Dialling in your tone

[Cat Burrito]

[quote name='Musicman20' post='633905' date='Oct 22 2009, 10:02 PM']Plug in P or J, play.

Thats usually it.

I dont like having lots of average options and a few good ones. I just like a few REALLY good tones.[/quote]

I'm pretty much the same. Just centre the EQ on the amp and tweak it once I'm plugged in. I guess it's easier with the passive basses

[Jigster]

when people talk about flat settings, is that, for clarity's sake, setting to the middle of the dial, like at twelve o'clock or something, or using a stingray, setting to the indent mark on the knobs etc..??

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

[quote name='Jigster' post='635297' date='Oct 24 2009, 02:15 PM']when people talk about flat settings, is that, for clarity's sake, setting to the middle of the dial, like at twelve o'clock or something, or using a stingray, setting to the indent mark on the knobs etc..??[/quote]
It'll be the setting at which the knob has no effect. So a boost/cut knob will be set at 12 o'clock and a boost-only would be set to zero (fully anti-clockwise).

I run my passive bass into the LMII with everything flat and tweak the magic VPL knob (or whatever its called) and the other magic one.

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='Jean-Luc Pickguard' post='635323' date='Oct 24 2009, 02:57 PM']I run my passive bass into the LMII with everything flat and tweak the magic VPL knob (or whatever its called) and the other magic one.[/quote]
+1, although I prefer the Vintage Loudspeaker Emulator knob to the Visible Panty Line knob.

On my Mesa Walkabout I'm still figuring out the parametrics - meanwhile I run it flat.

In both cases my tone comes mainly from my fingers, hand position, strings, pickup selection, and rolling back the treble on the bass itself.

If I had to run anything far from flat I'd think there was something wrong either with the room or with my equipment.

[RockfordStone]

i have the bass set to a flat sound and then adjust the amp accordingly

[stefboltonfc]

I always have my bass set to the same... bridge pickup on full, neck pickup off (reverse this if I'm in funk-mood). Then on the amp, Treble set to 2/3rds Middle to 1/3, bass to just less than full.

I like my bass to be deep... I've never been one for tinny Jaco rip off horn-like tones.

[silverfoxnik]

[quote name='EssentialTension' post='635430' date='Oct 24 2009, 04:22 PM']+1, although I prefer the Vintage Loudspeaker Emulator knob to the Visible Panty Line knob.[/quote]


[quote name='EssentialTension' post='635430' date='Oct 24 2009, 04:22 PM']In both cases my tone comes mainly from my fingers, hand position, strings, pickup selection, and rolling back the treble on the bass itself.

If I had to run anything far from flat I'd think there was something wrong either with the room or with my equipment.[/quote]

+1

Exactly!

[jim_bass]

Horses for courses. It totally depends on the bass/amp combination...

Old setup was passive P/J Dean Bass into Trace stack. Dialled the bass full volume ran the 2 pickups on full and adjusted the tone as needed. On the amp it was flat EQ + Mid shift on.

Current setup is Yamaha RBX Active 3 Band EQ into Ashdown Stack. Yamaha runs flat EQ on 3/4 volume (any more and it starts to sound dodgy). Amp EQ is disable, but I use the 'Make it sound like an ashdown' button, compressor at 10 o'clock. and then turn the drive (10 o'clock) on as needed.

Next will be a jazz bass. I tend to dial in the neck pickup and then add a bit of bridge to fill out the sound - well in the music shop when I'm messing around

[ezbass]

I start with everything flat on my LMII and then dial in a little VPF scoop to compensate for my low mid heavy cab, a little VLE for some top end roll off and then it's all down to bass I'm using. If my 2 band SUB I'll adjust bass (normally boost) and treble (normally cut) from there. On a passive I'll set the tone in my favoured 1/4 off position and then maybe add some bass from the amp dependant on the acoustics of where I'm playing. I recently demoed a 3 band 'Ray and left the demo amp completely flat and did all EQ from the bass (bass boosted, mid flat, treble cut [for fingerstyle])

Edited October 26, 2009 by ezbass

[pantherairsoft]

Active Bass EQ flat, set the tone on the amp (Slight boost on the bottom end and high mids), then play.

I tweek the Bass EQ on the fly if it gets lost in the mix, but always have the flat settings to easily fall back to to get the tone as I intended.

[Lfalex v1.1]

Flat at the amp. Flat on the bass. Instrument volume on full. Pick-up pan centred. Set gain just below as high as it'll go without distortion. Turn up master volume to expected gig level.
Set pick-up pan until it sounds sweet yet punchy- usually favouring the bridge a bit. To counteract any loss of bass and harshness this may introduce, I use the instrument's tone controls.
I'll then re-check the gain in case I'm sending bigger peaks the amp's way due to any adjustments.
The only amp EQ control I use is the good old Trace Elliot EQ Balance control. It subtly shifts the EQ without fundamentally altering your original tone. I set this by ear to compensate for bass boom or lack of bottom from the amp.
I try to stop any one EQ stage from working too hard - it only introduces noise and unwanted distortion.

Just my 2p. And I'm quite sure that my tonal preferences are different to everyone elses. YMMV, as it is said!

[Higgie]

I set the EQ on my 3 Band Stingray (Bass about 75% up, mids about 60% and treble about 75%) then boost all 4 bands by just a touch on the amp for some extra oomph. Then I set the input gain on my AG500SC till it's JUST clipping then back it off a bit. Whack up the output volume to suit and off we go

[Metal-Mariachi]

Usually trying a new amp or working with studio gear I set the eq flat.

P bass volume max to begin with, tone, rolled back around half way.
Jazz bass, tone is the same, switch between the pickups.

Then adjust the amps eq until I get the sound (tone) I like.
Of course with studio work, it’s not so much the sound I like as it is what fits the music, so there is more give and take.
I hate to admit it but some times the engineer or guitar player is right.

MM

[spacecowboy]

I usually let my Markbass head do all the hard work tonally, especially as the dials are only Gain, Low, High Mid, Low Mid, High, Volume, its perfect *hates loads of knobs and eq sliders* with my Thumb bass i have to roll in a bit of a mid boost as the bass is naturally low and dark, and with my Streamer Stage II i have to roll in a little bass as its a natural "mid" instrument.

[JTUK]

Depends on the cabs I am using depends whether I touch the amp.... if I use the 12 then push the high mid to around flat, if the 10's then I cut that parameter.
On the bass, I run bass in the middle, and likely the treble around the same.. and the middle from anything to -15 to a little on the plus side..depending on room and what I feel I need.

After that the only thing I touch is the volume on the amp..