What amp setting sounds better on bass?

[JakeK]

What do you bass players out there think makes the best sound for the bass? True bass, a helluva lot of treble like John "The Ox" Entwistle, or what? I want to see what you guys think!

[atomic_punk]

You forgot MIDS
Personally, I am an Entwistle guy. Without the FUZZ.

[johnallg]

You forgot MIDS

Yup. And I can't pick compression along with tone settings. Though I will say I only use enough compression to even out my notes. No more than that.

[qwezirider]

Holy cow, that's an impossible question to answer. How many styles of music are there? Where do we start?

What works in one style will fall flat with another. Even within a single show in one of my bands I will not use the same tone all night long, even though the overall genre is the same. My Limelight tone will not work in Here I Go Again. And neither of those work well with Still Got The Blues. And if I even attempt my rock tones in the Johnny Cash tribute band setting, I may as well bring my own rope to hang myself at that party. I take three 'cabinets to gigs: a 4x10, a 1x15, and the Vox Valvetronix amp. The 4x10 stays on nearly all the time, the Vox comes in when I need grit and sparkle, and the 1x15 gets turned up when I want a couple more cajones in the sound. I play with it all night long and change it up for many songs.

My point being simple: there is no one best tone or range of sonic spectrum for the bass. It's entirely dependent upon the material being played.

[sloop_john_b]

This is far too broad a question to answer.

I'm just picturing a bass amp with a row of push-buttons, like some weird 60's guitar: "BASS" -- "TREBLE" -- "COMP" -- "FUZZ" -- "OTHER". What happens when you push them all at once?

[lennon211]

Yeah, this question is too varied. I may want the Entwistle sound sometimes or I may want something that booms deep for Stax soul. It's all very subjective and greatly depends upon the music involved.

[qwezirider]

What happens when you push them all at once?

Bad things. Very bad bad things. "Get the children out of the room" bad things.

[doctorwho]

Even as a hack bass player, I tend to adjust the sound for what song I'm playing, just as I do when playing rhythm guitar.

[BlueAngel]

Since you have to pick only one, I had to choose FUZZ . I love fuzz bass - sometimes very mild so you can barely tell it's on, but still not really 'clean'.

EQ-wise I generally boost the lows and highs and take the mids out a bit - but it depends on the amp, some need it less than others.

But mostly, like (thankfully!) others here, I like to vary my sound. I have a bass pedalboard and I use it! (Both for different songs and during the song.) Given that it's an electric instrument and the sound can be shaped and changed in so many ways, it really puzzles me why so many bass players are content to play all the time with the same sound - even to the extent of DI'ing the instrument and using their amp as nothing more than a glorified monitor.

[qwezirider]

...it really puzzles me why so many bass players are content to play all the time with the same sound - even to the extent of DI'ing the instrument and using their amp as nothing more than a glorified monitor.

Hence, the exact reason why I insist on micing my cabinets (in venues big enough to require me being in the board) where I have control over that decision (i.e., where a sound tech does not violently insist I DI the thing). That way I control what sound is getting to the board and in what quantities. Between my three cabs, I can mix and match as I please and that is what the board will get...not some generic bass sound and me being the only one to enjoy the benefits of three different cabs.

[BlueAngel]

Most of the venues I play, you would be lucky if the soundman even knows that it's possible to mic a bass cab . I will settle for DI'ing the output of the amp, but even then they often try to use the 'pre EQ' output or switch (which I immediately fix as soon as they're not looking). What's the point in even having a proper amp on stage if you don't use its tone-shaping controls for the FOH sound as well? At best you will end up dialing in a nice sound on stage and hoping the soundman can do the same, and at worst the sound out front could bear no relation to what you hear on stage at all, and you will get no useful feedback on what your playing does to it.

I still get ones that insist on trying to DI the input signal to the amp, but a few seconds of heavy pedal fuzz straight into the PA is usually enough to explain why that is a bad idea . By the way, I've been a soundman too, and I still can't understand why that's the prefered way of doing it - this isn't a 'musician vs. soundman' issue. (Or equally, why making the guitarists turn down to whisper volume and then having to put it back in the monitors is supposedly better - it's not.) I always found it much easier to get a good mix when the musicians could actually hear themselves properly and control their own tone with their own amps, and simply use the PA to make it louder where necessary.

I do actually like a full-range sound, even with fuzz (my cab is a Mesa 1x15"+1x10"+2x6"+horn - but it's not at all 'hi-fi') - and mic'ing it properly would be a pig anyway .

[rickenbrother]

Most of the venues I play, you would be lucky if the soundman even knows that it's possible to mic a bass cab . I will settle for DI'ing the output of the amp, but even then they often try to use the 'pre EQ' output or switch (which I immediately fix as soon as they're not looking).

This why most of of the times it doesn't what kind of amp or how big it is that you are playing through in a medium to large venue. The audience isn't going to hear it anyway unless it's miked. Then again you're lucky if the audience gets to hear the bass guitar at all.

What's the point in even having a proper amp on stage if you don't use its tone-shaping controls for the FOH sound as well?I've been a soundman too, and I still can't understand why that's the preferred way of doing it - this isn't a 'musician vs. soundman' issue.

Because it's a simple, mindless thing for a lazy soundman to do and he has to worry about less microphones potentially disappearing. It's rare that my amp gets miked at a gig. I'm always surprised, but very happy when I see that my amp will be miked at a gig.

[qwezirider]

What do you bass players out there think makes the best sound for the bass?

My wife just walked through the room and said the best sound for bass is "off."











I guess I know where I'm sleeping tonight.

[qwezirider]

Because it's a simple, mindless thing for a lazy soundman to do and he has to worry about less microphones potentially disappearing. It's rare that my amp gets miked at a gig. I'm always surprised, but very happy when I see that my amp will be miked at a gig.

Which is also an example of why I travel completely self contained. Got my own mics, stands, and enough cable. None of the usual excuses anymore to not mic me.

[doctorwho]

What do you bass players out there think makes the best sound for the bass?

My wife just walked through the room and said the best sound for bass is "off."

I guess I know where I'm sleeping tonight.

LOL!