Can someone explain the benefit of keeping your instrument volume at 90% as opposed to fully open? I’ve heard people espouse this technique with no real explanation.
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Volume at 90%
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Simple: so you can easily and quickly kick in that extra 10% if you need to.
On a passive or active bass?
- Passive bass: Lowers the total volume, but also affects the tone to some degree. Adds some attenuation on the highs and such that some people like.
- Active bass: Signal could be too hot going into your amp or pedals. Active electronics don't have the same attenuation that passive basses do, so this only affects volume.
- Passive bass: Lowers the total volume, but also affects the tone to some degree. Adds some attenuation on the highs and such that some people like.
- Active bass: Signal could be too hot going into your amp or pedals. Active electronics don't have the same attenuation that passive basses do, so this only affects volume.
i'm sure this is mostly subjective, but: i think some of my axes sound better if i get the volume from my amp while keeping the volume control of my ax less than fully open. YMMV
My bass goes to eleven, so I can get 110% if necessary.
RIP Rob Reiner
My basses are active and I always keep the onboard volume between 75-90%. If the band gets louder throughout the set, or if I need to boost my volume to cut through on a solo, I want the option to do so without turning around and fiddling with my amp.
in terms of passive electronics the simplest explanation is that your volume knob is a tone knob. does that answer your question or do you need more?
I do this with one caveat: If there's any chance you might use that 10%, do your line check with it dimed before you back it off. And there's always that chance, so just do it. No one needs to get to clipping. Also keep in mind the relationship your volume knob has with any compressor you might have in the chain. Don't be keeping secrets from your sound guy.
So the volume is a tone knob?..cuts highs when reduced...as well as volume
Tone knob...cuts highs...and boosts lower mids when reduced ( Precision bass) to a point?
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Rolling the volume back damps the high mid peak - jazzers in particular like a "warm" (I would say dull) sound. I once modified a jazz guitar for a friend who wanted "full open" on his volume control to be 90% - added a resistor, easy mod.
In my case, I have loading capacitors in my circuits, so my instruments sound pretty much the same at half volume as they do wide open, But I play with my volume control at half volume (-6dB, I use linear pots for volume controls) most of the time, to allow me to have "another gear" when I need it. If everything is loud, music gets boring real quick (I've seen the Ramones in concert, and learned that). You gotta pick your spots to be at full bore, no matter what genre you are playing.
In my case, I have loading capacitors in my circuits, so my instruments sound pretty much the same at half volume as they do wide open, But I play with my volume control at half volume (-6dB, I use linear pots for volume controls) most of the time, to allow me to have "another gear" when I need it. If everything is loud, music gets boring real quick (I've seen the Ramones in concert, and learned that). You gotta pick your spots to be at full bore, no matter what genre you are playing.
It is a tone thing. Depends on the bass. I never run a passive Precision bass lower than 100% onboard volume, but will almost always knock the neck pickup on a Jazz down to 90% (same goes for a Rick or Travis Bean.)
And I’ll usually never run the volume on a G&L L2000 at full blast in active mode unless it’s switched to parallel. 85-90% is the sweet spot for me.
But lowering the volume on an L2000 doesn’t really affect the overall tone at all, just the actual volume, which is nice. Same goes for my 18v Bongo. I have too many basses lol
And I’ll usually never run the volume on a G&L L2000 at full blast in active mode unless it’s switched to parallel. 85-90% is the sweet spot for me.
But lowering the volume on an L2000 doesn’t really affect the overall tone at all, just the actual volume, which is nice. Same goes for my 18v Bongo. I have too many basses lol
Certain pickups voice a little differently at full volume versus having their volume reduced. The MFD pickups in G&L basses have this very noticeable characteristic. They can get very aggressive and mid forward at full volume but pulling back on it creates a smoother voicing. More old school with more forward low mids.
yeah the highs roll off first and disproportionately so. you'd have to set up a high pass filter to cheat the physics of the basic vol circuit.
if you have a passive bass try it: leave the tone open and roll back 10% volume, it should take the sparkle/zing off of roundwounds, the attack sharpness of a pick if you happen to be using one, try a bit of tapping to see what happens to the fret noise, run your hand up and down the strings to hear the diff. a lot of that top top end info will go away the fundamental will remain. pretty useful imho.
another version of this is to turn the amp way up and turn the guitar way down. it can be a great sound and a go-to, it's sort of funny that most folks seem to dime the guitar to start but you can do the same with the amp. it's a legit starting point, start with your instrument all the way down, turn the amp to like 8 and then slowly bring the instrument in. master volumes present a similar fork in the road.
that seems right. fwiw on my main guitar I had the tone knob removed and it really improved the instrument. typically I use the instrument volume as the tone knob and the amp volume as the volume. usually I keep the vol rolled off to taste, my tube amp has a delightful touch so if I need that 10% I can just dig in a bit and find it...
on bass I do usually have the vol rolled back like 8% or whatever but I like a woolier tone so i'm not playing wide open in any case. peace!
My bass teacher said he'd do it if there was a chance the sound guy would screw him in the mix.
I saw an interview with Michael League (Snarky puppy) where he said he sets his volume at 10-15% because he felt it added depth (YT link at around 34:50). Never tried it though, I keep my volume at 100%. Old habit I guess.
I feel like it is often sandbagging because we don't trust the sound tech or rest of the band to manage volume levels correctly.
I think I read something where Carol Kaye always kept the volume and tone slightly rolled back from max, like only 80-90% for a better sound.
FYI: At 35:00 in - he says he always keeps his volume fully up on 10 on his P Bass.
What he was talking about earlier was his tone knob - not volume knob.
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