Beginner tips for good bass tone

[hugbot]

Can someone give me any tips on how to get a good sound tone wise from playing bass?

 

I'm primarily a guitarist, but I've been playing bass more for a recording project, I just have no idea how to go about getting a "good tone".

 

To clarify, it reminds me of when I first picked up a guitar and know what a pickup selector switch does, but having no idea if for rock I should be playing with it up or down (neck pickup is bassier and bass is good right?) or when I started tweaking an amp and the months I spent thinking turning your presence up full and your mids to zero is a good sound. I eventually got a feel for it but I dont have any reference in terms of bass sound and since I'm not likely to be playing out with a band as a bassist I'm not going to pick it up that way like I did with guitar.

[T. Alan Smith]

Wow. That is a really broad question. Better bass tone in simplest terms comes from spending more time behind the ax. Other than that, as with everything pro audio, always employ the KISS method.

Keep

It

Simple

Stupid

Start with a passive instrument like a P bass. Start with your EQ flat and keep it as flat as possible until you start getting plenty of experience. If playing rock, lock in with the kick drum.

If you have specific ?s, we can address them.

[Perfessor]

 

Wow. That is a really broad question. Better bass tone in simplest terms comes from spending more time behind the ax. Other than that, as with everything pro audio, always employ the KISS method. Keep It Simple Stupid Start with a passive instrument like a P bass. Start with your EQ flat and keep it as flat as possible until you start getting plenty of experience. If playing rock, lock in with the kick drum. If you have specific ?s, we can address them.

 

 

What he said!

[hugbot]

Ok, scooping mids on a guitar is generally a bad idea I've found as you loose the qualities that help it cut through, but what about bass?

 

What genre of bass players would typically scoop their mids, or boost them? What genre of bass players would be boosting their treble? If you wanted to support the band, without cutting over it which frequencies should you be leaving to the guitar?

 

I'm not looking for "my sound" so much as a workable sound for the thing I'm recording, so I'm really just looking for advice like "oh, only jazz players really boost so and so frequency much, for rock you want a cut there"

[Flogger59]

Note placement is key. Start the note with the kick drum, and stop it for the snare hit. That's one thing beginners don't know.

[tommorichards]

You know Korn. That dude removes all mid, and boosts bass and treb up high.

 

For a basic start, try these, and then go on from there (speaking for a 3 band eq on amps)

 

bass - 2 oclock

mid - 11 oclock

treb - 1 oclock.

 

Its set on mine, and sounds pretty good. But for a live situation, you may need to adjust.

[Tolka]

As well as all the above advice, dont forget that your strings can be a big part of your tone, as can your technique.

[T. Alan Smith]

Ok, scooping mids on a guitar is generally a bad idea I've found as you loose the qualities that help it cut through, but what about bass? What genre of bass players would typically scoop their mids, or boost them? What genre of bass players would be boosting their treble? If you wanted to support the band, without cutting over it which frequencies should you be leaving to the guitar? I'm not looking for "my sound" so much as a workable sound for the thing I'm recording, so I'm really just looking for advice like "oh, only jazz players really boost so and so frequency much, for rock you want a cut there"

 

Okay, now we're getting somewhere.

"Your sound" will develop as your touch develops, so it'll happen naturally as long as you put in the time.

EQ is in no way relative to genre. It's relative to what works in the very specific time & place you happen to be performing, because of so many elements such as mix(the tones of those your playing with), the space(the acoustics of the room that particular moment), and that doesn't even take into effect your instrument's strings, setup & woods ...or even how you happen to be hearing things that day(big).

Your touch and what you want to hear in particular will determine how to curve your EQ. A lot of more percussive players(tap, slap) might cut some mids, but the density of the mix determines that. As with guitar, cutting mids with bass will hinder your ability to hear yourself and others to hear you. If you want more grind, don't be afraid to push the upper mids. If you want to punch thru the mix easier, go ahead and push the lower mids. Finally, don't be afraid to make the guitar find it's own space as well.

[T. Alan Smith]

 

You know Korn. That dude removes all mid, and boosts bass and treb up high. For a basic start, try these, and then go on from there (speaking for a 3 band eq on amps) bass - 2 oclock mid - 11 oclock treb - 1 oclock. Its set on mine, and sounds pretty good. But for a live situation, you may need to adjust.

 

 

GDan,

 

I strongly recommend starting with your EQ as flat as possible. Boosting lows will quickly eat up necessary headroom you'll need to support your band. ...and as you already know, cutting mids will hinder your ability to hear your note definition, and others to hear your note definition.

The above curve generally sounds good alone or accompanying players in a smaller scale/quieter setting, such as a cafe/place of worship.

[wades_keys]

Avoid boosting lows.

 

In fact, for extra clarity and less booming, try cutting lows and adding in the "missing" girth with a slight boost in the low mids.

 

You'll get a fat sound without all of the booming, plus your amp won't be working so hard to repro the sub-soncic frequencies that no one really hears anyway.

 

Also, use the tone knob on your bass to roll off harsh upper mids and clanks and/or get a more vintage sound. This way, if you need more clarity or a brighter tone, you just open up the tone knob on your bass and it's there for you.

[stevesherbert]

it really depends on the style of music you're playing. for me, a straight-up rock sound is the best. lots of power tube grind (and therefore compression) and very little EQ is what i like. my buddy loves slapping and would HATE my sound. he likes things spanky clean with tons of headroom and really quick response. a jazz guy might be totally different again, and some guys like all-out fuzz mayhem. tell us what sound you're after and then maybe we can help you get there!

[T. Alan Smith]

Hell, I do solo live looping, so my EQ is all over the place in order to get my layers sitting neatly in the mix.

[Darkstorm]

Play in the mix and listen listen listen. Does it sound good in the mix? If so youve got it. If not, tweak the sound till it does sound good. Use drum machine or cd's or other band recordings to play along with for the in the mix sound. If you cant figure out if it sounds good, stop playing and take up some other hobby.

[wades_keys]

You want to be careful, as a beginner, to not use eq to make up for thin tone coming from your fingers or your pick.

[nerol1st]

I'm coming more from the recording aspect of this conversation as I don't consider myself a hardcore bass player (and bow to those that are ).

 

Technique is different on bass than it is guitar, you want to strike the string with some balls, but not hard enough that it clacks and clangs into the bass. I know that would seem obvious, but it's very common error guitarists as bass players make.

 

New strings if your looking for that grindy sounding bass tone, actually no matter what I'm going to say new strings. If you don't want it to bright give them a week to wear in, if your playing punk or metal then fresh strings the day you record. Type of bass is going to depend on what your after, to me p basses sound a little more mellow in tone than a J does. Both options are very good though (or a humbucker bass etc...).

 

Bass has a larger dynamic range than guitar, try to keep your dynamics in check. Your open notes shouldn't out power your fretted notes (at least not by much).

 

I personally prefer 10" drivers, but I'm not saying larger speakers are bad. If you go larger though place the mic further away from the cab than you would with guitar because bass waves are much larger than guitar wavs and take longer to develop in the room.

 

Also: In my experience having the bass rattle the room at certain frequencies is bad. You know you can be playing a line and all the sudden when you hit that A note the whole room vibrates. Try to avoid that if you can unless you have really good isolation on the mic because it will cause unwanted vibrations on the mic. Another reason I like 10" drivers over 15 and 18s.

 

Setup the amp so it blends well with the guitar right from the source. Record a passage, listen to it against the recorded guitars and make adjustments. Recording is one of those things where you want to throw what your hearing in the room out of the window and listen to what is being picked up by the mic instead and make adjustments that way.

 

OR:

 

You can go direct with a decent preamp or DI and amp sim. Bass sounds pretty good direct. I personally like a nice amp more, but I've done direct recordings with great results as well. Or you can run the line out of an amp.