tone knobs and pickups on bass guitars - how do you like to set them?

[abigor731]

alright, so i borrowed a (hopefully) decent bass guitar (an Ibanez BTB676-NTF), to record some songs with it

there are 5 knobs total on it: bass, mid, treble, neck/bridge pickup, volume
and i have no idea how i should set them

i've recorded and mixed bass guitars for some time already, but strangely i've never thought about that before and just left it to the bass player

i'm especially concerned about the pickup knob as its probably easier to cut bass/mids/treble later if necessairy
obviously, whatever sounds good is good, but although there is a big difference between the two pickups, i can't really decide which will fit better, and i don't wanna be stuck with stupid settings later in the mix
i mean, if i would be a bassist playing guitar and decided to record my metal album with the neck pickup and tone on half i'd be fucked

so how do you guys like to set them?
are there any go-to settings, like on guitar, where you just have everything full + bridge pickup for rhythms?

i don't need mixing advice since there's already lots of threads about this, but i'd appreciate any other tips for guitarists playing bass as well
is it a stupid idea to play bass with a little jazz iii pick?

 

[Tommy Gun]

Basses, depending on wood, pickups, bolt-on neck etc., are always very individual to themselves. Most of the best bass players I know have several very different basses to use in different situations. That said... when I track a bass with a lot of knobs/tonal options, I treat it like a tube amp that I'm unfamiliar with. I set everything to "noon" (or right up the middle) and start tweaking from there. Usually I do it just straight through a nice clean D.I. signal. Then, I note the final settings on the bass and move on to tweaking an amp separately if it applies.

 

[BLUElightCory]

I also like to set everything flat (no boosts or cuts) and go from there - turn up the bass: is it better or worse? Turn up the treble: is it better or worse? Etc. Etc. Etc.

 

[egan.]

I've been playing with this alot lately. I desperately wish basses had stepped pots so that settings were more repeatable for recording settings. I have no qualms about diming an active EQ though. Generally I'll go "center" on the blend know unless it's a PJ or a j-MM type of setup.
IME jazz III don't give you enough leverage on bass strings and I'll favor tortex blues or purples, but I'm mostly a finger style player so what do I know?

 

[Tommy Gun]

I've been playing with this alot lately. I desperately wish basses had stepped pots so that settings were more repeatable for recording settings.

+1

I've wished for that quite a few times, lol.

 

[greyskull]

generally leave it in the middle on active basses.
On fenders. and gibsons.... eleven

 

[BrettT]

On my active Fender Jazz bass, I keep everything at noon with the exception of the mid knob. I keep it just short of noon as it sounds a bit boxy at noon. If I have really old strings, I'll bump the treble a bit.

Also typically have it set to between 90-100% bridge p'up when playing metal.

I use jazz picks for guitar, but they're horrible for bass. You don't get enough contact with the strings to get a good thundering sound, IMO. Standard Dunlop tortex picks work best for me.

 

[TheWinterSnow]

on my bass, I jsut dime everything. On my bass, even though it has an active eq does not boost any of the frequencies and having everythin up is not attenuating any frequencies. My philosophy for bass is the same for guitar, let the amp/mic setup determin the tone. If you have one of those basses that have a center "click" that is centered for eq, start there and just dime the volume, then depending on what tone you are after tailor the bass, and highs accordingly. If you are going for distorted metal, you should probably try to boost the highs a few dB so that you can get more sizzle out of the distortion.

 

[plague_rider]

I'm going to be absolutely no help at all and say that my Ltd 5 string has a single volume pot for its two active pups... and its always up full...

the BTBs I found have way too much tonal control... there are so many variations your going to have to sit and play around with them bud...

 

[amarshism]

Set everything to middle and then start tweaking the amp. If I'm noticing something more I feel I can get out of the head or I feel starting right from the bass I start tweaking. Usually pull some mids, adding a touch of bass and treble. Depending on the bass and amp of course.

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

I have a passive j. I dime everything. Fucker is noisy if you don't.