Cutting through the mix

Hi. I am wondering if anyone has any tips on getting heard above wailing guitars and thundering drums in an all out jam session. I’ve heard about using a pick and setting the tone way up to cut through but as a finger player is there anything we can do with finger style to get heard?
Thank you all.

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Turn up the midrange on your amp or preamp (or bass, if you have an active EQ on the bass). If you need to, really crank them. Also volume :slight_smile:

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What @howard said. Also, adding distortion can help. If you tell us about your amp, then we can offer more suggestions.

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If I take my precision bass to the jam, I don’t have a problem as it always cuts through. But if I take a jazz one along, it’s much harder.

I find it also depends on what music you are playing? We play fairly fast and fairly loud stuff so precision is my only option really. I could up the equaliser and volume with the jazz but I just won’t get those lows that the songs need.

If we were doing lighter stuff or more melodic bass lines I could use the jazz.

What kind of stuff is it that you’re playing and what kit are you using?

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Thanks all,
Of course, my apologies. Knowing what I’m playing through would be a big help! I am using a mid 90s Fender Jazz bass. For my home studio it’s a traynor 200H small block. I play through the passive input on in, it has an active input but I’ve never used it.

The jam space usually has a variety of much larger wattage setups and it’s in the jams that I have issues hearing myself. We generally play like a bunch of 40-50 yr olds… Fast and loud! Ha ha ha. I will use a pick and that usually does the trick but I’d like to be playing more finger style in these jams.
Thank you kindly all.

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Thanks Howard that’s something I’ll definitely focus in on.

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Low Mids sits in this sweet spot between the kick drum and the guitars :+1:

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Based on your description of how loud the others are playing this would be a bottle neck for you keeping up.

The active input wouldn’t offer you anything. Using the active input doesn’t always help even if your using an active bass. The best recommendation I’ve read is to try using the passive input, no matter what your bass is, and only use the active input if you can hear that it makes a positive difference.

I’m going to guess these bigger amps are in the range of 400+ watts. Which should be plenty as long as you have enough speakers to go with it and that is only a concern if the other guys are playing deafeningly loud.

I prefer playing finger style too. As long as you’ve got enough power behind you then the EQ is your best friend. I would try having the other guys take turns not playing and have them listen with you to make sure they are hearing what your trying to fix. Having that second set of ears and hands to make EQ adjustments can be a big help. Also, it will give you a chance to see what is holding you back in the mix.

I hope that helps. Let us know how it goes. When in doubt, add more distortion!

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