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Post by BruZe62 on Nov 21, 2018 10:00:31 GMT -7
So I was looking at the .pdf that someone (thank you btw) created showing Dr Z's himself Maz 18 settings for different tones as well as many of you guys settings. I noticed on over 85% of these settings the bass is below, or well below noon (12:00)?
First am I right in saying 12:00 is "flat" EQ on the bass, treble and mid? Second, is cut knob flat at noon?
Third, the real reason for the post is, why is everyone dialing back the bass? is it because you have a mid control adding low end? When I play live I do cut bass some as well with certain pickups so that I dont compete sonically with the bass and drums in that low end arena, and I also dont personally find much wrong with all the EQ at noon myself! I think it sound great there....... THOUGHTS? Thanks
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Post by Rockerfeller on Nov 21, 2018 10:07:59 GMT -7
I don't have a Maz, but a Wreck, a Z lux and a Remedy, and I roll back the bass on all of those in live situations. I basically start with the bass off and turn it up just until I can hear it making a difference and that is usually where it sounds best in a band situation.
At home? Bass is usually around noon and it sounds great when I am playing by myself.
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Post by GuitarZ on Nov 21, 2018 10:18:15 GMT -7
For my Les Paul P90s, I really dial back the bass. It took me a while to find a nice sweet spot for that guitar, and that's where I ended up. I just checked the settings and see that I only bump it up to 8 o'clock for my Strat. I typically use my middle pickup for rhythm and neck for leads and rarely use my bridge pickup. That might be why I don't use as much bass.
The other driver for me is that I do most of my playing these days recording stuff here at home. So, I tend to try to leave room for each of the instruments and by rolling off the bass on my guitar, that leaves more space for the bass player/guitar to occupy.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 21, 2018 10:36:15 GMT -7
I find it just sounds good sitting around 10-12 o'clock. Actually, all my knobs are at those settings. Cut no higher than 9.
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Post by BruZe62 on Nov 21, 2018 10:44:48 GMT -7
Do you find humbuckers need less bass in a band mix? I play a single coil strat which always sounds great with the Maz, but I just picked up a new Gretsch Duo Jet Players Edition with Filtertrons that I having trouble dialing in. It sounds great I just get ALOT of bass even at 10-11:00
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Post by doctorice on Nov 21, 2018 12:02:19 GMT -7
I don't think there is really a "flat" eq setting as such because MAZ tone controls are passive, meaning they subtract signal that is already present when it enters that part of the circuit.
Z explains it here:
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Post by headshrinker (Marc) on Nov 21, 2018 13:14:48 GMT -7
My settings are like Mark N above. I set the bass on all my amps like Rockerfeller above. The word around here is set your controls with your ears, not your eyes. If it sounds like you want, it's correct. We all have different perfect sounds in our heads.
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Post by detuned on Nov 21, 2018 15:17:22 GMT -7
NO. I usually have the bass control set at 2 to 4pm, but then again, I have a couple of really bright strats, so YMMV...
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Post by telejas on Nov 21, 2018 19:32:22 GMT -7
When I play live, the sound man always asks me to "roll back the low end".... It doesn't seem that much, but I can feel it out front...... So, live big shows, I do roll it back. Small gigs, or home playing I don't.
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Post by zpilot on Nov 21, 2018 21:14:31 GMT -7
Pardon me but it's not the sound man's place to tell you where to set your tone. This is coming from a guy who has spent a large amount of time running the mixing console. He can tell you that you need to turn down if necessary, but your sound is YOUR sound. Now if he has experience as a player he might suggest something. If he thinks your sound is too boomy or whatever it's his job to adjust your channel EQ. My experience is that telling a player how to set his gear causes bad vibes.
I'm not going to tell you how to set your tone either , but like most of the guys here on the forum I only dial up the Bass to where I can hear it really start to take effect.
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Post by mudman on Nov 21, 2018 22:01:14 GMT -7
It’s funny this came up today. I was just recording my Maz tonight and noticed how much low end was coming through the mic that I didn’t hear in the room. Dialed back the bass for recording.
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Post by 195db on Nov 22, 2018 8:32:23 GMT -7
I'm using a MAZ 8 head. Lately I've been experimenting with the bass around 8-10. Trying to capture that David Grissom sound. Using similar settings at 1:43 in the vid. Now if I had any of his talent it might make it easier.
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Post by telejas on Nov 22, 2018 11:16:32 GMT -7
Pardon me but it's not the sound man's place to tell you where to set your tone. This is coming from a guy who has spent a large amount of time running the mixing console. He can tell you that you need to turn down if necessary, but your sound is YOUR sound. Now if he has experience as a player he might suggest something. If he thinks your sound is too boomy or whatever it's his job to adjust your channel EQ. My experience is that telling a player how to set his gear causes bad vibes. I'm not going to tell you how to set your tone either , but like most of the guys here on the forum I only dial up the Bass to where I can hear it really start to take effect. He "asks", doesn't make me. He said if I can make it sound the way I like on stage, but still FOH friendly (without him having to do a lot of "fixing" out front), it would make us both happier. I learned a lot from this sound man (used him multiple times over the past 15 years), and respected his input. I didn't always do it exactly like he liked it, but we would meet in the middle a lot of times. I take his advice to other stages and sound men, and after sound check they say "sounds great, I didn't even have to touch your EQ". He's also the one that suggested a plexi-glass shield, which I use to this day.. It makes the FOH mix fuller, at large and small shows. Now, when I play a big outdoor event, I don't need it....But 95% of the other times I use it. Now, I've also had the jerk sound men from time to time, that have wanted me to change my tone too much because "we can't fix it out front"..... But those guys usually have a horrible mix and are "metal" guys. Nothing wrong with "metal guys", but they aren't used to mixing for everyone.
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Post by premiumplus (Dave) on Nov 22, 2018 16:17:09 GMT -7
Bringing the Bass up to when you just hear it begin to have an affect on your tone is the best advice I've heard (and used) in years. It gets the amp operating in it's zone, and keeps flab from creeping in. Of course, playing at home you can use more bass to fatten things up. But onstage it's not needed; you're stepping into the bass player's ground, and you're taking clarity out of your tone with too much bass. In the end it's your tone. Set it how YOU like it to sound and let the sound guy adjust it if he feels the need at the board.
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Post by southmusic70 on Nov 22, 2018 18:39:58 GMT -7
I don’t.
It stays at noon, maybe a little more.
I like a full sound.
When I use my Maz 18 (NRmkII), it’s in a band with no keyboard, so I need the punch.
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Post by doctorice on Nov 23, 2018 7:44:12 GMT -7
On my MAZ 8 (studio cab, Cel Blue) bass is usually up past noon. On Z-Lux, bass is almost always very low.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 23, 2018 8:06:19 GMT -7
I came up using Fender amps. I learned early on that the best way to dial in the bass was to turn it down to zero then dial it in till you hear it. After that point it just messes with the sound too much on most amps. That point can vary a little from room to room so I might thunk the low E for a bit while moving that knob to see where the sweet spot is at a gig. The exception for me would be the Z-28 family of amps where the bass control is capable of gain on its own. In that case you may want to go for the grrrr on the low end.
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Post by mickey on Nov 24, 2018 1:30:40 GMT -7
Same for me, pluck the low E while gradually turning up the bass from zero, until I hear it kick in. It's normally set around 9 - 10 o' clock. Depends on the venue, but usually my mid and treble end up around 10 - 11, and cut around 11 - 12.
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Post by Stephen on Nov 24, 2018 10:07:47 GMT -7
These are BW settings from a show in 2013.
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Post by scottc on Nov 27, 2018 7:46:25 GMT -7
I usually start with the bass off and roll it up until it just "engages". I do the same with the cut control.
I find this method helps to add the properties of the control without letting either get out of hand. ie: Too much bass and you get a flubby low end and too much cut will go straight through me!
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Post by ajlguitfiddle on Nov 28, 2018 16:27:48 GMT -7
For me, bass position depends on several factors. I have an 18 combo and at home volumes I never find the amp to have too much low end. On the other hand, I recently played an 18 NR head through a 2x12 cab and could not believe how much more air, and bottom end, was being pushed compared to my combo. If I'm at home noodling on my tele through my combo I will sometimes crank the bass. Sounds great anywhere you put it really.
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Post by sutoman on Dec 27, 2018 20:50:52 GMT -7
Pardon me but it's not the sound man's place to tell you where to set your tone. This is coming from a guy who has spent a large amount of time running the mixing console. He can tell you that you need to turn down if necessary, but your sound is YOUR sound. Now if he has experience as a player he might suggest something. If he thinks your sound is too boomy or whatever it's his job to adjust your channel EQ. My experience is that telling a player how to set his gear causes bad vibes. I'm not going to tell you how to set your tone either , but like most of the guys here on the forum I only dial up the Bass to where I can hear it really start to take effect. He "asks", doesn't make me. He said if I can make it sound the way I like on stage, but still FOH friendly (without him having to do a lot of "fixing" out front), it would make us both happier. I learned a lot from this sound man (used him multiple times over the past 15 years), and respected his input. I didn't always do it exactly like he liked it, but we would meet in the middle a lot of times. I take his advice to other stages and sound men, and after sound check they say "sounds great, I didn't even have to touch your EQ". He's also the one that suggested a plexi-glass shield, which I use to this day.. It makes the FOH mix fuller, at large and small shows. Now, when I play a big outdoor event, I don't need it....But 95% of the other times I use it. Now, I've also had the jerk sound men from time to time, that have wanted me to change my tone too much because "we can't fix it out front"..... But those guys usually have a horrible mix and are "metal" guys. Nothing wrong with "metal guys", but they aren't used to mixing for everyone. I am typically low maintenance but hate it when a sound guy want to put a screen in front of the amp...unless you have a lot of time for a sound check, which is very rare. The sound coming out of the monitors is usually pretty crappy...or even worse, the mix is shared.
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Post by zpilot on Dec 28, 2018 8:48:04 GMT -7
On my MAZ 8 (studio cab, Cel Blue) bass is usually up past noon. On Z-Lux, bass is almost always very low. Same here with my MAZ 8. I run a C-Gold which is very similar. The controls are: Bass@1:00; Mid@12:00; Treb@3:00; Cut@9:00. Running the tone controls at higher settings helps to make the the By-Pass more usable for me.
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Post by alpione on May 9, 2019 7:23:08 GMT -7
Resurrecting this old thread as I've learned (or relearned) a few things about this topic with my Maz 18 Mk 2.
Nutshell: as the Gain goes up, the Bass must come down.
I had a bunch of fizzy, icy-picky distortion with my Master Volume below, say, 10:00 and running everything else near Noon. The Dr. Z crew recommended that I run the Bass much lower (maybe 9:00) and tame the highs with the Cut knob (also around 9). That made a big difference. Much less fizz and more clarity.
If you run the MV (power tubes) high and the Volume (preamp tubes) low you can definitely get away with more Bass. And when running in "Fender Clean Mode" (low gain, Bass/Treble up, mids cut) it sounds awesome. But that same low end run through the preamp at high levels gets farty fast. I was aware of this from using Marshall and Mesa designs in the past, but had been using Fender stuff lately. Different animals.
Hope that helps someone.
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Post by digs57 on May 9, 2019 7:48:50 GMT -7
youre master volume issue resolved by this?
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Post by gbowman on May 9, 2019 11:47:12 GMT -7
On stage my Bass is set around 930. I am back to playing my humbucker guitars so Treb and Mid sit about noon-1, and Cut around 11-12. My setup is Maz Jr w/reverb w/ WGS Reaper speaker.
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Post by perryr on May 9, 2019 18:19:08 GMT -7
Depends on volume level, guitar & effects, speaker choice, and context .. lots of variables at play!
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Post by DRZ on May 10, 2019 2:07:03 GMT -7
Depends on volume level, guitar & effects, speaker choice, and context .. lots of variables at play! Yes Perry , points that should be obvious to the most intermediate player . Adjust your amp with your ears, not your eyes, what you would set for say Fender amps is different for Z amps, completely different design. Z
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Post by benttop (Steve) on May 12, 2019 7:47:44 GMT -7
Pardon me but it's not the sound man's place to tell you where to set your tone. This is coming from a guy who has spent a large amount of time running the mixing console. He can tell you that you need to turn down if necessary, but your sound is YOUR sound. Now if he has experience as a player he might suggest something. If he thinks your sound is too boomy or whatever it's his job to adjust your channel EQ. My experience is that telling a player how to set his gear causes bad vibes. I'm not going to tell you how to set your tone either , but like most of the guys here on the forum I only dial up the Bass to where I can hear it really start to take effect. THIS! Bad vibes abound....
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Post by John on May 12, 2019 8:36:04 GMT -7
I'm late to the posting here but....
People roll back the bass...so the mids come through more. Because at the end of the day, mids are what you want to hear from a guitar. Bass and highs are to round out the overall tone...but mids are where it's at.
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