This post will discuss how to get the best bass amp EQ set up whether you’re playing in your garage or live on stage.
How To Get The Best Sound Out of your Bass Amp
Bassists once had to wrestle with their sound, physically as well as sonically! Back in the 70′s bass gear was heavier than heck and getting a sound other than a dull thud was almost impossible. Luckily bass amps have evolved and getting more presence and attack along with the low end is now easier to achieve. A little knowledge can determine whether your sound is abysmal or awesome.
What is Bass Amp EQ?
EQ is short for equalization. This is the section on an amp (we’ll ignore the on-board preamp EQ you may have on your bass for now) that shapes the tone or sound of the instrument. Depending on the bass amp you use, the EQ section may have three knobs labelled LOW, MID and HIGH or a 12 band graphic equalizer or some combination of the two.
In my personal experience, the best place to start to shape your sound is ground zero – that means remove all the EQ from your signal chain.
What’s a signal chain you ask? A signal chain includes all the devices used to make your bass heard and/or colour its tone. If you plug your bass directly into an amp then you have a small signal chain. If you plug your bass through 30 different effects boxes and two different amps then you have a big and complicated signal chain.
I’m not going to tell you that one is better than the other, but if you’re just starting out I would heavily suggest keeping it simple. Once you are comfortable with getting a good sound out of your electric bass and amp, you can build from there.
How To Equalize A Bass Amp
Start simple; disable any bass eq settings that are currently active on the amplifier. To do that, de-select things like ‘bass boost’ or ‘presence enhance’ that alters the sound of your bass. Set your EQ dials to “0″ or at 12 o’clock, or your graphic EQ sliders to their middle position – in most cases this will give you only the sound from your bass and cable being amplified by the bass rig.
How does it sound?
If you like what you hear – feel free to leave it as is. Eqing bass guitar is best when you add or remove only what needs to be addressed, rather than twiddling knobs at random and hoping for the best.
If you’re just getting acquainted with your amp, this is a good way to learn the function of each knob one at a time (returning each back to the off or neutral setting before testing the next) and see what happens to your bass sound. If you compare your ‘before’ and ‘after’ sound you’ll have a better idea how each feature works and what works best for you.
Feel free to take notes if you like. You may find a sound that works great for a bass solo section, or the perfect sound for supporting the rest of the band. Being a great bassist means you know how to get those tasty sounds and can unleash them at just the right time.
Bass Amp Setup
For those that think all you do is plug the amp into the wall and your bass into the amp and play, here’s a newsflash – where you put your amp has a huge impact on what you hear. Also, where you stand in relation to the amp, what your amp is on or leaning against along with the size, shape and surface materials that make up the room also affect the sound you hear coming from your amp.
Whoa – that’s quite the list to wrap your head around isn’t it?
To be able to get a consistently good sound out of your electric bass amp, you need to have a decent grasp on how each of the above elements affect what you hear. Ever wonder why you can get the perfect sound in your bedroom, basement or garage and then play a gig and find that your bass tone sucks? Read on and you’ll understand why.
Bass Amp Positioning
Where you place your amp is very important, the reason for this is that bass frequencies are omni-directional. This means they react much like water does when you drop a pebble in a pond – the sound waves form an outwardly expanding circle from the source (your bass rig) and crashes into the nearest surface where it is either absorbed or reflected back at you.
The sound waves that are reflected cause a problem known as frequency cancellation. When frequencies (such as mids and highs) can become eliminated when reflected sound waves crash into the next wave of sound emanating from the bass speakers; as a result your prized bass tone may be changed into a big heaping pile of sonic mud.
You may not be able to totally eliminate frequency cancellation, but it can be managed if you know what to do.
For starters:
- Never put your amp in the center of a room.
Picture a square room as seen from above with your amp in the center, when you start playing, sound waves bounce off all four walls and head right back at you. Since sound travels pretty fast, all those sound waves come back at you almost instantly and at approximately the same time. Messing with your bass amp EQ by twiddling buttons will do little to help – the alternative is:
- Always put your amp close to wall.
Move it close, but don’t let it touch the wall – otherwise the wall will vibrate and enhance the bass frequencies like a pseudo amplifier. Placing the bass amp about a foot away helps to minimize the reflection from the walls behind you – and extends the distance to the wall directly in front of you, which is a good thing. You can further reduce sound reflections by collecting carpet, blankets or even the mythological eggshell cartons and hang them on the wall. You may notice that professional studios and live concert halls have dampened reflective surfaces like metal, glass or stone to improve the overall acoustics of the room.
Now that you’ve dealt with the frequency cancellation, it’s a good time to figure out where you’re going to stand. If this is just a practice room it’s no big deal, but if you’re performing live or in a rehearsal studio you should be a certain distance away from you bass amp to hear it effectively.
- A good rule of thumb is that the size of the speakers in your bass cabinet dictate how far away you should be.
If you have a single 15″ speaker then 15 feet in front of that speaker should be the ‘sweet spot’ where you can hear it best. This works for any size speaker – a 10″ speaker will throw sound about ten feet ahead, and having multiples doesn’t change this (i.e. a 2 x 10″ cabinet will still sound better about 10 feet away, not five or 20 feet away).
If you’re performing live, you won’t always have the luxury of standing in the perfect spot in front your bass rig. The stage may be too small, or you may have to set up your gear in front of two other bands equipment. If you sing or use bass effect pedals you’re going to need to be plugged into your amp and reach the mic or have another outlet close by to plug your effects into. Having a reliable bass wireless unit doesn’t hurt in this instance!
Directing Your Bass Amp Speakers
If you’re standing in the ‘sweet spot’ in front of your bass rig and are still having troubles hearing yourself, before you reach for the volume knob (prompting the next installment of volume wars in your band) check and see where your speakers are aimed at. If your bass amp is sitting on the floor, your sound is probably slapping you somewhere in the neighbourhood of the back of your calves up to maybe your lower back – not your ears. Wedging a piece of wood under your amp so that it points up at about a 45 degree angle should be adequate if you’re 10 or 15 feet away from the amp. If you’re much closer you may need to tilt the amplifier back at a more extreme angle or put it on a chair or both.
Bass Frequencies versus Room Acoustics
Okay, now that the amp is in the best spot possible in the room, and you’re far enough in front of it and/or have it angled in such a way that the sound is actually reaching your ears – you can now listen to your bass amp and determine what needs to happen to the sound.
Do you need more low end or less? Are you lost when the distorted guitars or drums kick in (or if you’re starting out, when the music on your MP3 player or radio comes on)?
Now is when you get to play with your bass amp equalizer.
- Try boosting the LOW frequencies if your sound is too thin or trebly.
- Boosting MID frequencies help to bring out finger-style playing nuances.
- LOW MIDS help bring out the ‘snarl’ of your bass.
- Boosting the HIGH frequencies will increase your presence, or the sound of a pick on the strings.
Problem Bass Frequencies
Sometimes despite all the thought you’ve put into your sound and your bass amp and cabinet placement, you’ll still end up with some frequencies that are too weak or too overbearing. Bass amp tone setting is part art and science; here are some tips.
- Too Much Low End (Bass frequencies)
As a bassist you can never really have too much bass frequencies right? WRONG! Sure, dealing out the cellar-dwelling low end is part of the job description, but not when you have so much thud that you can’t even distinguish the notes you’re playing. Rather than boost HIGHS or MIDS to compensate you can also try reducing the amount of bass – even if it feels like the wrong thing to do as a bassist.Another good tip is to get your amp off the floor, use either a chair or a milk crate or something else that breaks the contact with the floor and isn’t hollow itself. When your bass cabinet rests on the floor (especially on a hollow stage), the floor resonates with the cabinet causing a massive bass boost that can’t be Eqed out of your sound. If nothing else works for you and you don’t mind investing some money to improve your sound you can check out Auralex Acoustics.
Auralex Gramma Isolation Riser
They make Amp Isolation Risers
isolation risers in two different sizes that should accommodate just about any bass rig.
- Too Much High End (Treble frequencies)
Too many HIGHS will give you a harsh and noisy sound, turn them down and see if your sound is improved. If you need some clarity you can position your picking/plucking hand closer to the bridge or try boosting some of the high mids frequencies. Playing at loud volumes especially if you have sketchy wiring in your electric bass guitar may not be addressed with bass amp equalization tweaks alone;. you may require a noise gate or filter that will suppress those high frequencies from exiting your speakers. Does your bass speaker cabinet have a built in tweeter? Tweeters deal out the highest parts of the bass signal coming out of the speakers and often have a dial on the back or side of the cabinet that allows you to reduce the volume or disable it completely.If you still have too much treble in your sound, consider placing the bass cabinet directly on the floor.
- Too Many Mid Frequencies (Mid-range frequencies)
To most bass players the mid frequencies are our friends. They help add clarity, depth and snarl to the notes and allow us to maintain some sonic real estate that even loud and distorted guitars rarely occupy. But as you can probably guess, too much of even a good thing can be bad. Excessively boosted mid frequencies can give a ‘honk’ to your sound that is possibly more annoying than the other two problems combined. I don’t think I’ve ever encountered this problem as a direct result of room acoustics – more often it is from bass amplifier equalizer tweaking gone wrong without correctly placing and positioning your amp. To fix the MID problem, you’ll need to revisit your amplifier EQ settings after you position the bass amp in the best possible place (see positioning your bass amp above).
Your Bass Amp EQ will Change in Every Room
Here’s the good news, even after you’ve found the perfect sound and set-up for your bass amp, it’ll all fly out the window as soon as you walk out of that room and play a gig at a bar, in a backyard or in a gymnasium. Every single room (or lack thereof) has its own acoustic properties that will help or hinder your bass guitar sound.
As much as we’d all like a perfect bass amp tone system that we could just ‘set and forget’, there is no such thing currently available.
The best solution that you have is to keep the above recommendations in mind each time you set your bass amp up anywhere. These tips will help you rise out of the sonic mud and impress others with your consistently great bass sounds (yeah…maybe someone will notice, it could happen!).
Thank you for reading my Bass Amp EQ for Beginners post.
As you can see bass amp equalizer settings can be pretty complex, so don’t feel bad if it takes you a while to achieve a great sound when playing solo and with a band. Learning how to eq a bass amp takes time and these bass amp eq tips will help you get much closer to finding your ultimate sound.
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Michael,
Awesome article (wish I had read this when I first started playing)! I have been playing bass for about 12 years now, and just went through the whole EQ/trial and error thing again when I sold my old Trace Elliot rig for an Ampeg SVT 4-Pro head and Mesa Powerhouse 1000 cabinet. Wow – what a drastic improvement, but even now I still find myself tweakin’ the knobs looking for that ‘sound in my head.’ Oh well – I guess that would be the one downside to being a gear whore!
Good stuff, and can’t wait to read the rest of them on your site.
James
Hey James,
Thanks for stopping by Bass Guitar Rocks and I’m glad that you found the article helpful. I’m still using my Trace rig and have no complaints so far. The best thing about the Bass Amp Eq article is that it should work for whatever gear you’re using and is a great way to go back to basics when you’re working with either unfamiliar gear, or in a new room you haven’t played in before. Best of luck with the new gear and keep in touch!
Michael
Hey man, thanks. I just bought my bass a month ago. And bought a used Kustom 200 watt 2×10″. It has the 6 EQ dials on it. I tested it with another used 200 watt 1×15″ and liked the 2×10″s a lot more. Felt like a better overall bass sound, and not just that deep thumping sound that works great for hip-hop, but not rock. But had no idea how to use the EQs in my best interest. Then my boss, who I jam with in his garage. Told me he read an article about getting the right sound out of the amp without playing the ‘volume war’ with each other to be heard over the drummer. The article he read was geared towards guitarists. So I searched google to find a relative article for bass amps. This was a great read, and will use it’s knowledge whenever I jam out. Thanks again. I’ll make sure to bookmark this site now, and look forward to reading future articles.
J.D.
Thanks for the kind words. I’m glad that Bass Amp EQ for Beginners helped you out. Don’t be a stranger – keep reading and let me know what you think of the other posts here, is there anything I should cover that isn’t presently on the site? My goal is to help out other bassists out there, so let me know what you want to see more of.
Michael
Well one thing I have been always curious about, was the fact that I see some amps with high watts, selling for less than other amps with was less watts. Is it just a name brand over a generic brand? Or are those less wattage amps selling for more, more of a true wattage? Also, I do see your point buying new with amps. You did say that if you are buying from a trusted place that sells used gear, that you should be in the clear so to speak. I am lucky enough to have such place with a local music store in my area. So I felt comfortable buying a used amp. Personally though, I am now boycotting the music in the box store, that I’m sure we all know. Keep up the site though man.
Don’t play to love, love to play.
The cost of the amp can be based on many things, brand and total wattage can be two of them. There’s also the type of amp – generally tube amps are most expensive and have less wattage compared to class A/B or D amps. A post about the types of bass amps could be a good idea since I don’t have the space here to go into all the details. Thanks J.D.!
Hey man , loved the article, ive been playing bass for a few years now and just purchesed myself a genz benz setup (gbe1200watt head- 4×10 uber cabb 1000watt) and found that with the twin pre amp (tube and solid state) it was all a bit intimidating but sumtimes going back to the basics with new gear is the key so cheers for the advice that was posted. Keep up the good work man
back to the basics with eq adjusting i meant lol
Hi Michael
This is a fantastic article. I’ve been a bass player now over 20 years, and EQing has always stumped me to a point. Tying to find that sweet spot can be trying and frustrating all at once. I currently run a Peavey 700 Tour Series head with an Ampeg 610 HLF, and playing a Yamaha TRB1005 bass with active pickups and EQ. Every gig I have ever played in my career, I’ve always had to adjust the EQ. It gets more complicated when you run active pickups and EQs on your bass (or guitar), because the sound is much hotter. When you only get a few minutes for sound check, this can give you very little room for adjustments. So what I do is go to my rig if there is a break in a song and tweak a frequency. One good tip is ALWAYS write down your settings, and at what place they were used at. This way when you go back to that club or bar, you just pull out your notebook and you are there.
Also you mentioned about the cost difference between tube and solid state amps. There is another factor to include. Tube bass amp are absolutely louder than solid state. For example, take what I run that Peavey 700. The tube head I’m looking at for an upgrade, is the Peavey VB-3 Pro, which is only 300 watts but it is all tube driven. That thing would smoke my 700 watt head in a heartbeat.
Sound is very subjective, everyone needs to remember that. What you hear on stage, is not what the audience hears. Tweaking the EQ is a necessary evil in the world of music.
Thanks again for this brilliant article.
Craig
Hi Craig,
Thanks for the great comments, it’s people like you that make writing this bass blog so rewarding. I’m glad that you found the post useful and hope that you’ll still check out some other posts here or tell a friend! What you hear on stage definitely isn’t what the audience hears…great advice!
Okay, this is embarrassing since I have been playing Bass for 30 years but here goes. What is the difference in “Class A, B, C, D” amps? I have NO idea what it means?
Hey Trace,
Thanks for the great question and you have no need to be embarrassed – I couldn’t answer your question either. However, I conducted a brief search and came up with the following link that should answer all of your questions for you – check it out here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_amplifier#Power_amplifier_classes
I hope that helps!
Hi there. I wished to let you know that some components of your website are onerous to read for me, as I am color blind. I am afflicted by tritanopia, however there are more forms of color blindness which will also experience difficulties. I can read the majority of the website Okay, and the elements I have problems with I can understand by using a custom browser. Neverthless, it would be cool if you can bear in mind we color-blind types while carrying out the next website re-working. Many Thanks.
everything you have said here in your article is true, I have been playing pro for 30 years now and have changed my eq at allmost every gig. most of the eq problems I have ran into are the stage. big room never hurt anything or outdoor gigs . but bars and small inside jobs do. some stages are hollow. when you have a hollow stage put you cab up on a tilt back stand. I use a 4-10 cab with a svt 2 pro. takes that 20-40 htz out of your amp and allows you to taylor your tone again.I set my eq flat at every gig and work the mid frequency knob. for a great sound allways play with the mids in most jobs. it is allways cut 2-3db.I never boost low end or highs.also I use the 9 band eq from my svt if I am in trouble which is rolled off at 90 htz and flat from 100-16k ,. getting the best tone and sound is 80% from the bass you have . if you play rock like me it if high end fenders. heavy metal the same. keep rockin mike paulhamus
Great article Michael! I’ve been playing for years and have come to live by the motto “less is more”, in both my amp settings and my playing. Glad I found your site, I will be looking at it often.
Stanton
Just a little quibble is all; most of the major points of the article are spot on.
When you write “Set your EQ dials to “0? or at 12 o’clock, or your graphic EQ sliders to their middle position – this should leave you with only the sound from your bass and cable being amplified by the bass rig” on most amps this is not strictly true. Most amplifiers use passive tone controls which means that anything other than ’10′ or full on the dial is actually cutting that frequency. Now, some bass rigs do use active tone controls (where 12 o’clock would be neutral, below 12 a cut, and above 12 a boost) but this is somewhat rare even on bass stuff, and extraordinarily rare on guitar or PA or mixing equipment.
That said, many people still like to start from this position and many people still get good results doing it. If that works out for you, great. I personally think that starting with everything full up (on the dials that is, presence switches and the like should probably start in the off position like you indicate) gives you a slightly better indication of an amp’s true character. But everyone wants their own sound, and neither method is more valid.
Great advice above; there are a couple things beyond the bassist’s control of which he or she needs to be aware. Keyboard players can really foul the lower frequency spectrum when they play intervals and chords and such right in the range where the bass line is operating. Another situation with high potential for a messy low end is the guitarist who insists on tuning his or her axe down a half step (or a whole step!). I know these kinds of problems are outside the scope of your very fine article, but anyone who plays in a lot of different situations needs to be aware they exist. All one can do is his or her best in these cases, and look upon them as opportunities to refine one’s rehearsal/personnel skills! Thanks for putting this stuff in order. It’s good to keep in mind. Thanks.
great article! I have a quick question. Why don’t bass players do what guitar players do and face the amp setup away from the audience? as in facing from the side of the stage to the other side, or even facing you from the front? I know about omnidirectional bass travel and such, but it seems like it would be a good solution, since it seems like soundguys are always telling me to turn my bass down! probably because I have never actually had enough space to stand in the sweet spot, and had to compensate by volume.
thanks
James,
Good question – why don’t bass players turn their amps to shoot from the side? At one show we used to play both me and the guitar player did this with great results. The stage was quite a bit wider than it was long, so if it’s an option I say go for it. Head for the sweet spot regardless of where your amp is positioned on (or off) stage.
thanks, this really helped! i always wondered why my eq setting sounded perfect when i play at the music venues downtown but sound like crap in my house, now i know
Good article Michael.
One thing that might help James understand his problem. Although bass is omnidirectional as lower freq. as you increase the freq. by playing high notes, those notes becoming increasingly directional. In fact you can often hear noticeable differences in the mid-bass rang starting around the 300hz mark, which means most of your bass signal is directional. So as Michael suggested if your amp/cab are not in good position for you to hear, you could be missing parts of your bass tone. There are no hard rules for placement, experiment with positioning!
Excellent article, as a long-time bassist, it amazes me how many of these solutions I stumbled upon myself, and the ones I didn’t. I especially liked the comment about the hollow stage. This can have a huge impact. Also, I always try out an amp first with all the EQ knobs all the way up, this is the true sound of the guitar. No effects, tailored EQ, blend in with the band, a decent sounding bass (Schecter here) and you’ll have a lifetime of compliments about your bass sound!
Hi Scott,
Thanks for the kind words and for sharing the great tips! I have tried turning all the tone EQ knobs up – reminds me of the other advice I’ve heard about also turning the volume all the way up on the amp and controlling it with the volume on your bass guitar instead – depending on the amp, that’s a lot of power in your hands!
Hey Michael, very useful article this is. I’ve been playing Bass over 5 years, but I don’t understand anything about the amp setting. I currently own a Fender Rumble 15 amp and an Ibanez SR500. My amp only has 4 knobs: Volume, Bass, Mid, Treble. What do yo mean by the High frequency and Low frequency sounding of an amp? And how should I balance my eq settings? I usually play thrash/groove metal and hard rock. I like thicker tones.
Oh and I wanted to know further about the purpose of Gain, Presence and Boost even though I don’t have those features in my Fender Rumble 15 Amp
Hey Luke, low frequency means the ‘lows’ or ‘bass’ that comes from the amp. I avoided calling it the ‘bass frequencies’ because there are also plenty of low frequencies in the lower range of the middle or ‘mid’ frequencies. Confused yet? Your EQ settings will vary according to what type of music your play, whether you’re playing solo or in a band and of course – your personal preference. If you’re using a 15 watt amp it’ll be difficult to get the ‘thicker tones’ that you crave. As I state in the article, the middle frequencies are your friend – the can add definition without noise – they can add snarl or growl without adding mud. However, if you play solo, you may want to crank the bass and the treble for a more ‘scooped’ sound. The problem is – if you do this in the context of loud ‘thrash guitars’ – you’ll be lost and never hear yourself. Bassists like Jason Newsted with Metallica back in the day learned that he had to occupy more of the sonic frequencies in the middle range to be able to stake out some sonic real estate in the mix.
Luke – gain usually determines how ‘hot’ the signal is coming out of the amp – cranking the gain will give you more distorted sounds while having little gain will leave you with a cleaner sound. Presence usually helps to ‘define’ the sound of your bass, bringing out more of the attack and the high end and string noise. A little presence can go a long way and too much can just add a lot of noise to your sound. Boost gives a bump to whatever frequency it’s used for – many amps may have a ‘bass boost’ which is great if you’re playing something like reggae and need a slab of low end without much definition. There may also be treble boost, mid boost (in which case the respective frequencies as boosted) which are often found with onboard active electronics basses. Let me know if any of this is not making sense for you.
hey
thank you very much for the insight ..really helpful.. will use them tomorrow on my gig 
keep on posting
Hey mike just wondering is it safe to put an eletric guitar into a yamaha yb15 amp because I don’t want to break my amp
The Dude – if I understand you correctly, the YB15 is a bass amp and you’re concerned that plugging a guitar into it might damage the bass amp. From my experience – you have nothing to worry about; bass guitar amps are built to handle and project the lower frequencies as effectively as possible. A typical guitar won’t put out anywhere near as much low end…just more high end – especially if you use distortion. I have yet to hear of high end ‘ruining’ a bass amp. Having said that – the YB15 is only 15 watts – so I would proceed cautiously – if you’re always playing with the amp cranked ‘to eleven’ you’ll run the risk of it overheating and becoming damaged. Hope this helps!