Rock bass EQ in many ways is a lot less sculpted than you’d opt for with say pop or rap. In the latter genres, you’d generally focus on the low end and sub and attenuate the rest to create a cleaner mix for the other elements. With rock, you want those low mids to assert themselves for a nice gritty, dirty anchor. With all that in mind, here are the rock bass EQ settings I like to get that bass sitting just right when mixing rock.
Rock Bass EQ
Here is a snapshot of my recommended go-to rock bass EQ settings, my rock bass EQ cheat sheet if you will:
Now let’s talk about each of these moves one by one to better explain why we’re making them and how they’re affecting the sound.
High Pass Around 40Hz
First, create a high pass filter around 40Hz. Specifically, I like a slope of 24dB/oct for the bass personally as a nice compromise between rolling off frequencies we don’t want while salvaging what we do.
No surprises here, and this is consistent with my normal bass guitar EQ.
Even the lowest frequency rich instruments in your mix can stand to be high passed, meaning removing below a certain frequency.
While with other instruments this creates space for the instruments which need them LIKE our bass or kick, in the case of the bass this is to simply remove inaudible and unwanted frequencies. This helps create mixing headroom so that we can get a (better sounding) louder mix or master.
By the way, check out my complete low end mixing tutorial for tips on how to create more space down here and get the kick and bass to work together for a cleaner, better sounding mix.
(Dynamic) Cut at 70Hz/Kick Fundamental
Part of the aforementioned technique for getting the kick and bass to work together is to create a dynamic cut at 70Hz on the bass which is sidechained to the kick.
My favorite EQ, FabFilter’s Pro-Q 3, allows you to select any band and make it dynamic as well as sidechain them to an external source (in this case our kick).
The result is that when the kick triggers, the bass ducks out exclusively at the frequency we dictate. This keeps the rest of the bass intact so we’re not sacrificing more than we need to, maintaining a more natural bass sound.
Note that 70Hz is simply a general recommended spot which works well. Check your kick’s EQ to determine where its fundamental frequency is strongest (which will likely be somewhere in the 50-80Hz range) and set the dynamic cut accordingly.
Check out my FabFilter Pro-Q 3 review for more information on why it’s my favorite EQ and plugin in existence along with information on how to use its many, MANY features.
Boost at 150, 300, 600, 1200Hz
This is where I diverge from my traditional bass EQ mindset. I would normally be boosting on the low end of this, but more likely sculpting out the 400-600Hz region to clean up the tone.
With rock bass, I love the grittiness you get from boosting the body at 150Hz and its warm overtones at 300Hz, 600Hz, and 1200Hz.
There’s a chunk, dirty kind of thickness you get from 2-3dB boosts at each of these points which sounds great on the bass in rock, especially alongside the guitars.
This is a great time to mention that your starting bass tone will undoubtedly vary from mine which will obviously depend on how you captured it whether it’s DI vs a bass amp.
As such, your tone may benefit from more or less of a boost in these areas.
Boost or Cut at 2k to Control Clarity
2k is an area we can use to control the contour of our recorded rock bass tone via the bass EQ.
The idea here is simple enough: assuming you’ve done everything else, if you want more clarity then boost here. If you want to emphasize more of that grit from the low-mids and mids on the bass, cut here.
Boost at 4-6k For String Transients
If you’re finding that your rock bass isn’t asserting itself as much as you’d like, try a small boost in the 4-6k range.
This is where the percussiveness of the strings themselves comes through. Our ears are pulled to the transients or that initial high frequency rich sound of an instrument, or in this case the sound of the strings.
A little boost here helps them to be a little more present, and with it the rest of the bass. Just be careful when you’re compressing your bass so that you don’t set the attack too fast so that they’re pulled down as a product of the compression to undo the boost you just made.
Incidentally, check out my bass compression guide for a complete overview on the perfect bass compression settings!
Low Pass at 10k
There’s nothing happening above the sounds of the strings themselves, so feel free to low pass the bass around 10k to remove inaudible/unnecessary frequencies, creating space for the instruments which need this space to themselves like the cymbals.
This also creates a tiny ounce of more headroom. 10k is pretty conservative on the bass; just listen closely as you bring that low pass filter down farther to ensure you’re not losing the string transients.
Rock Bass EQ Reviewed
- Rock bass isn’t about sculpting out the low-mids and mids like other genres and this bass can benefit from more body and overtones for that grit in rock moreso than other genres.
- High pass at 40Hz to clean up the low end, remove inaudible frequencies and noise, and add headroom.
- Find your kick’s fundamental frequency and create a complimentary cut on your bass (70Hz is a good starting point). A sidechaining dynamic cut works well to get the kick and bass to work together without sacrificing more than you need to.
- Boost at 150Hz, 300Hz, 600Hz, and 1200Hz to add a warmth, chunkiness, and grittiness in the body and overtones which works well especially alongside guitars for rock.
- Boost or cut at 2k to control your tone’s clarity as necessary.
- Try a small boost at 4-6k to bring out the transients of your bass’ strings to help it better assert itself in the mix.
- Low pass filtering around 10k (or lower) removes inaudible and unnecessary frequencies from the top end of your bass, creating more headroom
