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Amp Tone


chris411331
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A question of EQ. Bought a Trace AH500 head a while ago with the 12 band graphic and all the other bells and whistles, I run this with Trace 4*10 cabs. But! regardless of which bass, I use-a standard jazz or musicman stingray, I have always struggled to find a decent tone even after months of experimenting with the pre shape EQ and graphic, both on, one off one on etc, both off, pre shape only, graphic only but flat, literally all combininations. I add, there is nothing wrong with the basses, amp or cabs, have compared the amp side by side against a brand new model (mine is the older style pre gibson). The fault lies with me, not knowing how to get the best out of the amp. Also have downloaded all the trace example settings off the net and tried them, maybe I'm too fussy? The other problem I have is, how agressively should you use the graphic? as the book says-all sliders gently centered around 0dB? or everything above with lots of boost? the speakers tended to complain when I tried this, with the pre shape on as well, or not? Anyway I think you get where I'm coming from. So gents, any help appreciated, your own experiences etc, maybe you will be so kind as to tell me your own user settings or better still, maybe a photo! Your sincerely, a very frustrated bass player.

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When I had one I found it best to start flat and play for a while, then decide what you wanted more or less of.

I sometimes find that the sound can be a bit clanky unless the mids are cut a bit, so I always used the preshape, and then took it from there.

Adding too much bass will just make your sound boomy, and too much high boost just adds hiss, so keep it quite gentle.

Do you get a good sound with other peoples rigs, it may be that Trace Elliot isn't 'your' amp, most amp and speaker set ups have their own sound. I've gone through a ton of stuff since I started playing, I'm very happy now with what I've got.

What sort of sound are you after, who do you like ?.

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I had a Trace for years until recently. I found that If I had both the Pre and the graphic on it was too much EQ, so I took to turning off the pre and setting the graphic flat and then subtly adjusting it for the room i was perfomring in. Great amps, but really easy to 'over EQ' and muddy your sound

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When I had my Trace, I found that you had to EQ a lot to the room.

With just a 410 cab, my Trace graphic was roughly like a scewed [i]m[/i] with the right hand side higher than the left. Yup - the graphic works best when it's balanced around the 0db level. The deep bass was cut beneath the 0db. I found the cab wasn't particualrly happy with 5 strings. The middle of the "m" was cut beneath the 0db - but not too much otherwise you'll lose your definition (I find this area of the eq the most important - as you have found out, get it wrong and it can all sound cack).

Remember, it's best to get the graphic sorted with a goon useable sound with everything flat on your bass (e.g. midway on all the knobs - except volume on full) then you can tweak EQ with the bass.

Hope this helps - must admit though, I was never a great fan of the eq on Trace... too many things to tweak!

PS - have you got a horn in your can? I think it makes a massive difference. Personally, I quite like the ultra hi frequency stuff -it picks up the overtones and stuff better and things just seem more clear. In a band situation, the hiss isn't noticable but I can understand your hiss anoyance if you are playing solo. I generally fun more "bright" on my EBS live compared to when I am at home.

Edited by EBS_freak
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[quote name='EBS_freak' post='112925' date='Jan 3 2008, 02:20 PM']...Trace graphic was roughly like a scewed [i]m[/i] with the right hand side higher than the left. Yup - the graphic works best when it's balanced around the 0db level. The deep bass was cut beneath the 0db...[/quote]

I found the same worked well for me (AH300SMX head) but I also had pre-shape 1 turned on so probably got diffferent results from you. Pre-shape 1 was a smiley face preset, wasn't it? Or is my memory playing tricks?

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[quote name='stevebasshead' post='113090' date='Jan 3 2008, 06:15 PM']I found the same worked well for me (AH300SMX head) but I also had pre-shape 1 turned on so probably got diffferent results from you. Pre-shape 1 was a smiley face preset, wasn't it? Or is my memory playing tricks?[/quote]

I thought preshape 2 was the smiley face (in that the button was pressed in and the led was lit)?

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[quote name='EBS_freak' post='113123' date='Jan 3 2008, 07:23 PM']I thought preshape 2 was the smiley face (in that the button was pressed in and the led was lit)?[/quote]

Could well be mate, my memory is shot :) and I've not used my Trace for about 4-5 years now. I really should get it checked over by an amp tech and sold.

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