Question suggestions on setting the EQ & Pan for Bongo 5 HH

[plchung3]

I have just got my bongo today...

If I want to really cut through the mix in the band room, how should I set the EQ?

what about if the song is much more melodic and I want to laid back?

Thanks. I will post some photos soon

 

[shakinbacon]

I have just got my bongo today...

If I want to really cut through the mix in the band room, how should I set the EQ?

what about if the song is much more melodic and I want to laid back?

Thanks. I will post some photos soon

First of all, welcome and congrats

Many will likely chime in shortly, but here's my take.

The general consensus seems to be:
Keep your amp flat
Keep all knobs on the Bongo to center detent
Keep volume at 75% and adjust as you tweak EQ/pickup pan


I found it took a lot of experimenting but I like the tone of the EQ flat with only subtle changes in pickup pan (and in my case piezo/mag mix).

My personal favorite is a boost in the neck pickup with maybe a tad LO mids.

The LO and HI mid knobs will probably give you the most mileage in terms of "cutting" through a mix.

Spend time alone with the bass tweaking the knobs while playing along to your favorite songs to understand what they do. Then keep the same setting and turn off the music. You may be surprised that what sounds good in a mix doesn't sound good solo'd and visa versa.

 

[shakinbacon]

I forgot to mention. With the HH your plucking hand placement affects the tone a lot too (assuming you have both pickups feeding a signal to the output).

 

[lanzealot]

congrats, Bro! I also got mine a few days ago!

Well, I've been experimenting with the EQ knobs this afternoon.

Here's my favorites so far:

Aggressive, cutting, almost Stingray-H kinda sound:

Blend Knob = pan all the way to the bridge pickup
Bass = 3:00 to 4:00 (5:00 is boosted all the way)
Treble = 3:00
Lo-Mid = flat
Hi-Mid = flat (or you can boost this to 3:00 instead and leave the treble EQ flat)

Smooth Fingerstyle Sound

Everything flat except the low mids which is boosted around 1:00 to 2:00

 

[shakinbacon]

congrats, Bro! I also got mine a few days ago!

Well, I've been experimenting the with the EQ options this afternoon.

Here's my favorites so far:

Aggressive, cutting, almost Stingray-H kinda sound:

Blend Knob = pan all the way to the bridge pickup
Bass = 3:00 to 4:00 (5:00 is boosted all the way)
Treble = 3:00
Lo-Mid = flat
Hi-Mid = flat (or you can boost this to 3:00 instead and leave the treble EQ flat)

Smooth Fingerstyle Sound

Everything flat except the low mids which is boosted around 1:00 to 2:00

Great suggestion lanzealot. Just tried this while practicing some tunes with headphones and its really nice. I never would have tried this setting as either pickup alone is usually too "honky" for me. Love how it brings out the B string when playing over the bridge PU. I'll have to try it at practice with the band.

This eq tweak is a nice example of how versatile the bass is. It also shows me that I have to put my biases aside and learn how to control the sound of this instrument better.

Thanks!

 

[adouglas]

My $0.02, and that's all it is (because this contradicts lanzealot... if those settings work for you then great; use them).

What sounds great soloed generally doesn't cut through the mix. It took me a very long time to realize this.

Smiley-face EQ (boost bass and treble) sounds great soloed, but when the rest of the band is playing you'll do an amazing disappearing act in my experience.

Mids are your friend.

Leave the bass and treble flat, and boost your low mids. Leave the blend centered.

This doesn't sound all that great soloed, but it works really well in the overall band mix, which is what counts anyway.

Try it and make up your own mind.

By the way, the Bongo bass knob is a weapon of mass destruction. It's really fun to turn it up and make stuff walk off tables, but it's way too much most of the time.

FWIW....

 

[cellkirk74]

My $0.02, and that's all it is (because this contradicts lanzealot... if those settings work for you then great; use them).

Mids are your friend.

+1 to that. If you like to have an overall thumpier sound you may also cut the highs a bit and blend a little bit towards the neck. If you want more bite go towards the bridge. You may like to boost some bass and some more lo mids then.

That been said, the sound will depend a lot on your overall emquipment. You might have to do something else if you use a rig that already colors the sound, like an Orange tube amp or an Ampeg fridge.

Generally the mid boost is the thing for the bandmix, may it be on bass or amp.

 

[strummer]

Just leave everything flat on both bass and amp, both pick ups on full, volume somewhat rolled off and change the sound with your right hand

 

[Powman]

My $0.02, and that's all it is (because this contradicts lanzealot... if those settings work for you then great; use them).

What sounds great soloed generally doesn't cut through the mix. It took me a very long time to realize this.

Smiley-face EQ (boost bass and treble) sounds great soloed, but when the rest of the band is playing you'll do an amazing disappearing act in my experience.

Mids are your friend.

Leave the bass and treble flat, and boost your low mids. Leave the blend centered.

This doesn't sound all that great soloed, but it works really well in the overall band mix, which is what counts anyway.

Try it and make up your own mind.

By the way, the Bongo bass knob is a weapon of mass destruction. It's really fun to turn it up and make stuff walk off tables, but it's way too much most of the time.

FWIW....

I have started to learn this as well Mr. Douglas. Indeed, I have found the same...what sounds good solo does not necessarily sound good in the mix. And conversely, what sounds bad solo'ed does not necessarily get heard in the mix. eg, I think roundwound strings sound like crap solo'ed (I still prefer flats) but boy do they cut through the mix really well.

So listen to the EQ advise of Mr. Douglas. He is one of our smartest forum members.

 

[mynan]

My experience with excessive boosting of the lows on the Bongo is that it sounds (and feels) kinda neat when you are standing in front of your amp, but stand where the audience stands with the band playing and you'll find yourself lost in the mix.

 

[plchung3]

haha thx all of your replies. Just tried a lot of combination tonight and yes i like blend slightly to the bridge with mid boosted a bit. really a powerful weapon~~~~

 

[shakinbacon]

My $0.02, and that's all it is (because this contradicts lanzealot... if those settings work for you then great; use them).

What sounds great soloed generally doesn't cut through the mix. It took me a very long time to realize this.

Smiley-face EQ (boost bass and treble) sounds great soloed, but when the rest of the band is playing you'll do an amazing disappearing act in my experience.

Mids are your friend.

Leave the bass and treble flat, and boost your low mids. Leave the blend centered.

This doesn't sound all that great soloed, but it works really well in the overall band mix, which is what counts anyway.

Try it and make up your own mind.

By the way, the Bongo bass knob is a weapon of mass destruction. It's really fun to turn it up and make stuff walk off tables, but it's way too much most of the time.

FWIW....

I agree with you adouglas, but I actually tried the "boost bass & treble and solo bridge pickup" setting that was suggested as I was intriqued. Both with an amp and headphones while playing along to a CD it sounded quite good. It suprised me actually as I thought it would get buried. Also, I usually never solo the bridge pickup. I think the nasally midrange of the bridge pickup allows the sound to still cut through. I'll have to try it at practice with a full band to see for sure though.

Generally speaking though, I usually leave the eq flat and only change the pickup/piezo blend knobs.

 

[adouglas]

Playing along with CDs will lead you astray, because they're highly produced and not representative of live sound.

Here's what made me realize that the mids are so important.

One day I started listening to the whole band, not just my tone.

Try that. Listen with the ears of an audience member, not a band member. See how well the WHOLE mix works and adjust your tone and volume to achieve a good result.

 

[slow roasted]

Playing along with CDs will lead you astray, because they're highly produced and not representative of live sound.

Here's what made me realize that the mids are so important.

One day I started listening to the whole band, not just my tone.

Try that. Listen with the ears of an audience member, not a band member. See how well the WHOLE mix works and adjust your tone and volume to achieve a good result.

A major +1 here. I found this out by taking the engineering/production sideroad a while back. That helped me be more realistic about how I fit into a live mix, but it was only part of the picture.

The thing that took much of the rest of the guesswork out of live bass EQ for me was getting back into playing and running the bands PA setups a few years back. Eventually I was forced to get a good wireless and take notes from up front before, during and after a show. I HIGHLY recommend anyone try this, if you really want to get things seamless. As an added benefit, it really illustrates how POTENT the EBMM basses ( and especially IMHO the Bongo) are at sculpting a killer live tone.

 

[lanzealot]

My $0.02, and that's all it is (because this contradicts lanzealot... if those settings work for you then great; use them).

What sounds great soloed generally doesn't cut through the mix. It took me a very long time to realize this.

Smiley-face EQ (boost bass and treble) sounds great soloed, but when the rest of the band is playing you'll do an amazing disappearing act in my experience.

Mids are your friend.

Leave the bass and treble flat, and boost your low mids. Leave the blend centered.

This doesn't sound all that great soloed, but it works really well in the overall band mix, which is what counts anyway.

Try it and make up your own mind.

By the way, the Bongo bass knob is a weapon of mass destruction. It's really fun to turn it up and make stuff walk off tables, but it's way too much most of the time.

FWIW....

I totally agree with adouglas on this one. I was just experimenting on getting a burpy Stingray sound from my Bongo and the settings I did came close to sounding like it. I guess turning up the low mids instead of the bass? Hmm... I need to try this when I come home from work.

I remembered an article when Flea's sound guy was interviewed on why Flea went back to playing his Modulus bass after a brief affair with a 60's Jazz bass. He mentioned that the Jazz sounded good by itself but it didn't really cut well into the mix because of the band's musical style.

I guess the best way to have a StingRay-esque tone from a Bongo is to get a single H one!

 

[shakinbacon]

Playing along with CDs will lead you astray, because they're highly produced and not representative of live sound.

Here's what made me realize that the mids are so important.

One day I started listening to the whole band, not just my tone.

Try that. Listen with the ears of an audience member, not a band member. See how well the WHOLE mix works and adjust your tone and volume to achieve a good result.

hmmmm that would explain a lot of things I've experienced.

I always try to listen to the whole band and am always surprised that my "at home practice tone" always seems to need less bass and more mids when I play live. I always thought it was the room, but now you have me questioning this as well.

once again, excellent points adouglas and thanks for the reply!

 

[plchung3]

thx all... let me try next time when i am jamming with my band...

i always find my old bass loss in the mix, regardless of boosting what. Now with bongo.... hahahahaa

 

[lanzealot]

My experience with excessive boosting of the lows on the Bongo is that it sounds (and feels) kinda neat when you are standing in front of your amp, but stand where the audience stands with the band playing and you'll find yourself lost in the mix.

I just remembered... The main reason I boosted the lows around the 3:00 position was because when I soloed the bridge pickup it doesn't have a lot of bottom end compared to having both pickups on.

I don't think I'll boost the bass too much when the blend pot is on the 50/50 setting as the neck pickup provides enough warmth for me.

 

[Powman]

Yesterday during band rehearsal I tried more mids. Or rather less of a scooped sound. Normally I like to set the "VPF" control on my Markbass at about 1 o'oclock. This results in a nice sounding scooped sound. But when I play with the band I think the highs are swallowed up buy the drums and guitar so I could hardly hear the bass.

Now I tried to have less of a scoop by setting the VPF control on the markbass to a bit past 9 o'clock. This results in more mids. The bass is far more audible in the mix now.

It works!