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Bass: balance between chord clarity and "big" single notes

Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2015 5:47 pm
by kbit
This has been on my mind lately. Usually I'll eq a sound thats nice and burly on single notes, but then if i hit a two note minor third interval it sounds like mud. Try to rectify this issue and single notes sound too thin.

I play short scale basses tuned to D standard. Im selling off my amp at the moment so that doesnt really matter.

Curious to hear some input from yall:

-I've used 15" speakers exclusively and the only cab that was kinda ok on both was my old 2x15 Peavey (Was using a music man 150 at the time). Would 10" speakers be a better option?

-Any amps/eq styles I should look into? Ive thought about eventually going for a preamp/power amp set up so I guess I could have two pres on a a/b switcher.

-Stop tunning down to D? (But I dont wanna do that, D rules :lol: )

-Would using a compressor help?


Any other comments?

Re: Bass: balance between chord clarity and "big" single not

Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2015 6:40 pm
by neonblack
Do you have multiple pickups? I had that problem on my single-pickup bass, but less so when I have multiple pickups

Re: Bass: balance between chord clarity and "big" single not

Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2015 6:48 pm
by Chankgeez
Sound Saw?

Re: Bass: balance between chord clarity and "big" single not

Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2015 6:57 pm
by neonblack
Chankgeez wrote:Sound Saw?
Oh yeah, this. And an accountant. One to get your signal in order, the other to blow it to smithereens.

Re: Bass: balance between chord clarity and "big" single not

Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2015 7:21 pm
by kbit
Middle position pickups only. Mustang/P bass style. The way I tend to like em.

I guess im hoping to have one base tone that could be decent at doing both rather than pedals. But I'd use pedals if need be. Because we all love pedals :cool:

neon do you have your acountant yet? if you do whats it like?

Re: Bass: balance between chord clarity and "big" single not

Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2015 7:22 pm
by Chankgeez
Pedals are always the answer?!?!?!

Re: Bass: balance between chord clarity and "big" single not

Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2015 8:33 pm
by neonblack
kbithecrowing wrote:Middle position pickups only. Mustang/P bass style. The way I tend to like em.

I guess im hoping to have one base tone that could be decent at doing both rather than pedals. But I'd use pedals if need be. Because we all love pedals :cool:

neon do you have your acountant yet? if you do whats it like?
I won't get mine till Friday but I borrowed Chank's for a little bit. I loved it on bass. It made me love my tone again. It adds punch and the perfect amount of brightness to the signal, and gives my dirt just a little nudge. It also evens out the volume from when my tone is up and when its rolled off.

I think there's one on TGP for $125 right now. Not that much off the retail price, but every penny counts.

Re: Bass: balance between chord clarity and "big" single not

Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2015 8:52 pm
by Achtane
Are you down-tuning a standard set? You might wanna get a fatter set that has more tension at that tuning.
Play closer to the bridge when hitting multiple strings?
Use a pick?

Re: Bass: balance between chord clarity and "big" single not

Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2015 9:06 pm
by kbit
Yeah I got a heavier set, and I use a pick almost all the time, but I should probably play towards the bridge more often.

Re: Bass: balance between chord clarity and "big" single not

Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2015 2:28 am
by PeteeBee
I had the same problem on regular guitar on the lowest two strings. Getting a bigger amp helped the minor 3rd sound both notes strong. Used to drive me crazy because I love that sound.

Re: Bass: balance between chord clarity and "big" single not

Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2015 8:40 am
by oscillofuzz
Consider 12"s. I play a bass vi mostly and do both chordy stuff on higher notes/strings and fat bass (usually supplemented by an octaver and/or dirt), all with the bridge humbucker on full blast. So far, only 12" speakers have given me the 'best of both worlds', so to speak. Whenever I am in a situation that I play other people's gear I find that 15"s make me too undefined on the highs (but massive as thick fudge in the lows) and 4x/6x10"s lose the subs when the octaver is on (and I find they're somewhat more 'directional', and therefore need to be louder to hear yourself on stage). Both yield an imbalance in overall sound that isn't an issue at all when I play through my delightful 4x12 cab. Now, there might be 2x15"s out there that do have the high end response I want, and maybe an 8x10 could deliver the sound of octaver-subs I require, but I haven't run into those yet. Given the choice I really prefer my 4x12 over other people's ?x?" cabs, as does the rest of my band.

Re: Bass: balance between chord clarity and "big" single not

Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2015 8:50 am
by Achtane
You could pretty easily add a series/parallel switch. It will probably make the pickups sound thinner and have less output, but should help. You could just switch back for big single note stuff.

Re: Bass: balance between chord clarity and "big" single not

Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2015 2:57 pm
by BoatRich
oscillofuzz wrote:Consider 12"s. I play a bass vi mostly and do both chordy stuff on higher notes/string and fat bass (usually supplemented by an octaver and/or dirt), all with the bridge humbucker on full blast. So far, only 12" speakers have given me the 'best of both worlds', so to speak. Whenever I am in a situation that I play other people's gear I find that 15"s make me too undefined on the highs (but massive as thick fudge in the lows) and 4x/6x10"s lose the subs when the octaver is on (and I find they're somewhat more 'directional', and therefore louder to hear yourself on stage). Both yield an imbalance in overall sound that isn't an issue at all when I play through my delightful 4x12 cab. Now, there might be 2x15"s out there that do have the high end response I want, and maybe an 8x10 could deliver the sound of octaver-subs I require, but I haven't run into those yet. Given the choice I really prefer my 4x12 over other people's ?x?" cabs, as does the rest of my band.
I use a 412 and 810 with a V4 on bass vi and bass and I was going to say the same thing. Also favor low mids over lows to clear up a lot of fundamental mud when chording on bass and play near the bridge as everyone else said.

Re: Bass: balance between chord clarity and "big" single not

Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2015 3:19 pm
by Grrface
BoatRich wrote:
oscillofuzz wrote:Consider 12"s. I play a bass vi mostly and do both chordy stuff on higher notes/string and fat bass (usually supplemented by an octaver and/or dirt), all with the bridge humbucker on full blast. So far, only 12" speakers have given me the 'best of both worlds', so to speak. Whenever I am in a situation that I play other people's gear I find that 15"s make me too undefined on the highs (but massive as thick fudge in the lows) and 4x/6x10"s lose the subs when the octaver is on (and I find they're somewhat more 'directional', and therefore louder to hear yourself on stage). Both yield an imbalance in overall sound that isn't an issue at all when I play through my delightful 4x12 cab. Now, there might be 2x15"s out there that do have the high end response I want, and maybe an 8x10 could deliver the sound of octaver-subs I require, but I haven't run into those yet. Given the choice I really prefer my 4x12 over other people's ?x?" cabs, as does the rest of my band.
I use a 412 and 810 with a V4 on bass vi and bass and I was going to say the same thing. Also favor low mids over lows to clear up a lot of fundamental mud when chording on bass and play near the bridge as everyone else said.
^^ Basically all this.

Re: Bass: balance between chord clarity and "big" single not

Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2015 3:56 pm
by kbit
Now just to clarify, when yall say low mids do you mean around like, 250hz?