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Using a "Gramma Pad" when not needed.


goingdownslow
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Last week at a regular small pub gig I was using my Hartke Kickback15 combo. From the moment I switched on and played through it it did not sound right. A thin nasaly tone (like what you my think from a tin speaker) no bass or warmth. No amount of twiddling the knobs could get the sound I normally get from it. Adding more bass was just making it distort. I just had to play with a crap sound and get the gig over.
I checked it over the next morning and could find nothing wrong, tried it and it sounded ok. I was scratching my head wondering what had it been.
I was using the combo during the week and it was really pumping as it always had done and I was thinking why did it sound so different the last time.

It has now just dawned on me, I had used my home made "Gramma Pad" where I had not used it previously. It had been in the back of the car and I just automatically picked it up and took it in.
This platform has always done just what it is supposed to do on a boomy box stage, would it have had an adverse effect on the solid floor of the pub.
I will try the "with and without" test the next time I am there.

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[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1416786040' post='2613645']
I use my Gramma on solid floors and I've not had any problems with the sound or tone.
[/quote]

Same here.
I just use it as a 'default' because it's far easier to stand cabs and amp on it whilst setting up than it is to shift the entire rig to get the Gramma in if needed.

Apart from making the obvious adjustments to take into the account the venue acoustics, it's never been a problem for me.

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[quote name='bertbass' timestamp='1416779658' post='2613580']
Found the same thing with a Gramma Pad. I now only use it when it's needed.
[/quote]

Had the same experience here.......

Sounds pants in a nice room but in a room with boomy tendencies it tightens everything up.

Played in a place on Friday thats a big echoey wooden building with big windows down one side and no fabric (and not many punters!) which i have historically failed to get any slam or definition in. Thought i would try the Gramma and it worked a treat, best sound i/we have ever had there.
Conversely have used it in a nice warm pub full of peeps where the sound is usually great and it sucked all the life out if my rig.

Use with care......

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[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1416845896' post='2614198']
IMO if you are relying on acoustic coupling between your rig and the room to give you the right sound, then something is wrong with your rig.
[/quote]
+1 to that. Sounds like the room had some kind of natural bass trapping properties. If you have enough headroom from your amp/cab/combo it shouldn't be an issue, but where you can clearly become unstuck is reaching the limits of your rig when adding LF.

More power handling doesn't mean you [i]have to[/i] go louder, it just means you can get the sound you want wherever you want... Having said that I don't use a gramma pad, I have a Carlsberg Crate and it's probably the best acoustic de-coupler in the world :)

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I use my Gramma Pad as an automatic default at every gig I play unless there's a really solid reason not to. It almost invariably allows a great sound - note "allows", not "creates".

Exceptions?

By far the worst sound I've had in the last few years was at a very small pub where my Barefaced Compact had to be placed on a padded bench which stood on flagstones. No Gramma.

On the other hand, the second worst was on a largish wooden stage in a fairly large room, where nothing I could do would make the boom go away. If that had been the first time I'd used a Gramma then I'd have (wrongly) sold it the next morning. Some rooms just don't do EQ. :rolleyes:

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