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Stingray/Sterling with the mids rolled on.
Regards
Mark
Regards
Mark
125-250hz
"traditional" pups (single-coil J, split-coil P, MM)
broken-in strings
plucking over the pickups
slow-attack compression
"traditional" pups (single-coil J, split-coil P, MM)
broken-in strings
plucking over the pickups
slow-attack compression
I think that just about covers it. Every answer under the sun as been given.
- Jul 7, 2010
- 3,383
- 2,311
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist for: Duncan Pickups; Line6, Hipshot, GHS Strings, Somnium Guitars
I'm not sure...I've never had my bass hit anyone in the mouth... lol
I would say pickup, strings and technique.....or am I off on my thinking?
Or just off?
I would say pickup, strings and technique.....or am I off on my thinking?
Or just off?
Most important is the bass itself: if you play it without being plugged in and its acoustically loud, it will have "built-in" punch...There are a few detractors on TB who will say this has nothing to do with anything: This may be because some basses -- especially boutique instruments such as older Alembics - this quality isnt necessary on some of these instruments by virtue of their electronics and build, but on any standard production bass, an acoustically loud bass is almost guaranteed to be a punch monster
Next important is the setup: Usually a low action for both playability as well as taking too much tension off the strings at pitch for optimal resonance. This doesnt mean that they are flabby, it just means that higher actions can be too taught, choking string resonance...You may own an acoustically loud punchy bass but if it isnt set up right, you just don't know
After these:
New strings
Proper EQing, which will vary from bass to bass.... and its only slight bumps as the goal is to be as flat as possible...If you are pushing/subtracting more than somewhere between ~ +/-3db to +/- 5db per band, youre probably compensating too much and over EQing
Very true -- what Im describing above should be an umbrella concept
Next important is the setup: Usually a low action for both playability as well as taking too much tension off the strings at pitch for optimal resonance. This doesnt mean that they are flabby, it just means that higher actions can be too taught, choking string resonance...You may own an acoustically loud punchy bass but if it isnt set up right, you just don't know
After these:
New strings
Proper EQing, which will vary from bass to bass.... and its only slight bumps as the goal is to be as flat as possible...If you are pushing/subtracting more than somewhere between ~ +/-3db to +/- 5db per band, youre probably compensating too much and over EQing
Very true -- what Im describing above should be an umbrella concept
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Flabby strings = Flabby sound but probably more than anything is the EQ on the amp and having plenty of headroom power wise
I've not read through all this so maybe someone has already said it, but what makes it sound punchy is the kick drum. And what makes the kick really work and sound great is the bass. So wait till you hear your bass notes perfectly accentuated by a powerful kick as you work in unison. It's all right there. And that's what supports the whole band and what gets the people out front going. I'd suggest arranging a session with just a drummer friend and getting that going. Bum bum bum. Bum bum bum. Go through all the keys. Your bass will be punching and kicking like you would not believe and you may never look back from this.
Spector bass + any good amp.
Set the pickup balance knob slightly favoring the neck pickup, and gently boost the amp's lows & mids, while keeping the gain level up but still clean.
10" speakers tend to sound punchier than 15"s do, and good technique never hurts.
Last but not least, lock in with the drummer, and you're there.
Set the pickup balance knob slightly favoring the neck pickup, and gently boost the amp's lows & mids, while keeping the gain level up but still clean.
10" speakers tend to sound punchier than 15"s do, and good technique never hurts.
Last but not least, lock in with the drummer, and you're there.
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A Tort Guard is all you need for a Punchy Bass...
Yep, a bolt-on neck will have faster decay on notes so your sound will be punchier than a set neck or neck-thru bass which will have a smoother sound. In compression settings, try slow attack and quick release.
Limit low to mid frequencies. Play the bass close to the bridge and fine tune other bass freq according to the way your method of hitting the stings (fingerstyle, slap, pick, etc.. ) add small amounts of compression and limit if needed...
I think there are several answers. But I really think having a pickup near the bridge is a HUGE contributor to a punchy sound. You notice that if you play a Precision near the end of the neck, the tone is very "ooooooommmmy" sounding, but if you use the tips of your fingers near the bridge, the tone is punchier all of a sudden. All of the above answers are part of the equation, really.
Low mids all the way. Recently I have been keeping both my P&J pickups volume at 75-80% then just turning up my amp a bit more which allows me to focus the eq better it seems as the amp does more work. A boost + od or 2 really helps as well, I pretty much always have 1 or 2 valvecasters and a boost on when I play bass now as it just thickens up the tone so nicely. Clearly playing style is important too but your not going to get much if any punch from a poopy rig set up...
Sh!tty gets turned to poopy on this forum apparently... Watch out for poopy rig set ups guys...
poopy? aren't we mostly adults around here? my 7 year old even agrees that word sounds ridiculous.
that wasn't a jab at you, boss, I've just seen that word around here lately and it makes me throw up in my mouth a little 
on my Eden head set flat, it sounds good, I roll up something in the neighborhood of 165 Hz and that's where I have found the punch is at...they say a little goes a long way in the eq section of an Eden, but on that frequency, I can crank it...
Yeah I was a bit shocked when I saw "poopy" in my post until I realized. It sounds like something a very little kid would say.
Some amps sound great flat, my carvin BR510 also sounds fine flat but its nice to boost the low end for bass heavier tones at lower volumes.
That's funny you do 165 becouse I have been boosting a bit at 100~ and 200~ the most lately. Low end cranks the best it seems, at reasonable volumes at least.
Some amps sound great flat, my carvin BR510 also sounds fine flat but its nice to boost the low end for bass heavier tones at lower volumes.
That's funny you do 165 becouse I have been boosting a bit at 100~ and 200~ the most lately. Low end cranks the best it seems, at reasonable volumes at least.
To me, it's about EQ. Also, the mix is where it's gonna count too. With the band. So you could have any bass and there is a possibility it won't be ideal for your band because of well, because of a lot of things. Your guitarists' sound, the drums and how he/she plays, how everyone tunes (like lower tunings and so forth). There are so many variables once you get the table with the rest of a band. The biggest, to me, being the genre and style of your band and the music y'all play.
But IME, it's all about EQ and a good preamp. I use a lot of tone shaping and preamps. I have two pres, two tone enhancers, three if I count my spectrecomp, and I have an onboard pre on my main band bass. An active beast, the ibanez ATK300 from the early 90s. With this combo, I have no problems getting punch. I bump the bass and treble up a bit on my bass. I keep the mids flat if not scooped slightly. Then I bump the high mids on my board preamps and tone enhancers. I'm also a "brightness" freak. I change my strings once a month roughly and I use stainless steel pro steels by d'addarrio. I gotta have my treble content. I run a bright rig. I can cut and punch the hell out of the mix. I don't sit in the mix. I'm very prominent in it. However, this suites my band and out sound well. I've used my P bass, that I love, and it sounds good, but it's WAY different and changes the whole dynamic of our sound. This is when I really learned about EQ and band mix. I took my P bass to practice one day and tried playing and it sounded so different. Much more round and woody so to speak. I had trouble getting a tone/EQ that cut well in my bands mix. Then I realized that it just wasn't our sound because a P bass has a very distinctive sound to it. Doesn't mean I can't use it, just means it'll change the sound of our band quite a bit.
So in short, to me, to get punch, active electronics helps (in my book. It's not a necessity) and a good strong EQ or a preamp with an EQ. That, to me, is how you get punch. But again, this is ALL realative to the type of music you and your band plays. The music/genre always steers you where you need to go.
But IME, it's all about EQ and a good preamp. I use a lot of tone shaping and preamps. I have two pres, two tone enhancers, three if I count my spectrecomp, and I have an onboard pre on my main band bass. An active beast, the ibanez ATK300 from the early 90s. With this combo, I have no problems getting punch. I bump the bass and treble up a bit on my bass. I keep the mids flat if not scooped slightly. Then I bump the high mids on my board preamps and tone enhancers. I'm also a "brightness" freak. I change my strings once a month roughly and I use stainless steel pro steels by d'addarrio. I gotta have my treble content. I run a bright rig. I can cut and punch the hell out of the mix. I don't sit in the mix. I'm very prominent in it. However, this suites my band and out sound well. I've used my P bass, that I love, and it sounds good, but it's WAY different and changes the whole dynamic of our sound. This is when I really learned about EQ and band mix. I took my P bass to practice one day and tried playing and it sounded so different. Much more round and woody so to speak. I had trouble getting a tone/EQ that cut well in my bands mix. Then I realized that it just wasn't our sound because a P bass has a very distinctive sound to it. Doesn't mean I can't use it, just means it'll change the sound of our band quite a bit.
So in short, to me, to get punch, active electronics helps (in my book. It's not a necessity) and a good strong EQ or a preamp with an EQ. That, to me, is how you get punch. But again, this is ALL realative to the type of music you and your band plays. The music/genre always steers you where you need to go.
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Achieving it is all about the amp, the bass and the bassist. But what "punchy" IS is articulation without loss of balls.
