equalization

[jswetch]

What is the preferred chain of equalization? Having active EQ onboard my bass, 14 channel graphic EQ on my amp, and the possibility of EQ through effects pedals I feel the potential to be EQ'ed out of existence. Any ideas on which should be primary and when or why to utilize any that aren't primary?

[Rick Turner]

Bypass as much of that crap as you can! If you need a lot of EQ, what you really need is a better bass, better pickups, better speakers, or any combination of the afore mentioned. Just as with microphones, there's nothing like the right stuff with no EQ to get your ears happy, happy, happy.

[rumpelstiltskin.]

rick turner speaks the truth. however, if you want to use some EQ, use the one on your bass first, and then 14 bands you have on your amp. you really do not need any more EQ than that. do not buy a pedal for more EQ. like rick turner sez, if you need more EQ than that, look into buying better components.

[zujo]

I usually just try to get punch and decent juice from my bass amp and EQ on my bass.

[Chupacabra]

so i emailed Jonas Bjorler from The Haunted the other day to ask him basically the same question. i have an Ampeg B4R and it has a 9 band eq with freq. switch, bass knob, ultra mids knob, and a terrible knob i mean a treble knob, and his reply was, "i don't know man; sounds like you have too many knobs. my amp only has 3..."

 

so i would say the simpler the better.

[SteveC]

The EQ on my amp is usually set at 12 o'clock, maybe 1 o'clock with the treble. My basses are mostly cranked all the way. I think if you have a quality bass and quality amp, it's gonna sound good like that. There may be some tunes I do some tweaking on, but I think for the most part this works. Set it and forget it.

 

Is that from an infommercial?

 

There's my 2 cents.

[Ben]

I agree with Rick Turner.

 

One of the reasons I like my Nemesis amps is they sound good pretty much flat. I turn the treble down some, because I am old fashioned and not quite used to having tweeter hiss in a bass amp. I then use the "enhance" knob to adjust to the room, never have to turn it more than a quarter turn either way. (The amp has a parametric eq on it, which works great when I fiddle with it, but I never seem to end up using it.)

 

Eden also has good built-in compressors, so I use that too, set the pre-gain level so the compressor just kicks in at maximum volume and forget it.

 

I have a couple of Peavey amps with all those %$#@* sliders on 'em, have fiddled with them a lot, don't use them much. The reasons those two particular Peaveys are still around (for backup) is they also sound pretty good set flat.

 

Indoors, the other thing I do if I can is physically move the amp around some, until I find a relatively good-sounding spot, since that can make more difference in the sound than anything else.

[Jeff Addicott]

EQ? Sure I'll use it, but it's got to sound good! A lot of amp controls just don't sound very good to me... so what's the point?

 

On my large rack system, I leave the controls on the Alembic tube preamp set near their flattest setting. I'll occasionally turn up the bass or the treble if I feel like I need it. I do use the "bright" switch for modern funk and the "deep" switch for flatwound P-bass. I used to think I should put a good EQ (like a Rane parametric or the Alembic Superfilter) in the signal chain, but for the time being, I'm very satisfied with my sound on most occasions.

 

On my small Gallien Kreuger combo, I don't like the main EQ controls very much (LO-LoMid-HiMid-HI). I do, however, like the "shape" filters you can dial in. I find them to be essential to making the amp sound good. So I leave them dialed in the way I like, and that's that...

 

I've also discovered that it's okay to go ahead and use the onboard bass EQ. The bass knob thickens things up nicely, the treble adds high-end slice, and the mid knob can inject some much-needed presence, on occasion. For years, I held out, because the intellectual in me insisted that my bass should sound best run flat, or else it's a piece of junk. Then, one day I tried it, and lo and behold, it sounded good. So what the heck? Sometimes, an un-natural EQ curve is part of one's sound.

 

Of course, the quality of these onboard active EQs varies quite widely. Some (like the Aguilar OBP-1) sound really great. Others (like the stock circuit on a budget axe) are only marginally usable.

 

There is also some creed to what Rick Turner is saying. My upright doesn't have any onboard EQ, but it sounds great, no matter what you do to it! Not surprisingly, Rick's instruments are also very much like that.

 

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Jeff Addicott

http://www.jeffnet.org/~addicott/bass.html

[g.]

I just use mild EQ on the head when I think its solving a specific problem with the room or my listening position (or I am using different cabs or occasionally someone else's bass). That said, this doesn't happen very often ; }  I also use it sparingly when use of effects indicates it would help, or when I am trying to cop a certain recorded part's vibe while using only one bass on stage.

 

I use the three-band on the bass when the mix seems to have changed on certain songs because of guitarist volume creep syndrome. I also use the onboard to "ride gain" on sustains at the end of songs or sections.

 

I'm no real purist about it; many heads and preamps are "voiced" anyway to have a certain curve. As a former soundman I know that getting a good signal in the first place is paramount but EQ is always there to fine-tune. Radical EQ and lots of extra steps in the sugnal chain are definitely something to avoid though, and traveling simple and light is a pleasure.

 

<-- greenboy ---<<<<

[pfunku]

What's EQ???????????

 

 

I think the hands can be the best EQ

[g.]

pfunku:

What's EQ??????????? I think the hands can be the best EQ

 

Yeah, I see sound engineers at concerts and in the studio using their hands all the time to change the frequency response curve ; }

[Ed Friedland]

I tend to agree with the less is more thought. If you have a good sounding bass, good hands and an uncolored rig, you don't need much. Some rooms may give you a harder time than others, which is why it's good to have some options available, but generally I use very little eq. The problem with some amps is they are voiced in such a way that they naturally color your sound. That's not inherently bad I guess, but if you don't want the manufacturers idea of tone, you have to go to extremes to remove it. Some amps have redundant eq, 3 different ways to attack the same frequency range. That's a recipe for disaster!

 

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www.edfriedland.com