Lavatain

I'm forever trying to get a tighter bass sound in my tone, and lust after an incredibly tight low end. But what actually is it that makes a bass sound tight, or muddy? This might be a really difficult question to answer, because I can't think why myself. I understand that different speakers/amps/pickups etc produce different frequencies and some lead to a muddier or more tighter sounding low end, but exactly what makes up this sound? Would it be the frequencies themselves?

Sorry if this seems a really silly question or pointless, I just feel I could figure out how to get the tone I'm after if I were to understand what produced it. Cheers!

red.guitar

It is indeed the frequencies...

I could help more if I knew excatly what gear you are running.

Generally, I think the first place to start would be with an EQ pedal. I recommend the 10-band by MXR. If youre still having troubles, I would then try a new speaker, or cab....

Like I said, it would help more if we knew what your using gear wise.

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ikey_

EQ, amp itself, strings can play a part, SPEAKERS play a large part...and of course the EQ and quality of your effects as well.

pickups do as well. its all one chain.

if i had to say the big 2, its amp and speakers.

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R45VT

The amp has the largest impact.

We don't know what you are using... Help us help you

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Lavatain

I'm using a Peavey Bandit 112 Transtube. It has the Blue Marvel Classic 8 ohm speaker in it. I do run an MXR 10 band eq as well and found reducing 250Hz by about 10dB tightened it up a lot, as well as boosting the 64dB by about 10dB. I do plan on getting a new amp sometime this year, though no immediate plans are in place, I know it's not the best amp, but it's better than the Laney LX and boss metalzone setup I had before.

It's not so much I desire to get the tightest sound possible out of this amp and want a new one so quickly, but more that I want to understand what it is, which frequencies it is, that make the low end sound tighter on some amps/speakers.

red.guitar

I can't tell you off hand what frequencie it is that controls the most bass responce, besides telling you that its the lower once ( first 4 or so bands on the left side of the pedal)

I owned a bandit once, its a very thin amp. If you're running the EQ with it properly, and its still sounding too thin for you, I don't know what else to say, besides get a new amp??

The bandits are okay as beginner amps, but you will never get a great, tight tone out of it.

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Guitars:
Epiphone 97' slash snakepit Tele MIM Fender 85' MIJ Contemporary 22 Strat
Amps:
Kustom 36' Coupe w/ Cannabis Rex Jet City JCA50H Mesa Rectifier 212
Randall 212+115 Cab

Check Out My Band - 10th Avenue

R45VT

Talk about polishing a turd.... Kidding.

Have you tried a boost up front like a TS9 to tighten the bass up?

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AxSilentxLine

For tighter bass drop the low frequencies and boost the low mids slightly I always do this for recordings, but as stated above, the bandit is a beginner amp and is probably just not capable of the sound you're after.

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