twinfold Posted January 15, 2003 Share Posted January 15, 2003 Hey guys, i'm new here and i need help. I own an ampeg svt 350-h with an ernie ball music man sterling and can't find a comfortable and good sounding eq setting, HELP ME!, any suggestions are appreciated. Thanx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Smith Posted January 15, 2003 Share Posted January 15, 2003 Make a smiley face out of the EQ, that's the easiest solution. Honestly, EQ is a matter of personal choice and ripe for extensive experimentation. Keep messing with the EQ, but start off with everything zeroed. Play for a bit and adjust just one slider. Keep doing this to try to sculpt a sound that you are comfortable with. Also, I would keep the EQ on your Sterling zeroed while you're doing this. Good luck! Discipline is never an end in itself, only a means to an end. --King Crimson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornbread_medhotmail.com Posted January 15, 2003 Share Posted January 15, 2003 I have a Stingray and I set the bass all the way up, the mids at just above 50% and the highs about 75%. That's the settings I use on the bass. On my amp, I use thw "W" shape setting with none of the valleys going below the mid-point on the eq sliders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Sweet Willie_ Posted January 15, 2003 Share Posted January 15, 2003 Interesting thread. We each probably have our own little EQ secrets, and I bet some (many) of them vary radically! I have a fretless Ernie Ball MM StingRay5 -- same electronics as a Sterling. On my bass I usually leave the treble flat or slightly cut, the mids boosted almost all the way up, and the bass boosted about 50-75%. I usually have my coil selector switch all the way towards the bridge (coils in parallel, I believe). I would probably play around more w/ these settings if this bass were fretted. On my amp I usually EQ similarly. If anything I boost my low mids the most (approx. in the range of 250-400 Hz). I probably cut my upper mids the most (approx. in the range of 800 Hz - 1.2 kHz). I have started to learn, however, that I'm becoming more successful in my experiments with tone when I cut certain frequencies, than when I boost others (for example, as stated above, cutting at around 1 kHz). One suggestion I have would be to set all the EQ on your amp flat and play with the onboard EQ on your Sterling until you find one or more settings that you really like. Then set your onboard EQ flat and play with your amp settings until you find one or more sounds that you like. It will be worth writing down the settings! Then you can mix and match the two, and you ought to be able to find some places where they complement each other, and give you the types of tone you're looking for. Peace. spreadluv Fanboy? Why, yes! Nordstrand Pickups and Guitars. Messiaen knew how to parlay the funk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoot Posted January 15, 2003 Share Posted January 15, 2003 Check out page 6 for suggestions: SVT 350H Manual That should help!! Ah, nice marmot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russfingers Posted January 15, 2003 Share Posted January 15, 2003 IMHO-I play a passive P bass for this reason.I use the amps eq to make life simple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Smith Posted January 15, 2003 Share Posted January 15, 2003 Originally posted by Russfingers: IMHO-I play a passive P bass for this reason.I use the amps eq to make life simple.Ditto, I've never been a big fan of active electronics. Discipline is never an end in itself, only a means to an end. --King Crimson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patrick_dont_fret Posted January 16, 2003 Share Posted January 16, 2003 Let's see, on my active bass, I keep the treble and bass knobs at 100% usually, though when I play old skool rock, I usually cut the treble to 50%, possibly even 0%...I like my bass up there. On my amp (SWR LA-12), I keep the bass at about 75%, the mids at about 60%, and the highs at about 70%. A nice little sound if I do say so myself. Volume knob at 50%, as well. When playing my passive P-bass, I use the same settings, and vary what I want with the tone knob, and play at different points around the pickups, but never directly over the pups (as I cannot). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornbread_medhotmail.com Posted January 16, 2003 Share Posted January 16, 2003 Originally posted by Adrian Smith: Originally posted by Russfingers: IMHO-I play a passive P bass for this reason.I use the amps eq to make life simple.Ditto, I've never been a big fan of active electronics.I was never a fan of them until I got some good ones. The Barts in my Zon were the first actives I found that I really liked. I can see the importance of good active pickups and passive ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zujo Posted January 16, 2003 Share Posted January 16, 2003 "Teach a man how to fish and you shall help him forever.." or whatever that goes! First thing. START LEARNING WHAT YOU NEED AND LIKE with your bass all flat use the parametric eq to one button at a time and play the bass up high and down low. Set this button on all posible positions. Now set the previous button flat and repeat the process with the other two. Take notes or record yourself playing while doing it. Now start combining buttons. Now all flat in the amp and mess aroung with the bass knobs. Take notes. Graphic EQ With the setting you like, set the GEQ all flat and start doing the same with individual levers. Take notes. FYI the GEQ is used mostly to EQ a room with say a boomy stage or reflective mid range walls. Overkill?.... Yes But no one will know your gear more than you do.... Do the same with compressors and other FX's "Word to your mother" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Smith Posted January 16, 2003 Share Posted January 16, 2003 Originally posted by cornbread: I was never a fan of them until I got some good ones. The Barts in my Zon were the first actives I found that I really liked. I can see the importance of good active pickups and passive ones.[/QB]Yeah I played some Bartolonis once (in an Alembic... I think) and they did sound awfully nice, but I still prefer my simple passive tone control on my P-bass. Discipline is never an end in itself, only a means to an end. --King Crimson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
... Posted January 16, 2003 Share Posted January 16, 2003 Please do yourself a favor (and this is to everyone here) and flatten the EQ settings on your bass pre-amp. Then adjust your amp's EQ settings to your desired tone and use the bass EQ for *slight* adjustments. Cranking your bass EQ settings to 100% is not a very good way to go about getting your tone dialed in. If you like the way your bass sounds with your 'bass' EQ knob turned all the way up, find out what frequency that is and boost it on your amp instead!!!! I would be inclined to believe that the tone control circuit information for your bass is readily available on the manufacturer's website (or local music store-boy could tell you, or find out for you). This has been "Achieving The Tone You Want 101". Brought to you by Jeep, Tab cola, and the number 495. Thank you, drive through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fig Posted January 16, 2003 Share Posted January 16, 2003 Yeah, Bump, that's how I worked the EQ with my one active bass (which I haven't used in awhile). The thing sounded great with the onboard EQ flat anyway, and if I remember correctly, I usually ran the amp flat most of the time too. For those songs that needed that little 'something', it was right there on the bass. As a previous post mentioned, I tend to get what I want by cutting frequencies on the amp EQ, instead of boosting them. I think I remember some sound guys telling me they prefer to cut PA freqs, instead of boosting, to eq a room. Figured it was good enough for my bass rig, too. Bassplayers aren't paid to play fast, they're paid to listen fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Sweet Willie_ Posted January 16, 2003 Share Posted January 16, 2003 I'm persuaded by the argument to leave any onboard eq flat/neutral and set the amp eq how you wish -- then tweak the onboard stuff when necessary. However, I still feel like you gotta experiment with your onboard eq so you know what it does to your sound and then you know how to use it when tweaking time arrives. For example, the mid boost on my Carvin LB-70 sounds like crap (IMHO), but using just a little bit from time to time can add a little special something. If I were looking for more mids, I know with that bass I need to leave the onboard eq alone -- sometimes there's even a voice that goes off in my head while I'm playing, "Step away from the mid boost! Step away from the mid boost or we will have to take your weapon, errr, bass from you! Go directly to the mid controls on your amp!" With my fretless I tend to like the same tone all the time. I feel confident about which freqs to boost and cut to bring out great tone. Setting it at the amp and then tweaking at the bass works great. However, with my fretted Carvin (w/ the crap mid boost) there are a couple of different ways I eq it (slap vs. fingerstyle, for example). Because of this, sometimes I wish I once again had a 2-channel amp (or two preamps like BenLoy -- the b*st*rd!). I'm not a huge fan of going back to the amp to re-eq, so I'll try to do more eq'ing at the bass (despite the crap mid boost -- I wish it were a cut/boost instead of boost only, but that's what I get for buying the bass a year or so before Carvin made it a cut/boost). BUT, since I'm not currently gigging, this isn't really a big deal... Anyway, just some thoughts to add to the pot. Peace. spreadluv Fanboy? Why, yes! Nordstrand Pickups and Guitars. Messiaen knew how to parlay the funk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Sweet Willie_ Posted January 16, 2003 Share Posted January 16, 2003 Also, about active/passive -- please be careful about the difference between active and passive pickups vs. active and passive electronics (onboard preamp). Bartolini makes active onboard preamps, and some very fine ones at that. However, it was my impression that they made few, if any, active p'ups. EMG is probably the bigger name in terms of active p'ups. Can anyone elaborate, clarify, correct, or affirm any of this? spreadluv Fanboy? Why, yes! Nordstrand Pickups and Guitars. Messiaen knew how to parlay the funk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Capasso Posted January 16, 2003 Share Posted January 16, 2003 Lots of good suggestions here. I like using the amp's instruction book to get started. A few things to think about are to be sure what "zero" or "flat" is. On actives and eqs, the middle is usually flat, because they can boost and cut. Also, the room you are in and the speakers you are using can alter what you hear considerably. Last of all is a reminder to focus on the sound out in the crowd, not the sound you hear on stage. It has to sound good "out there", and you have to deal with it "here". Lots of trial and error - take notes, and change only one thing at a time. Tom www.stoneflyrocks.com Acoustic Color Be practical as well as generous in your ideals. Keep your eyes on the stars and keep your feet on the ground. - Theodore Roosevelt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zujo Posted January 16, 2003 Share Posted January 16, 2003 Originally posted by zujo: "Teach a man how to fish and you shall help him forever.." or whatever that goes! First thing. START LEARNING WHAT YOU NEED AND LIKE with your bass all flat use the parametric eq to one button at a time and play the bass up high and down low. Set this button on all posible positions. Now set the previous button flat and repeat the process with the other two. Take notes or record yourself playing while doing it. Now start combining buttons. Now all flat in the amp and mess aroung with the bass knobs. Take notes. Graphic EQ With the setting you like, set the GEQ all flat and start doing the same with individual levers. Take notes. FYI the GEQ is used mostly to EQ a room with say a boomy stage or reflective mid range walls. Overkill?.... Yes But no one will know your gear more than you do.... Do the same with compressors and other FX'sI am sorry I forgot add check several level of volume to the previous post. EQ settings do change drastically according to volume:D "Word to your mother" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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