** Musicman bass suggested settings thread **

[Mrrstrat]

This is a thread devoted to volume and EQ settings used by the EMMB community.

Some of us are in working bands an it would be nice to have a guide to some common settings for different tones for different types of music. (I am assuming others here don't use one tone the whole night: I cannot imagine using a string bass sound for metal, nor using Lemmy-tone for country).

Ideally, post the bass and model as the Stingrays, Sterlings, and Bongos will all have different sounds. Also post the pickup configuration.

These settings should be Amp Agnostic for the most part.

 

[Mrrstrat]

Musicman Stingray 5 Single Humbucker model

(1) "F$&der jazz Bass" for generic rock tones:

VOL 60%, Treb 50%, Mid 55%, Bass 55%, Slide set for middle position.
This one seems to be close to a 100% neck, 75% bridge pickup tone I used for many classic rock tunes.

(2) Classic Stingray:

VOL 60-100%, flat EQ seasoned for bass amp, Slide set for back position


(3) Modern Country:

TBD


(4) Old school country:

TBD


(5) 80s metal:

TBD


(6) 60s bass:

TBD

(7) 70s classic rock:

TBD


(8) 90s Alernative:


TBD





More to come later..

 

[tunaman4u2]

Sorry, couldn't resist!

 

[tunaman4u2]

Bongo 5HH

DISCO
Bass: Flat
Low Mids: 25% up
High Mids: Flat
Treble: Cut 5%

Balance 10% towards neck

Sterling 5 HH PDN (Mahogany)

Lows: Cut 50%
Mids: Cut 5%
Treble: Up 5%

(SET IT & FORGET IT!)

Use the pickup switch to dial in for that particular song

 

[sanderhermans]

I always set the eq flat. Then depending on venue and backline i dial abit more or less highs. With mij sterling the 3 pos. Switch mostly does the job for me.

 

[Mrrstrat]

The last bass I had with a preamp was the Marcus Miller (I had three) and a LTD bass I had for about a year. Even though these basses had cut/boost, it was not like the MM SR5 I have now.

I am lead to believe this bass is equipped with a 'real' onboard preamp.

How often does cut make it's way into the equation? I am resisting the more-boost-is-best urge as my SR5 does not fool around when it is asked to boost!

 

[sanderhermans]

what i can't understand is that some people like their eq's boosted all the way, mostly seen this on classic sr's and 2 bands. IMO ebmm basses are way too powerful to play fully boosted, especially the highs are soo hard if fully boosted.

 

[bradfordws]

what i can't understand is that some people like their eq's boosted all the way, mostly seen this on classic sr's and 2 bands. IMO ebmm basses are way too powerful to play fully boosted, especially the highs are soo hard if fully boosted.

True. I have the bass and treble at about 75% on my Sabre Classic - with treble full up it would be have way too much zing and clack. And with the bass full up, it would be way too boomy in most rooms. On my Sterling 5H - treble, mid and bass are usually good at the center point, but I frequently put the bass at 60% and cut the mids back to 40%.

 

[Tom F]

I can contribute a few from my past experiences...

Easily my favorite ceramic pickup SR5 setting from when I used one regularly with a cover band was pickup selector in the single coil position, treble slightly cut, bass flat or slight boost. Plenty of fat, meaty punch with clarity to spare.

With my old classic SR5, I ran the bass about 1/2 way up, and then turned the treble up until I was getting just a bit of string noise (varied slightly depending on the venue and mix). Never had a problem cutting through while keeping plenty of bottom.

For my old bongo HH, I always ran it flat with the blend knob ever so slightly favoring the bridge pickup. It's actually a reasonable facsimile of the single H bongo sound, based on the one I just picked up. I do like a tiny amount of bass boost on the Bongo 4H.

 

[Mrrstrat]

Lots of great info here! I play with 3-4 basses live and want to get that down to one 5 string and two others at most.

This info will help someone get upto speed on how to best use the MM basses quick. I would like to be able to use my SR5 for 60% of what I play. Ideally, I only switch when we play a half step or alternate tuned song..

 

[aRandomAggie]

Cool idea for a thread. On my SR5, I typically run with Vol around 75% and bass slightly boosted. Mids usually stay flat, and I boost or cut treble depending on the style. Almost always run the pu in parallel mode.

 

[sanderhermans]

If the eq of a stingray or sterling is set flat. Then is it still an 'active' bass? Iow does the batery also drive the pickup instead of only boosting certain frequencies?

 

[bobalu]

If the eq of a stingray or sterling is set flat. Then is it still an 'active' bass? Iow does the batery also drive the pickup instead of only boosting certain frequencies?

The Stingray is an "active" bass, but only the pre-amp is active (i.e.: the EQ). The MM pick-ups are not active. The MM active pre-amp is both boost and cut. (from the mid or flat/detent position). The battery does not drive the pick-up, only the preamp.

 

[sanderhermans]

The Stingray is an "active" bass, but only the pre-amp is active (i.e.: the EQ). The MM pick-ups are not active. The MM active pre-amp is both boost and cut. (from the mid or flat/detent position). The battery does not drive the pick-up, only the preamp.

So in other words if i set my eq flat i could yank out all the electronics and have the exact same sound from a passive mm pickup?

 

[Mrrstrat]

The ability to switch from active and passive is perhaps what is missing from the Stingray. I had a LTD surveyor and I don't recall if you could turn off the preamp: no battery meant no bass.

 

[aRandomAggie]

So in other words if i set my eq flat i could yank out all the electronics and have the exact same sound from a passive mm pickup?

Correct, if you wired the pickup straight to the jack, it would still work. Might not be as loud as with the preamp though.

 

[sanderhermans]

Correct, if you wired the pickup straight to the jack, it would still work.

Hmmm ineresting. Weird that you dont see people doing this... always tought that the preamp did something even with the eq flat

 

[aRandomAggie]

Hmmm ineresting. Weird that you dont see people doing this... always tought that the preamp did something even with the eq flat

Some preamps will give a boost in volume when set flat, and on some that amount of boost is adjustable. Since I've rarely seen MM pre's with an active/passive switch, I'm not sure how much (if any) boost the pre gives. I bet there's someone around here who does though.

 

[Golem]

All I'm seeing here is a bunch of knob settings. There is almost
no contextual info, except of genre-of-music, given for purpose
of making these settings useful. Acoarst I'll be the first to admit
that posting all that other contextual info is well nigh impossible
so I'm not faulting those who do not post it. OTOH I am faulting
anyone who thinks the posted info is of value whilst it's toadally
lacking relevant context. IOW it's just a rank bosster thread ;-)

And so, on that basis, I will offer that my knob settings are all
over the place, since I use different strings, amps, cabs, rooms,
bandmates, yadda yadda yah. I spoze the one one well-worn
piece of MM knob twisting advice that I can always agree with
is: "Beware the Bass Boost" !

 

[Mrrstrat]

All I'm seeing here is a bunch of knob settings. There is almost
no contextual info, except of genre-of-music, given for purpose
of making these settings useful. Acoarst I'll be the first to admit
that posting all that other contextual info is well nigh impossible
so I'm not faulting those who do not post it. OTOH I am faulting
anyone who thinks the posted info is of value whilst it's toadally
lacking relevant context. IOW it's just a rank bosster thread ;-)

And so, on that basis, I will offer that my knob settings are all
over the place, since I use different strings, amps, cabs, rooms,
bandmates, yadda yadda yah. I spoze the one one well-worn
piece of MM knob twisting advice that I can always agree with
is: "Beware the Bass Boost" !

I started to list genres, but need to know what the normal knob setting others are using as a foundation.

I really have just a few bass sounds I use: 50s bass sound, string bass sound, PBass sound, Jazz bass neck with a little bridge, twangy country, the LA LowEnd bass sound, Lemmy tone/geezer tone.