Bass Amp Settings

[Johnny Guitar]

Hey all you Sunn Bass Players!
I'm a guitar player that dabbles with Bass.     I love my Sunn Amps for guitar but I also have a 200S and a Fender P-Bass deluxe.  Could you experienced Bassists give me some example settings that you use for different styles of Bass through a 200S.  Also a couple of different brands of strings that you prefere.
Thanks!
Johnny G. 

[EdBass]

I mostly set the amp for the venue. But, I think that there are so many variables, i.e., bass choice, cabinet configuration, venues, variances from amp to amp, music genre, and the biggie; personal taste, that it would be difficult for anyone to give you advice about tone settings.
You just need to play around until you find what sounds good to your ears.

I've used Rotosound RS66LD on most of my basses for almost 4 decades, the only exceptions are a P and a fretless G&L SB1 that I keep strung with LaBella 760FM and D'Addario's on my 12 string. I've tried most every fad new "best ever" strings that have come along; coated this, cryogenic that, but none have that killer zing of a fresh set of stainless Rotosounds IMO. The Rotos don't last as long as some, and they are a little pricey, but the best sounding.
All of which is my opinion, of course; see the paragraph above... 

[Isaac]

With my 200S, I start out by deciding which cabinet I'm going to use with the head. the 200S cabinet, with two JBL D140 drivers, can be too loud in a lot of venues. If it's a small room, I might use a smaller cabinet with a D130. For bigger gigs, I'll use the Model T.

I start with the tone controls at zero. That's the flattest response, and that's how I usually prefer it. I like the sounds of my basses, so I don't mess with them much. Then, once in the room, whether at sound check or as we play, I might increase the bass or treble a little, rarely past 2.

I'm not a string connoisseur. I think I'm using DR strings for roundwounds, Fender flats on one bass and Fender nylon tapewounds on another. They all sound different, and they all sound good. Probably because they're all on Rics!

[Duffy]

Welcome to the world of low frequency, as you will find from the responses that you get you have opened pandoras box. not only is the sound your after an individual thing as it is with guitar sound, low frequency is very difficult to work with. most of us have spent years of trial in this field to achive the sound we are after, as one responder said there are so many varibles to getting and keeping that sound from venue to venue as acuostics in rooms really effect the low spectrum. having said that as a rule of thumb, the bulk of your sound comes from the type of bass you have and the pick-ups, the type of strings, and most importantly, your playing style.I have 8 sunns and thirty total vacumme tube bass amps. I play with northwest blues man Henry Cooper. I start with the amps set flat with no tone effect from the amp,if your getting the basic sound you want from your bass, you should only need minor amounts of eq to dial it in for the room that your in, and as stated by one of the other responders the right speakers for the room to complete the chain. for the blues that I play, I use a custom built fender jazz bass with emg-x pickups and an onboard aguilar tone circuit 18 v powered. I use Dr stainless flat wounds.with the bass able to provide the sound I am after I run all my tube amps flat period and complete the sound with proper speakers to deliver that sound to the room.happy hunting, peace, Danny

[Oli]

Hi,

I found out that there is a huge sound difference in very Sunn amp (got two Sorados, that sound totally different). I use a 1989 Fender PB 70 or a 2008 Fender P USA (both with fingers) and a Thunderbird (with pleck), 50...115 Strings from GHS, full treble on all basses. For me Treble on 3, Bass on 2 sounds great. Volume is depending on the room, when I pass the 5 the sound is fantastic (slight overdrive), with 8 I have just overdrive with very weak dynamics. All this is depending what kind of Box U use, the FMC is easy, the 4x10" from Sunn Fender is a bit lazy and less actual.

Greetings

Oli