#1 Too much bass?

Thanks for taking the time to enlighten us. Most of the time I keep eqing the bass out in the daw together with all other unwanted or not suiting frequencies when mixing..

Another easy fix for too much bass is to increase the Definition parameter in the amp block. This has the same effect, funnily enough, as it lets less of the bass frequencies into the 'distortion generator'.

Quote from sambrox

Another easy fix for too much bass is to increase the Definition parameter in the amp block. This has the same effect, funnily enough, as it lets less of the bass frequencies into the 'distortion generator'.

Man I keep on learning something new everyday here.. thanks!

Quote from Armin

Why?
It could be the amp setup (from the real amp used during the profile session) - the cab, mic, mic placement, room .... everything

Why release such a bad profile?
Maybe the profile creator liked it this way - or did some mistakes ...
Or (more likely) this profile was created for another type of guitar.

Bass is a beast.

What you hear through your amp is not only the profile. When it comes to bass it is *very* much your speaker in your room. If you place your speaker in a corner you can easily get +12 dB of bass. If your room has a resonance node of about 80 Hz this will add even more bass just near the low E string. Could well be another +10 dB or even more.

Now, if you use bass EQ at home, what will happen, if you placed your rig onto a stage of a decent hall? All this extra bass will be gone... and you will sound whimpy, if not shrill....

When it comes to bass problems with FRFR-spreakers in untreated rooms its most of the times just the speaker placement and the room.

Well IMHO here two different themes collide. The one is a how do I do that if I have to and the other one is why and when do I have to do it or should I do something.
Your right Spinner that if you play through a cab or frfr usually it depends very much on room, placing, angle and so on. An that's a point where most of us could need guidance because you should be trained to do the right things at the right time. But if I sit alone at home recording my Kemper without a cab the infos can get handy I think (at least at the moment without just trying).

Quote from Nightwish2

But if I sit alone at home recording...

Your welcome, Nightwish2.

The "home recording" in general will benefit from a better speaker placement. The whole mixdown of songs. And the cost is minimal - at least compared to a proper room treatment...

Otherwise the tip of Sambrox (Definition Parameter) is worth gold. Also those other parameters which are not found on many tube-amps like pick, direct mix, compressor, power sag are really powerful to make a profile sound more like you want it to.

Thanks Armin for the advice. Also, as Sambrox (and Britt) says, the Definition parameter is very helpful. The problem is the guitar you use, and also the context. In a mix you often need to filter out some bass, making the guitar a bit thin if you listen to it silencing the other tracks. So some things you do in a situation won't work in another. We should have versions of a Rig ready to use when we change the guitar for instance, or when we record with other tracks in mind. That's work!

And (!) I have to give two other hints, they are everytime disregard and ignored:

1.) There are very big differences between studio-, live-, FRFR, transistor, tube, inear-, PA and headphone sounds!
2.) If you play normally through PC with headphones note that a standard audio-card doesn't reach!
For example:
In the past I I often wondering why some rigs of mine snarling, buzz and rasp even though they have less volume and less bass.
At last for a counter-sample I checked the tone direct in headphone-slot of the Kemper, and at next in the headphone-slot at the downstreamed mixer.
Result:
Both slots gave an totaly other sound image than the PC! Also with high volume and more bass the sound where free of problems and had a much larger bandwidth.
For that reasons note what kind of sound you use!

to 1.) If you create a new rig give a comment or a hint in Rig-Manager what kind of rig it is: Studio, live, FRFR, tube, PA, headphone, inear and so on! These are absolut minimal basic information for other users esp. if you sell your rigs! We all will appreciate it, for sure.
to 2.) Note that you need a good audio-card to assess a tone if you hear with headphones from computers!

Yes in the mix you have to cut more bass than you think or let's better say leaving it to drum and bass players.
At home I usually record and mix with phones. I just listen to it from time to time over speakers to check.

Quote from Nightwish2

Man I keep on learning something new everyday here.. thanks!

I think sambrox means Clarity. The Definition knob will tighten up your bass, sure, by rolling it off in the same way as a Tube Screamer... but it also gives you a hefty treble boost. Clarity lets bass frequencies through without distorting them, so the fundamental of each note is still present.

Neither of them are a substitute for removing the bass beforehand, though.

Quote from Lokasenna

I think sambrox means Clarity. The Definition knob will tighten up your bass, sure, by rolling it off in the same way as a Tube Screamer... but it also gives you a hefty treble boost. Clarity lets bass frequencies through without distorting them, so the fundamental of each note is still present.
Neither of them are a substitute for removing the bass beforehand, though.

Looking at the manual, I think you're both kind of right

Definition does give a treble boost, especially if you move it more than a couple of numbers, but used subtly it can turn a muddy, woofy profile in to something more balanced and appropriate for the guitar you're playing on. Same thing the other way, too.

Clarity is different in my experience. It's almost like it blends some of the profile's character pre distortion with the distorted portion. Not like the Direct Mix parameter, as it is as if the added signal HAS passed the preamp stage, just with a much lower gain setting, before being blended.

Removing the bass beforehand of course is also a solution, and more appropriate in some situations, I agree.

- Definition can't be used to tighten the bass without also boosting bite and fizz. With Clarity, you can actually hear the distortion on the low end go away as you increase it from 0.

- Half of the profiles out there already have Definition at 10.0, in which case it's no use to you.

The ideal solution would be an onboard band compressor, so you could clamp down on the lows before or after the amp... or both, in my case. The low E on my guitar has more 150Hz than my bass.

Call me a dumbass, but I just dial the bass knob on the EQ stack back a little.

I haven't needed to do it myself yet, but I imagine reducing the thump in the Cab module would go a long way towards taming low-end welly.

Quote from Monkey_Man

Call me a dumbass, but I just dial the bass knob on the EQ stack back a little.

I guess that is what its made for.

By all means this should be the very first thing to try to tame too much bass. And when in browse mode the appropriate knob is always there. All the other methods are powerful, clever, flexible, partly unique things to also take into account.

Reading through this thread I see how powerful and flexible and still easy to use the Kemper interface is!

Quote from Lokasenna

- Definition can't be used to tighten the bass without also boosting bite and fizz. With Clarity, you can actually hear the distortion on the low end go away as you increase it from 0.

- Half of the profiles out there already have Definition at 10.0, in which case it's no use to you.

The ideal solution would be an onboard band compressor, so you could clamp down on the lows before or after the amp... or both, in my case. The low E on my guitar has more 150Hz than my bass.

Sounds like you play metal, Lokasenna....

I do, but I actually tend to go for a lot of '80s amps like JCMs and even those profiles often have Definition at 10. I usually have to drop it to 6 or less and then add a TS or EQ in front.

hmmm this post was a duplicate, not sure how that happened....