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Properly EQing your amp and bass.

#41
One Area that I didn't see covered here is that by turning up the low end of ANY amplifier you're asking the AMP to work much harder than it's happy with. I still see the famous "Smiley Face" EQ Settings Used on MANY Bass Amps, Guitars Amps/EQ Pedals AND Even Pa Systems. When you see it you can be reasonably Certain that the band or Player will sound terrible....

Quality Bass Amps are so well made today that you can most often run pretty close to Flat as Stated by many knowledgeable players Above......and sound Great. Personally, I try to get my bass to sound as much like the low end of a Piano as possible. I use NO effects and work hard to avoid Frequency sharing. Moving your Amp on a Stage can also make a huge difference. Too much boom? Put your cabinet on a couple of milk cartoons so it uncouples from the stage.

Most Comical Comment from a Bass Player who's Performing in a Venue that holds Sixty People and He's using an SVT and Two Cabinets......"Hey...Soundperson!!! I Need more of my Bass in the Monitors!!!" :)
 
#42
R Briere said:
One Area that I didn't see covered here is that by turning up the low end of ANY amplifier you're asking the AMP to work much harder than it's happy with. I still see the famous "Smiley Face" EQ Settings Used on MANY Bass Amps, Guitars Amps/EQ Pedals AND Even Pa Systems. When you see it you can be reasonably Certain that the band or Player will sound terrible....

Quality Bass Amps are so well made today that you can most often run pretty close to Flat as Stated by many knowledgeable players Above......and sound Great. Personally, I try to get my bass to sound as much like the low end of a Piano as possible. I use NO effects and work hard to avoid Frequency sharing. Moving your Amp on a Stage can also make a huge difference. Too much boom? Put your cabinet on a couple of milk cartoons so it uncouples from the stage.

Most Comical Comment from a Bass Player who's Performing in a Venue that holds Sixty People and He's using an SVT and Two Cabinets......"Hey...Soundperson!!! I Need more of my Bass in the Monitors!!!" :)
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Possibly that's a considerate bassist trying not to ruin the FOH mix by turning up his amp?
 
#44
Funny That Way said:
When his amp grows a 1/3 octave graphic EQ, this will be useful advice. His amp has labels for "Bass," "Lo-Mid," "Hi-Mid," and "Treble." That's what he needs to be familiar with.

Maybe realize that not everyone should have to know as much as you know to get a tone they like. Speaking for myself, I'll stick with my nincompoopy names until a more useful idea comes along.
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I understand that if you don't learn to recognize the spectrum using the standard nomenclature then reading the amp's EQ specs won't help - because you'll have no idea what it means - but making up pretend names for parts of the bandwidth won't help either - you still can't garner any useful information from the spec's because the manufacturer did not utilize your make believe approach when they wrote the manual and reported the operational characteristics of the amp's EQ section.

If you don't want to learn the real and actual names for different parts of the spectrum, what's so confusing about letting X = X, that is to say why not just call the Hi-Mid knob, "the Hi-Mid knob"?

How is it "more useful" to call the knobs something different than labels?

My upper mids actually do sound like unicorn farts.
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Yikes you should get that looked at... ;)
 
#46
lowfreq33 said:
Possibly that's a considerate bassist trying not to ruin the FOH mix by turning up his amp?
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Greetings Low. :-) I guess I'd have to agree now that I've had a chance to think about it. A bassist pumping three hundred watts through 16 ten inch speakers in a venue that holds 60 people really does need to be running through the PA AND stage Monitors as well. What on Earth was I Thinking? :-)
 
#49
R Briere said:
Greetings Low. :-) I guess I'd have to agree now that I've had a chance to think about it. A bassist pumping three hundred watts through 16 ten inch speakers in a venue that holds 60 people really does need to be running through the PA AND stage Monitors as well. What on Earth was I Thinking? :-)
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I've done plenty of gigs that the sound person swore they'd pump me in my monitor if I'd turn my amp down to nil. Never really works out that way though.
 
#50
R Briere said:
Jimmmmmy.......And the reason for NEVER USING this very effective and often used method of both cleaning up the stage sound on hollow or poorly made stages.... and raising a cabinet so the bassist can better hear small cabinets rather than having his sound blowing past his ankles would be.......????? :-)
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Tackiness, my brother. Nothing says "My band has no class" like milk crates onstage. Buy a proper amp stand or tilt it back with a low profile black wedge.

And forget about covering a milk crate with black cloth, too. That just says to the audience that you're trying to cover up your lack of class. Everyone knows it's a milk crate, otherwise there would be no need to hang some sort of drape over it.
 
#51
JimmyM said:
Flabby has nothing to do with strings, but a function of EQ. At least IMHO.
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Bad EQing can definitely introduce flab into your sound, but I also find that as the windings of strings become loose, they really lose their focus. Generally, your strings will lose their zing from dirt and sweat before that happens, but I'm one of those people who likes to do the denatured alcohol thing. When I'm left with a bright but unfocused set of strings, I usually know it's time to buy a new set. :D
 
#52
lowfreq33 said:
I've done plenty of gigs that the sound person swore they'd pump me in my monitor if I'd turn my amp down to nil. Never really works out that way though.
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Probably for the better. In all of my years playing bass, never have I had my bass put through the monitors and I have been pleased with the result. And I'm not one of those prima-donnas that makes all kinds of PITA requests for my monitor mixes. Most of the time, my bass sounded like a bunch of ugly high mid-range and clipping without much else.

Then again, monitors are always where costs are cut. I can't tell you how many times I've played through killer FOH and was given a monitor that was maybe a step above a RadioShack Optimus box. :spit:
 
#54
JimmyM said:
Tackiness, my brother. Nothing says "My band has no class" like milk crates onstage. Buy a proper amp stand or tilt it back with a low profile black wedge.

And forget about covering a milk crate with black cloth, too. That just says to the audience that you're trying to cover up your lack of class. Everyone knows it's a milk crate, otherwise there would be no need to hang some sort of drape over it.
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Jimmy.....There's one Better way to show you have no class.....Wear Cargo Shorts and a dirty Tee Shirt Onstage!
Most of what I've been posting has been directly generated by things I'm seeing young or new players arguing about on this forum and giving them alternatives that they can afford. I see that you have an artist endorsement deal with Ampeg....yes? But, BEFORE You got famous you must have carried all of your cables and stuff in Milk Cartons.....cuz you KNEW about covering them with black cloth!!!! ☆★☆★ :-)
 
#55
These two rules have served me well:

1. Set your bass's EQ to how you want to sound (solo or in a group).
2. Then set your amp's EQ to how you need to sound to fit in any room.

This has always allowed me to keep my general tone while still being able to be heard well in any room and on any stage.
 
#56
R Briere said:
Jimmy.....There's one Better way to show you have no class.....Wear Cargo Shorts and a dirty Tee Shirt Onstage!
Most of what I've been posting has been directly generated by things I'm seeing young or new players arguing about on this forum and giving them alternatives that they can afford. I see that you have an artist endorsement deal with Ampeg....yes? But, BEFORE You got famous you must have carried all of your cables and stuff in Milk Cartons.....cuz you KNEW about covering them with black cloth!!!! ☆★☆★ :-)
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That's half-true. I did carry cables in a milk crate. But I never had it displayed anywhere near the stage. I worked with dudes who did, though. But are they playing with Bowzer from Sha Na Na now? I think not!

:D
 
#58
Foz said:
60 to 120 Hz is 60 to 120 Hz - its not boom, or unicorn fart, or thud, or any other cute made up name.

Trouble yourself to become familiar with the standard 1/3 octave EQ bands and what they sound like and you can eschew sounding like an nincompoop when you talk about them. Additionally it will make using an EQ a lot easier and frequency spec.s will take on practical meaning.

You didn't rename the notes of the musical scale after the Twelve Apostles and the Seven Dwarfs [excepting Doc of course]. Don't do likewise to the well understood and documented range of frequencies within the scope of your instrument.

My $0.2
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Somewhere, Bill FitzMaurice is smiling ! :)
 
#59
One tip: remember that every room is different. You should adjust your EQ to fit the scenario. I have met many bass players who set their EQ, and then never touch it again because "they got it set perfect". That's a load of crap.

If you are playing with a guitar player who plays with a lot of bass, you are going to need to boost your highs and mids, and play using the bridge pickup on your bass if you want to cut through.

If you are playing in a room that is shaped like a box, you are also going to need to turn down the lows. Otherwise, it will sound way too muddy.

Ideally, I like to play at 7 across the board. (everything at 7, except the gain). That's too high of a signal for a lot of people, but I think it sounds awesome. Of course, I have to adjust the tone every night to properly fit the room, the bass, and the band.
 

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