Phil Starr

you are probably in the wrong part of the forum, repairs and technical would be better. Which Fusion is it, one with a valve or one without? Really hard to tell but if it was a conventional amp I'd look at biasing or at something overloading. You could try putting a signal into the effects in channel and seeing if the buzz disappears. If it does the power amp is OK. Alternatively you could take a line out into another amp, if the buzz remains it is before the line out and I'd be looking at a valve swap if yours has a valve. In the end you are probably looking at taking it to a tech I'm afraid.

Speaker ready for its first run out. [attachment=161129:1x12 prototypes 006.jpg]

ports cut (from standard downpipe) to try assorted tunings. [attachment=161128:1x12 prototypes 005.jpg]

I think we might have one to try, though I don't have one here. This cab is meant to be full range for bass and the LF has very restricted top end so it wasn't a top choice for this though it models Ok in this box.

Ok they are up and working, though I want to test them extensively before giving out detailed designs. To me they just run down to bottom E with no change in timbre, just an even open sound. The top is pretty neutral sounding too, no obvious sound added by the cab. this is just a 10 min workout though. More to come

[attachment=161098:Beyma SM212.jpg] Speakers about to go in. Spec Sheet http://www.lautsprechershop.de/pdf/beyma/beyma_sm212.pdf chosen because of excellent excursion figures, good damping and good cone break up performance giving useful upper frequencies. Also because they sound good and are cheapish for a quality speaker. Without more testing though we're not ready to recommend them as the final design, that's why we have two cabs, we can swap ports and drivers and do A/B comparisons.

[attachment=161064:1x12 prototypes 001.jpg] Cutting a long story short I've a new band, a list of 30 songs to learn, and fell so far behind with the diary that I decided time was better spent building a speaker. I'll revisit the discussions we had when I get time, for those of you who find it useful. Anyway if I've done this right it should be a pic of the prototype. Four ports because we intend experimenting to see if port noise is an issue and we want to try tunings for maximum power and maximum output down to low B. The final version will probably have a shelf port for ease of construction. As ordered it is proportioned to take a rack amp on one of its sides. The cab is 50 litres plus enough for the ports, bracing and the speaker. The cab is made out of flimsy 12mm ply because we want to investigate panel resonances. This cab is 6.9kg and the speaker is 4.6kg so with bracing and fittings the cab will weigh in at about 12.5 kg. a one handed lift. I'm off to fit the drive units; Beyma SM212's

I'm assuming he will use the same output he feeds into his current amp or that he intends feeding into his class D amp.

Why do you need an amp? All the eq is done and the monitoring is through in ears, so you only need to be louder and only need something with a flat output. Go straight into the PA and the audience should hear what you do through the in ears. If you or the rest of the band need some on-stage bass then use an active PA speaker, possibly a wedge, possibly not, with the flat class D amp you want already built in. Why carry a box, which for the way you are set up is not needed. Decent PA speakers should handle bass as well as a bass speaker and if you have DSP built in then there should be no way of blowing the speaker.

Just to expand upon the complexity that Stevie mentioned. there are several ways in which you can 'blow' a speaker. The wattage is based on the speakers ability to withstand the heating effect of lots of watts, The cab isn't part of this so putting in two 500W speakers would give you a 1000W thermal rating for example. But speakers also blow because they try and move too far and leave the safety of the magnetic gap and/or bang against the back of the magnet. People talk about Xmax or excursion limits. Since the cab alters and damps the movement of the cone and each speaker is different the cone will move more in the 'wrong' cab than one designed specifically for it and will blow at a much lower power than its rated power. You wouldn't just drop a different engine with more horsepower into a car and expect the gearbox etc to work properly without modification and sometimes it just wouldn't fit, or be a sensible mod.

Welcome to Basschat,

First check nothing inside the cab is touching the cones, sometimes wires etc come loose and rattle against the cone. then check the speaker over carefully and look for something coming unglued, either the dust cap in the middle or the corrugated surround, also possible tears. repairs can be done with Copydex for sticking and Copydex and tissue for tear patching. If the speaker coil is rubbing it needs replacement

[quote name='warwickhunt' timestamp='1397115289' post='2420693'] IMHO if your 350w isn't enough to be heard over the band then 'everyone' is likely playing too loud, which in turn means that if you want to continue playing at those volumes then you may need to look at upgrading your PA so that it can handle the job of amplifying the band and your combo can go back to its job of being a monitor for the bass. Just an outsiders view of the 'likely' issues. [/quote] There's more than a grain of truth in this. I use a 2x10 with 300W and never struggle for volume, I've no idea what the Fender sounds like but it should be enough. The problem may be the guitarists, you only need to match the drummer who of course can't turn up. If you match the drums and can't hear then no-one can hear the drums either and you will sound poor whatever you do. Turn down the guitar amps and the band will sound like a band. The other problem may be where the bass amp is pointing. Bass goes everywhere but the mids and tops from you cab are what you need to pick yourself out from the mix, move the cab or yourself so it points at your ears.

I use the same mixer, I take from aux1 and use a jack splitter to feed to two sides of a stereo amp (Peavey IPR1600) if your budget is limited then there are some good classD lightweight amps from Thomann or even Behringer that would do the job for £200 or even less. Conversely I've just tried the Behringer B205 active personal monitors and for vocals they are just the ticket at £139ea you'll need one each though. I'm buying a second one.

Hi Tom, the trouble is you can't trust everything you hear on the internet, even me. The only thing you can really trust is your own ears. If you want to buy your ideal set up the only way is to try it with your own bass and amp, then try the others you are considering and only pay out when you are happy. Listen to advice but treat it with scepticism. It's best not to obsess too much over speaker size, it is important but is only one factor out of many. All things being equal bigger speakers will give you more bass and small speakers more mids and tops but all things are never equal. You can get mid biased, bass light 15's and bass heavy dull sounding 10's but that has led a few people to forget that these are exceptions that prove the rule. It's also true that we don't all agree over what constitutes 'real' bass. The 'real' bass punch of the average 4x10 is due to packing lots of cheap speakers into a too small box. This actually limits deep bass but gives a real mid bass hump of an extra 3dB or so. Packing lots of speakers together causes interference between them so the bassist can't hear the tops so well, which means the bass sounds heavier, it's often just a loss of upper mids. However I'd say many of the big bands I've seen on tour still use 8x10's because they don't have to lift them themselves and they like the sound. 4x10's aren't 'wrong' they are just another option with a few characteristic features and which are currently unfashionable. So I don't know what you mean by bass, do you mean an extended frequency range? capability to produce lots of bass without distorting or just a bias to bass over treble? I also don't know what anyone else means by terms like 'clean' or even 'neutral' So I'd agree with Thodrik don't make your mind up before you try, you liked the sound of the Aguilars so you have to try them somehow, then these are the ones to beat.

Yep, all good advice. I've been running a thread on this on another site if you are interested http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1591207

Just a thought, is that frequency plot with one or two drivers in the cab? My reservation with the Celestions is their relatively high fs.(fo in Peavey speak) if the cab is tuned to 50ish Hz it may need the ports re tuned.

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1396274039' post='2411637'] I'd add that some singers, mostly beginners, don't like to hear themselves in the monitors. The more they're given, the less they'll 'project'. There's a learning curve here, but sometimes it helps, at first at least, to actually [i]reduce [/i]the foldback level, to encourage them to sing up. [/quote] the reverse is true of guitarists, turn the foldback right up and sometimes they'll even turn down

I also have the IPR1600, I bought a second so I must have been happy. One speaker per channel is best there's even a built in crossover to a sub built in so you could try that as an experiment although probably not an important option. Reliable and absurdly light. Even with the IPR 1600 you might end up driving the 1x15 too hard so listen out for any unusual noises and turn down. How powerful is your ABM? You really ought to be able to out-muscle any drummer with those two cabs. The PA amp will give you a much cleaner sound though. If the festival is open air you'll still need PA support.

This is a good demonstration of off axis response and distance problems http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvUfXxalD7Q

[quote name='geoffbyrne' timestamp='1396177635' post='2410602'] Would a bit of compression allow you to turn her up a bit? G. [/quote] No, compression brings up the feedback and makes things worse. If you think about it guitarists use feedback to improve their sustain.

Good luck with the mic technique, our singer bought a top of the range Shure KSM9 to solve the problems. Sounds wonderful but at a gig, after a couple of rums for courage, she was holding the mic at arms length and complaining that she couldn't hear herself through the monitors. When I suggested, probably fairly forcefully that she might like to hold it up to her mouth she informed me that she shouldn't need to with a £500 mic. It's not uncommon for the non-techie to resent the laws of physics, there's a lovely scene in Zen and The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance where two people fall out over the thought of using a piece of coke tin as a shim rather than buying a specially imported German shim. The best bet might be to get her to watch videos female singers who really use good mic technique. The 45degree thing is usually copying the pose off some pop video which looks cool but is just someone miming. Hope she never reads this. I love her dearly but she drove me nuts.

Hi, we had the same problem for years, our singer had a great voice but quiet and no mic technique. Your problem is gain before feedback, your mixer will probably let her be loud enough but you'l get howlround before you run out of gain. Adding a pre amp won't help that. First of all the SM58 isn't the best for avoiding feedback, it was great in 1962 but we can do better now. It is a cardioid and a super or hyper cardioid has a tighter pick up pattern and will reject feedback better. Audix OM5 would be better as would several by AKG, Electrovoice, Sennheiser, The other thing to look at is mic technique, pointing the mic straight at the back of her mouth and holding it right up to her lips would raise the level of her voice compared to the racket the rest of the band are making and reduce the gain needed to get her loud enough. Trouble is many singers find this intimidating if they lack confidence.

Enjoy

Who is it that can't hear the bass? I gig regularly with a 2x10, nothing particularly special either in terms of efficiency. I can be louder than the drummer and I don't need any more than that unless I'm playing outdoors. Your guitarists should probably try and find their volume controls, they don't have to play on 11. It's possible that everyone else can hear the bass perfectly and at the right volume, You may not because a 2x10 isn't very high and is probably pointing at your knees or thereabouts. you hear better with your ears By all means take the extra cab, you'll get the benefit of raising one of your cabs to ear level so you will hear yourself much more clearly than currently. Or you could tilt your cab. I'd probably go for the extra 2x10 with all the speakers in a vertical line but if you have all three cabs you could try both combinations.