Tinman

[b]Musky[/b] You're using a lot of lift on the bottom end there. If the problem is showing up in rehearsals it could well be because you can't get far enough from the speakers to get the full impact of the bass. If you're not boosting anything above 180 hz and using mid cut as well you're going to be losing the frequencies that can give a bit of definition to your sound. You should be able to lift the centre of the mid range safely with worrying about any clankyness.

[b]bob weston[/b] Hey Tinman, I had this very problem a week or to ago with the new band Im in,and I have the 7 bnad version of the new Trace heads,so hopefully I can be of some relative use. Basically,I did the same as these guys have mentioned - started with the EQ flat,except for the preshape button,thats stays on for me as it pronounces the right frequencies for me.I use a Ric 4003,so I dont have the option to shape the tone before it gets to my amp(but thats why I love the Ric sound),but I have to admit,Ive left the EQ flat as each time I boost something the balance of the strings goes out.Pus it sounds great now without needing to use it! What has also helped,which the others have mentioned,is to get everyone(myself included)to turn down.That tends to clear the sound up,but I also got the guitarists to cut some of the bass out of their sound and that hepled immensly,and has made us sound all the more tighter for it.Of course,convincing them it was for the best wasnt so easy!They agreed with me by the end of the night though I think both I and the guitarists had what BOD2 described,in that what we thought sounded great on our own,didnt neccessarily benefit the band in any way.You gotta make a compromise somewhere. Otherwise,great to see some more people getting into the new Trace gear.Had mine nearly a year now and not looking back.Awesome!! Andy

I'm not familiar with these Ibanez's (what's the plural for Ibanez ? Ibanii?), but I'm assuming they have active EQ ? There's usually a "click stop" at the halfway position of active tone controls. That's where the EQ is "flat" (i.e. no boost and no cut). It's often better to start from that position then add a little bass/treble or even CUT a little bass/treble to get the basic sound you want. Also, if you setup your bass with some travel left in the tone cotnrols (i.e not at max) then you can still add a little as you are playing , if you need to. [b]Bod2[/b] Also, try backing of the lowest bass control on the amp a little to see if that helps. Another thing to remember is that sometimes the great sound you get from your gear while playing on your own isn't the best sound in the context of a band. Try tweaking the sound with the band at rehearshal. Do you have a keyboards player ? If so then try to get him to control his left hand a keep the low parts free for you (better still tie his left hand behind his back). It could also just be that everyone is too loud ! Playing in a band is about the overall sound not just hearing your own instrument. Try getting the others to back off a little and this might clearup the sound too.

In which case, I'm still suffering. Looking for new basses now I've got the amp that I want, can't decide, Warwick, Musicman, Overwater hmmmmmmm.........

[b]Paulmartin[/b] Gear Acquisition Syndrome. Be very afraid. Cut up your credit cards

Thanks for that mate, it's just that I'm not that keen on high mids, I seem to get a clicky clanky sound when I boost them. I guess I'll take your advice and start from scratch, bloody frustrating tho. PS What IS GAS??? ('nother dumb newbie question)

[b]Paulmartin[/b] The Equipment you have should be more than loud enough so something's going wrong somewhere. When you say you are boosting 40,60,100 Khz I assume you mean Hz rather than Khz. Thats quite a lot of bass boost when combined with the pre-shape button which I assume gives a mid scooped sound. Mids are what cut through the mix and if you are boosting bass frequencies they will eat all your amp's power and just create boom and rumble. Try setting everything flat and start from that point. That's what I would do.

Yeah it's the 500W combo and the contour thingy is the pre-shape, I just couldn't remember the name of it, and when I wrote KHz I meant Hz, oops.Which means I'm boosting the lows not the highs, sorry, long gig last night

Thought I'd copy this lot across from basstalk as it seems to have some good info for the less experienced like myself. Right, apologies if this is a dumb ass newbie topic but I'm having real problems. Let's start with the gear I use: New Trace 1210 combo, Trace 1518 cab, Ibanez BTB550 and 555. The problem I'm having is probably one that will make you say "the idiot, doesn't he know anything?" but it's very real to me. When the whole band is playing I can't hear myself, what am I doing wrong? My settings are something like this: Guitar eq: bass-full, treble-full, volume-full, mid shift boosting high mids. Amp settings: Trace contour thingy on, Eq on boosting 40KHz, 60KHz, 100KHz, 180KHz in a sweep with the 100KHz boosted the most. The high an low compressors (which I don't really understand-HELP!) are both on and set the same at around a quarter. I can't hear a bloody thing so I don't know if: A, I'm playing correctly or B, if anyone else can hear what I'm doing. Please help expert type guys.

Phew that was close!!! Didn't even have to change me name, cool. Big thanks to all who have struggled to make this possible. Pete