Amp settings

cheyenne · Post by **cheyenne** » Thu Jun 09, 2005 11:54 am

Everyone has their own personal taste when it comes to the "perfect Rick tone". I thought it would be interesting to get everyones input on how they set up their rigs ( EQ settings, effects, ect....) for live playing, or just sitting at home playing through a small combo. Does anyone have particular frequency's that they just hate? Graphic EQ's for example, smiley face pattern or frown? Sliders or rotary knobs? 10's 12's or 15's?

We all love Rick basses, but thats only the beginning of the signal chain.

jaybic · Post by **jaybic** » Thu Jun 09, 2005 12:12 pm

Great topic Scott. I do not have a big rig. I have played almost exclusively through combos. I prefer 15". As one of my friends once said (he's the bass player for a Chicago group called the Cells) bass is about moving air. You have to move the air. I've found that 15's gives me what I think a bass should sound like. I must confess that I don't have a real discriminating ear when it comes to tone. Usually I just plug in and chug away. However, just the other night I picked up a new Ampeg BA115 combo and was blown away by the difference between that and other combos I've played through. It just seemed more like what I thought a bass should sound like. Does that make sense? On the BA115, it has knobs and I have the bass set on about 8, the Mid's around 3, and the treble around 6.

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Thu Jun 09, 2005 12:16 pm

I use an SVT but if it had a graph it would be a smile, I boost the bottom and top and leave the mid somewhere in the middle, this varies from room to room. I hate graphic equalizers, too complicated and slow to set, I like bass, middle, and treble and the switches on them that change the center frequency of it's own respective control.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Thu Jun 09, 2005 2:58 pm

I set my bass middle and treble all between 4 and 6 ... the graphic eq I set like this ...

but then I also run a bass pod in there first and I set the tone on the pod similar to what Bob said ... bass=8 middle=2 treble=8

bear · Post by **bear** » Thu Jun 09, 2005 4:11 pm

Baby SVT here.
Actually it is the same preamp as the SVT on the V4BH just less power.
Again depending on the room it changes somewhat but mine would also graph out as a smiley curve setting.

Ultra Lo switch Engaged.
(+2 dB @ 40Hz and -10 dB @ 500Hz
Bass +6 dB @ 40Hz
Midrange between -12 to -18 dB
Midrange Frequency switch 2 or 3 (450 or 800 Hz)
Treble +3 dB @ 4kHz
Back Panel Presence switch Engaged +6 dB @ 10kHz

Depending on the tone for the song I occasionally bring the mids back to flat.

cheyenne · Post by **cheyenne** » Thu Jun 09, 2005 5:29 pm

I also dislike graphic EQ's. I hate sliders, much prefer knobs, I dunno, maybe its just me. Speaker cab's,,,, from my experience, I prefer 10's. If you play with a pick like I do, 10's have an aggressive attack that cant be beat. 15's sound good, but can be boomy or flabby sounding, depending on the room. I've just recently experienced 12's, they sound very good, not really as good as 10's with the pick, but really sound great with finger style playing.

One more thing. I've always liked the sound I get out of a real small combo amp pushed to the edge of breaking up, but I just cant reproduce that sound out of a big rig, anyone else experience this? That tone, out of a big rig, is my quest.

clankchris · Post by **clankchris** » Thu Jun 09, 2005 5:33 pm

Push big rig to the edge. Easy!
LOL!

cheyenne · Post by **cheyenne** » Thu Jun 09, 2005 5:38 pm

Yeah, I know, all the compression in the world still dosent get me what I want.

clankchris · Post by **clankchris** » Thu Jun 09, 2005 5:47 pm

My band mates are glad I'm finally happy with my sound (only 7 years, sheesh!)
Don't worry, according to them, I'm "an*l" about my tone!

clankchris · Post by **clankchris** » Thu Jun 09, 2005 5:51 pm

I don't particularly care for graphic eq's either, the ones on my Mesa Bass 400 are good for adjusting for bad rooms though.

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Thu Jun 09, 2005 7:23 pm

You got a couple more on your V4-BH than the old ones have Bear, my mid only has 220, 800, and I think 2000, my ultra lo is also a 600 cut. The old V4B's had 220, 1000, and I think 2000.

lars · Post by **lars** » Thu Jun 09, 2005 8:35 pm

My Trace Elliot amp has a nice feature: a mid pre-shape button. What it actually does is to remove the frequencies that give the bass a "nasal" character. (Like a smiley graphic EQ-setting). The amp is a 250w combo with a 15" speaker. The ext cab (also Trace Elliot) is a 2 x 10" + tweeter with the same size as the combo and it fits nicely on top of the combo. I place this on top of the flight case so the top speakers are in ear-height. This is important: get the amp up, or else the best sound is where your knees are!

dean712 · Post by **dean712** » Thu Jun 09, 2005 8:49 pm

I guess I am going to be the guy from left field here.

My amp is an Ampeg V-4BH 100watt all-tube reissue. Speaker cabs are Ampeg 4x10 (on top) and Ampeg 1x15 (on bottom). Nice setup, nothing weird there.

I like the speaker combination because the 1x15 really moves the air, like Jason mentioned, and the 4x10 is sweet for crisper definition.

Okay, here's where I'm a rebel: Unless the gig calls for something different (ie. weird room, etc,), I set all the EQs and levels on my amp perfectly flat, middle-of-the-road setting. I'm talking staight-line, 5.5 on a 10 scale flat. I'll adjust the gain and master volume to get the push on the tubes I want and the stage volume I need. If it's an outdoor gig, I will bump the bass eq a tad so I don't disappear out there. That's really about it, though. I rely on my bass to sound sweet on its own, and my amp stack to amplify it cleanly without twisting the frequencies too badly. I should mention that I play in a rock 3-piece, so that has a bearing on the mix....

I used to run my Rick 4003 with the pickup selector down, treble pickup volume and tone on max, and just leave it there. I have over the last couple of years begun blending in the neck pickup, both with the pickup selector and the bass pickup volume. I finger pluck, so I need lots of treble. I steer clear of using EQ to get it if I can, because I want the tone to be as natural as possible.

I've tried lots of stuff and listened to lots of other local bassists, and I think my approach works best for my sound and style. I am certainly still learning, though. I'm interested in reading others' posts and comments.

bear · Post by **bear** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 4:17 am

The current production models of the V4BH have the five position mid frequency selector. Frequencies are 220, 450, 800, 1.6, and 3 kHz.

The back panel presence switch is a recent addition.

I like to "move air" with my tone but don't need the horsepower of an SVT, that's what microphones and DI's are for.

Still using my Bag End SB12 and SB15 in either or and both configurations depending on the venue. I prefer them to all of the various 4x10 and 2x10 cabinets and I have tried them all.

As for getting that combo on the edge of breaking up sound I can do that with Gain control on the preamp or by placing a Fulltone Bass Drive at the front end. The Bass Drive is a remarkable effect for Rickenbackers. From just a little grit to full on raging SVT, and a lot lighter to carry too. I rather prefer this unit to the Line 6 Bass Pod models.

edski · Post by **edski** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 4:35 am

My Behringer head has 5 knobs for EQ...Low, 140 Hz, Mid, 1.6 KHz, and High. I've basically adopted an approach similar to Jeff Rath's GEQ: Low = 5, Low-Mid = 4, Mid = 6, High Mid = 4, High = 5.

Next time I use my old Carvin hear with a GEQ I'll probably set it up pretty similar and keep the knob based EQ flat.

I play through a Carvin RL210T cabinet. One aspect of the sound of the Behringer I like is that when it clips it gets a pretty nice distortion. I don't push it to clip a lot, but maybe 5% of the time I get a little extra slop in the sound and I like it...