MAKE FRIENDS WITH YOUR AMP - Gollihur Music

P age | 2
W
e spend hours learning and practicing bass, not to mention fussing for hours over strings and accessories, and
agonizing over pickup and/or mic choices. However, the amplifier is often overlooked; we plug it in, twiddle
the knobs a little bit, and that’s often the end of it. It’s important to understand EVERY component of the sound you
project. I’ve heard a lot of amplified basses; and sounding “bassy” = sounding “muddy.” MUMBLE, RUMBLE, BLOBBY-
BLOBBY, THUD, THUD is not a good bass sound.
FAMILIARIZE YOURSELF WITH WHAT TONE CONTROLS ACTUALLY DO
The whole point of this exercise is this:
When you are playing and something just doesn’t sound quite right, you will instinctively
know which knob to adjust.
This is a valuable talent well worth learning. I could use more technical jargon and scientific precision in this e-guide,
but we’re going for general knowledge and results in these exercises, so pardon the
“layman’s terms.”
Most amps feature “tone” controls labeled Bass, Middle, and Treble; each control a
band of frequencies. “EQ” (equalization) is a common way to refer to these tone
controls. You are probably quite aware of the effect twisting those knobs has when
you’ve adjusted a radio or stereo unit. For instance, turning the bass knob all the
way up and the treble all the way down sounds like listening to a song being
played in the next room with the door closed.
Tone controls split the spectrum of sound into chunks, sort of like the piano keyboard
splits in the image to the right (not precise, the drawing is only to illustrate the
concept). The controls let you boost or cut those frequency bands. The other drawing
is the frequencies of some notes on the upright (or electric) bass fingerboard.
Speaking generally, the lowest (bass) control usually affects the frequencies around
the fundamental of the notes we play on our basses. But, for example, when you
play the open A string on your bass, you hear a lot more than just that original note
(aka the fundamental). There are also overtones (aka harmonics) above that note
that give it character and clarity. Severely cutting the middle and high frequencies
down (by turning down the midrange, treble or whatever your amp has) reduces
your amp’s delivery of those harmonics and can hurt clarity.
Note: If you have a graphic equalizer with more than just “low-mid-high,” those sliders
are just further splitting the frequencies into finer slices – low lows, middle lows, high
lows, low mids, middle mids, etc., so you have even more precise control over the total
sound.
Make Friends With Your Amp – by Bob Gollihur
Courtesy of Gollihur Music • www.GollihurMusic.com • ALL MATERIAL ©COPYRIGHT 2012 BOB GOLLIHUR