P bass, first time using flats - EQ help needed!

[Painy]

I recently strung my Squier VM P5 with Fender flats and I'm enjoying the feel and the sound through headphones with my practice amp at home but I'm struggling to get the best out of it through my gigging rig.

The sound I'm looking for is I'd say a fairly classic P bass tone. This video from the start is a good example and 30 second in cuts the backing so you can hear the bass more clearly:

http://youtu.be/21dVIXg5tb8

And this is what I have to work with - the second channel on my Aguilar AG500. This is the distortion channel but with the saturation all the way down just adds a tiny amount of tubey breakup which I quite like.

[URL=http://s38.photobucket.com/user/Richard_Pain/media/Mobile%20Uploads/Screenshot_20161204-105525_zps4f08qvic.png.html][IMG]http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/Richard_Pain/Mobile%20Uploads/Screenshot_20161204-105525_zps4f08qvic.png[/IMG][/URL]

I'm also considering upgrading the pickup in the bass but I'd like to see if I can get there with what I have first so any suggestions, at least as a starting point, would be much appreciated.

Edited December 4, 2016 by Painy

[steve-bbb]

you cant try and equate the two environments and expect to achieve same results - just treat each one on its own merits and adjust accordingly

i find the biggest issue to be with effects and the more extreme the effect the more extreme the difference - i find that if you set up a nice effect whilst practising at home the blasted thing rarely if ever works just like you want it to in live/gigging environment

[Lozz196]

The AG is a fairly mid-forward amp so I`d look at dropping some of the high mids in the Contour and maybe a touch off of the regular mids. Adding in the Deep but cutting a bit of Bass could help too as imo (I have the AG500 as well) the 40Hz is too low, so cutting eliminates boom.

[Painy]

[quote name='steve-bbb' timestamp='1480852137' post='3187509']
you cant try and equate the two environments and expect to achieve same results - just treat each one on its own merits and adjust accordingly
[/quote]

To be fair I'm not trying to recreate the sound I'm getting at home as such - the headphones I use actually color the sound quite a bit anyway.
It's more the fact that I'd expect that classic P bass hollow mid-range characteristic sound to come through naturally with everything flat and then just tweak to taste. At the moment though it's just sounding a bit nondescript .

Edited December 4, 2016 by Painy

[Painy]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1480853000' post='3187519']
The AG is a fairly mid-forward amp so I`d look at dropping some of the high mids in the Contour and maybe a touch off of the regular mids. Adding in the Deep but cutting a bit of Bass could help too as imo (I have the AG500 as well) the 40Hz is too low, so cutting eliminates boom.
[/quote]

I'll give that a try, thanks.
I'd kinda been working on the premise that it's the characteristic of the mids that I was looking to hear so was actually pushing the mids - of course it could also well be the specific frequencies the mid control boosts aren't the frequencies I want and could therefore actually be overpowering them instead?

Much appreciated!

[wateroftyne]

Roll the tone on the bass back a bit to lose the clatter, and don't go nuts with the EQ.

[Painy]

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1480854744' post='3187544']
Roll the tone on the bass back a bit to lose the clatter, and don't go nuts with the EQ.
[/quote]

I was taking Lozz's suggestion to mean fairly subtle adjustments - only as much as really needed kinda thing.
I don't normally touch the tone on the bass as I generally find backing off too much sounds muffled but I can see how a touch here might help so I'll give that a go too, thanks .

[JTUK]

[quote name='Painy' timestamp='1480854089' post='3187536']
I'll give that a try, thanks.
I'd kinda been working on the premise that it's the characteristic of the mids that I was looking to hear so was actually pushing the mids - of course it could also well be the specific frequencies the mid control boosts aren't the frequencies I want and could therefore actually be overpowering them instead?

Much appreciated!
[/quote]

Likely to sound brutal with a P... as they aren't the most forgiving in that regard. Outside the sweet spot, they can be hard to tame.
I'd soften the low mids until you get a nice helpful hole in the sound... scooped, I think we call it..

[acidbass]

IMO flats sound much nicer with the tone rolled off completely.

[gary mac]

I love flats at home but definitely not when gigging with the current band. However I eq. it just sounds muddy and indistinct.

[interpol52]

As a side note, I love these Angel Dust reviews. It's the way they take the backing out and sometimes the 'in the mix' sound is so different to the bass on it's own.

[Painy]

[quote name='interpol52' timestamp='1480888368' post='3187920']
As a side note, I love these Angel Dust reviews. It's the way they take the backing out and sometimes the 'in the mix' sound is so different to the bass on it's own.
[/quote]

Works really well doesn't it!

[interpol52]

[quote name='Painy' timestamp='1480895963' post='3187975']
Works really well doesn't it!
[/quote]

It also helps that he plays tasteful lines that show off the character of each bass. I've never understood it when non bassists review basses online, they never get the best out of them. Andertons and GAK are terrible for it. As soon as I hear "I'm not a bass player but I'll do my best to show what it can do", I switch off.

[Yank]

Yeah, I roll off the tone with flats.