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Need some advice...

dtsamples

dtsamples

Apr 15, 2010
2,400
2,545
Wilmington, DE
www.dustinsamples.com
#1
So...

Last night, at practice, my band members admitted to me that they don't like my tone (or rather, they hate it). Ouch :atoz:. They said they want it less nasal/midrange/jazz and more balls.

I play with a piano player with a 20lb left hand, an ambient guitarist, and a rock drummer. We also play with backing tracks for other sounds and backup vocals. I've been trying to sit in the mid range of the spectrum so my notes could be heard; well they want em felt. Fair enough.

I have an American Jazz 5 with chromes, and I have a Warwick SSI with Hi-beams. I really like playing the Warwick better, and I think that the active bass boost would achieve what they want. Problem is, I'm used to passive basses, and I have this strange aversion to running the active pre-amp with the bass boosted. I guess I just feel like, if I need to boost it (100% of the time; and keep it on the neck pup) to get the right tone, I'm playing the wrong instrument. I also worry about battery life and damaging my amp by running a strong signal in all the time.

Does anyone else feel weird running their pre-amp at a bass-boosted setting for the whole show? I think what my band really wants is a P5 tone, or at least the neck pup on the J, but I like playing the Warwick. Need some advice, perspective, and probably sense talked in to me.

Thanks, TB.
 
#4
First things first, play the J soloed on the neck pu for an entire rehearsal, asking your bandmates to pay attention and give you feedback AFTER rehearsal. Then go from there. If that's the sound they want, and you'd rather play your Warwick, you have your work cut out for you: trying to make the Warwick sound like a neck-soloed J. Does your amp have a clip light on the input? If so, don't worry about the active pre-amp signal to your amp, just adjust the gain (and input pad, if you have one) appropriately! Battery life? Seriously? Just change it every 6 months and don't leave the cable plugged in when you're not playing it.

You can do it: Play the bass you like to play while getting the sound you need to get. And if it's just not working out for you, do like many of us and just go buy that P bass!
 
#5
Hard to say without hearing your band.. Do you have some online samples? IMO, it's always good to be open to constructive criticism but I would temper that with always making the final decision yourself.. Also, if there's an issue with the left hand of the keyboard player, he needs to be open to making the adjustments he needs in order to get out of your space so you don't have to midrange up to be heard.. Two way street, etc..

That said, play what you want..
 
#6
Online sample Link Removed

Ironically, the piano player is a little woman. She's just used to playing solo, so she's learned to be heavy in the lower register to compensate.

This is coming two days (and no more practices) before a big contest show. Now I'm all messed up in the head and afraid I'm going to psyche myself out on this gig.

Here's the thing: their only gripe is tone. They have no problem with my lines (so they say). I don't know why I feel weird about making the Warwick sound like something that it's not. Maybe if I throw a set of old chromes on it I'll feel better.
 
#7
I was in a band once where I tried to push a Jazz 5 into the midrange space and was told...ummm...stick to the bottom son :hmm: I soon found they were right, sold the active 5 and went to passive P basses and have never had an issue since.
I stay on the bottom where I belong. They feed me every now and then and even turned around to see if I was alive and breathing at a show once :D
 
#8
AfroCubanFunkMa said:
Hard to say without hearing your band.. Do you have some online samples? IMO, it's always good to be open to constructive criticism but I would temper that with always making the final decision yourself.. Also, if there's an issue with the left hand of the keyboard player, he needs to be open to making the adjustments he needs in order to get out of your space so you don't have to midrange up to be heard.. Two way street, etc..

That said, play what you want..
Click to expand...

+1 about the keyboard player's left hand. Tell him to at least roll off his bottom end.
 
#11
Thanks everyone. I did talk to the singer a bit about her left hand; she seemed to get it, so hopefully if she hears what she wants from me she'll ease off a bit. As for the bass situation, I really want to make the Warwick work, because I love the look and feel and spacing. I'll try keeping the bass boosted and I'll roll off the upper mids and treble on my amp and see what they think. I'd run out and trade it for a P5, but half the reason I don't want to play my jazz is the tight spacing, and a P5 isn't going to solve that.
 
#13
bassbully said:
I was in a band once where I tried to push a Jazz 5 into the midrange space and was told...ummm...stick to the bottom son :hmm: I soon found they were right, sold the active 5 and went to passive P basses and have never had an issue since.
I stay on the bottom where I belong. They feed me every now and then and even turned around to see if I was alive and breathing at a show once :D
Click to expand...

That's great for you, but everyone's situation and tastes are different.

I would like to think I know more about my sound than my bandmates do, but everyone is entitled to an opinion. And compromises inevitably need to be made.

OP, the piano player's left hand is definitely a big part of the problem. But I don't know how you should best break it to her.

Also, the rest of the band is more concerned about feeling the bass than hearing it. Hearing it is understandably more important to you (because YOU are playing it). I think you have to experiment with carving out a sonic space that will please both sides.
 
#15
Bob C said:
Also, the rest of the band is more concerned about feeling the bass than hearing it. Hearing it is understandably more important to you (because YOU are playing it). I think you have to experiment with carving out a sonic space that will please both sides.
Click to expand...

I think you are right on. Really, the audience probably wants to feel it more than hear it, too.
 
#16
Coop Soup said:
How are your pickup volumes set?
Click to expand...

Well, it's a Master vol with a pan. I usually pan center, neck, or somewhere in between. Usually I keep the bass a hair boosted, the treble half cut, and the mid half boosted.

If anyone wants to offer settings advice my preamp is Master Vol; pup blend; and active bass, mid, treb boost/cut.

My amp is a Line 6 LowDown 300 (1X15). I don't use any effects right now and I use some of the amps built in compression. Settings on the amp are usually Bass: one o'clock, Low Mid: 2 o'clock, High Mid: 2 o'clock, Treble: 10:30. (I'm afraid of eq extremes for some reason. Maybe I need to get over that?)
 
#17
Back to some points in your original post:

"Bass should be heard and not felt" is an antiquated and closed-minded statement usually made by non-musicians. BUT your sound SHOULD fit the band's style. What IS your band's type of music?

I'm 99% sure you won't wear down your battery or damage your amp by boosting the lows nonstop. Just be aware that if you hear distortion caused by overdriving your amp input or speakers, you need to make adjustments. You're on the right track. It's all give and take.
 
#18
Bob C said:
What IS your band's type of music?
Click to expand...

Not sure if this is rhetorical or not, but the singer describes it as piano-driven alt/pop/rock. Mostly minor keys. She cited radiohead last night as an example of what she likes bass tone wise. I don't listen to radiohead, nor have I had a chance to yet, but I guess that's what she's got in mind. They band just says "round, full, legato, big."
 
#19
Ever listen to anything Joe Osborn ever played? I would not call his bass "mid-rangy" at all, and he always stood out in the mix and had some real punch. Just listen to Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In.

Here is a quote from Joe in Vintage guitar magazine that will solve all your J Bass 5 issues:

VG: Did it help having two pickups on the bass?
JO: No, I never used the treble pickup. It had too much mid�range for me.Forget the Warwick, especially if you are going to agonize over it soo much. Go with Joe. There is no finer opinion needed.

tom
 
#20
Well, that certainly works for Joe Osborn. The question then is: How attached are you to the Warwick?

And no, mine wasn't a rhetorical question. I was thinking if you were a swing band for example, gritty and mids would NOT be the way to go.
 

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