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Your frequency settings please..

So you're telling me you don't use your amp's eq to dial in a good fingerstyle tone, or slap tone, or whatever to suit the way you play? You use your amp's settings simply to adjust to the room you're playing in?

That's pretty much the point of EQ, IMO. My bass + fingers give me my basic tone. If a room is uncooperative (example: boomy) I usually start by cutting freq's. I rarely boost anything at all. Otherwise, just plug n play.
 
Let's play a different game (that I really have played in the past).
I'm in the Big Mo twin 24-track remote truck running 15ips, Dolby A to Sony 2" analog machines. We are either at a large club, church, or big outdoor festival; let's say this gig is flat EQ to 24 track and live 2-mix for radio broadcast (or live to video truck).
If it's a rock band, I have no soundcheck,and I'm going to guess what EQ I MIGHT need, my main strip will have the DI channel with 180 Hz. selected, mids at 390, another mid at either 800 Hz or 1.2K (depending on my ever changing mood) and 4Khz at the high end. Given a variable Q I'm going to be moderate until I hear some music. I may boost or cut the above mentioned frequencies although I hope that the thing will sound great flat.

Your question has no merrit as stated although the above are frequencies I and other engineers use as a staring point IF WE HAVE TO EQ WITHOUT HEARING.
Use your ears and make your music.
 
Well, I can't tell where my Eden's semi-parametric EQ is set because they only mark a few frequencies on the knobs. And right now it's kinda weird because I've been toying around with the EQ to compare different cabinets.

But, my default setting is flat- enhance off, and all the EQ set flat. I like the way that amp sounds with most cabinets set flat (knowing full well that the ultimate frequency response from the rig is NOT flat). My whole goal is to find and amp/cabinet combination that gives me the sound of MY basses consistently. While some of my basses have active EQ and I do use that for some tone shaping, most of my tone shaping comes from pickup selection, where I play on the strings (both hands impact the sound with this), and how hard I play. The amp is there to translate those things, not to create it.

John
 
As others have said or alluded to, the EQ settings used by others -- even if completely flat -- will have little or no value to you, because your gear, playing technique, and taste will be different than theirs.

Example: I use bright bass tones (in my rock band anyway) but my favorite speaker cabinet has no tweeter, so I tend to boost treble a lot. If your speaker cab has a tweeter, or you don't care for bright bass tones, then my setting would be useless to you.

The best thing to do is learn what EQ settings work best for your gear, keeping in mind that your preferred EQ settings might well vary if you changed any piece of gear... including your strings.
 
I still am not getting this-

record your bass straight, flat in, like you're supposed to. Reamp or just mix/mess EQ until you get what you like? If you're looking for a basic direction on what certain audio frequencies do, that's a totally different question. Maybe that's what you want? Like you want more bottom, more oomph, more meat, more grind, more attack, etc..?
 
So you're telling me you don't use your amp's eq to dial in a good fingerstyle tone, or slap tone, or whatever to suit the way you play? You use your amp's settings simply to adjust to the room you're playing in?

I'm telling you that you use EQ to achieve a result, and this result varies with room, player, instrument, number of people present in the room, placement of amp, etc...

That said, if a good sound isn't there from the beginning with everything flat, EQ'ing won't do miracles. I prefer using EQ to tame down offending frequencies. If I have to boost anything, it's just a slight boost (2 or 3db max.) or it'll sound a little too artificial...
 
Well, I can't tell where my Eden's semi-parametric EQ is set because they only mark a few frequencies on the knobs. And right now it's kinda weird because I've been toying around with the EQ to compare different cabinets.

But, my default setting is flat- enhance off, and all the EQ set flat. I like the way that amp sounds with most cabinets set flat (knowing full well that the ultimate frequency response from the rig is NOT flat). My whole goal is to find and amp/cabinet combination that gives me the sound of MY basses consistently. While some of my basses have active EQ and I do use that for some tone shaping, most of my tone shaping comes from pickup selection, where I play on the strings (both hands impact the sound with this), and how hard I play. The amp is there to translate those things, not to create it.

John

Hi John,
I found this a while ago at eden's site. I can't remember who posted it.
 

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Please let me know your favourite EQ settings on your amp for your preferred fingerstyle tone by filling out the following:
[el snippo magnifico]
Hope this makes sense, thanks in advance!

The information requested is meaningless since we have many different types of amps, different styles of music, different PA configurations, and we play in different venues.

So you're telling me you don't use your amp's eq to dial in a good fingerstyle tone, or slap tone, or whatever to suit the way you play? You use your amp's settings simply to adjust to the room you're playing in?

Absolutely. There is no need to mess with the EQ in between most numbers. That's what technique is for. If you really need to make a significant change in something, use a DI that's set up for the change and just stomp it on. Mid-performance is NOT the time to screw around with the EQ settings on an amp!

The answer: set the EQ so it sounds good. You're the bass player - you're 'the decider". Set it once - and forget it for the rest of the night.