How to Get the PERFECT Bass Tone

You said it all @howard :grin: the perfect good use of the tone knob on a passive bass, in my opinion, is to bring a low-pass filter at a relatively low cut frequency, which a normal EQ won’t do. Actually a proper amp EQ won’t do that because it’s more precisely calibrated ; not a bad thing at all, but it just won’t sound the same. And, so, for this use, the passive cut-off is cool. And also that’s why I want it to cut at a relatively low frequency. 47nF is a good all-around capacitor value for this filter, but those times I’m getting (just a bit) higher (in value ; lower in frequency).

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:rofl:

And they probably hate it when people do.

But, this still depends, because you never know what people will have.

No, what Dave said is 100% true for live houses and other places that have a competent person running sound with a decent mixer and associated gear. It’s also not true for most bars and small venues. Your question was fine.

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This is an excellent point, the bass is always going through the tone circuit even when it is wide open. And even though both the resistor and the cap affect the cutoff, even at 0 resistance, it’s still got a cutoff, and the bigger the cap, the lower that is.

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Yeah and when you lower your tone knob you will get a filter that you won’t have with your amp. Something different, like a one-band EQ.

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Yep, specifically a “low shelf”.

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exactly

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Oh yeah I’m with you there. A wide range of skills exist out there. I think it’s a great idea to send a signal you’ve cleaned up to lighten the load. Less dependence on downstream skills.

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Yeah, thanks for the note. Youtube really did not like those pixels, it was a bit too thin of a line to start with but then YT compression made it worse. I will hunt a thicker-lined EQ plugin for the future!

I am guilty of this, because it’s a good way to make sure nothing is TERRIBLE if you’re just pulling your gear out on day 1. But totally agree with this -

I definitely hear people liking “their settings” without responding to the change of sound in different rooms etc., which of course is part of the point of this vid.

Thank you for noticing Tim lol, watching the vid with Mandi last night and she didn’t even catch the NOT NOT shirt. I’m pretty sure the singer is NOT NOT NOT NOT JOSH and he wasn’t even able to make the gig due to being in the wrong dimension.

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You’re going to have to start going to scientific notation soon! NOT JOSH X 10^1, NOT JOSH X 10^2, and so on and so forth. Hahahahahah.

If you ever do a solo album or put together your own band, you HAVE to call it “Josh and the Not Joshes”. :smiley:

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Just make a shirt that says “Josh Or Not” as those are the only two end states :slight_smile:

Actually “Josh or Not” is kind of a killer band name.

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Damn. “Josh or Not” is way better than “Josh and the Not Joshes”.

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just a little note to @DaveT , please correct us if we’re wrong with the vocabulary sometimes :smiling_face_with_tear:

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Yeah always ready to learn or be corrected if wrong.

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Totally true. At some point the “all at noon” is a safe approach. If you don’t know : all EQ pots at 5.

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One thing I would like to know actually: electronically, what causes the nonlinear bump you get at the resonant peak in high-Q filters? It can sound good or it can sound very very bad, depending:

image

As a synth player, filter character fascinates me. The nonlinear differences between different filter types is really a huge part of the soul of synthesizers.

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@JoshFossgreen, call the band “Josh NOT - Lest Ye Be Josh:exploding_head:

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It’s the resonnance phenomenon. In the synth world we talk about resonnant filter, that’s it.

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Right - what I am wondering is, electronically, how does it happen. I get that the cool chirpy and haloed resonance tone comes from the peak. What I am wondering is what causes the peak. Since there is a knob for it I am assuming resistance is involved in the circuit somehow and I am wondering how :slight_smile:

It’s really amazing how much of a difference filter type, quality, and nonlinear character makes in a synth. Presumably the same is true for bass tone :slight_smile:

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For the Fender Rumble the High EQ information is presented like this.

Treble: ±15dB @ 10kHz (“shelving” type)

I had looked into it, but what I found was over my head. What does “shelving type” mean?

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(If this was for the prior diversion - High-Q and High EQ are different. “Q” is the filter “Quality” factor - how close it is to being an ideal filter, i.e. no slope. Increasing the filter Q also will add a bump at the resonant peak like in the drawings.)

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