# Can't get a good bass tone



## leandroab (Mar 13, 2011)

I tried a bunch of settings here. I messed up with the EQ on my bass but I ended up with everything flat.

So yeah, the final product is ok, but it doesn't work in a mix. It's too much low end rumble with some spikes of pick sound. Maybe I'm not setting the compressor right?

What I'm trying to go for here is that powerful, full bodied sound with that pick/strings-hitting-the-fretboard crackle type of sound.

Other thing that I wanted to know: what is the EQing on a bass? Avoid mids? Avoid too much treble? I have no clue also...


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## deevit (Mar 13, 2011)

If you want to be heard in the mix, don't cut your mids. Boost your mids and lowmids, that always works for me in the mix.


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## leandroab (Mar 13, 2011)

And if it helps I have an Ibanez SR505 with stock bartolinis (MK I) and stock preamp


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## lobee (Mar 13, 2011)

Check out this post by iceythe:

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/re...g-gradius-video-game-content.html#post2382369


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## ApteraBassist (Mar 14, 2011)

deevit said:


> If you want to be heard in the mix, don't cut your mids. Boost your mids and lowmids, that always works for me in the mix.




low mids are where its at man. they might as well label that knob "volume"


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## Bevo (Mar 14, 2011)

What amp and speakers are you using?

Flat is where to start but roll back on the low bass if you don't have a mid preamp knob. Also roll back a little on your highs to get rid of the pick or string scraping noise.

For that clangy string rattle you need the strings to be almost to low so the slap on the fretboard. 
That tone gets old pretty fast though so beware.


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## Leper (Mar 15, 2011)

Got any samples?

I have a similar problem, I'm using an Ibanez SR506 into my line 6 GX into Podfarm. The bass almost always ends up sounding really weak and feeble w/ low end rumble.


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## R0ADK1LL (Mar 16, 2011)

For slap & fat rhythms with a bit of boom on the low end I tend to push up the bass & treble & scoop the mids, though I push up the low mids on the amp since that has a 4-way EQ & can smooth out the sound a bit. I also roll the balance a bit towards the neck pickup which gives a good attack for slapping & a smooth rolling tone for finger style (except for a bit of clicking when & I really get going).
If you really want your melodies to cut through, pretty much the opposite of that is what you want. Boost your mids, but don't go too high on the treble unless that's the tone you're going for. Play with the bass knob a bit, you don't want to lose it completely, but boosting it too much will cancel out the effect your trying to get with upping the mids. As for the pickup balance, the bridge pickup will give you a growl & the neck will give you a purr if that makes any sense to you. I never roll it all the way to either one, it's good to have a bit of a mix.

If you're getting to much pick sound or clicking, you might want to drop the gain & crank the volume on your amp. Too much gain will pick up every little tap & finger slide. If you're Fieldy, clicking it what you want, otherwise you probably won't need to turn it up to 11.

As for the compressor on your amp, I have no idea. I have one & it generally sits at around 2, mainly 'cause I haven't figured out just what it does to the sound other than reducing attack & clipping, but there are other more cleverer minds here for that.


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## FireInside (Mar 17, 2011)

After you get your EQ down buy one of these:







or one of these:


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## deevit (Mar 17, 2011)

Yeah! Oh wait.. Why?


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## the russian (Mar 24, 2011)

*Here's a few suggestions put in the most basic of terms:

Compression - Basically, you're taking all of the really loud notes and squashing them down into a single volume. Then you boost the volume of the entire track to former peak volume of your loud notes. The first thing to mess with is the limit or "Threshold". The lower the threshold, the more dense and squashed it gets. The "Ratio" is how extreme the squashing is (1:1 means that if it goes over the limit it gets squashed 1db. 4:1 means it gets squashed 4db.) Attack and Release times are tricky, so I'm not going to confuse you with them just yet, but feel free to PM if you need advice on that.

EQ - Adjusting certain tones in the instrument (subs, lows, mids, highs, ambience). This one can be tricky for a bass. Usually less is more. You might have to start by boosting midrange frequencies. Sweep your frequency between 500-1500 hz to seek your preferred flavor of attack. Then play with 1000-3000 hz to either add or subtract pick noise. 2000-5000 hz is fret noise (that usually gets cut). If the mix is dense don't add ultra highs (5000+ hz). Now go to the sub frequencies. Play with 80-150 hz. Sometimes it helps to boost really dramatically just to hear it, then when you find the right frequency, tone it down. Remember that low frequencies like 80hz for example can't be heard standing right in front of your amp (80 hz is 80 waves a second. That's slow as fuck! You'd have to stand 25-100 ft back depending on your environment to accurately hear that!) Finally Cut volume at 250-500 hz if your bass still sounds muddy.

Strings - Change your strings. #1 culprit of the mud.

Split your signal - Try going direct to the board. Use one signal as attack and one as clarity. Then try one as lows and one as highs... the possibilities are limitless.

Reverse Polarity - Polarity is just the direction the wave is traveling. You can flip the cab around or use a phase switch (it looks like a zero with a strike through it). This sometimes lets the kick loose of your mix space.*


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## josh pelican (Mar 24, 2011)

FireInside said:


> After you get your EQ down buy one of these



He doesn't need either or, especially since I'm pretty sure he's just using Pod Farm.


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## deevit (Mar 25, 2011)

the russian said:


> *
> 
> Compression - Basically, you're taking all of the really loud notes and squashing them down into a single volume. *



You have just described a limiter. A compressor is the same idea, but works on both ends. Makes loud notes less loud and makes soft noter louder, all to one volume. I don't really like compressors live, most of them kill your tone and you always lose dynamics.


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## HaMMerHeD (Mar 25, 2011)

I would start with a change of strings.


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## engage757 (Mar 25, 2011)

what is your rig exactly?


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## FrancescoFiligoi (Mar 25, 2011)

Don't want to sound banal, but new strings and a damn good bassist are always the key. No EQ will save you in case you don't follow these points


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## the russian (Mar 25, 2011)

deevit said:


> You have just described a limiter. A compressor is the same idea, but works on both ends. Makes loud notes less loud and makes soft noter louder, all to one volume. I don't really like compressors live, most of them kill your tone and you always lose dynamics.



Not to start an argument...

but thats like saying that a square is not a rectangle. Limiting is compression. Look at Wiki:

"In simple terms, a compressor is an automatic volume control. Using downward compression, loud sounds over a certain threshold are reduced in level while quiet sounds remain untreated. Upward compression involves making sounds below the threshold louder while the louder passages remain unchanged. Both reduce the dynamic range of an audio signal. "

It's all dynamic control.

I'm just trying to explain things simply.


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## the russian (Mar 25, 2011)

FrancescoFiligoi said:


> Don't want to sound banal, but new strings and a damn good bassist are always the key. No EQ will save you in case you don't follow these points



Amen.


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## deevit (Mar 26, 2011)

the russian said:


> Not to start an argument...
> 
> but thats like saying that a square is not a rectangle. Limiting is compression. Look at Wiki:
> 
> ...



Me too! Limiter on the loud end, compressor on both ends. But indeed, let's not argue.


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## engage757 (Apr 2, 2011)

umm... again, what is your rig?


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## leandroab (Apr 4, 2011)

engage757 said:


> umm... again, what is your rig?



Podfarm.

I did not change the B string yet. it's fucking annoying. 

Josh, send me a fucking patch


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## tybro7 (Apr 24, 2011)

get the sansamp bass driver di.. best thing for bass, apart from an ampeg


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## josh pelican (Apr 24, 2011)

tybro7 said:


> get the sansamp bass driver di.. best thing for bass, apart from an ampeg



Oh, great. Another one.


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