I am new to TalkBass. My daughter and I are learning to play the bass guitar together. I have a cheap Peavey and she has an Ibanez SR950TT that we bought for her because she loved the look of it. My Peavey has a decent deep low end tone, but I cannot get a deep low end out her Ibanez thorough the same amp. What can we do to get more deep low end out of the Ibanez...without spending a tone of $$? Thanks.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Yes...I'd like to see a pic of that bass......and the EQ system on it.....
My Ibanez Sr500 has D'addario Chrome flats on it.....and I can make the walls shake in the house with it on an Ampeg.
I've actually had compliments on what a nice low end vibe it has.......
On my Marshall practise amp with the 8 inch speaker it doesn't sound all that great though....
What kind of amp are you running?
My Ibanez Sr500 has D'addario Chrome flats on it.....and I can make the walls shake in the house with it on an Ampeg.
I've actually had compliments on what a nice low end vibe it has.......
On my Marshall practise amp with the 8 inch speaker it doesn't sound all that great though....
What kind of amp are you running?
I can't imagine not getting enough deep lows out of an Ibby SR - what kind of amp/cab combination are you using?
I can get deep lows to well past the point of boomy on all my SRs even with SS rounds, but I do have a 300W GK amp w/Carvin 115 cab.
I can get deep lows to well past the point of boomy on all my SRs even with SS rounds, but I do have a 300W GK amp w/Carvin 115 cab.
I had a similar situation with different basses (one sounding less "deep" then another) and playing with the EQ + getting a different brand of strings did a great deal in bringing out the true character of the "less deep sounding" bass.
Try each knobs of the EQ and find out what frequency they affect. Is the bass knob affecting the deep lows or the low-mid region? If it's not affecting the deeper lows, you might want to try to cut a bit of lows on the bass and compensate for the volume loss with more gain on the amp. This could bring out deeper tones.
Otherwise, in terms of strings, I really like Ken Smith's these days.
Try each knobs of the EQ and find out what frequency they affect. Is the bass knob affecting the deep lows or the low-mid region? If it's not affecting the deeper lows, you might want to try to cut a bit of lows on the bass and compensate for the volume loss with more gain on the amp. This could bring out deeper tones.
Otherwise, in terms of strings, I really like Ken Smith's these days.
I use an Earthquaker Devices Tone Job with my passive bases to get the sound I want. Simple 3 band EQ knobs and overall level knob. There are cheaper options out there too (used, the tone job runs about $100). More experienced members here may have better suggestions. Reverb.com and eBay are the places I look for pedals.
Edit: saw your pic, looks like an onboard EQ. I'd play with it (like others mentioned) before any purchases
I'm not familiar with that particular Ibanez model, but I have an SR series bass with what I suspect is the same control configuration. With the way your pic is laid out, the controls are likely:
Top= master volume
Left= Pickup blend
Right=High band EQ control
Bottom=low band EQ control
If my suspicion is correct, there should be a center detent on all the controls except the master volume. You should be able to verify this with a little knob tweaking.
A good place to start with addressing your tonal need would be with the volume at max, and all the other knobs centered (i.e. both pickups full on and EQ flat). From there you can cut highs (ccw from center) and/or boost lows (cw from center). Also, favoring the neck pickup should give you a more bottom heavy sound vs favoring the bridge pickup, which should give more definition and growliness.
Inconnu mentioned that if the low band of the EQ were boosting low mids more than the deep lows, you might even want to cut the lows a little. I think that's good advice, but if the EQ section on yours is similar to my Ibby's, it should be a shelving EQ that will boost the lowest lows the most (my Ibby is from 1992 though, so they could easily be different). In any case though, I'd most recommend starting by cutting the highs. For EQ-ing to get better tonal balance, I'd generally recommend cutting freqs you have too much of before boosting freqs you want to hear more of. But, sometimes you need to boost too. Hope all that's somewhat helpful.
Top= master volume
Left= Pickup blend
Right=High band EQ control
Bottom=low band EQ control
If my suspicion is correct, there should be a center detent on all the controls except the master volume. You should be able to verify this with a little knob tweaking.
A good place to start with addressing your tonal need would be with the volume at max, and all the other knobs centered (i.e. both pickups full on and EQ flat). From there you can cut highs (ccw from center) and/or boost lows (cw from center). Also, favoring the neck pickup should give you a more bottom heavy sound vs favoring the bridge pickup, which should give more definition and growliness.
Inconnu mentioned that if the low band of the EQ were boosting low mids more than the deep lows, you might even want to cut the lows a little. I think that's good advice, but if the EQ section on yours is similar to my Ibby's, it should be a shelving EQ that will boost the lowest lows the most (my Ibby is from 1992 though, so they could easily be different). In any case though, I'd most recommend starting by cutting the highs. For EQ-ing to get better tonal balance, I'd generally recommend cutting freqs you have too much of before boosting freqs you want to hear more of. But, sometimes you need to boost too. Hope all that's somewhat helpful.
Welcome to talkbass, btw. Also, I really dig the finish on your daughter's bass, pretty cool looking.
Tweaking your EQ would probably be the easiest fix and cheapest. I'm not familiar with that bass, are the pickups active, is there a preamp, or both? If something isn't working right that will definitely affect the tone, so a replacement might be in order.
