Help using tone controls

Hey, everyone. I'm a guitarist, so I don't really know much about bass tone. How do you set your amp and tone to get different bass sounds. I really like the sound of blink-182. I'm guessing they set their treble and mids high and keep the tone rolled up, but I'm not sure. I was also wondering how to get that really punchy sound on old greenday records, or how to get a really deep metal tone. Our bassist uses a Squier Bass with 2 standard pickups and plays through the PA until we can afford a decent bass amp. Thanks.

Just wanted to mention that there are pro bass players out there who only run through a D.I. type unit, right into the PA. I think the SansAmp Bass Driver is a very highly used choice for this by pro's.....might be worth checking out a used one. I'll let others share their favorite EQ settings....

My bassist personally setting scoop the mids for slaps treble up and so is bass. This will change depending on the song we're playing or the moods he's in. And with his bass amp he runs it through the house and just has the speaker for stage volume because he thinks it sound better and its easier then micing it up.

Good question.

That depends on your bass, your amp, your cab.... and the venue you play in.

It's best boosting mids slightly. The bass has its punch fro 120 Hz up to 600 Hz. So you better run bass flat, boost mids and high frequencys. This will giove you a sound that cuts through in the mix.

Deep frequencys eat a lot of power! And only make a boomy sound. Guitarist and bassman should attune theyr frequencies. Not too much low frequencys for bass, not too much mids for guitar, otherwise one instrument will cover the other.

For the beginning, get your preamp flat, this means all tone-knobs on 12:oo a' clock, that depends on the amp. Read the manual. Then boost low mids and mids. Maybe have a small low frequency roll-off to get out of the range of the bassdrum. Add high frequencys for brilliance.

A scooped sound with boosted lows, cutted mids and boosted high frequency may sound fine when playing alone. But this sound is only good for slap bass. Try it the other way round, and you will notice that you don't need to boost the volume that much and you get heard much better.

Believe me.

Your sound can also be affected by the strings you use too. Flatwounds are great for that thud ala Motown while roundwounds are good for that zing and service thumping and plucking really well. Added midrange helps to punch through the mix.