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Simple "tone" question?

frsbdg

frsbdg

Guest
Jan 4, 2015
183
189
65
Anchorage, AK
#1
New bass player here. i keep seeing threads that talk about "tone," which got me thinking about the tone knob on my P-bass. Are there terms for the two extreme settings? Looking at the bass tone glossary thread, the term "clean" might be one end. The other sounds kind of "warm." Does anyone know what they are really called?
 
#3
Hey frsbdg. WELCOME to TalkBass!

For me, all the way up is "full bright" and then I usually refer to anything else by how much I have "rolled off" or "dialed back". Rarely do I "roll off" more than a third or so.

Generally speaking, in my view, the brighter the tone you send a sound guy, the more he can do with it. You can add low frequencies (or at the very least "enhance" them) because they are already present in your tone, no matter how muted. However, if you have rolled off too far, it is impossible for a sound man to put frequencies into your tone that aren't there. So it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, for him to brighten up a very dull tone with no highs present.

But that's probably way more than you were asking for. :thumbsup:
 
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#5
frsbdg said:
Nope - that's all good information to know. when playing through an amp, the full bright setting doesn't sound all that "bass-y" to me. I should probably experiment with different EQ settings to see what that can do for the overall tone.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Keep in mind that what the bass sounds like when you're playing by yourself is not what it will sound like in a band setting. The high end will be masked by other instruments but is necessary for definition.
 
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#7
In most passive basses when the tone pot turned counterclockwise it cuts the high end, and turned clockwise allows the full spectrum of the signal to pass through. That's why when you go into the studio the engineer always reminds you to leave the tone control wide open so he can shape the sound from the board with the high end intact. I'd say the extremes would be labeled "bass" and "treble" respectively. If for no other reason than familiarity with other consumer electronics that use those designations.
 
#14
frsbdg said:
New bass player here. i keep seeing threads that talk about "tone," which got me thinking about the tone knob on my P-bass. Are there terms for the two extreme settings? Looking at the bass tone glossary thread, the term "clean" might be one end. The other sounds kind of "warm." Does anyone know what they are really called?
Click to expand...
two extreme: Full Close (dull) vs Full opened (bright) (which actually is: 'MOST' LESS vs ZERO, since it's passive).

jamro217 said:
In most passive basses when the tone pot turned counterclockwise it cuts the high end, and turned clockwise allows the full spectrum of the signal to pass through. That's why when you go into the studio the engineer always reminds you to leave the tone control wide open so he can shape the sound from the board with the high end intact. I'd say the extremes would be labeled "bass" and "treble" respectively. If for no other reason than familiarity with other consumer electronics that use those designations.
Click to expand...
Nice explanations except "the soundengineer always reminds"... YMMV,...but in my experience, they never do.. they do sometime ask me to try various postions of the tone knob of my P-Bass. And most of the time the sweet spot is about 75%. Sometimes we even like it to be full off, depend on the needs. The one that always full 100% wide open when recording is the volume knob (although i have a habit of turn it less a tiny tiny bit from full).
 
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#18
I think of it as zero to ten.
Zero = full off
Ten = full on

that said, I run my tone knob at around 7 more often than not. 10's for when I need a little more clack (like using a pick), and zero when I really wanna dub it up.
The tone knob is a very useful tool, and it pays to spend the time to figure out how to use it.

FYI: on your amp, it's best to set the knobs flat (at noon) so that you can hear what your plucking hand placement, plucking technique, and tone knob actually do.
Also, in a band setting, a flat frequency setting will help you sit in the mix.
don't scoop the mids. please. don't do it.
 
#19
bluesdogblues said:
two extreme: Full Close (dull) vs Full opened (bright) (which actually is: 'MOST' LESS vs ZERO, since it's passive).


Nice explanations except "the soundengineer always reminds"... YMMV,...but in my experience, they never do.. they do sometime ask me to try various postions of the tone knob of my P-Bass. And most of the time the sweet spot is about 75%. Sometimes we even like it to be full off, depend on the needs. The one that always full 100% wide open when recording is the volume knob (although i have a habit of turn it less a tiny tiny bit from full).
Click to expand...
I must have gotten the bottom-of-the-barrel weekend shift engineer.
 
#20
Had been playing mostly Albequerque by myself, but went with about 3/4 Szechuan last night while jamming with The Herding Cats. :) And yeah, it did sound okay in the mix. Boosted the bass EQ a bit, and cut back on the treble a little on a Peavey amp.
 

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