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.
To those who only run their amps 'flat': why?
- Thread starter MrRobert
- Start date
I set my amp heads flat when I'm using my Tonehammer pedal to dial in the tone I want...
Because sometimes that's what's called for to get a sound I desire.
But I don't run it flat alot.
But I don't run it flat alot.
SirMjac28
Patiently Waiting For The Next British Invasion
The only thing wrong with setting an amp to flat EQ would be if it wasn't exactly the sound the bassist wanted and only set it that way because they believed it should be that way.
I'd say it's more 'neutral' than flat. I like to have a very neutral sound. I use all passive basses, and I have a tone of pedals for making different sounds, and different EQs.
I just like that the Jazz with rounds, the Jazz with flats, the Precision with flats, the fretless with rounds, and the acoustic (technically not passive) with rounds, all sound like themselves through my rig - and then I can add the various effects and EQ to taste, and for each song.
Honestly, though, if you haven't experience a Jazz or Precision - or any other bass - through a neutral amp please try it.
I just like that the Jazz with rounds, the Jazz with flats, the Precision with flats, the fretless with rounds, and the acoustic (technically not passive) with rounds, all sound like themselves through my rig - and then I can add the various effects and EQ to taste, and for each song.
Honestly, though, if you haven't experience a Jazz or Precision - or any other bass - through a neutral amp please try it.
I control my sound mostly with a Sansamp Bass Driver pedal. Depending on the room a may dial in a little more or less from the amp, but usually only very slightly. I can also do some microtweaking on the bass. I think that's a new word, microtweaking. You're welcome.
Agreed all amps, speakers and basses have their own voice/color. According to the owners manual my Markbass controls are flat, i.e., no boost or cut when set to the 12 O'clock position. From this description I run my amp flatish, between 11AM to 1PM. Yes, Markbass has a strong mid hump built in and for me that mid hump/coloring sounds great!
If I'm tweaking anything farther than 11 to 1 o'clock then I feel that I should look into a new amp that has the baked in EQ that I like. Then again, I use mostly active EQ on my basses, so a quick tweak of the knobs in between a reggae tune and a new wave tune is all I need.
Simply put, when the knobs on a bass head are set to the neutral setting and my bass sounds like garbage....I have a problem with that. That means I need to heavily adjust the head to get to a usable tone. I prefer the amp head to get fairly close to what I want which allows me to adjust the head to the room/my tone. When you have maxed out several knobs to get your tone, what happens when you need to adjust them further in a goofy sounding room? Can't do much...
Why make it harder to get a usable tone when you play?
Why make it harder to get a usable tone when you play?
1. A good quality instrument will require less tweaking to sound good
2. Adding any excess of EQ to a source will add phase distortion and therefore lack of definition especially in the lows. It makes sense when you study engineering and understand how an equilizer works.
3. A good quality bass amplifier should already have a base tone tuned for bass (think of how an Ampeg V4 sounds with no eq, yummy!)
4. Live, you use your amp to monitor yourself and aim mostly at clarity. The soundman is the guy shaping your tone to fit in the mix anyway.
5. Now, it is totally fine to tweak your eq but I can pretty much say for sure that if you have any if your amplifier knobs turned to the max, you are most likely a beginner (I probably did that too many years ago) or something is seriously wrong with your set up. Extreme eq corrections such as + or - 15db are always a big no no. The word here is moderation
6. People with active electronics do the tweaking directly from the bass which allows to change during the set.
2. Adding any excess of EQ to a source will add phase distortion and therefore lack of definition especially in the lows. It makes sense when you study engineering and understand how an equilizer works.
3. A good quality bass amplifier should already have a base tone tuned for bass (think of how an Ampeg V4 sounds with no eq, yummy!)
4. Live, you use your amp to monitor yourself and aim mostly at clarity. The soundman is the guy shaping your tone to fit in the mix anyway.
5. Now, it is totally fine to tweak your eq but I can pretty much say for sure that if you have any if your amplifier knobs turned to the max, you are most likely a beginner (I probably did that too many years ago) or something is seriously wrong with your set up. Extreme eq corrections such as + or - 15db are always a big no no. The word here is moderation
6. People with active electronics do the tweaking directly from the bass which allows to change during the set.
If you find amps and instruments that sound good to you without help, fine tuning does the trick during each setup; then little adjustments with controls on the bass is all you need to make. Keeps you at the front of the stage, too. I hate even acknowledging there's gear on stage besides my bass. The gear isn't why you're there. I've actually waited until set breaks to make a knob adjustment on my amp. I think messing with your gear (besides instrument controls, clicking pedals, adjusting mic angle, changing basses) during a gig looks unprofessional. Personal opinion there..... It drives me bonkers to watch a guy turn knobs, stick his head up against the speaker to "listen more closely", walk back and forth between the mic stand and the amp, etc. Hey, guy, I paid a cover. Entertain me, not yourself. 
My target tone is far from what you'd hear from a completely flat system. Still, I do like me some mids- more than most players.
The danger to an amp with a really pronounced baked-in EQ curve, is that I may run out of cut or boost on some of the controls before I get it where I want to go.
The Genz-Benz Streamliner was that way for me. I was always running the bass control way down around 9 o'clock, and tweaking the mids to try and fill the gap. In comparison, my G-K heads are much easier and more intuitive to tweak.
The G-K EQ curve isn't flat, but it's closer than some other brands I've worked with.
The danger to an amp with a really pronounced baked-in EQ curve, is that I may run out of cut or boost on some of the controls before I get it where I want to go.
The Genz-Benz Streamliner was that way for me. I was always running the bass control way down around 9 o'clock, and tweaking the mids to try and fill the gap. In comparison, my G-K heads are much easier and more intuitive to tweak.
The G-K EQ curve isn't flat, but it's closer than some other brands I've worked with.
I usually get most of my tone and eq preferences sorted at preamp or eq pedal stages and run a DI before the amp so I tend to run my amp 'flat'. That way I'm hopefully hearing as close to what's heading to the desk as I can from my amp (which will of course colour the sound anyway) but then I'm free to adjust the amps eq to whatever the room or setting requires, or heck I could just push a little more mid 'cause I'm that way inclined that night.
It gives me freedom to shape the tone I'll hear and I've got the full range of that toneshaping.
If I were to try and get the toneshaping done at the amp and then tweak with preamp and pedals then what I send to the desk will be very different.
It gives me freedom to shape the tone I'll hear and I've got the full range of that toneshaping.
If I were to try and get the toneshaping done at the amp and then tweak with preamp and pedals then what I send to the desk will be very different.
depends on what bass I'm playing and what style of music.
i've been playing hard rock on my Spector these last two weeks, and EQ'd flat on the amp, and just boosting the basses treble and bass accordingly. To me, the Spector tone is amazing, and I don't want to alter it at the head right now, because I'm liking the basses own tone so much by it self. Now, My passive basses, I usually end up boosting the treble and bass while leaving mids flat.
i've been playing hard rock on my Spector these last two weeks, and EQ'd flat on the amp, and just boosting the basses treble and bass accordingly. To me, the Spector tone is amazing, and I don't want to alter it at the head right now, because I'm liking the basses own tone so much by it self. Now, My passive basses, I usually end up boosting the treble and bass while leaving mids flat.
As others have stated, pulled into my "bass truths - to me" format.
1. Every bass, amp, and cabinet colors the tone. When you pluck A=440 you do not get a perfect fundamental sine wave, and then the amp chain colors even more.
2. I have a certain tone that I want given a particular band or playing situation.
3. The amp is a tool to help me achieve that tone. It is one of many pieces of the puzzle.
4. There are pieces of the sonic puzzle that I can control - my technique, my bass (mostly the knobs - I can't change the wood on a gig)), my amp (with knobs), my cabinet (with placement)
5. The room I'm playing in is another "tool" or piece of the puzzle that I usually *can't* change. So if the room is fighting against my tone, then I need to fight back. Either with technique, bass tweaks, amp tweaks, or cabinet placement. Usually it is a combination.
6. If the knobs on my bass are "flat" and I can get the tone I want, I have more room to change given a room or band situation. Same thing with the amp.
That is the argument for finding an amp that sounds good to you "flat" imho.
1. Every bass, amp, and cabinet colors the tone. When you pluck A=440 you do not get a perfect fundamental sine wave, and then the amp chain colors even more.
2. I have a certain tone that I want given a particular band or playing situation.
3. The amp is a tool to help me achieve that tone. It is one of many pieces of the puzzle.
4. There are pieces of the sonic puzzle that I can control - my technique, my bass (mostly the knobs - I can't change the wood on a gig)), my amp (with knobs), my cabinet (with placement)
5. The room I'm playing in is another "tool" or piece of the puzzle that I usually *can't* change. So if the room is fighting against my tone, then I need to fight back. Either with technique, bass tweaks, amp tweaks, or cabinet placement. Usually it is a combination.
6. If the knobs on my bass are "flat" and I can get the tone I want, I have more room to change given a room or band situation. Same thing with the amp.
That is the argument for finding an amp that sounds good to you "flat" imho.
I agree to some degree, but some amps aren't really "flat" when they seem to be set flat. Hartke LH 500/1000's are a good example for that case. Actually I'm not sure if there is someting possible to be called the "real flat"...
It's a level field.
A zero point in which to adjust your bass from.
If needed.
And to compare different basses against.
A zero point in which to adjust your bass from.
If needed.
And to compare different basses against.
Last edited:
