Favorite bass tone of all time - go! Note - sorry the frequency spectrum graphics are hard to read, RUclips compressed the visuals a bit too hard. I will hunt a better EQ plugin for future videos, in the meantime turn up your screen brightness and pray to the Dwarfs. ❤️
Don’t stop believing has a pretty good one. Every Rush song has masterful bass tones The tone on Primus’s Pork Soda is awesome The tone on Blood Sugar Sex Magic is amazing But more recently, in the metal sphere, Job For A Cowboy’s Moon Healer is incredible
Wow, I'm completely floored by this video. Really important stuff here and I've worked in sound mixing for theater productions where everyone crashed and burned through it; cringe worthy. I have a lot of appreciation for my Fender Rumble 40 now!
I think you're the first person who's talked about EQ in terms of problem frequency and subtraction, rather than thinking of boosting first. Great work!
@@francoishtzl157 So the weird thing is, I had AND read the manual on my 1984 Peavey Combo 300. And it gives suggestions for how to set the 8 band EQ for different styles, including which dials to lower. So it was literally right there in the instructions for me.
@@JimmyRimmer Not really what he talk about in the video actually. The EQ exemple in your manual is to get an idea on how to sound better in different style of music. But it is only an exemple, it will not sound the same depending what bass you use, how you play, etc.... What he talk about in the video is learning the frequencies that are problematic and that you should cut/boost depending what you hear
@@heisenberg6785 Ill look in to Peter Hook! I try to watch how the bassist plays live or some vids where the angle is on them. I feel like its technique 90% of the time, most of the time 😮 Stu hamm on "a night in hell/foggy mountain breakdown" had super hot pickups on his yamaha,but also really light gauge strings. Barely had to tap, but it rung out like a piano with some growl. Bryan Bellar mutes with his pinky, but it switches between his fretting hand to his plucking hand. He also uses BEAD strings on a 4-string instead of EADG, tuned down 2 steps for dethklok shit. Really low grumbles, but the heavy strings doesnt get muddy during fast passages. live, you can see he switches his plucking to picking by stiffening his index and middle fingers, but on the reeeaallly fast shit he'll pluck but small alternating movements. Tough to explain, but think of flipping through a stack of records alternating with your index and middle finger but only moving the first distal joints really fast. The technique works, the strings keep the sound tight, so its a combination again.
It’s also pertinent to note that this happens to professionals as well. The last Tool concert I went to Justin almost blew out our intestines with too much tubby and the sound engineer had to turn him down before he disemboweled 10,000 people 😂😂
I was at a show where A7X and another band opened for Metallica. Sound board guy for A7X must’ve dropped the ball because guitars were getting lost underneath the bass and kick drum during the solos or when both Syn and Zack were playing harmonized melodies together. At first I thought it may have been my proximity to the PA system, but I doubt it since they were the only band that night that suffered from that issue. When Metallica played their harmonized melodies in, for example, Fight Fire with Fire, they cut through the mix without issue.
That's the sound engineer's fault, not Justin Chancellor's. At that level, it's his job to make sure it sound good in the crowd BEFORE the show. 99% of the sound you hear out in the crowd is the club's gear, not the musician's. That's especially true for bass. It's different when you're playing at a small venue with a bad PA or no PA at all. Then it may fall more on the musicians to make sure things sound good. But in these mammoth venues with world class mix engineers and tens of thousands worth of equipment, they're the ones who need to make sure it sounds good.
The venue's acoustics and the music style also matter quite alot... some venues just have dead spots or places where sound collect or reflect badly... I saw a show in a dome where it was Mars Volta and A Perfect Circle years back... Mars Volta sounded like utter crap simply because their frenetic style didn't lend itself to the natural reflections and reverb of the venue, it was literally unintelligible, you couldn't hear anything they were playing. Even if you had the setlist in hand you couldn't pick out songs you knew. APC sounded unbelievable, like any of their albums, crystal clear perfect mix.
Saw a cover band go back and forth between hip hop, rock, pop in as many songs. Went up to the bass player and asked him how he’s getting these great tones… must have like 8 pedals right? “I have a nice beefy sound dialed up on the amp. I add bass for the hip hop tracks, put it back for the pop stuff and then kick on a drive for the rock stuff. That’s it” It was mind opening
This is hands down one of the best music instructions videos I have seen. Most videos tell you what to do without explaining why or at least in a cryptic way. Laying out what frequency spectrum does what. Such a great help! Thank you!
The best live tone for bass I’ve heard is Godflesh. Perfect eq of tubby and wicked growl that fit right in the pocket of the guitar tone and bass drum (which was a drum machine) just 2 dudes guitar (and vox) and bass slamming it.
Hey Josh great video! I’m an engineer that spends most of my time fiddling with knobs - and you had a great breakdown of showing how each range can affect the tone when boosted/attenuated. I’m trying to become a better bass player and your channel is helping a lot, cheers!
I have been playing bass for over 30 years now, I don't play in a cover band so I'm not trying to copy anyone else's tone, I just like to get a good phat but clear tone. That has been an ongoing struggle for me finding that elusive balance between phatness (not boomy) and clarity. The 250 Hz dwarf appears to have been my nemesis all along. After watching this video I added the parametric eq block to the end of my signal chain in my HX Stomp and experimented with each of the frequencies mentioned in your video, I discovered that my tone got much clearer but retained all that lovely phatness when I just rolled back some of those frequencies around 250 Hz. Don't know why it took me this long to discover this! Thanks man!
Easily one of the best Bass channels out there, perfect blend between „no BS“ educational and still fun to watch. Been a bassist for 11 years now, and I still learn so much from you. And I‘m always motivated to keep practicing after watching one of your videos! Greetings from Germany✌🏼
I am a graduate of Josh's Bass Buzz course...hands down the best beginner course out there! I have used or are using just about all the popular On-Line instruction out there,,,,but they are all really tailored to Bass Buzz grads
This is by far the best video on youtube about EQ settings for bass. I’ve been searching for a video like this for a long time, and actually was surprised that there is not a single instructional video on yt that talks about the corresponding sounds of the frequency ranges for bass guitar. This one felt like a medicine. Keep up the good work Josh, really appreciate it.
I guess being a (mainly metal) guitarist first helped with the first two, I always went for the "full but not muddy" low end right away. But yes, you guessed it, it was Bitey and Edgy all the way for the first few months of learning bass. Also, 10/10 for saying THE TONE IS IN THE WHOLE CHAIN and that yes, both fingers and (correctly setup) gear are important. I've also been in both "I need new gear" and "I just suck" lands at various points and both can be very toxic and demotivating if you ignore the other part/half.
My solution was pretty simple: I bought a 20$ Behringer BDI21 pre-amp pedal, and toyed with the knobs until I got the tone I wanted. Pre-amp modeler equip is life-saver, and it's rarely talked about in beginner/intermediate discussion. You'll see people talking about overdrive, vintage, distortion, and other sorts of things but not about this.
Solid! EQ pedals are underrated secret sauce for any signal chain. A Boss GE-7 can be a bit more manageable than the GEB-7, but the B7 offers more control at the far top&bottom ends. Even if the amp has a nice EQ, if you're using other pedals or a tube preamp, putting an EQ first in line in the chain can help tie down the other audible quirks. Even if only as an impedance buffer.
there’s a great video on the jhs channel showing the mutemath bassist using eq to make guitar overdrive pedals work well on bass, restoring lost lowend
I heard that active bass doesn't need any pedal but after watching the video I started to rethink to buy one for my active bass. Idk why but except for me, almost every sound engineer I worked with said the bass sounds "off" and neither of them nor me can tell why and I just knew this recently
This is super clear and interesting. I’m a drummer and fledgling audio mixer, but I would still recommend this vid to anyone trying to understand the frequency spectrum more fully. Well done.
I've been playing bass for 26 years now, 20 years of those also on upright bass, and I've never seen or heard a better, more accurate and helpful way of dialing in and finding my bass tone. I tried this at rehearsal today and it was amazing. Thank you so much and keep it up, mate! Cheers!
Man. I bought a bass when i started getting into home recording and producing some time ago (as a guitarist originally). Your channel tought me so much in such a short time about the instrument and how to play it. Despite the (very enjoyable!) puns, your teaching is super on point. Just watched this video today (4 times...) and it ties so many things together. So much i can take out of this for recording, tone, playing. 11/10 stars! Thank you!
That is really helpful! Especially about Honky - one of my basses has this honky character, and I always struggled to get rid of it. And the part about the chain is super important. I mostly play metal, and I need this clanky sound to cut through the mix. My go-to metal bass is Warwick; however, I was not satisfied with the sound. I bought a Darkglass pedal and still was not satisfied with the sound. And only when I changed the strings, that was an 'aha' moment - puzzle pieces came together, and I got the sound I was looking for.
Seeing a Rumble 40 in this video made my heart happy since I just got one a few weeks ago! As far as bass tone goes, I'm a huge fan of Chris Wolstenholme's distortion.
Sincerely, thank you. I have been struggling to dial in my tone with my Sound Gear I bought 4 years ago. This video not only taught me what the 7-band EQ on my amp actually means, but, I finally got my tone the way I want it with the Sound Gear.
Glad to see you back Josh, just picked up my bass about a couple weeks ago and have been having the time of my life learning and playing the instrument thanks to your channel. Please start making videos again, we have similar taste in humor and it helps ease the beginner frustration 👍😂
I'll be honest here... here we go... I spent so much money on all of these pedals and effects.... it got ridiculous. I have been having a crap time trying to reign in my tone. I unplugged ALL the hipass, lowpass, DI, effects, etc etc... I cut ALL my eq on my ashdown amp, then started bringing up one by one and BOOM. Great tone.I think some other people may say "i watched the video, I still can't get it right!" and they may have TOO MUCH going on in their signal chain. That has been my experierce. From now no, I am letting the bass preamp and my amplifier handle my tone. I'm not going to toy with a bunch of pedals (same goes for plug ins). OK, thats my two cents. Great video.
Wow! 30+ years playing with established pro musos and this vid has been SO useful I feel like a noob.. I used to take pride in thinking tone just came naturally now I realise I've just been flattered by sound techs.. legend.
You are a real one for this. This and technique are the most important yet overlooked elements of being a musician. Universal skill that'll impress the ignorant
Im a drummer and find this very informative. Hell , even shared it with our bassist and sound tech so they can work out a "better" tone for my band. Really excellent endeed!
This is incredibly helpful. Been playing for about a year and have been chasing Cliff Burton's tone so hard. Turns out the key was actually backing off the bass knob! Now that I have his pedals- the Morley wah and the TS9- it's dead-on, especially if I use a line splitter to blend the clean and dirty tones together. Thanks bro!
This is undoubtedly the most helpful bass video I've ever watched. EQ has been a total blindspot to me and I've never found anything/anybody who describes it well. Thank you!
Greetings from Dublin, Ireland 🇮🇪 Another superb video with brilliant insights. On the never ending search for the ultimate tone….start here with this excellent video. Thanks very much for sharing this and all your other great videos
I had all kinds of EQ problems when I was a teen, running a 3 band EQ active Stingray through a Boss GEB-7 into an Ampeg B2R head with a graphic EQ. Every time my band played a new venue I had to spend time re-dialing my tone. What made me stop having to do this was simplifying my rig. These days I play a passive MIA J bass directly into an Ampeg PF-500 with only Bass, Mid, Treble knobs and a couple quick select buttons for boosting and I NEVER have EQ problems anymore. My tone is great at home, rehearsal, and gigs. Most importantly it stays consistent. Less is more, guys. The best advice I can give over my 23 years of playing is that the less EQ crap you gotta mess with the better.
The trick I found personally for my Jazz Bass is to roll off the neck pickup knob a bit. It cuts away some bass and makes the tone into a nailbiting gritty almost distorted sound (if you play it hard enough). But I almost exclusively play metal so that might not fit everybody Also the video is very helpful. The people that are comfortable around EQ were like wizards to me for a long time. P.S. I think there's no such thing as "too much bite". Playing slower songs with a lot of bite just means you're too excited!
Wow it's great to see you posting again. Loved the video, but I have one suggestion: the spectrum analyzer was kind of hard on my screen to see. The EQ curve was basically the same color as the background. Loved the video otherwise, glad you're not telling us to buy more gear.
This video was insanely valuable. I already knew most of this by ear, but not by frequency. Having the specific language to communicate with a sound engineer in terms of hertz to fix undesirable mixes has been a bridge I've been trying to gap for a few years- I'll definitely be rewatching this several times and taking notes. More value in 16 odd minutes than my four years of music school education. Killer dude
This comes as a good counterpoint to some other influenza that got recommended to me yesterday, claiming that a way to good tone is: and here came a list of expensive new gear they claimed people have to buy.
Josh, this is an outstanding addition to your considerable library. Great to have a new video. Immediately understandable. I'm SO grateful for a) you using simple stuff like a Fender Rumble example and a passive J Bass and b) making it clear good bass sound is not about buying more stuff but understanding the stuff you have. I applied all this quickly to my home practice amp (a Fender Rumble 25, with only 3 bands) plus both my P and J Basses and WOW, what an improvement!! Worked just as you described. Thanks so much, Josh!!!!
As somebody who is a nobody, this is the greatest bass video I have ever seen. Tone is the most abstract and confusing thing for the average bass player. You've started the explanation and breakdown of what the hell the knobs on a person's amp mean. That's something. That's truly something.
If you have an amp with a three knob EQ you can either turn up one knob or turn down the other two. If you want a smooth low end instead of turning up the bass knob and making in boomy, turn down the mid and high knobs. Also where you pluck the stings makes a huge difference to your tone. Brighter if you pluck near the bridge, rounder if you pluck near the neck.
For years, I've used an LMB-3 pedal, and it works great for tone in being able to manage those dwarves from getting out of control. It's also great for as a booster for solo's
Active bass supremacy. I set up the amp sound with the bass EQ at halfway, and adjust the tone for the song on the bass. If all at halfway doesn't work, mid boost for rock, bass and treb boost for metal, bass boost for soul.
Great video. I've been playing bass since late 70s. I've used tons of different basses but have used Ampeg SVTS exclusively since the beginning. Tone to me is at the top. I can play flawlessly on a gig but if my tone sucks I'm pissed for the entire night. I get to gigs early set up & screw with my tone because size of room, how the stage is ..alot of wood metal whatever i find .& It could just be me..but so much effects tone. I always change strings before every show..roto sound round wounds, fresh batteries active pickups wireless etc. Anyway I'm from Buffalo NY & grew up watching Billy Sheehan in clubs. Great guy great bassist & killer tone.
ironically enough, in spite of the many warnings of this video and several other videos on this channel... seeing EQ simplified like this has encouraged me to finally buy an EQ pedal. one day shipping too. what a time to be alive.
This is the kind of video that I needed about 30 years ago. That's when I 'learned' that tone was in the most expensive gear and had to weigh a ton. (Although, those boutique 8x10 cabinets sure did sound incredible after I drug them up a few flights of stairs to the gig. 😖)
Great video. Yes - rolling down bass opens the door to a series of tones, including the natural sound of your bass. Huge tip! Love the way you broke down the frequency ranges by their slang terms. You broke down in 16 min what took me 30 years to learn - LOL 😅
Probably late to the party, but I've been playing for 10years and this was one of the most instructive and well spoken EQ video I've ever seen. Thanks for this, Josh!
Nice vid! When i was in HS, i tried playing golf with a few other kids with some no-name handed down clubs and one kid started to make fun of them. Then one of the older guys said Tiger Woods would still be the best player in the world using my clubs. Golf didnt really stick at all, but music and that lesson kinda did. Like, your instrument doesnt suck, Billy Sheehan would still shred on it, you just need more practice. Also with a small investment in some tools, you can buy 350-650 range and MAKE it sound 800+.
Studying mixing has improved my bass tones immensely. Being able to recognize frequencies and understand exactly what they do means I can quickly get any tone I want. I highly recommend that every musician mess around making music in a DAW. Also, maybe watch some music production tutorials. Recording yourself is also useful on a lot of levels besides just solidifying your grasp on EQ. It'll immediately magnify any technical mistakes you're making, for example. It'll also teach you how to use other important tools like compression.
Two quick points; 1) I like the idea of the Zon Sonus BG4 model (Billy Gould signature) as it only has one knob for volume - so now you don't have to get into a debacle of constantly adjusting multiple knobs on your bass AND on your amp - just deal with the EQ on your amp. 2) after playing for more then 33 years I just found the perfect tone(s) IMO; I just got a Spector Euro LX4 with EMG PJ's & the Tone Pump preamp; frickin amazing sound AND playability. It sounds awesome on it's own plugged into my Eden WT-300 & SWR 2x12 cab but to take it to another level I plug my bass into a SansAmp DP-3X (Dug Pinnick model) DI/preamp. Everyone that hears it without the SansAmp loves it but when I engage the mix mode on the DP-3X their faces melt with excitement. So Zon Sonus Billy Gould model and/or Spector Euro LX4 with EMG's plugged into a SansAmp DP-3X plugged into an Eden WT-300 which goes into a SWR 2x12. I bought every piece of gear used to save $$$. Altogether I'd say it was about $2800; $1950 for the Spector, $286 for the Eden WT-300, $257 for the SansAmp & $300 for the SWR 2x12. This may seem like a lot but if I compare it to the thousands and thousands of dollars I spent since 1991 on basses, amps, cabinets, pedals etc. it is really a tiny fraction of the money I spent. Learn from my mistakes and go with the items I just mentioned - you're wallet will thank you, cheeers!
Just a few of my personal favorites... - Tony Levin all over Peter Gabriel's So album. - Michael Anthony's Van Halen sound, especially Running With the Devil. - Lesser known but... The late great and incomparable Tim Chandler of Danial Amos, The Swirling Eddies, The Choir and The Lost Dogs.
Thank you! Being at the stage in my bass playing where I realize that the amazing tone that I get in my practice space does NOT equate to amazing tone at my gigs, I truly appreciate this EQ tutorial. I almost ran out and bought that darkglass amp, but I also watched your anti-GAS video, but also, I kinda dig my Mesa Boogie Subway D-800. This video has inspired me to actually look up which frequency each of those knobs is actually controlling.
Great video and information! As a bass player and sound engineer, I find many players are totally missing out on the whole audio spectrum theory. I also think it's worth mentioning pickups' heights, and what it means to plug a bass directly into the PA\Recording gear without a preamp or anything that deals with its raw sound - Which is at most times a massive low end boost, and barely any high mid and treble. I usually want to kick bassists showing up with only a cable, expecting me to create their sound from scratch.
here's what i learned after being a guitarist for couple of years and a bassist for less than a year, i stopped chasing and copying other's tones. i just take inspiration to whatever they have and just go with what my ear and band mates consider "good enough". audience doesnt really give a damn about your bass and guitar tone when you play live anyway unless you're a cover band
Wow! This was a great and very helpful video. Thank you. I hope your students know just how lucky they are/were. You really are a wonderful teacher and gifted at explaining these complicated things in a fun and real way.
This was a great overview on bass EQ and tone. I’m a relatively experienced bass player and it gave me some ideas for experimenting with different tones. Great video! Keep up the good work!!!
This video was very helpful and informative, thank you! As a very new bass player, I figured i needed to get a new bass to sound to get a certain tone instead of just messing with the dials on my amp, that i was told from the salesman not to mess with🤦🏽♂️. Definitely subscribing 👍🏽
So the key takeaway is that you can do everything with a jazz bass. The two volumes and one tone coupled with you plucking hand placement (and angle) will carry you through all 5 situations. Almost rarely get the chance to play with an amp/eq so I had to adapt
Great content, my dude! Funny thing is this popped up in my feed as I await the arrival of the gift I purchased myself for working lots of overtime this summer (darkglass alpha/omega amp)
I’ve been running the trace Elliot GP 12 SMX series since it came out in the 90s - between the 12 band graphic EQ with the 30 Hz knob for tightening up the B string by cutting down a couple notches ... and then add in the dual compressor and holy crap the best bass sounds ever - doesn’t matter what bass; active, passive doesn’t matter what pick up!
Thanks for this amazing advice. I'm playing with a very simple Laney LX10B. It has a bass knob a treble knob and a shape button that seems to boost the middle frequencies. Yet by applying these tips I'm getting some changes in sound that I had never gotten before!! So awesome! I'm learning and practicing Iron Maiden's Wrathchild at the moment and turning the bass knob down, giving Tubby a little less expression has done wonders for the tone and overall sound. Thanks man, you are a jewel!
Excellent advice and spectrum analysis. I've come to the same conclusions after years of experimenting. The most dominant and ever-present adjustment I do is to smack down the "muddy dwarf". That 250Hz thing just ruins every kind of music I play, be it disco, funk, rock. My go-to EQ now is one of the new Ibanez PTEQ 5-band fully parametric pedals. First band is at 30Hz removing rumble. Next knob is at 80-100Hz which I usually just leave alone as this is the "meat" area for the bass. Next knob is at 250Hz, wayyy down, to clean things up. The last 2 knobs are set very high - 3 and 7Khz which receive some lift as this magically gives definition without adding any bite, grittiness or annoying fret noises. Overall it produces a magical sound.
I have to admit, I came with low expectations and was eagerly surprised. Great video and I love the technical details and anti-gas approach. It is indeed not very mentioned on the Internet and I appreciate there's a good video showing it
Beside being educative, it also show really well that as long as you know where you have to grab the sound, the less relevance the instrument has. Jazz can Prog, Dingwall can blues,Precision can slap etc.
Favorite bass tone of all time - go!
Note - sorry the frequency spectrum graphics are hard to read, RUclips compressed the visuals a bit too hard. I will hunt a better EQ plugin for future videos, in the meantime turn up your screen brightness and pray to the Dwarfs. ❤️
Air bass no debate!!
Steve Harris!
Don’t stop believing has a pretty good one.
Every Rush song has masterful bass tones
The tone on Primus’s Pork Soda is awesome
The tone on Blood Sugar Sex Magic is amazing
But more recently, in the metal sphere, Job For A Cowboy’s Moon Healer is incredible
Krist Novoselic!
Lemmy 😊
The fact you use a fender rumble, one of the most common and decent sounding budget bass combos, makes this vid that much better
Yesss
So true
I was debating between this and a Jackson Spectra, I love my Jackson but I can’t help but wonder how that rumble woulda been lol
agree. I'm a bassist on a budget and I own exactly Rumble 40.I don't own Fender bass (only Squier Affinity).
Wow, I'm completely floored by this video. Really important stuff here and I've worked in sound mixing for theater productions where everyone crashed and burned through it; cringe worthy. I have a lot of appreciation for my Fender Rumble 40 now!
I think you're the first person who's talked about EQ in terms of problem frequency and subtraction, rather than thinking of boosting first. Great work!
Far from the first, but FAR too few people talk about it.
Lot of peoples talk about that, but most of the time I heard that coming from guitarist or sound ingeneer and not bassist lol
@@francoishtzl157 So the weird thing is, I had AND read the manual on my 1984 Peavey Combo 300. And it gives suggestions for how to set the 8 band EQ for different styles, including which dials to lower. So it was literally right there in the instructions for me.
@@JimmyRimmer Not really what he talk about in the video actually.
The EQ exemple in your manual is to get an idea on how to sound better in different style of music. But it is only an exemple, it will not sound the same depending what bass you use, how you play, etc....
What he talk about in the video is learning the frequencies that are problematic and that you should cut/boost depending what you hear
But thenn you come to the problem of having turned *every* EQ knob down to (close to) zero; doesn't that leave ZERO tone???
It took me ages trying to get the Dead Kennedys bass tone before I realized that he just had the bass knob turned to zero.
Klaus also rests his pinky on the string beneath the one hes picking to dampen sympathetic vibration.
Try it, sharpens the shit out of Holiday
The perfect bass tone is in DISCO-FUNK
@@ArtOfRuin981Wow, didn't know about that one. Do you know about other bassists habits? Like Peter Hook, how to get his tone?
@@heisenberg6785
Ill look in to Peter Hook!
I try to watch how the bassist plays live or some vids where the angle is on them.
I feel like its technique 90% of the time, most of the time 😮
Stu hamm on "a night in hell/foggy mountain breakdown" had super hot pickups on his yamaha,but also really light gauge strings. Barely had to tap, but it rung out like a piano with some growl.
Bryan Bellar mutes with his pinky, but it switches between his fretting hand to his plucking hand. He also uses BEAD strings on a 4-string instead of EADG, tuned down 2 steps for dethklok shit. Really low grumbles, but the heavy strings doesnt get muddy during fast passages. live, you can see he switches his plucking to picking by stiffening his index and middle fingers, but on the reeeaallly fast shit he'll pluck but small alternating movements. Tough to explain, but think of flipping through a stack of records alternating with your index and middle finger but only moving the first distal joints really fast.
The technique works, the strings keep the sound tight, so its a combination again.
@@heisenberg6785
For hook, play it like a guitar. Raking is key. Full strums dude.
It’s also pertinent to note that this happens to professionals as well. The last Tool concert I went to Justin almost blew out our intestines with too much tubby and the sound engineer had to turn him down before he disemboweled 10,000 people 😂😂
I was at a show where A7X and another band opened for Metallica. Sound board guy for A7X must’ve dropped the ball because guitars were getting lost underneath the bass and kick drum during the solos or when both Syn and Zack were playing harmonized melodies together. At first I thought it may have been my proximity to the PA system, but I doubt it since they were the only band that night that suffered from that issue. When Metallica played their harmonized melodies in, for example, Fight Fire with Fire, they cut through the mix without issue.
@@damienalvarez2957 Maybe it’s the sound guy personally fucking with A7X because he doesn’t like them.
That's the sound engineer's fault, not Justin Chancellor's. At that level, it's his job to make sure it sound good in the crowd BEFORE the show. 99% of the sound you hear out in the crowd is the club's gear, not the musician's. That's especially true for bass.
It's different when you're playing at a small venue with a bad PA or no PA at all. Then it may fall more on the musicians to make sure things sound good. But in these mammoth venues with world class mix engineers and tens of thousands worth of equipment, they're the ones who need to make sure it sounds good.
The venue's acoustics and the music style also matter quite alot... some venues just have dead spots or places where sound collect or reflect badly... I saw a show in a dome where it was Mars Volta and A Perfect Circle years back... Mars Volta sounded like utter crap simply because their frenetic style didn't lend itself to the natural reflections and reverb of the venue, it was literally unintelligible, you couldn't hear anything they were playing. Even if you had the setlist in hand you couldn't pick out songs you knew. APC sounded unbelievable, like any of their albums, crystal clear perfect mix.
Saw a cover band go back and forth between hip hop, rock, pop in as many songs. Went up to the bass player and asked him how he’s getting these great tones… must have like 8 pedals right?
“I have a nice beefy sound dialed up on the amp. I add bass for the hip hop tracks, put it back for the pop stuff and then kick on a drive for the rock stuff. That’s it”
It was mind opening
Gonna reference this later
This is hands down one of the best music instructions videos I have seen. Most videos tell you what to do without explaining why or at least in a cryptic way. Laying out what frequency spectrum does what. Such a great help! Thank you!
I felt the exact way 💯✨️‼️
Yeah, there' totally not enough tutorials out there teaching musicians how to actually nail the frequencies to not sound like ass
The best live tone for bass I’ve heard is Godflesh. Perfect eq of tubby and wicked growl that fit right in the pocket of the guitar tone and bass drum (which was a drum machine) just 2 dudes guitar (and vox) and bass slamming it.
I love that he's showing all of this on basic equipment, as well as high end stuff. This man is out to kill G. A. S., and I love it.
Hey Josh great video! I’m an engineer that spends most of my time fiddling with knobs - and you had a great breakdown of showing how each range can affect the tone when boosted/attenuated. I’m trying to become a better bass player and your channel is helping a lot, cheers!
I have been playing bass for over 30 years now, I don't play in a cover band so I'm not trying to copy anyone else's tone, I just like to get a good phat but clear tone. That has been an ongoing struggle for me finding that elusive balance between phatness (not boomy) and clarity. The 250 Hz dwarf appears to have been my nemesis all along. After watching this video I added the parametric eq block to the end of my signal chain in my HX Stomp and experimented with each of the frequencies mentioned in your video, I discovered that my tone got much clearer but retained all that lovely phatness when I just rolled back some of those frequencies around 250 Hz. Don't know why it took me this long to discover this! Thanks man!
This, BY FAR, has been the best video explain tone problems and how to fix/master them!
Easily one of the best Bass channels out there, perfect blend between „no BS“ educational and still fun to watch. Been a bassist for 11 years now, and I still learn so much from you. And I‘m always motivated to keep practicing after watching one of your videos! Greetings from Germany✌🏼
8:38 no seriously buy the course. It's amazing and it has significantly improved my life. Thank you, Josh!
Buy my course!
Subscribe to bass buzz!
I am a graduate of Josh's Bass Buzz course...hands down the best beginner course out there! I have used or are using just about all the popular On-Line instruction out there,,,,but they are all really tailored to Bass Buzz grads
This video SHOULD be sponsored. You're a gem. Thanks for all your hard work out there.
This is by far the best video on youtube about EQ settings for bass.
I’ve been searching for a video like this for a long time, and actually was surprised that there is not a single instructional video on yt that talks about the corresponding sounds of the frequency ranges for bass guitar. This one felt like a medicine.
Keep up the good work Josh, really appreciate it.
I guess being a (mainly metal) guitarist first helped with the first two, I always went for the "full but not muddy" low end right away. But yes, you guessed it, it was Bitey and Edgy all the way for the first few months of learning bass.
Also, 10/10 for saying THE TONE IS IN THE WHOLE CHAIN and that yes, both fingers and (correctly setup) gear are important. I've also been in both "I need new gear" and "I just suck" lands at various points and both can be very toxic and demotivating if you ignore the other part/half.
That Fleetwood Mac joke killed me. Good job. More videos to revive me please.
finally a bass tone that won't make my bass teacher puke.
This is one of the most important videos you could have made to help any bass player. Big thanks to you Josh !
Greetings from France :)
As a regular guitarist trying to get into bass territory, I can say that this information is gold. Thank you
My solution was pretty simple: I bought a 20$ Behringer BDI21 pre-amp pedal, and toyed with the knobs until I got the tone I wanted. Pre-amp modeler equip is life-saver, and it's rarely talked about in beginner/intermediate discussion. You'll see people talking about overdrive, vintage, distortion, and other sorts of things but not about this.
EQ pedals are a great way to gain greater control of your tone on the cheap, if your current amp lacks in EQ department.
Solid! EQ pedals are underrated secret sauce for any signal chain. A Boss GE-7 can be a bit more manageable than the GEB-7, but the B7 offers more control at the far top&bottom ends. Even if the amp has a nice EQ, if you're using other pedals or a tube preamp, putting an EQ first in line in the chain can help tie down the other audible quirks. Even if only as an impedance buffer.
there’s a great video on the jhs channel showing the mutemath bassist using eq to make guitar overdrive pedals work well on bass, restoring lost lowend
MXR 10 band was the best pedal I bought.
I heard that active bass doesn't need any pedal but after watching the video I started to rethink to buy one for my active bass. Idk why but except for me, almost every sound engineer I worked with said the bass sounds "off" and neither of them nor me can tell why and I just knew this recently
Finally! I love how Josh admitted that his plucking advice isn't everything when it comes to tone.
Edgy bitting metal bass tones are my favorites. Geddy is one my favorite classic bass tones so full but so clear on the top end
Probably the only good video ive ever seen on tone. I dont even play bass but i watched the whole thing
This is super clear and interesting. I’m a drummer and fledgling audio mixer, but I would still recommend this vid to anyone trying to understand the frequency spectrum more fully. Well done.
This Fender player bases are awesome, especially in good hands trough the right gear and settings.
I've been playing bass for 26 years now, 20 years of those also on upright bass, and I've never seen or heard a better, more accurate and helpful way of dialing in and finding my bass tone. I tried this at rehearsal today and it was amazing. Thank you so much and keep it up, mate!
Cheers!
Man. I bought a bass when i started getting into home recording and producing some time ago (as a guitarist originally). Your channel tought me so much in such a short time about the instrument and how to play it. Despite the (very enjoyable!) puns, your teaching is super on point.
Just watched this video today (4 times...) and it ties so many things together. So much i can take out of this for recording, tone, playing. 11/10 stars! Thank you!
That is really helpful! Especially about Honky - one of my basses has this honky character, and I always struggled to get rid of it. And the part about the chain is super important. I mostly play metal, and I need this clanky sound to cut through the mix. My go-to metal bass is Warwick; however, I was not satisfied with the sound. I bought a Darkglass pedal and still was not satisfied with the sound. And only when I changed the strings, that was an 'aha' moment - puzzle pieces came together, and I got the sound I was looking for.
Seeing a Rumble 40 in this video made my heart happy since I just got one a few weeks ago!
As far as bass tone goes, I'm a huge fan of Chris Wolstenholme's distortion.
I have it too abd its the best budget bass amp out.
Literally the best explanation of bass-centric EQ that I've seen in the decades I've been playing. Absolutely fantastic. Thanks!
Sincerely, thank you. I have been struggling to dial in my tone with my Sound Gear I bought 4 years ago. This video not only taught me what the 7-band EQ on my amp actually means, but, I finally got my tone the way I want it with the Sound Gear.
Super helpful! I really appreciate your “how to fix it” as well as the “unless it’s the tone you’re after for [example] style of playing”
Glad to see you back Josh, just picked up my bass about a couple weeks ago and have been having the time of my life learning and playing the instrument thanks to your channel. Please start making videos again, we have similar taste in humor and it helps ease the beginner frustration 👍😂
I'll be honest here... here we go... I spent so much money on all of these pedals and effects.... it got ridiculous. I have been having a crap time trying to reign in my tone. I unplugged ALL the hipass, lowpass, DI, effects, etc etc... I cut ALL my eq on my ashdown amp, then started bringing up one by one and BOOM. Great tone.I think some other people may say "i watched the video, I still can't get it right!" and they may have TOO MUCH going on in their signal chain. That has been my experierce. From now no, I am letting the bass preamp and my amplifier handle my tone. I'm not going to toy with a bunch of pedals (same goes for plug ins). OK, thats my two cents. Great video.
Wow! 30+ years playing with established pro musos and this vid has been SO useful I feel like a noob.. I used to take pride in thinking tone just came naturally now I realise I've just been flattered by sound techs.. legend.
"...unless i tell you to!" You're the living legend in bass community, Josh!
You are a real one for this. This and technique are the most important yet overlooked elements of being a musician. Universal skill that'll impress the ignorant
Im a drummer and find this very informative. Hell , even shared it with our bassist and sound tech so they can work out a "better" tone for my band.
Really excellent endeed!
This is incredibly helpful. Been playing for about a year and have been chasing Cliff Burton's tone so hard. Turns out the key was actually backing off the bass knob! Now that I have his pedals- the Morley wah and the TS9- it's dead-on, especially if I use a line splitter to blend the clean and dirty tones together. Thanks bro!
This is the most helpful bass EQ video I've seen. Right to the point with practical exaples we can all relate to. Well done!
THIS is the video I've been looking for
This is undoubtedly the most helpful bass video I've ever watched. EQ has been a total blindspot to me and I've never found anything/anybody who describes it well. Thank you!
This is maybe the best and most important tone-related video in existence. Thank you!
Greetings from Dublin, Ireland 🇮🇪
Another superb video with brilliant insights. On the never ending search for the ultimate tone….start here with this excellent video. Thanks very much for sharing this and all your other great videos
I had all kinds of EQ problems when I was a teen, running a 3 band EQ active Stingray through a Boss GEB-7 into an Ampeg B2R head with a graphic EQ. Every time my band played a new venue I had to spend time re-dialing my tone. What made me stop having to do this was simplifying my rig. These days I play a passive MIA J bass directly into an Ampeg PF-500 with only Bass, Mid, Treble knobs and a couple quick select buttons for boosting and I NEVER have EQ problems anymore. My tone is great at home, rehearsal, and gigs. Most importantly it stays consistent. Less is more, guys. The best advice I can give over my 23 years of playing is that the less EQ crap you gotta mess with the better.
The trick I found personally for my Jazz Bass is to roll off the neck pickup knob a bit. It cuts away some bass and makes the tone into a nailbiting gritty almost distorted sound (if you play it hard enough). But I almost exclusively play metal so that might not fit everybody
Also the video is very helpful. The people that are comfortable around EQ were like wizards to me for a long time.
P.S. I think there's no such thing as "too much bite". Playing slower songs with a lot of bite just means you're too excited!
Wow it's great to see you posting again. Loved the video, but I have one suggestion: the spectrum analyzer was kind of hard on my screen to see. The EQ curve was basically the same color as the background. Loved the video otherwise, glad you're not telling us to buy more gear.
This video was insanely valuable. I already knew most of this by ear, but not by frequency. Having the specific language to communicate with a sound engineer in terms of hertz to fix undesirable mixes has been a bridge I've been trying to gap for a few years- I'll definitely be rewatching this several times and taking notes. More value in 16 odd minutes than my four years of music school education. Killer dude
This comes as a good counterpoint to some other influenza that got recommended to me yesterday, claiming that a way to good tone is: and here came a list of expensive new gear they claimed people have to buy.
Josh, this is an outstanding addition to your considerable library. Great to have a new video. Immediately understandable. I'm SO grateful for a) you using simple stuff like a Fender Rumble example and a passive J Bass and b) making it clear good bass sound is not about buying more stuff but understanding the stuff you have. I applied all this quickly to my home practice amp (a Fender Rumble 25, with only 3 bands) plus both my P and J Basses and WOW, what an improvement!! Worked just as you described. Thanks so much, Josh!!!!
As somebody who is a nobody, this is the greatest bass video I have ever seen. Tone is the most abstract and confusing thing for the average bass player. You've started the explanation and breakdown of what the hell the knobs on a person's amp mean. That's something. That's truly something.
If you have an amp with a three knob EQ you can either turn up one knob or turn down the other two. If you want a smooth low end instead of turning up the bass knob and making in boomy, turn down the mid and high knobs. Also where you pluck the stings makes a huge difference to your tone. Brighter if you pluck near the bridge, rounder if you pluck near the neck.
For years, I've used an LMB-3 pedal, and it works great for tone in being able to manage those dwarves from getting out of control. It's also great for as a booster for solo's
Active bass supremacy. I set up the amp sound with the bass EQ at halfway, and adjust the tone for the song on the bass. If all at halfway doesn't work, mid boost for rock, bass and treb boost for metal, bass boost for soul.
You need a t shirt with the Josh elves!
Dude, hell yeah! Lol. Seconded
Great video. I've been playing bass since late 70s. I've used tons of different basses but have used Ampeg SVTS exclusively since the beginning. Tone to me is at the top. I can play flawlessly on a gig but if my tone sucks I'm pissed for the entire night. I get to gigs early set up & screw with my tone because size of room, how the stage is ..alot of wood metal whatever i find .& It could just be me..but so much effects tone. I always change strings before every show..roto sound round wounds, fresh batteries active pickups wireless etc. Anyway I'm from Buffalo NY & grew up watching Billy Sheehan in clubs. Great guy great bassist & killer tone.
Another great video Josh! Thanks for making these and breaking things down in easy to understand terms. Also, we need more footage of you playing
ironically enough, in spite of the many warnings of this video and several other videos on this channel... seeing EQ simplified like this has encouraged me to finally buy an EQ pedal.
one day shipping too. what a time to be alive.
This is the kind of video that I needed about 30 years ago. That's when I 'learned' that tone was in the most expensive gear and had to weigh a ton. (Although, those boutique 8x10 cabinets sure did sound incredible after I drug them up a few flights of stairs to the gig. 😖)
Great video. Yes - rolling down bass opens the door to a series of tones, including the natural sound of your bass. Huge tip! Love the way you broke down the frequency ranges by their slang terms. You broke down in 16 min what took me 30 years to learn - LOL 😅
Probably late to the party, but I've been playing for 10years and this was one of the most instructive and well spoken EQ video I've ever seen. Thanks for this, Josh!
Nice vid! When i was in HS, i tried playing golf with a few other kids with some no-name handed down clubs and one kid started to make fun of them. Then one of the older guys said Tiger Woods would still be the best player in the world using my clubs. Golf didnt really stick at all, but music and that lesson kinda did. Like, your instrument doesnt suck, Billy Sheehan would still shred on it, you just need more practice.
Also with a small investment in some tools, you can buy 350-650 range and MAKE it sound 800+.
Studying mixing has improved my bass tones immensely. Being able to recognize frequencies and understand exactly what they do means I can quickly get any tone I want.
I highly recommend that every musician mess around making music in a DAW. Also, maybe watch some music production tutorials. Recording yourself is also useful on a lot of levels besides just solidifying your grasp on EQ. It'll immediately magnify any technical mistakes you're making, for example. It'll also teach you how to use other important tools like compression.
Another great video.
As a follow-up, I'd like to see amp and EQ setups for various styles, i.e., metal, jazz, rock, etc.
Great to see a new video!
Yes, that woud be really cool!
Two quick points; 1) I like the idea of the Zon Sonus BG4 model (Billy Gould signature) as it only has one knob for volume - so now you don't have to get into a debacle of constantly adjusting multiple knobs on your bass AND on your amp - just deal with the EQ on your amp. 2) after playing for more then 33 years I just found the perfect tone(s) IMO; I just got a Spector Euro LX4 with EMG PJ's & the Tone Pump preamp; frickin amazing sound AND playability. It sounds awesome on it's own plugged into my Eden WT-300 & SWR 2x12 cab but to take it to another level I plug my bass into a SansAmp DP-3X (Dug Pinnick model) DI/preamp. Everyone that hears it without the SansAmp loves it but when I engage the mix mode on the DP-3X their faces melt with excitement.
So Zon Sonus Billy Gould model and/or Spector Euro LX4 with EMG's plugged into a SansAmp DP-3X plugged into an Eden WT-300 which goes into a SWR 2x12. I bought every piece of gear used to save $$$. Altogether I'd say it was about $2800; $1950 for the Spector, $286 for the Eden WT-300, $257 for the SansAmp & $300 for the SWR 2x12.
This may seem like a lot but if I compare it to the thousands and thousands of dollars I spent since 1991 on basses, amps, cabinets, pedals etc. it is really a tiny fraction of the money I spent. Learn from my mistakes and go with the items I just mentioned - you're wallet will thank you, cheeers!
Thank you so much for this video and all the work you put in! It really helps.
Just a few of my personal favorites...
- Tony Levin all over Peter Gabriel's So album.
- Michael Anthony's Van Halen sound, especially Running With the Devil.
- Lesser known but... The late great and incomparable Tim Chandler of Danial Amos, The Swirling Eddies, The Choir and The Lost Dogs.
Thank you! Being at the stage in my bass playing where I realize that the amazing tone that I get in my practice space does NOT equate to amazing tone at my gigs, I truly appreciate this EQ tutorial. I almost ran out and bought that darkglass amp, but I also watched your anti-GAS video, but also, I kinda dig my Mesa Boogie Subway D-800. This video has inspired me to actually look up which frequency each of those knobs is actually controlling.
Great video and information! As a bass player and sound engineer, I find many players are totally missing out on the whole audio spectrum theory. I also think it's worth mentioning pickups' heights, and what it means to plug a bass directly into the PA\Recording gear without a preamp or anything that deals with its raw sound - Which is at most times a massive low end boost, and barely any high mid and treble. I usually want to kick bassists showing up with only a cable, expecting me to create their sound from scratch.
here's what i learned after being a guitarist for couple of years and a bassist for less than a year, i stopped chasing and copying other's tones. i just take inspiration to whatever they have and just go with what my ear and band mates consider "good enough". audience doesnt really give a damn about your bass and guitar tone when you play live anyway unless you're a cover band
Wow! This was a great and very helpful video. Thank you. I hope your students know just how lucky they are/were. You really are a wonderful teacher and gifted at explaining these complicated things in a fun and real way.
Awesome video, I've been looking for i video EXACTLY like this, you always come to the rescue!
You guys need to pump out more vids! Your stuff blows everything else out of the water as far as entertainment and education...
Most underrated and important topic to discuss. I recently just started tweaking with EQ and it really makes so much difference!
Guitarist here. Subbed. Useful, funny and to the point. well done, sir!
Thanks for this video! I've been really struggling with all these (especially with my limited budget). I'm super excited to try these out :)
This was a great overview on bass EQ and tone. I’m a relatively experienced bass player and it gave me some ideas for experimenting with different tones. Great video! Keep up the good work!!!
Your video gave me motivation to pick up the bass again and get back to practice. Thank you!!
This video was very helpful and informative, thank you! As a very new bass player, I figured i needed to get a new bass to sound to get a certain tone instead of just messing with the dials on my amp, that i was told from the salesman not to mess with🤦🏽♂️. Definitely subscribing 👍🏽
So the key takeaway is that you can do everything with a jazz bass. The two volumes and one tone coupled with you plucking hand placement (and angle) will carry you through all 5 situations. Almost rarely get the chance to play with an amp/eq so I had to adapt
Great content, my dude!
Funny thing is this popped up in my feed as I await the arrival of the gift I purchased myself for working lots of overtime this summer (darkglass alpha/omega amp)
this video taught me more about general EQ ranges for music production (not even related exclusively to bass) than any other mixing video
This is a very educational and easily understood video for EQ.
Amazing
This is a great video! You were able to explain sound frequency on bass so I can actually understand! Appreciate it!
This is an awesome video! It’s all about what’s right for the song. Whether a player, producer, or mix/mastering engineer. Well done 👏🏻
I’ve been running the trace Elliot GP 12 SMX series since it came out in the 90s - between the 12 band graphic EQ with the 30 Hz knob for tightening up the B string by cutting down a couple notches ... and then add in the dual compressor and holy crap the best bass sounds ever - doesn’t matter what bass; active, passive doesn’t matter what pick up!
You nailed this one Josh, thank you so much for the tips. Sharing this with my guitar buddy for sure. My favorite video of yours, for sure.
This is definitely one of the best bass videos on RUclips! Great video 👍🏾
This is awesome! There's little to no videos on this topic for bassists. Love it!
Thanks for this amazing advice. I'm playing with a very simple Laney LX10B. It has a bass knob a treble knob and a shape button that seems to boost the middle frequencies. Yet by applying these tips I'm getting some changes in sound that I had never gotten before!! So awesome! I'm learning and practicing Iron Maiden's Wrathchild at the moment and turning the bass knob down, giving Tubby a little less expression has done wonders for the tone and overall sound. Thanks man, you are a jewel!
Excellent advice and spectrum analysis. I've come to the same conclusions after years of experimenting. The most dominant and ever-present adjustment I do is to smack down the "muddy dwarf". That 250Hz thing just ruins every kind of music I play, be it disco, funk, rock. My go-to EQ now is one of the new Ibanez PTEQ 5-band fully parametric pedals. First band is at 30Hz removing rumble. Next knob is at 80-100Hz which I usually just leave alone as this is the "meat" area for the bass. Next knob is at 250Hz, wayyy down, to clean things up. The last 2 knobs are set very high - 3 and 7Khz which receive some lift as this magically gives definition without adding any bite, grittiness or annoying fret noises. Overall it produces a magical sound.
Best video on dealing with tone. This was incredibly helpful!
I have to admit, I came with low expectations and was eagerly surprised.
Great video and I love the technical details and anti-gas approach.
It is indeed not very mentioned on the Internet and I appreciate there's a good video showing it
Mr. Lee's tone is so good. It's nice when bass is doing it's own thing in a small three piece. Tonally & musically.
The video is great. It gives a vocabulary to describe what you're hearing and explains how to change it
I share it regularly with other musicians
Best video I've ever seen on how to properly use your amps' eq. Thanks!
Beside being educative, it also show really well that as long as you know where you have to grab the sound, the less relevance the instrument has. Jazz can Prog, Dingwall can blues,Precision can slap etc.
Great information and presentation of such. High quality all around. And, as always, quite entertaining. Thanks!