Tone Control: Bass or Amp?

[IamGroot]

Do you twiddle with the tone controls on your bass or on your amp or both?

For me, all the bass tone and volume settings controls are generally fixed fixed and I adjust the particular amp I am playing through to adjust for the amp/room. I do some minor tweaking on the bass tone and volume settings during a performance, but it is mostly the amp that I adjust and set to get my sound.

Tonight, I played a jam where the amp had the treble wide open and the bass at zero and was asked not to adjust it, and adjust my nass tone controls. Got a meh sound.

 

[Downunderwonder]

Jams rules not ok. What you gonna do? Not likely to change.

I don't go anywhere without my HPF so I could re EQ the situation without the house going boom. That's likely the reason for the whacked house amp settings, no lows coming off the stage to mess up the FOH.

Enough conjecture. What's up?

 

[Nashrakh]

Preamp EQs on the bass are wasted on me. All my EQing is either done on the amp, or, when applicable, done via pickup blend even if the bass I play does have a 2- or 3-band EQ. If I need more high end response, I dial the blend towards the bridge pickup for example. Sounds better to me than boosting highs on the preamp. If I need more boom, blend towards the neck PU and play closer to the fingerboard.

In a situation like yours though... I'd be screwed.

 

[Passinwind]

Do you twiddle with the tone controls on your bass or on your amp or both?

Both, since I've built them to work in synergy. Usually bass and mids from the bass, sub lows and highs from the amp. Most of my amps have a sweepable one band full PEQ for a wild card room correction hit if needed.

 

[JimChjones]

I'd be stuffed as I don't have a tone control on my bass!

 

[bigtone23]

That jam setting is rather limiting in a bad way.
I set my amp for the room and adjust my bass for song to song needs.

 

[Wasnex]

Do you twiddle with the tone controls on your bass or on your amp or both?

For me, all the bass tone and volume settings controls are generally fixed fixed and I adjust the particular amp I am playing through to adjust for the amp/room. I do some minor tweaking on the bass tone and volume settings during a performance, but it is mostly the amp that I adjust and set to get my sound.

Tonight, I played a jam where the amp had the treble wide open and the bass at zero and was asked not to adjust it, and adjust my nass tone controls. Got a meh sound.

My approach is pretty similar to yours. Basically my priority is to use the amp's tone controls to get the sound I want for monitoring. I typically leave the bass flat and plug it into a DI with the Thru patched into the amp. The idea here is to try and get what I need for monitoring, while sending a neutral unprocessed tone the FOH...the tone I use for monitoring is pretty bright and obnoxious, so my sound pops out of the stage mix allowing me to hear more easily....totally not what I intend for the FOH mix.

However not every amp has a great EQ, and sometimes you need a little help from the bass's EQ. Also, different songs may need a little more/less bass or treble. I'll make this sort of temporary change on the bass. Lastly, jf I am running without an amp and using a flat DI, the bass's EQ is the only tools I have, so I will use them as required. Running without an amp is one of the rare occasions where I also run with the bass's volume at less than max, just in case I need a little bump in the middle of the show.

 

[AstroSonic]

The frequency ranges covered by the EQ controls on the bass and amp are different - they are not duplicates. I have learned to use both in order to produce the best mix on-stage or in the venue.

 

[Turnaround]

Or????

Why one or the other?

 

[TheReceder]

My amp, Set it and forget it. Any tone tweaks or subtle effects go out a DI. I avoid anything too drastic and let the soundman do his job with my tone out front. He has a good idea what I like so life is good for me.

As for on stage, I just need something that will cut through and can be heard by the drummer. If someone wants something in the monitor mix... that's their choice.

 

[Coolhandjjl]

Adjusting the tone control on the bass creates a different sound than adjusting knobs on an amp or pedal

 

[bucephylus]

I tend to set the amp for the room, and the bass for the tune.

 

[Stewie]

My main bass has no knobs

 

[InhumanResource]

Both, but I adjust at the bass most often. I get the amp to a good starting point for the room and just color from there.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

I dont like active bass eqs. I think they all suck. They seem to mask the natural sound of the instrument. My amp is also set pretty flat. Most of the time, I just turn the bass knob on the amp back one notch, and the high mid up one knotch. Depending on the group, I'll move the bass back up to 0 and the high mid back 1 instead of up 1. That's about it. My real tone control is my tone knob and how I play. When I'm playing metal, I leave the tone knob on full. For everything else, it's backed to 0, then moved up to right where the tone kicks back in (so like 20% on).

 

[seanm]

I disabled the tone control, so the amp

As for jams, I don't mess with the tone controls on the amp. IMHO, it is the house bands job to have a reasonable setting on the amp. If the sound really sucks, then I just don't go back.

 

[tradernick]

Tonight, I played a jam where the amp had the treble wide open and the bass at zero

fits perfectly with

was asked not to adjust it

 

[buldog5151bass]

I set the amp eq and volume at sound check, so the sound guy has what he wants. The only thing I will tough during the gig is to roll off the tone if I want something closer to a flats tone.

 

[bigswifty1]

Do you twiddle with the tone controls on your bass or on your amp or both?

On a passive bass I always use the amp tone stack, which brings me onto why I no longer use passive basses on gigs (mostly anyway)... on my active basses I use the controls on the bass. This is mostly because we tend to play sets with no breaks between songs and there are really very few opportunities to play with my amp. In some setups I physically cannot get to my amp after setup. So I do it all from the bass. For this and other reasons I need an active bass with effective tone controls and a volume control that doesn't affect tone. I start each gig with the amp running a lot hotter than I expect to need and play with the volume backed off on the bass, leaving me plenty of wiggle-room in both directions.

I should mention that I run an outboard HiPass Filter, located where I can get to it easily. Usually I might fiddle with this for a song or two (I play with a drummer who aggressively mics the kick) then leave it the rest of the gig.

Tonight, I played a jam where the amp had the treble wide open and the bass at zero and was asked not to adjust it, and adjust my nass tone controls. Got a meh sound.

That sucks but it's part of playing at a public jam. You're using someone else's equipment and it's their rules so you have to use what you're given. In one sense it's good practice in coping with adverse tone situations and thinking on your feet and being adaptable. All stuff which will stand you in good stead at your own gigs in strange rooms with strange bandmates

 

[BadExample]

Do you twiddle with the tone controls on your bass or on your amp or both?

For me, all the bass tone and volume settings controls are generally fixed fixed and I adjust the particular amp I am playing through to adjust for the amp/room. I do some minor tweaking on the bass tone and volume settings during a performance, but it is mostly the amp that I adjust and set to get my sound.

Tonight, I played a jam where the amp had the treble wide open and the bass at zero and was asked not to adjust it, and adjust my nass tone controls. Got a meh sound.

Sad as a freshly neutered dog.