Going back to school ? Old school style

[JTUK]

Our drummer will turn sick with the DB power if too close.
Not saying that is a good thing as I do think some places
just aren't suitable for it but he has never ever complained
when I use the lightweight rig.

[Marvin]

I've never owned any lightweight gear, never had the money for it.

I've got a s/h 410 that isn't light and a rack mounted amp. I'm lucky at the moment that our drummers husband lends a hand with moving gear about. Although to be honest even at 35kg, I don't actually find my 410 that much of an issue.


Forgot to add, it all sounded damned lovely last night when my band practiced in a large village hall

Edited December 20, 2014 by Marvin

[Lozz196]

[quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1419084698' post='2636369']
It's not a volume thing, it's a tone thing.

I think that a class A power section though lots of speakers sounds better than class D through an efficient single speaker cab. Even at lower volumes.

And it's always nice to know that you've got the headroom should you need it!

Truckstop
[/quote]

Agree with that Alex, also think Class D through lots of speakers sounds better than through a single speaker. It`s probably why, although I`ve used 2x12s for a while now, my fave - but unliftable - cabs are 4x10s.

[ezbass]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1419099933' post='2636607']
Class D through lots of speakers sounds better than through a single speaker.
[/quote]I do love my 8x5 Phil Jones rig

[spacey]

[quote name='gsgbass' timestamp='1418088458' post='2626815']
I went back to a tube head, and a 410 cab.


[/quote] Oh Yes please Santa !

Edited December 20, 2014 by spacey

[mazdah]

Is Ashdown little bastard old school enough? I sold my new portaflex to get it. Nice score, all valve and light head.

Edited December 21, 2014 by mazdah

[notable9]

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1417871254' post='2624717']
Again, my 2p.

You can't just play big or old gear and get a better sound. It takes more than that. You can sound just as bad with "old school" gear as you can with modern gear, and a lot of the "old school" gear guys do not make the most of their sound. Having good ears is better than having good gear.

I've heard so many guys with vintage gear, thinking they are the mutts nuts because this what the original guys played, and they usually don't sound half as good as they think they are.

IMO old gear is mostly just old gear. Most of the music played in the first 20 years of Rock sounded pretty average, so I don't get any warm feeling when I see old gear. The strength of back then was what the guys played on that gear. As the gear has got better the creativity of musicians has dropped off. But that might be a different thread.
[/quote]

+1 But I sure wish I had never sold my immacualte 1976 V4B amp. It looked great, weighed a ton and sounded spectacular..

[notable9]

[quote name='scalpy' timestamp='1419072975' post='2636194']
Cheese Louise the volume some of you guys must play at- excuse me for being frank but it must be borderline insanity. Back in the day I used to play in a full bore rock band, Marshall stacks and heavy handed drummer etc but I used 410 with a 140w head, running at 8 ohms. At a recent hearing test my response to bass frequencies was below the average for my age group. I actually play bigger gigs now, including the fabled 'festival' stage size, which I take to mean outdoors on a stage you can actually move around on. Two 112 cabs is more than enough, and that again is with a drummer capable of moments of seismic proportions. The ego of the people responsible for the midrange seems paramount, if they are volume mad lunatics it causes chaos for everyone else. Been there and done that with the full stack business and not only am I convinced no one needs 500w plus and cabs capable of in excess of 100db I'm sure that it's ruining the live music scene for all concerned. In this day and age, if anyone in your audience has to shout in the ear of who they are talking too you as an musician are irresponsible. As a demographic we've been capable of producing these volume levels for 40 years and that initial generation, who haven't died before they got old have trashed hearing. The full stack is a dinosaur that should go the way of ducking witches and drilling holes in the head to cure headaches.
[/quote]

+1 and look where it's got us. I had to go to my local towns Xmas lights switch on (dont ask) and the local radio station was using what must have been around a 2/3000 wt rig in a small packed space. Jeez I had to put me plugs in which I always carry now,..ridiculous sound pressure levels, I even saw little kids with their fingers in their ears....madness.

[Truckstop]

Played a gig the other week, finished at midnight and then they had a DJ for the last 2 hours of the event and, I tell you, the noise levels actually shocked me. My head was swimming it was so loud! No-one was dancing, everyone was as far away from the dance floor as possible!

It was so unpleasant I actually felt close to tears.

Truckstop

[Subthumper]

[quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1419165721' post='2637103']
Played a gig the other week, finished at midnight and then they had a DJ for the last 2 hours of the event and, I tell you, the noise levels actually shocked me. My head was swimming it was so loud! No-one was dancing, everyone was as far away from the dance floor as possible!

It was so unpleasant I actually felt close to tears.




Truckstop

[/quote]
Had this situation last night, except it was the pub jukebox dialled to total distortion playing what felt like three albums worth of Oasis whilst we set up . I don't mind deafening myself but it was truly uncomfortable.

Edited December 21, 2014 by Subthumper

[Lozz196]

And isn`t it odd that bands have to play through those poxy limiter things, whereas one bloke with a laptop doesn`t, yet invariably is louder than virtually all the bands (put together, in some cases).

[scalpy]

[quote name='notable9' timestamp='1419165181' post='2637099']


+1 and look where it's got us. I had to go to my local towns Xmas lights switch on (dont ask) and the local radio station was using what must have been around a 2/3000 wt rig in a small packed space. Jeez I had to put me plugs in which I always carry now,..ridiculous sound pressure levels, I even saw little kids with their fingers in their ears....madness.
[/quote]

We did our local Christmas lights switch on! If it's us you're thinking of I apologise, and would like to point out I used a small rig and the guitarist's amp was set to 5w! Volume out the front out of our hands.

[scalpy]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1419187106' post='2637403']
And isn`t it odd that bands have to play through those poxy limiter things, whereas one bloke with a laptop doesn`t, yet invariably is louder than virtually all the bands (put together, in some cases).
[/quote]

One act I play for got a gig in Shoreditch at this venue with banksys in the pub garden. When the dj came on it was so loud I could feel my hair moving. Insane and totally irresponsible.

[M@23]

[quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1419165721' post='2637103']
Played a gig the other week, finished at midnight and then they had a DJ for the last 2 hours of the event and, I tell you, the noise levels actually shocked me. My head was swimming it was so loud! No-one was dancing, everyone was as far away from the dance floor as possible!

It was so unpleasant I actually felt close to tears.

Truckstop
[/quote]

Unfortunately, this is pretty standard in the pub/clubs my functions band plays. I have foam ear plugs I put in once we have finished our set now - distorted hearing and dizziness whilst trying to pack down is not nice. It's actually shocking that the the noise levels were more comfortable for you being stood a metre from the drummer for 2 hours than the house PA at normal operating level.

[notable9]

[quote name='scalpy' timestamp='1419196009' post='2637528']
We did our local Christmas lights switch on! If it's us you're thinking of I apologise, and would like to point out I used a small rig and the guitarist's amp was set to 5w! Volume out the front out of our hands.
[/quote]

There was no band..your in the clear!
No it was something like Wave105fm here on the south coast...I reckon it's all got something to do with a whole generation that is going deaf at an early age because of the prolonged use of in ear headphones, it just does'nt sound that loud to them.

[Adrenochrome]

[quote name='scalpy' timestamp='1419072975' post='2636194']
Cheese Louise the volume some of you guys must play at- excuse me for being frank but it must be borderline insanity.
[/quote]

I absolutely agree with you. I depped on Saturday with what was my main band until recently. The drummer has got a new louder snare and the backline level has gone up again. I had to have my earplugs rammed inside my ears as hard as possible just to be able to think. Ridiculous and unhealthy in my opinion.

[chris_b]

I have more watts in my rig than my first 2 bands put together, (actually with my new 900 watt amp, that's probably the first 3 bands) but IME the more you turn the volume controls anti-clockwise the better the tone gets. Funny that!

We played a gig on Saturday where we were asked to play "a bit quieter", because of neighbour problems. We turned down, got a good balance, had an enjoyable gig, the audience spent the night dancing and we did 3 encores.

The pub owner was telling us afterwards that the rock bands (with their huge stacks of amps) on the previous 2 gigs had refused to turn down, causing him lots of problems.

They've been fired and we've got 4 gigs there next year.

[Dan Dare]

The problem with playing loud is that, unless the equipment is capable of delivering clean signal at high levels, the distortion can be enormous. Ignore claimed ratings of 900w, etc. An amp processing a simple sine wave may heat an 8 ohm resistor sufficiently for a few milliseconds for the manufacturer to be able to claim that, but a complex real world musical signal is a different matter. It's not the volume alone that is the problem, but all the nasties caused by overdriving the kit. DJs can be the worst offenders. They often have real El Cheapo stuff that they overdrive.

[Clarky72]

[quote name='gsgbass' timestamp='1418088458' post='2626815']
I went back to a tube head, and a 410 cab.


[/quote]nice!!