Gain or Master?

[Rewbass]

Is it right to push gain all straight as long as it doesn't clip? I usually scoop the gain much more than the master and I'm not sure if that is okay. 

Does it affect to the sound? and if it does, in what way?

 

Thnx in advance.

Edited 3 hours ago by Rewbass

[paul_5]

Higher gain at the front end increases the level through the rest of the circuit and gives a better signal to noise ratio. I prefer to run the Gain as high as I can and leave the Master as low as I can get away with.

[jonno1981]

I try to keep gain as high as possible to benefit from the character of the pre-amp and adjust master for the volume. 
On some amps this can mean riding it into the red, I just trust ears on whether it sounds nice. When I had an ashdown abm I always ran the gain about 80%. It wasn’t overdriving but sounded warm and full. 
 

[TimR]

43 minutes ago, Rewbass said:

Is it right to push gain all straight as long as it doesn't clip? I usually scoop the gain much more than the master and I'm not sure if that is okay. 

Does it affect to the sound? and if it does, in what way?

 

Thnx in advance.

 

Yes.

 

Scoop?

 

Set the gain as high as you can to eliminate noise. Watch for clipping, unless that's what you want. It also controls sensitivity so will affect your playing dynamics. Too low and it will be all or nothing, too high and every little unevenness will be exposed. 

 

Then use the Master to control the overall volume level. 

[chris_b]

Gain is your tone, Master is your volume.

 

My SVT3PRO User Guide said, dial the master as loud as it will go and balance your volume on the gain.  Maybe that was because it had a valve preamp.

 

On my D class amps I prefer the gain to be pushed and using the master to balance the volume.

 

[neepheid]

I push my preamp gain until the clip light briefly comes on when hitting strings the hardest.  Then use the master volume as appropriate for the situation.

[Lozz196]

52 minutes ago, jonno1981 said:

I try to keep gain as high as possible to benefit from the character of the pre-amp and adjust master for the volume. 
On some amps this can mean riding it into the red, I just trust ears on whether it sounds nice. When I had an ashdown abm I always ran the gain about 80%. It wasn’t overdriving but sounded warm and full. 
 

Yep that`s how I ran my ABMs and my current RM500, I find it`s a much better, fuller, more dynamic tone this way.

[BigRedX]

Depends entirely on the circuitry of the pre-amp and power-amp sections.

 

For solid state amps generally you want the gain as high as possible without introducing distortion and then adjust the master volume to give you the overall level you need.

 

For amps with a valve pre-amp and solid state (or Class D) power amp the gain control will usually also act as a drive control. To get the right balance you really need to set it up in the band context as IME bass guitar can nearly always do with a bit more dirt in the mix than you would be comfortable with when playing solo. Have a listen to some isolated bass tracks to see what I mean. They are always more distorted than you would imagine from the overall mix.

 

For all valve amps it's almost entirely down to taste, provided that you haven't got the settings introducing too much noise.

 

Use your ears to get a sound you like not the numbers on the controls.

Edited 1 hour ago by BigRedX

[Sean]

1 hour ago, Rewbass said:

Is it right to push gain all straight as long as it doesn't clip? I usually scoop the gain much more than the master and I'm not sure if that is okay. 

Does it affect to the sound? and if it does, in what way?

 

Thnx in advance.

1. What amp is it?

2. What kind of sound are you trying to achieve?

3. What EQ does the amp have? 

 

 

[Rewbass]

56 minutes ago, Sean said:

1. What amp is it?

2. What kind of sound are you trying to achieve?

3. What EQ does the amp have? 

 

 

1. Markbass CMD 112 Little Mark 58R Combo

2. Scooped

3- Scooped, Old School and Flat

 

[Sean]

30 minutes ago, Rewbass said:

1. Markbass CMD 112 Little Mark 58R Combo

2. Scooped

3- Scooped, Old School and Flat

 

It looks really flexible. MB products are super versatile and you should be able to get pretty much whatever you need. 

 

The master volume on these Class D amps doesn't really add much colour, not compared to "older tech". So, it's really about shaping your tone with the pre-amp section. 

 

My starting point would be:

0. Set the master at a tolerable level for where you are.

1. Set the gain so that clipping light comes on only when you're  hitting the strings really hard, it shouldn't light when playing normally. 

2. Set everything flat.

3. Get to know that sound. That's your reference. 

4. Engage that scoop control and see if that gets you an approximation of what you want. 

5. Then add and subtract the other EQ one at a time in large "chunks", returning to flat each time so that you get to know how they affect the tone. Once you've got a feel for what each does you can dial in smaller increments either way until you get near where you want to be. 

 

When you get a sound you like, take a photo of the knobs. Use that as a reference. Take notes. Keep iterating. 

There's 1000 tones in there that you'll love but keep tweaking methodically and you'll find a couple that will be stand out favourites. 

Edited 11 minutes ago by Sean