Too much upper-mids

[Badanovski]

I just bought a 2009 jetglo 4004cii. While the bass is absolutely beautiful I find the HB-1's are driving me nuts with upper-mids. I use both pickups on 99% of the time. Would I get a more scooped tone if I wired the coils in parallel or wired one pickup out of phase? How bad would the volume drop be either way? Any other ideas? Thanx

[cassius987]

Running both pickups scoops the tone a bit, but I think it hits the low mids harder than the high mids so maybe try running single pickups. Wiring out of phase way too drastic for this sort of thing IME--try different strings (what are you using) and play around with a good EQ. Heck, if you are only making this assessment off of one rig that could be the whole problem.

HB-1s do resonate in the upper mids but not that much. They also drop off highs a bit. To "flatten" the signal you can start with a small cut to those upper mids and boosting the highs. Oftentimes this kind of approach "balances" the resulting sound so whatever harmonic was annoying you practically disappears. Alternatively you can boost the lower frequencies to catch them up to the resonant peak in the high mids.

Wiring the pickups in parallel (in terms of 4-conductor wiring) may have an effect on the high-mid resonance but frankly I'm not sure what it would do. Could be worth a shot. I like parallel wiring.

[jps]

Is your amp already EQ'ed for a different bass? Have you played with the EQ on your amp (what is your amp and cab(s)?)? What strings? Fingerstyle or picked?

[Badanovski]

I'm using a Markbass Little Mark II Through 1x12 & 1x15 cabs. With the high mids off & low mids just barely on & the VLE up 3/4 I can get an acceptable tone. This limits tone options. The real problem is when recording into my DAW The high mid drives me nuts. I can't seem to find a narrow band to get rid of it without making the rest of the tone suffer. I play with a pick & like a bright but meaty tone. Even though I don't slap I like a scooped tone. The bass sounds good acoustically. In fact when playing quietly, hearing the upper end from the bass & the lows from the amp I really like the tone. The HB-1's seem to have a lot of mids. Reminds me of my reissue 51P with extra upper mids. I have a 4001S with bartolinis that has been my main axe. That bass sounds really scooped acoustically & with the barts . The 4004 is brighter & more alive I really think I'll like it better if I get the pickups sorted out. My G&L had a similar problem but I found using both pickups with the coils in parallel cleared it up. Those pickups were extremely hot in series mode. The HB-1's aren't as hot so I wonder if parallel would make as much of a difference & would I lose a lot of the punch?

[BobHyde]

This sounds like the kind of thing different strings can address. Sometimes a different set of strings makes a world of difference.

[ram]

This sounds like the kind of thing different strings can address. Sometimes a different set of strings makes a world of difference.

+1

[cheyenne]

This sounds like the kind of thing different strings can address. Sometimes a different set of strings makes a world of difference.

+2

[woodyng]

The Markbass tone band settings are "neutral" with the dials set at "12 o'clock". If you try starting out with all the tone controls set there,and the VLE control in the "off" position,and the VPF at about "2:30",and then slightly roll back the low-mid and/or hi-mid controls to de-emphasize what is offending your ears,that should result in a scooped tone you might like. I mention this only because your description of the tone settings made me wonder if you were aware of how MB is set up a bit different to most amps. I tend to use the MB in tone-neutral settings most of the time,but then i am also preamping it with a VT pedal,and I DO like mids quite a bit.....

[jps]

...and the VPF at about "2:30"...

That's a pretty aggressive setting!

[Badanovski]

As you can probably guess I'm not a fan of mids. Aside from an Alembic I tried once, there isn't a bass I've played that I liked the sound of in the neutral settings of any amp. I did try setting the amp up completely neutral. They say you'll be able to hear what your instrument really sounds like. I would add & then be disappointed. In the 70's I wasn't truly fulfilled until they made an mono EQ that fit safely on top of my amp to drop the mids with a smile centered on 500HZ! It's only recently that I've admitted the EMG's I had on a Godin did in fact sound truly sterile( I was forced to listen to some recordings the band I was in at the time did). I love roundwounds. Currently using Fender 7250ML's . These are nickel plated & seem to have less mids then most of the other strings I've tried. I seem to remember Stainless as having more mids but its been along time & I might be wrong. I've been using the 7250's on my other basses including the 4003S & have been happy. Normally I buy a bass for the vibe it has & then play it till a combination of my ear adjusting to it & subtle amp adjustments make it work for me. This is the 1st bass I've bought in years that suggests a sound that's possible but just out of reach.

[jps]

...I wasn't truly fulfilled until they made an mono EQ that fit safely on top of my amp to drop the mids with a smile centered on 500HZ!.

You need one of these or these!

[woodyng]

Jeffrey...its not a setting i would use, but,like i said it would scoop out all of da mids.....

[Badanovski]

The Manley would probably be easier to use but the Alembic intrigues me. I mis-spoke on my original Markbass settings. I said VLE but was actually using the VPF. When I 1st bought the amp I wrote off the VLE as being counter-intuitive when using such high settings of the VPF. Besides turn off your tweeter & you accomplish the same thing as the VLE. Oh So Wrong!! I just tried neutral again with slight mid drops & the VLE. Didn't like it. But using my previous settings & using some VLE it does help. I have no idea how I would translate that to my DAW. So I guess I'm back to trying to get less mids out of the pickups. Thanx for being patient. I have in my old age realized some mids are necessary for detail & surprisingly volume but those upper mids are annoying.

[Badanovski]

My bass is a 2009. Are these pickups 4 lead or do you have to re-solder to the little circuit board in the back of the pickup to parallel wire them?

[aceonbass]

I haven't had a stock 4004 for years, but I seem to remember these basses as being bottom heavy with a fairly meaty tone. My 4004 exploration started with the first one I had, a 2004 Cii, and the tone was so dull I regretted buying the bass. I knew there had to be something there I could work with, so I swapped in a set of unbuttoned 6-pole high gains with Toaster covers on them. At the same time I went to stacked controls with 250K volume, 500K tone, and a better quality .047uF tone cap. Now the bass nailed the quintessential 70's 4001 tone. The combination of single coil pickups and electronics tailored to them, made the bass come alive. I'd heard that many 4004 owners couldn't bond with the basses because of the tone, I figured the pickups were the issue. Since then I've had other 4004's, but stuck with the stock HB1's and found the tone I was looking for in the wiring. Coil tapping the HB1's gives the bass a dual purpose mode, as well as having more accurate electronics. In this case, instead of the 185K volume and tone pots (older 4004's) or current 330K pots with an .047uF tone cap, I use 500K volume and tone pots along with .022uF tone caps. This is what most basses and guitars use with humbucking pickups, and it really brings back most of the brightness that Ricks are known for while keeping the meatier bottom and low mids that make 4004's more versatile in modern music. I've found that combining the right electronics with a pickup make all the difference in the world. I now run both the preamp in my main bass rig and the tone controls on my practice amp flat. I had actually been looking for tone with the upper mids accentuated, but could only get it by boosting it on my amp. The only way I've found to get it without doing that is to add a pickup closer to the bridge like a 4002 or Jazz bass, so I don't know how you're getting the tone out of just the bass.