
Why are you worrying that much about your tone for home practice? All you need to practice at home is the ability to hear yourself, and whatever other sound sources you need to learn music.
I use a battery-powered Danelectro Honeytone amp that sounds like crap, but does the job. I know what my gig rig sounds like, so I don't worry about it.

Also, why are you rolling a gig rig for home practice? That rig is sized right for 300+ capacity venues, not Aunt June's attic!
Bedroom tone will never ever be the same as in-the-mix show tone, nor should it be.

Don't throw money at a problem that doesn't need any money to solve.

If you must buy another piece of kit, get a small practice amp (between 15 & 30 watts should do it, IMO), and call it a day. Put the Genz rig on the first floor for easy load-outs and go get some gigs!

 

[morgansterne]

sound treatment is unlikely to solve any room acoustic issues. only big heavy bass traps really affect low frequencies. the gramma pad helps but it's subtle.

a while back on talkbass someone suggested always starting your amp with the bass frequency knob all the way off. Turn up to the volume you want and then add the bass back in. I always do this when playing in a new room now.

 

[Coolhandjjl]

If you are in a small room, The Allison Effect, boundary cancellation; or bass frequencies piling up in the corners may certainly be an issue. But forget about the Gramma Pad thingy.

 

[BioWeapon]

Here's something to consider; pluck near the bridge. Seriously.

 

[40YearOldBassVirgin]

$20 says it's the room acoustics.

 

[wisconsindead]

I have a friend that refuses to listen to good suggestions. We don't hang out much...

 

[707GK]

I don't know much about your amp but I'd recommend finding out where the EQ knobs are centered. Cut @ ~50hz, give a little extra @ ~400hz-2khz. dial back anything above 14khz.

If by "open" you mean your high frequency horn is all the way up, dial that guy back to noon, maybe even all the way off. (I trick my GK 4x10 into not using the tweeter at all)

Sounds like a typical mid scoop/bedroom tone problem. Too many highs, too many lows. Mids can get overpowered easily & they don't always sound good in every room. But a little extra midrange almost always sounds better in a full band setting. Really helps you "sit in the mix" nicely.

I personally like Stainless Steel & Cobalt strings for growl. The Cobalt seem to have higher output, driving the preamp a bit harder, adding to the growl. I have limited experience (maybe 1 month so far) with cobalt strings though so YMMV.

 

[sawzalot]

If your tone is fine through headphones with this setup, and assuming you're using the headphone out on the Genz, then the problem is somewhere between the Genz and your ears. Strings, another pedal, changing EQ settings, playing near the bridge, tweaking your tone knob--none of those are the issue. Sad to say it, but it's either the room or your cab. Or there's something seriously wrong in the power section of the Genz, but I think that's pretty unlikely. Hump your gear outside and listen to it there. If it sounds lousy there, then it's your cab.

Also your gain structure seems wrong--if your input gain is on 3 and your output volume is on 9, you're gain structure isn't right. Increase your gain and lower your output volume.

Tom

 

[T_Bone_TL]

Don't need a practice amp - need a practice (and small venues/easier travel) cab. Or good headphones. +50 or so on testing the speakers for phasing issues and turning the bass way down - that should be an automatic response when "boomy" is a problem.

 

[Plucker Tom]

Try a ...Q- TIP......!!!

 

[T_Bone_TL]

Hmm. ^^ for that problem, hydrogen peroxide (normal 3% solution) works nicely if you give it a couple of minutes per ear to work and free up the wax. Messy - do it over the sink or in the shower.

 

[Right_Butterscotch64]

Turn it up, no seriously turn it up. Big rigs like yours sound terrible at bedroom volumes, if you get a chance really crank that sucker while cutting the lows and boosting the mids.

 

[samson3382]

Try a ...Q- TIP......!!!

Actually, there is something to this, though I'm sure it doesn't apply in the OP's case.

I had one ear shut off at a bluegrass festival. Once I got home and to the doc, got my ears cleaned out, my mid-treble sensitivity dramatically increased and I had to dial my amp back a bit. No joke.

 

[Phe]

My tone got better when I turned the gain to 7 and volume to where ever I need it to be. Before that I always just opened them to 5 or lower.
Stepping away from the cab helped me immensely! The wavelength of low E is about 10 meters (that's about 32 feet, right?) You don't have to have a airplane hangar as a rehearsal space, but stepping away like six or eight feet helps.

 

[project_c]

Your problems are caused by bad room acoustics and playing a big rig at low volume - this was an issue for me for a while too. decoupling the amp from the floor will help a bit, but ultimately you're stuck with it, a boomy room will stay boomy no matter what equipment you put in it. The only thing that really works is finding a sweet spot in the room by moving the cab around, and experimenting with your relative position to the cab. Also, it's very useful to play some drum loops or accompanying music when playing with your eq settings, it's amazing how different things can sound in isolation.

 

[BazzTard]

did I read it right? gain 3 master volume 9 ??

try turning the gain up til it peaks,then drop it a tad, then use master volume to set the umm master volume.

.090 E string is very very light,you won't get any definition with that.

Change to 45-105.

Put new strings on your Rick.

 

[HOTSPUR1992]

So last night I did some tweaking and followed some suggestions on here. One thing I did do which wasn't mentioned was remove the speaker cable and change it with another one I had. I set everything on the amp at 12 and my Jazz bass fully open, master volume on the amp quite low. Everything seemed nice and clear. It was great. I could play with my light touch and still get nice definition. I'm kind of worried about putting my pedals back in front now because I don't want to degrade my tone. Hmmm

 

[Arjank]

I'm kind of worried about putting my pedals back in front now because I don't want to degrade my tone. Hmmm

Try all your pedals one by one to check which one degrades the sound, it may also be a combination of two pedals that don't work together.

 

[Gaolee]

It just seems interesting because I've tried lots of other methods. I'm starting to think it has something to do with the acoustics of my room, and the fact I'm on the third floor of my house. The amp is on carpet which is covering wooden floorboards etc.

This is what I would look at. Put an isolation pad between the bottom of the cabinet and the carpeted floor. Closed cell, fairly dense foam like they use for weight room floors is about right. I have had problems like you describe on hollow stages, and a dense foam pad solved them, along with cutting the low frequencies.