What should i do about my M.G. Metro ;)

[Raslee]

That'll be Massively Great (Eden) Metro... off course .

I currently have this lovely amp in the for sale section with extension cab, but I'm not 100% convinced I really want to part with it as it sounds great, simply Eden = awesome to my ears.

However I'm knocking out 400W at 4ohms with the ext. cab and i'm finding in rehearsal that I cannot turn it too loud without the 2x10"'s flapping a bit, I've tried a myriad of settings but to no avail - plus i have also read on TB and the Eden forum about the 10"'s flapping if used with lots of low end. I'm finding that i can't get loud enough to keep up with the others.

Now admittedly I'm playing reggae here with a lot of low end, the 15" seems to handle this fine but the 2x10's fart out in the reggae territory...although i must add they are fine for everything else as long as you not over boosting the low end. This Metro is 600W at 2ohms but i don't have the funds for another 4ohm cab right now......and my Genz is dedicated to my other band

So my options:[list=1]
[*]Continue with flogging it and get something louder (or use my very loud 1500W Carvin amp and get a lighweight class D for my regular gigging band...i don't want to use the Eden in my regular gigging soul band due to heavy weight/carrying, regular weekly gigs etc etc..basically the reggae guys have their own studio and its always a case of loading into a van...minimal effort and few select gigs )
[*]Change the speakers in Metro...but to what?? Have been quoted £78+VAT per speaker for Eden XST speakers - bit skint right now so £200's worth of speaker may be hard to sort...i know the cab may not be tuned etc but it should work ok according to the Eden forum.....tempted to go 4ohms too as to get more watts out the amp, giving me the 2.63ohms with the 15" ext cab.
[*]Remove Metro head, get a box made up for it (but where?) and use different speakers?
[*]Join a country band
[/list]
Anyhow, thanks for your thoughts & advice in advance

[Tdw]

Hi, i also use a metro in a reggae band and i think it is a good amp for reggae. Personally i find that with an extension cab its loud enough for any gig, however my band (leicester reggae band The Paradimes) are not particularly loud on stage. I think running more/bigger cabs at 2.6 ohms would be worth a try, or maybe try to get the rest of the band to lower the onstage volume a bit?

[xgsjx]

It's nothing to do with the diamiter of the drivers, but their xmax. If they're farting, they're not very good drivers for bass.
I'd go with flogging it & get something with better drivers. I don't know how loud you play, but I don't get any farting with my Markbass 2x10 combo & I'm certainly not a quiet player (I play DnB & Dubstep basslines).

[Merton]

Flog the combo, buy the equivalent head (WT550? Cracking amp, my favourite solid state head ever!) and buy a second 1x15 cab too

[Raslee]

Hmmm, decisions decisions. If it doesn't sell before coming into some funds then i may well put 2 x Eminence Legend BP102's in for the low end -these seem to be the best low end 10" speakers i've found so far, probably 2 x 8ohms and wire in parallel to give me 4ohms and hopefully more volume.

Would it be a good idea to stuff my Metro cabinet a bit, thinking fiberglass, to make it more bassier.???...I'm basically looking to get as much low end as possible out of this little combo

Edited January 31, 2014 by Rasta

[Merton]

Don't change the speakers, waste of time and effort and you may end up worse off. Unless you can accurately model their behaviour in that enclosure and are confident of course....?

Sell the combo, but a head and another 15, honestly it makes sense

[redstriper]

Hey up Rasta,

Do you need to boost the low end as much as you think?
There may be enough bass by just cutting all the treble and middle without adding bass EQ on the amp.
It's important to have a strong bass sound for the drummer and other musicians to hear, but it doesn't have to be excessively deep bass heavy on stage.
The PA can handle the deep lows for FOH, taking pressure off the need for deep bass on stage - that's if you have a PA of course.
Another thing - you can increase the bass response by placing the rig against a wall, or better still in a corner.
If none of this works, you better start saving your pennies...

I play reggae gigs with a markbass LM11 and 2 x lightweight 15" 8 ohm cabs.
It's loud enough for small clubs with no PA, it's very deep sounding with no bass boost and all treble and mids cut on the amp.

Finally - don't join a country band (yet)

[Raslee]

[quote name='Merton' timestamp='1391279554' post='2355374']
Don't change the speakers, waste of time and effort and you may end up worse off. Unless you can accurately model their behaviour in that enclosure and are confident of course....?

Sell the combo, but a head and another 15, honestly it makes sense
[/quote]

Yes I know what you mean. However I've searched the net and looked at my cabinet dimensions etc and the Legends appear to offer the best solution for my needs, but its far from perfect and am aware it could prove futile in the end. As my rig is at our practice studio i can't really play around with it right now but i'm wondering if the original speakers are perhaps a little 'high mileaged' , after all the amp is a 1997. I may consider a cheaper re-cone on the original speakers. It is still up for sale and i guess i'll leave it there for now, but it is early days and no bites as of yet so If a buyer comes along in the next month or so then i may sell it on...but my preference would be for another Eden head so you can perhaps understand working with what i have.

[quote name='redstriper' timestamp='1391284377' post='2355450']
Hey up Rasta,

Do you need to boost the low end as much as you think?
There may be enough bass by just cutting all the treble and middle without adding bass EQ on the amp.
It's important to have a strong bass sound for the drummer and other musicians to hear, but it doesn't have to be excessively deep bass heavy on stage.
The PA can handle the deep lows for FOH, taking pressure off the need for deep bass on stage - that's if you have a PA of course.
Another thing - you can increase the bass response by placing the rig against a wall, or better still in a corner.
If none of this works, you better start saving your pennies...

I play reggae gigs with a markbass LM11 and 2 x lightweight 15" 8 ohm cabs.
It's loud enough for small clubs with no PA, it's very deep sounding with no bass boost and all treble and mids cut on the amp.

Finally - don't join a country band (yet)
[/quote]

Hiya dready ,

It's a weird one on the low end, i probably don't need so much lows in reality but the dubs that I'm doing is with a guy who writes his own stuff (Daddy Teacha) and does the bass on keyboards, very low, phat and in your chest sound kind of thing. The band and I like to recreate something close on stage, quite phat and muddy but with a little definition...certainly feeling the bass in the chest - at least for the drummer & I - this is why i need the volume and bass (sound system stylie ).

Most of the gigs with this band are a few festivals, clubs etc so PA is generally provided which does the front sound adequately. The thing is I've had the sound I'm after (or at least to my ears) in the past with an Eden WT800 (which turned out to be a bit unreliable in the end) and a 6x10 Warwick cab, I've also had close with 2 x Ampeg SVT 4x10's HLF's and Ampeg head, this rig was super phat but lacked definition compared to the Eden - all those rigs were sold after the bands collapsed with nothing happening. Typically after those bands collapsed i would join a regular gigging soul or funk band and wanted something lighter and more hifi sounding rather something geared up for dubby lows.

I've tried a Markbass 15" combo and 15" ext cab in the past, that was a great generic amp but it never gave me the chest thump that the Eden & 6x10, or the Ampeg rig did...i guess its that compromise over weight and sound but the Markbass was good - Robbie Shakespear has used them so i guess its coming from the gods however I've not be blown away for Neo's for reggae to be honest with the exception of the Barefaced dubster, again another cab passed through Rasta hands before a band collapsing and moving on. The Dubster didn't cut it for the proceeding funk band

So rather than go around in an infinite regression of gear I've been working towards having two rigs, one for reggae and one for other stuff. I'm in the lucky position now that i have two rigs where my lightweight rig is perfect for my soul function stuff and after buying/selling/trading and saving i finally have the Eden rig for the reggae stuff that i wanted...but I'm just a bit surprised that the Eden isn't cutting the mustard in the volume that i wanted for the dub sounds..., it does sound absolutely brilliant at quieter levels but speakers flap when volume is increased which I've never had this problem before, however i must add that I'm running just the 2x10 and a 15", both 8ohms and could be getting up to around 400W out the amp...but as the speakers flap before half vol then i guess I'm nowhere near the max of 400W. I should perhaps give my soul band Neo rig a try for some reggae stuff and go full circle again....nooooooo!!!.

On the Metro I've actually not got the bass frequencies that high to be honest having mainly cut the high's...as i say i have tried a myriad of settings but still the speakers flap at higher vols, however when i increase the highs i get no flap or volume issues - so i believe the amps to be fine for say funky, rock stuff etc. Also when i cut the bass levels i don't get the chest thump that I'm looking for in my reggae sound. It appears the 2x10's are the weak part of my amp chain I guess. So my options are sell the rig, or remove head and get amp case made up giving me more options for different speakers (thinking more about this), or perhaps change the speakers in the Metro or recone the originals. To add, I have borrowed a Peavy 2x10 4ohm cab which i will add to the rig this week giving me the full 600W at 2ohms max of the amp, surely that will easily be loud enough..... but will it help handle the low frequencies???...we'll see .

Perhaps i need an 8K reggae sound system rig behind me haha...as long as someone else carries it.

Just turned 40 the other day, not ready for Country band yet....however they do call us the West Country down ere'

Here's some Daddy Teach stuff....he likes his bass phat:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=031lltVOmZg

Edited March 24, 2014 by icastle
Link fixed.

[redstriper]

Sounds like you need your original rig back - the [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Eden WT800 and 6x10 Warwick cab, or similar.[/font][/color]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]I've compromised on chest thumping tone on stage for an easier life, huge heavy rigs are ok for you youngsters....[/font][/color]