EQ For Bass Players: Everything You Need To Know

[@bradleywolfe1188]

I’ve watched about every KZbin bass lesson channels there are, and there are very good ones, you in my opinion are the absolute best no bull right to the point very understandable. Nice job on your channel. What is that head behind you can’t find it anywhere. Never mind just watched the video where you explain it. Very cool

[@OnlineBassCourses]

That means a lot to me, Bradley. Thanks very much! Yup - 1977 Fender Bassman. Quality amp that I don't get to use enough.

[@duckfootdk]

Thanks

[@OnlineBassCourses]

Thanks very much!

[@bones2532]

Thanks, Dan! Here's my advice (from my personal live/studio experience): Don't use onboard eq for recording! This will give the engineer the pure/raw sound and full frequency spectrum of your instrument and playing. You can easily eq the recorded track in the mix. That's much harder if the recorded track already has some frequencies drastically boosted or cut. In live situations an active circuit can be a very useful option, especially if you need different tones, like playing top 40 cover or different styles of music. I always liked my Sringray with that mighty 3-band eq as a live workhorse, because it covers so many different tonal options in one instrument. As I'm a fan of passive basses (JB/Ric/Preci...) it's a good idea to have a preamp-/eq pedal live. I use the eq of my amp to adjust my tone to the cabs and the room/ stage sound and use the eq of my preamp pedal to dial in my personal sound to taste. I use a Radial Bassbone with an EBS Valve Drive (both have 3-band eq) in the parallel effect loop for slightly overdriven tube tones. This covers a lot of sounds I need live.

[@OnlineBassCourses]

Excellent advice. 👍

[@NICUofficial]

good read!

[@kevmac1230]

That Zoot is a killer!

[@erstwhilerambler]

Very thorough

[@donh5794]

Thanks Dan, EQ is another great topic. I like that passive/active switch too.

[@OnlineBassCourses]

It's very handy.

[@grizelda4526]

You are a fantastic teacher. Great lesson. Thank you!

[@OnlineBassCourses]

That's very nice of you to say. Thanks!

[@correametal]

Thank you so much Dan for the great EQ tips!!

[@OnlineBassCourses]

You're welcome, Jose. Thanks for the comment!

[@cperch37]

Great advice!

[@OnlineBassCourses]

Cheers, Cliff!

[@garryyoung8945]

Thanks Dan. Very interesting. That Zoot is a beautiful Bass as is that jazz.

[@OnlineBassCourses]

Thanks, Garry! Yes, very cool basses.

[@francoisokennedy2509]

Thanks Dan. Some handy tips EQ tips. I play an Ibanez SR300E with the Power Tap switch have not yet figured it out but will try what you mentioned. I do have an issue with a boomy sound at times but will try the tip with the mids. You are an amazing teacher. Thanks for sharing your advice with us.

[@OnlineBassCourses]

Thanks for the lovely comment, Francois. Try cutting frequencies too to reduce the boom…

[@michael_caz_nyc]

Great info presented here. Has anyone used: either the Tech 21 Q-Strip or the Empress Para EQ? I am trying to get my short-scale stingray to sound ( closer ) to a Full-scale bass?

[@thahoustonbassrunnaz4389]

Thank you 🙏🏾

[@tomislavkefecek4443]

What a great lesson Dan, succinct explanation of EQ because it is such a complex topic, I am looking forward to your views on Amplifier settings when you do. It was hard to do but learning to love the sound of the flat EQ as your bass sound was worth striving for when playing but especially when getting ready to record. As you said the Mixing Engineers may have a completely different idea of how the Bass needs to sound besides, it can be much more fun to sit in and learn new things as they sculpt your bass sound from behind the mixing desk. At the very least you get to learn a lot from the Engineer why certain settings and FX just work, even if on their own in isolation it might not sound like they do. At the end of the day you become a more precise player when you can't 'hide' behind effects. Don't get me wrong, I love FX and synth basses are my jam Viva the Psychedelic however, getting the notes in clean and correct is still the most import aspect of recording it is all about efficacy... Time is money.

[@OnlineBassCourses]

Thanks, Tomislav. Some great points there! 👍

[@richardrichard5409]

What a fantastic upload. And folks, this professional tells it as it really is. Bass tone anoraks (we bassists are all guilty of this at sone point) soloing away on their bass and, needlessly worrying over their sound....when what really matters is how it sounds in the band situation.....with time comes experience I guess👌😎 ......I always wonder why bass reviews so rarely take this into account, very few play with a decent backing track to hear a bass in the mix.

[@danielzuber9350]

Hi Dan and thanks for yet another highly useful video. I have one question: when you switched on the active electronic at around 6:23, can it be that the active electronics add a tiny little bit of compression to the sound? I mean in a way that the notes sound a bit rounder (wiit more "body" to them). Or has that been the effect of the active EQ? Others than that, can you make a video lesson on compressors & how to use them? Cheers and keep up the good work, Daniel

[@OnlineBassCourses]

Thanks, Daniel. I think it's just that it sounds a bit louder and fuller which some compressors can do. So I think it's just the EQ in this case. I think I will do a compressor video sometime...

[@mikusguitarius]

Great video as always. Awesome advice. Just a tiny thing: when you speak about Parametric EQ you're actually talking about semi-parametric EQ (because you can't adjust the Q control that affects 'width' of the frequency.

[@OnlineBassCourses]

Absolutely right. I only realised my mistake whilst editing! 🤦‍♂️

[@DrStrangelove-]

Jack Johnson's look alike ✨

[@lemonnut40]

Lately when watching live bands the sound engineers have been terrible. Mostly with how bad the bass sounds and can't really hear it at all because it's so muddy. So, I think it's important to have full control of your sound at least on stage so you and your bandmates can be happy. You're at the mercy sometimes of these so called "engineers" when you don't have your own front-of-house gear and engineer.

[@gregstopa5092]

Your secend bass sound amaizing.What pups you got in there? Wow

[@OnlineBassCourses]

Thanks! Great bass custom made by Mike Walsh of Zoot Bass in the UK. They’re Aguilar pickups…

[@gregstopa5092]

@@OnlineBassCourses thank you sir for a quick answer. Thank you 😊

[@markbass354]

WOW COOL BASS DAN IS IT NEW

[@OnlineBassCourses]

Which one? The MM I've had since 2003, the Zoot is pretty new.

[@markbass354]

THE MM LOOKS NEW , I BOUGHT MY FENDER JAZZ BACK IN 2014

[@OnlineBassCourses]

Cool. The MM is almost vintage now I guess.

[@bluesmanshoes]

Bass players explaining EQ: "You got these knobs and if you turn for example bass it affects.... bass" I wish these videos would go more into detail of which frequencies have which effect in a mix and some practical advice. My impression is that most bass players have no clue and just turn until it "sounds good". Then the sound engineer will re-EQ everything to actually sound good. Watching videos of sound engineers mix bass tracks has been much more insightfull for me.

[@OnlineBassCourses]

Sounds like you need to watch more of those videos then. 👍

[@bluesmanshoes]

@@OnlineBassCourses Hey:) Sorry if that sounded offensive towards this video. Not my intention, I still enjoyed it like most of your content. The point you made about finger position and role of bass, mid, treble knobs are important foundation for every bassist. I just wish experienced players would go beyond that sometimes. Things like where sits the kick, where guitars and keys? Do you emphasize above or below kick frequencies? How to dial in more presence (different for pick, finger, slap)? Distortion vs clean EQ, and so forth Happy holidays:)

[@OnlineBassCourses]

You are right - I rarely go into these specifics and, in fact, I do have a more detailed lesson on my lesson list. That one will go deeper. I guess when I'm on gigs, I tend not to do too much fiddling around with EQ and I like to just get some basic moves down. Which is not to say that mastering EQ is not a worthwhile goal - it is! You raise some excellent questions which I'll make a note of. Many thanks and Happy holidays to you and your family!

[@johnterpack3940]

There's a thing mixing engineers call "the seven problem dwarves of sound". They just gave names like "tubby" and "honky" to certain frequency ranges to explain the sound associated with those ranges. It's exactly what you're looking for. I forget the frequencies, but it isn't hard to find. As I recall, only five of the seven concern bass. The last two are higher up. Interestingly, kick drums sit somewhere around 60 Hz apparently. So it's already a frequency you think about a bit.

[@duvelr]

It's so annoying! I think Dan can just throw a shoe (when blindfolded) to a bass and it will sound absolutely beautiful and musical. 🤨

[@OnlineBassCourses]

😂 I wish. 🙏🙏