How to EQ an Amp 

Thank you for posting this. I used your EQ technique and took the wheels off of my Roland amp for an outdoor gig on a bandshell this past weekend and my bass KICKED ASS. I got so many compliments and the band sounded great. I’m wondering about your thoughts on going thru a compressor for live sound? or do you use it on recordings? Maybe in the future you can post your thoughts on compression for bass . Thank you Carlo Z.

I wish you put this video out in 1982!!! Thanks for presenting this info so clearly & I hope every bass player watches this. 🤘💚👍

Again another video that actually gives us the right information to understand the factors going into your amp settings. So many videos just don't cover the important WHY while your videos do. Keep up the fantastic job.

I'm a little embarrassed to say that in 30 yrs of playing bass.. This is the single most informative and educational video on tone and EQ I've ever heard or read....

You give some of the clearest and most useful info out there, but more than that I love the lack of ego in your videos. Honestly, so many of the bassist youtubers are getting too high off their own farts, but your channel definitely has it's focus and priorities in order. Keep up the awesome work.

Great advise! We used to spend all the effort practicing to be tight in a band but never knew much about working out the sound with each other! We would even book the same room weekly because "that" room just sound so good with our "go to" settings, lol!

Boomy room. Turn bass down. Use low mid as bass instead. This is awesome. Thank you so much! Subscribed. X

This is great! No wonder our guitarist keeps telling me to cut the bass at practice. It's the damn room.

Thank you so much. Just bought my first amp, Peavey Headliner 1000, and had no idea how to set the EQ up. Now I have a place to start. Love practical information. I subscribed. Thanks again.

I`ve been playing bass for 1,5 year and this video has changed my life. Thanks

Very informative video. I've playing the bass guitar for more than five years now and I still feel like an amateur because I never learned how to set my bass amp. I always feel embarrassed when I set up my amp, then someone comes and changes my settings saying it sounds bad. I never got it until today. Please make more videos on how to be a better bass player. I find your channel great. +1

Thank you for your amazing lesson, I never had any idea on what to do with eq ever. I'm give this a go when I play live!

Nice one .....simple and straight forward. If the beginners could see this video and start from there we might just get to enjoy those bands starting out. Thanks for doing this.

Easily the best explanation of EQing your bass and band stage sound. Thanks!

Great explanation! Mids are also very important in my experience, as well. 500-800hz gives you note definition, which definitely helps having presence in the mix. I think it's also very important to know how your own amp works and which frequencies it boosts/cuts. The Q & center frequencies of particular EQ bands can vary very dramatically from amp to amp

THE most useful video on this subject I’ve seen. Thanks 👍🏼

I love this Marcelo I have been having issues with my bass amp and this helped a lot!

Finally someone makes sense. Thanks for the update. I did what you suggested and it worked beautifully.

This is the best explanation I've ever heard. Thank you!

Oh man.. This video is so important ! Thank you for that !

This was sucha great vid, bro - just what I needed! 💙💙

Great video. I have been setting the gain as instructed by a lot of people - master vol down, turn up the gain till the clip light shows then back it off slightly (that really may work well with passive basses but not mine). With those settings and very hot pickups the master vol stays at 1! I've always had to back the gain down and make adjustments. Turning the bass down etc also makes a lot of sense. I have a 2x15 cab and it is very easy to get the mud going. Thanks for the video - very good.

Great info, but to add for anyone else that was as stubborn as me when they first started playing, "listen to the sound guy at the club, and the audio engineer in the studio." They know the room/mix, and in most cases have quite a wealth of experience.

Thanks for this video, Marcelo. Recently I had the reharsals of one of my bands on a boomy small studio room. I've lived exactly this problem you mentioned: the bass totally saturated, I had to cut almost all of it, and increase the treble, what made the bass excessively bright. I think my mistake was not had cut all the bass, and to had cut more than necessary the low mids. So I tried to compensate with high mids. It worked more or less. For a reharsal, ok. But for a recording, it would be a big failure. Next time I'm gonna follow your tips!

Finally. Very well explained, esp bass and mid use. Thank you! Under by cabs I used a Gramma Pad (a thick, insulating acoustical foam under a textile covered plywood top). I feel it improves a lot of things like 'bass suck' from having the cab on a hard floor like concrete or tile, and also to remove reverberation sometimes caused by a wood floor where the frequencies can move things around a bit (I also removed wheels from by lower cab). ...and yes, as Carlos Zanggrilli asked, "compression for live sound?" Rock on.

Excellent video !! The best that i've seen in a long time, thanks!

Mind blowing! Thank you, Marcelo. You are a legend.

Great video as usual. Thanks Marcelo.

As both a guitarist and bassist, every time I get into a jam or gig situation with less experienced players, I struggle to get this across all the time. Everyone puts too much emphaisis on low end and ignores mids and treble. I'm always either trying to get guitarists to lower bass and add more mids and highs or trying to get a bassist to turn down the lows and replace it with mids. Then they wonder why we can't hear each other. I'm to the point now that I just walk over to their amps while they are playing and make the adjustments. It come off as rude, but then if we are recording the jam, they hear the difference at the point I did my thing and realize what I am trying to do. 😂

Thank you for this video, I just bought a new amp hartke HD 150 and I was just playing with the eqs, and this is very helpful to me! Thanks

most well spoken and articulated delivery of information! wizard is a fitting title for you, man

This vid has changed my life! haha! Thank you

Thank you for actually saying to cut the bass. Heard so many stuoid bass players who just dime the bass all the time and then are surprised no one can hear what they're playing

Great video and EQ tips I learned something here today. Thank you

Great video Marcelo !! , very instructive , thanks

Thanks Marcelo, this video really helped me understand how a bass amp set up should be handled. I gotta tell you, i really like the way you explain things, it's clear, and easy to understand. You give a lot of details and i enjoy that. Keep it up !

Love your videos man ❤️🤘

Exactly what I need right now. Cheers and more power Justin from the Philippines

Thank you bro, i was searching this video for a while

Wow, this was super helpful! Thanks. Great demo too with the bathroom and closet. I was actually having trouble getting a boomy sound with a new Fender Rumble 200 I bought. I moved it to a different part of the room and got a different sound. Never even thought about the room itself.

Interesting and helpful video. One thing that I think might have been helpful when discussing the EQ section of the video is an explanation of the overtone series and how people actually hear pitches. (ie. why you think you can hear low notes on small cheap speakers). Even if you can't hear the root note, you may be able to hear the octave harmonic, or the perfect fifth harmonic above that, and all of the frequencies moving up from there. It's obvious in practice when adjusting the treble control on your amp affects even your lowest notes, but, in combination with your explanation of wavelengths and room resonances, it explains why killing some of the "bass" section in favor of "low mid" merely "tightens up" your sound rather than making it so your lowest pitches are inaudible.

Thankyou for this amazing lesson..I have no idea whats over on how to use bass amp.. I really learnt something here..thankyou very much..

At last, sound EQ advice (no pun intended). Thank you Marcelo.

Great video as always

Fantastic videos. Speaking with the confidence and articulation of a man that knows exactly what he's talking about.

Awesome info for someone that’s just learning how to set up their gear.

I have been playing for over 40 years and over this time amps and cabs have come and gone. Generally speaking I have found that removing the wheels does not decrease muddyness. Wooden stages are hollow and the more contact to it the worse low end response you will get, the floor becomes a cab extension if it were. Use a 410 instead of a 15 inch and try to get ot off the floor or use insulating material under niethe it and angle the cab up. These days I use a small rig and have a dedicated stand for it 2 feet off the ground and angled up towards my head /ears.. There is only so much you can do with an EQ due to room acoustics without room treatments, but keep your cab away from walls and corners. against a wall is + 3db and in a corner+6 db of low end.

Thanks Marcelo - your explanation was anything but muddy. I have just that amp, so really good, clear, sensible advice.

thanks Marc its about time someone explains like you did

great stuff Marcelo!

nice advice! I´d add that it´s really important to take care of the high mids, they totally change the colour of your sound

Thank you! This was extremely helpful in improving my bass eq.

Great video as always, thanks for the info!

Very useful! Big thanks to you Marco!

I wish I saw this 20 sum odd years ago. I always struggled with the eq settings on my bass amp. Now, I can get it to sound exactly the way I want it to be. Thanks.

Super helpful, brother! Thank you!!!

Great video! I’m sending this to everyone I play with. Thank you

A very informative video ,you have +1 sub

Many thanks for this vidéo it ´s very helpfull .Could you make one about compression ?

I learned so much thankyou for this useful info

Very helpful!

Thanks Marcelo! Just the info I needed. I have the same TC amp too.

Very informative. Been playing in a punk band for many years where i just plug and play. Lol. Now i know what to do on my eq. Thank you very much.

Grate video man!

Oh God bless you for this one

very informative. i hope you do one for guitar (in depth) do's and don't when dialing.

Great Video! Thanks for the info!

You are the best Marcelo!!

Thanks for a great vid brother...really appreciate it.

Great video Marcelo !!!!! I've seen alot of big name bands that sound like shit because it has to be so freakin' loud. I wish they would quit going for volume and concentrate on better sound. especially at $100.00 + per ticket. Thanks for the video!!!

Such good content! Thank you so much for this!

I also use the eq to fix the sound of a speaker, like when you go from an 8x10 svt to a 1-15” or a cheap speaker with no highs to a speaker with a big frequency range. you can force the speaker to a decent sound with good eq.

Wish I had seen this video 20 years ago.. all those hard walled echoey clubs where I could have dialled out some bass! Onwards and upwards!

good informative one. thumbs up!

Thank you so much 😃 I like your channel

Thank you Marcelo for clearly stating this stuff. Those frequencies from the lowest lows to about 800 Hz are always the biggest PITA when trying to get a balanced sound at sound check, especially indoor small clubs & venues (really 90% of where everybody plays). Using full bass cabs onstage is one of the biggest culprits of out of control volume. You really gotta aim it in your face to hear it loud enough so you don't screw up the FOH mix. Really, the EQ you want to set for is FOH itself! I use a wireless for my bass setup. If I use a stage monitor, like a full range wedge, I EQ to that first (minus some of the lowest range punch), then I go out front and EQ my channel in the mixer for the FOH - if it actually needs it! If the mixer's final output EQ has already been set for a flat room response, then I may not need to tweek anything yet. When the FOH is at normal volume, I then hear the the lowest frequencies onstage along with my monitor's mix automatically. Then during sound check, I play out front to hear everything in the FOH mix. It's THEN I tweek any frequencies on my FOH channel or suggest the engineer tweek mine or anyone else's for the actual sound the audience hears. If I use In-Ear monitors onstage, I will EQ my amp to the FOH only (assuming it's flat already), then go onstage and EQ my monitor output from the mixer in my ear buds. It's very important you have ear buds that have low freq drivers and can completely seal off outside noise. I have to have mine way in my ears.

Set and adjust your rig to the playing environment. Solid approach and great tips Marcelo! Thanks

Good Info, Thanks.

You explained this well sir!!!! Makes so much sense…

Seriously a great video. Really really good.

i have this head along with the k115 and k410...its very powerful.i could easily rock the speakers out of the boxes...best sounding amp ive ever owned...25yr hartke user..

Nice one! thanks!

Thank you, you explained this situation very clearly wish I seen this year's ago when I was gigging.

great vid thanks

this was very helpful. thank you very much.

Good info. Now I have something to think about next time I'm together with the band.Thank you✌️😊

A well earned like for demonstrating how different rooms sound differently. Just think how presence of a crowd of people in an auditorium changes the sound of that room! As a lad I had inadequate bass amps while we practiced in a garage or basement and I was the guy always cranking the Low EQ and lowering the rest - awful! It would also be nice to point out the concept of bass traps and how placing the sound source (speaker) in a corner of a room or even near a wall (or floor) may cause the reflections to clash with the sound and create mud. Don't put baby in a corner ;) That's why you see studios placing those foam muffles (bass traps) along walls and in corners. Just having carpet and upholstered furniture in a room may help, as well as breaking up the regular geometric shape of a room (put a chair in the corner, etc.) - just a few thoughts.

Wow. So much information in here

Great vid mates cheers

Awesome man.; this helps me a lot. Thanks so much.

Very very imformative and spot on...i love rhe way you present it.....it gives me more understanding about my frequencies....thank you so much Bass Wizard.

Correction... being a guitarist is what causes most guitarists to crank it up lol. Great video. Not something I've thought much on but I do adjust as needed. Makes perfect sense. Really dig your videos. Good info!

Very good vid. I have been playing a long time and I have seen the volume war problem. I am guilty of a little too much bass on the amp. Thx for this.

Thank you, man.. This helps a lot

Thanks for this video ! very helpful ! I am not a bass player yet. This information helps me a lot !

You seem to know your stuff. I just liked and subscribed. How about another video where you show the EQ settings and corresponding tone in different rooms: home, practice space, bar, outdoor, etc. Good video, thank you!

Thanks men really helpful

Thanks, man!

Thanks for sharing 😊 this really helped me out big time; 🙏🏾 the app is amazing!!! 🤩

Thanks ! Simple and clear ! Efficient...