Your Favorite tone setting...

[Christopher Rhodes]

My favorite setting is ... well... a new set of Ken Smith Burner strings. The nickel type.

All the EQ settings cannot replace a fresh set of strings.

Secondly. A nice sounding cabinet seems to make the tone just pop out in the mix.

I know this is slightly off topic - but since the subject is "tone";
mentioning the basic ingredients wouldn't be too far off topic.

Bass (BMT or BSR) + New Strings (Burners) + Nice cabinet( a good one) = That sparkling Ken Smith Tone.

[Roosevelt Allen]

Originally Posted by Christopher Rhodes

My favorite setting is ... well... a new set of Ken Smith Burner strings. The nickel type.

All the EQ settings cannot replace a fresh set of strings.

Secondly. A nice sounding cabinet seems to make the tone just pop out in the mix.

I know this is slightly off topic - but since the subject is "tone";
mentioning the basic ingredients wouldn't be too far off topic.

Bass (BMT or BSR) + New Strings (Burners) + Nice cabinet( a good one) = That sparkling Ken Smith Tone.

1000+. With this combination I can't seem to get a bad sound out of my BT5G no matter how the EQ settings on the bass are adjusted. In addition I tend to also tweak my tone with hand position, attack, etc.; so, I usually leave the bass flat until the strings start to die.

[Christopher Rhodes]

EQ settings, running flat, or however you desire still cannot replace a players abilities with touch and technique.
Your pluck, thump, slap, pop, attack, release, and control of the strings are ... well...
more important than EQ settings.

This ultimately is the determining factor of "your" tone.

Check out this youtube example: from the 7 minute mark...
clearly, a demonstration of total control of the tone, with touch & technique.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0e0Y...eature=related
( I believe this is Ken Smith BT6 - red stain color; rarely seen like this?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z51o7...eature=related
(Jerry Brooks Solo with red Smith BT6)

Oh yes...
Tone is such a subjective topic... "ear" of the beholder.

[Christopher Rhodes]

I hope I did not kill this thread...

I played my 7-string bass last night, with a LMKII head... it was nice. I might get another gig out of it.

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Christopher Rhodes

I hope I did not kill this thread...

I played my 7-string bass last night, with a LMKII head... it was nice. I might get another gig out of it.

I have noticed tons of youtube clips with Smith basses. Just put 'ken smith' in the youtube search, pull up a chair and listen all day to more clips that I can count.

For me, (if playing electric bass) I get the sound I need with the bass and amp at hand. The room and stage have a lot to do with it. I would say it's equally or even more important to have the sound in your head you are shooting for than to have pre-fixed settings planned.

I usually use both pickups balanced firts of all. Usually medium Tapercore strings and fairly fresh regardless of the venue. Form there it depends on the amp and how the amp sounds in the room. I like to set-up the amp for the room to get the basic sound I am looking for with the bass controls still set flat. I would prefer to make my tweaks or adjustments from the bass rather then reaching back to the amp. I usually have the volume out full on the bass but holding that back incase you need a quick on-board boost isn't a bad idea.

For tight funk sound setting with any amount of slapping to do (I haven't slapped much in years) I would raise equally the the bass and treble and cut the mids. This gives the bass a 'notched' setting. For jazz or pop or straight non-pop/slap R&B I do what ever works at the time. Playing with a small group verses a large group with horns will require different settings to cut through.

I would say the best setting is what pleases your ear and what people out in the house or hall tell you sounds best out there as well.

The exact bass you have in model or woods (woods matter a lot for tone settings) and settings between 4, 5, 6, and 7 string will vary even if each bass on the same gig in the same hands with the same strings is the exact same model and woods because, the mass in the neck woods matter. An open G sounds different on a 4, 5, 6 and 7 because of how much wood is under it.

So, use your head (mind really) and ears to know what you want to sound like and set you amp first. Then do the fine tuning with the Bass preamp.

Sometimes after you get it just right, someone in the band tells you, too much this or not enough that or.. the house engineer say.. put it all flat, I'll mix it in the booth... lol

Keep an open mind and make good music.

[Amit Shtriker]

On amps like Ampeg or others, only the preamp section worth hundreds of $$ and I think it's a waiste of money to run these amps flat. (btw, if anybody knows how can we run an Ampeg SVT tube amp flat, please share, because I don't think it's possible - as only by the fact that you are playing a tube amp, the sound will be well coloured by the tubes)

That was exactly my point... Every amp is engineered to have a certain sound (a preset EQ if you will). What I have found is that most of the amps that need messing around with the sound to get the sound you want, will almost always sound less natural (I know a lot of bass players ARE after this low& high boosted with no mids) than amps that sound good when just turning up the volume...

And as both a musician and engineer, one thing I have learned the hard way - using a piece of gear (EQ/compressor etc.) just because you have one available or because it worth hundreds/thousands of $$ is not such a musical decision.

As Christopher Rhodes said (I think this is what he ultimately meant) - the sound is the bass, the strings, and your fingers!! Then the FOH or mix engineer can tweak it further to fit better in the mix..

I used to record and perform with the bass EQ'ed with the onboard EQ as "my tone", I have found it harder to control in the mix, as did the FOH engineers that I worked with. Since I started playing with flat settings on onboard EQ, my sound is more manageable, live and in studio.

One more thing - as I said in my first post - I do use the onboard EQ - just not as MY TONE but in extreme cases, when I need it (extreme sub-bass playing or compensating for thin sounding pickups for instance).

[Anton Hasias]

I still try to imagine the bass sound of Jaco RIP, Chris Squire, Geddy Lee or Mick Karn with flat settings...and telling to the sound engineer: "Listen man please find the bass sound that suits my playing, I know you can do it, I trust you..."
What is also true is that too many great bass players do the DI and because of this their sound is kind of generic so, at least for me it's not possible to recognize who is playing the bass as the sound signature is absent.

I think that this is the difference between "safe and creative" soundwise speaking.

Best regards