Question about the bass amp

[dude]

ive been wanting to get the round sound but i still cant. i dont know if its my amp, my bass or i should use effects.

what do you mean turning it up? like maxing everything? i never did that. but i set my settings to smile. so basically ive got a lot of booming.

 

[exin]

It's alot of misconception on the part of bassists that by turning up all the knobs you can get a nice sound. I think we as bassist have to understand a little bit on the physics of sound. I'll post what i know here and my personal experience to share with you guys .. this is called . CAMPAIGN FOR A NICE BASS TONE by EXIN and SOFTIES .. if anyone of you have anything more to add on to what i'm going to say later on .. please feel free .. i don't know everything .. =)

Okay, here's a little information on sound itself. Sound travel in waves .. .. so physicts have sorted sound out in labels called frequencies. Frequencies is how fast your sound waves passes through a single point .. it is measured in HERTZ or HZ in short form.

Bass frequencies are defined between 22Hz to around 150hz . around there lah . may be more or less .. up to you to mess around with your tone.

Mid freq. are around 200hz - 1kHz ..

treble freq are around 3kHz - 16kHz ..

The normal hearing range of a normal human being is from 20hz - 22khz or 20khz to 22000hz .. all the same.

Okay, so here's what i do .. over time playing around with my sound i found out some frequencies that will enhance your bass sound and to get the sound that you really want.

The bass frequencies are termed as your warm factor .. or that's what i call it .. too much of it and you may find your sound getting too muffled or too .. "ooooooOoOOooHmmmmMMm' that kind .. i'm sure alot of us have experience that eh? The range i always play around with is between 60hz - 100hz .. ..

The mid frequencies are termed as your punch factor in Exin's dictionary and glossary of terms. Too much of it and you'll realise you get either a very barky and harsh tone or you'll find that it starts to sound like some spoilt synthesizer keyboard. The range i always play around with is from 250Hz - 400Hz ..

the high mid-frequencies are what i termed as the clarity factor ... this allows your bass tone to cut through the mix but the catch on this is that you have to balance out a right amount of mixture .. the range i always play around with is from 800hz - 1khz ..

the treble frequencies are what i termed as your bright or sweet factor .. it brings out the twang in your slapping and popping and the "chang!" in your tapping and the percussiveness in your fingerfunk style. The range i always play around with is from 3kHz - 12kHz ..

Okay .. so how much or how little? I always try to let my ears be the judge .. but i like to put it in a smiley face waveform also .. meaning that the bass are boosted .. the mids are a bit scooped and the treble is boosted .. but sometimes if i want .. i will make the valley closer .. that means i'll increase my bandwidth and stuff like that ..

so advice is that .. learn how to cut instead of boosting frequencies .. if you find that you are overclocking a certain range of frequencies .. cut the frequencies that are promininetly irritating instead .. alright . that's about all i have to say .. any questions feel free to ask ..

Cheers!

 

[dude]

hey exin, so getting the round sound means having the amp at smiley face settings? and i always hear people talking about scooping the settings. whats that actually?

 

[rottenramone]

..

lowering the midrange in the EQ spectrum. gives a nice slap tone.

 

[reyrey]

well,personally i think that every amp gives out diff sound [its obvious],so dont put the setting that you always use on your peavey amp to another amp [like laney.swr,etc]
just play around with the knobs untill you get the sound that you want,not too loud,coz when you play loud you'll lose your bottom end [imo] =)

 

[exin]

well,personally i think that every amp gives out diff sound [its obvious],so dont put the setting that you always use on your peavey amp to another amp [like laney.swr,etc]
just play around with the knobs untill you get the sound that you want,not too loud,coz when you play loud you'll lose your bottom end [imo] =)

i have to disagree ... yes it's true that each amp has it's unique sound but sound physics remain the same .. so i don't see why you can't put the same setting as you did on your other amp .. BUT .. the difference comes only in acoustics. Bass frequencies require a large surface to bump off and bounce around a hall or venue ..

So point your amp if possible at a block of nearby flats or a large wall that kinda stuff to bounce off your sound.

 

[exin]

hey exin, so getting the round sound means having the amp at smiley face settings? and i always hear people talking about scooping the settings. whats that actually?

Depends .. most of the time they would be talking about slap tone like rottonramone has mentioned. But sometimes i like to put my settings at half a smiley face ..

More low mids .. the bass freq lower than the low mids a little and quite a fair bit of high mids and treble .. reminds me of that stingray funk tone sometimes when i do that .. ahahah

 

[reyrey]

well,personally i think that every amp gives out diff sound [its obvious],so dont put the setting that you always use on your peavey amp to another amp [like laney.swr,etc]
just play around with the knobs untill you get the sound that you want,not too loud,coz when you play loud you'll lose your bottom end [imo] =)

i have to disagree ... yes it's true that each amp has it's unique sound but sound physics remain the same .. so i don't see why you can't put the same setting as you did on your other amp .. BUT .. the difference comes only in acoustics. Bass frequencies require a large surface to bump off and bounce around a hall or venue ..

So point your amp if possible at a block of nearby flats or a large wall that kinda stuff to bounce off your sound.

but dude...i've tried it on diff amps in jamming room...some amps lack of bottom,so i give extra treble and stuff,while the other lack of punch...or maybe its just me :? cheers =)

 

[fretless6]

i have to disagree ... yes it's true that each amp has it's unique sound but sound physics remain the same .. so i don't see why you can't put the same setting as you did on your other amp .. BUT .. the difference comes only in acoustics. Bass frequencies require a large surface to bump off and bounce around a hall or venue ..

So point your amp if possible at a block of nearby flats or a large wall that kinda stuff to bounce off your sound.

This would only be true if all amps have totally flat freq response and either do not color the tone at all or all amps color the tone the same way. Most amps sound completely different even with the EQ set completely "flat".

Not to mention the speaker config, the cabinet construction also drastically alter your tone. E.g. try putting the same treble setting on an amp with a tweeter and one without :smt069

If your theory is right, then why would anyone plow $5000 onto an Aguilar when they can get a $300 Peavey to sound exactly the same. :smt020

 

[exin]

fretless6 makes a point that and i stand with it .. but the main thing i was trying to put across is that sound physics will still remain the same no matter how you look at yet ..

yes different manufacturer's amps have different sounds and i must agree. If you ask me .. i would very much like either an Ampeg head and cab or a SWR head and cab .. why not others because i feel that these two companies .. personally, can put forth a bass as it should sound like.

The tweeter thing is also something i have to agree on .. of course an amp with a tweeter will bring out the highs more than a one without .. so .. at the end of the day .. sound physics remain the same but do your research on manufacturer amps to get what you are looking for ... let your ears be the judge

 

[dude]

sidetrack: what does it mean when your EQ is at "flat"? does it mean the the EQ knobs are all the way at zero? i've heard when you buy basses, you should set the EQ at flat to see how good the bass actually sounds.

 

[fretless6]

sidetrack: what does it mean when your EQ is at "flat"? does it mean the the EQ knobs are all the way at zero? i've heard when you buy basses, you should set the EQ at flat to see how good the bass actually sounds.

Flat as in no boost and no cut. Usually on most amps, the neutral setting is at "5" with 1 being maximum cut and 10 being maximum boost. Same applies to all instruments, not just basses, it should sound good "straight out of the box".