All about that bass NO TREBLE

Treble vs no treble

  • Treble

    Votes: 75 48.4%

  • no treble

    Votes: 8 5.2%

  • some treble

    Votes: 72 46.5%
  • Total voters
    155
#41
A couple misconceptions floating around in this thread...

I've not only heard situations where if you remove anything above 200 hz the bass is heard just fine in the mix, but I do it on almost every gig depending on what song we're doing. The idea that you're instantly lost in the mix is a myth. Most reggae bands take this approach, and nobody complains about the lack of bass in the mix at reggae shows.

Another misconception is the idea that nobody hears your amp in the mix. There is not a wall in between the front of the stage and the audience, and the sound from your amp doesn't just magically stop at the front of the stage. There are also a number of mics on any stage that pick up the sound of your bass amp, especially at the volumes that many of you play at! And even at my piddly onstage volumes, which are right around what a B-15 can do cleanly, the mics will pick up the sound of the amp. May not be the predominant bass sound in the PA, but it's in there. Don't believe me? Next time you do a soundcheck, try playing the bass with your amp on at the volume you normally play at and listening to it out in the FOH, first with the PA muted, then with the PA on but your DI line muted. You will hear the bass in the PA.
 
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#43
It's not treble that puts a bassist across in a mix, it's mids. Which is a challenge whenever you have keyboards and/or guitarist(s) who favor bottom-heavy tones also in the equation. Sound guys who can EQ all those pieces so that they each have their place in FOH -- and bandmates who don't fight him by continually turning up the low end on their own instruments -- are worth their weight in gold.
 
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#44
Mushroo said:
The audience doesn't hear the sound from my amp, so how I turn the EQ knobs is only relevant to me as a stage monitor.

To specifically answer your question, the only knob I routinely turn down is the bass knob. Mids and treble flat.
Click to expand...

I wonder why folks do this. We put the guitar, voice and keys through PA. Drums and bass are not.

We did outdoor gig yesterday and sounded great. We have the luxury of having members able to walk around checking on sound during the set to verify sound. No keys/backup singer on a couple songs for example.

The Mesa D800 and 2 Epifany UL2 115's didn't even break a sweat.
I never had the master above 10 o'clock.

PA speakers are not designed to handle bass....why route through them? Ever run your amp through pa speaks and play solo? Sounds like crap.

Of course we handle our own sound with our own equipment. Setup and sound checks take a little time, but there are no arguments with a sound guy we don't know.

We do this regardless if it's inside or out and never had an issue.
 
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#45
Hounddog409 said:
I wonder why folks do this. We put the guitar, voice and keys through PA. Drums and bass are not.

We did outdoor gig yesterday and sounded great. We have the luxury of having members able to walk around checking on sound during the set to verify sound. No keys/backup singer on a couple songs for example.

The Mesa D800 and 2 Epifany UL2 115's didn't even break a sweat.
I never had the master above 10 o'clock.

PA speakers are not designed to handle bass....why route through them? Ever run your amp through pa speaks and play solo? Sounds like crap.

Of course we handle our own sound with our own equipment. Setup and sound checks take a little time, but there are no arguments with a sound guy we don't know.

We do this regardless if it's inside or out and never had an issue.
Click to expand...
Some of us have PA's that actually sound good with bass and drums and we don't want to go deaf while we try to fill a large room with just our amps. So PA.
 
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#46
Bass @ noon (or slightly less depending on how small the room is) a generous boost between 1-2k and treble flat or slightly boosted. I like clarity and hearing the subtle differences in the attack.
 
#47
I have a tendency to keep my amp settings relatively constant. However, when I play different basses I set the bass on board controls differently to get the sound I need.

On my Spector Euro bass I roll the treb completely off and do a 3/4 boost on the lows with the neck PU full on and the bridge PU dialed in just enough to cut through the mix. The Euro is an exceptionally bright bass. My Gibson SG gets a more middle of the road treatment with neck full on, bridge half on and tone turned half up. The elephant in the room is my 2014 Gibson EB 5 string, it's a dub monster. It gets neck full on, bridge 3/4 on and tone knob full on bright and still has a massive mid, low mid and bottom end presence with perfectly clear highs.

BTW - pic vs finger style, stainless rounds vs nickel flats and right hand near bridge vs near neck all have just about as much to do with cutting through vs muding up the mix as do amp or bass settings.

In the end, it all matters as much as you want it to.
 
#50
Am I the only one that takes a picture of my amp settings so I can go back to them after my rigs have been out on rentals?...

(Of course I use my ears to dial up settings, can't get much more condescending than saying something like that...ignoring the times I've admonished young sound guys for having their heads in the monitor of digital consoles instead of watching their bands...:D)
 
#51
You often don't "hear" the highs of the bass guitar in a mix, but they are certainly there, giving bass its presence and intelligibility among the other instruments. Even though it's called a "bass" guitar, it's a very three-dimensional instrument.
 
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