Kevin Dean Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 So I played my first gig with my new band in a very very small venue , I had my Barefaced Super Compact behind me powered by my Ashdown ABM1000 on top of an active sub (that I use to give the bass drum a bit of quality ) I thought I was easily loud enough But I got a lot of comments that I wasn't ? It's just occurred to me that a lot of the tone could have been blocked by my big fat carcass as I was only 12" away from it , Sound check sounded fine , but then I was wandering around on the dance floor . I'll try putting it on the floor next time as I'm built like a baked potato with two cocktail sticks for legs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulWarning Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 the curse of sound checks, what sound fine in an empty room will sound totally different when you get some bodies in there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 Yep, and having to stand immediately in front of the speaker(s) certainly doesn`t help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 On the other hand , you played a good gig and never deafened the punters . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 I always use my SC's louder than I think I should. I've never been asked to turn down. I played in a beer festival Marquee on Saturday and was asked to turn up. I thought I was loud but the volume out in the audience wasn't. I cranked my Mesa D800 and 2 SC's to 12 o'clock on the gain and master. Apparently it was just right. I'm getting better at finding a balance with my new SC's. They sound very different to my Bergs but I'm getting there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulWarning Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 played a gig on Saturday, sound check fine, when we started I could hardly hear myself, which should be ridiculous as I have a stack behind me, so I turned up a notch (trace elliot ) came off at half time and was told I was too loud, well you know what? I thought stuff that if I can't here myself what's the point? didn't seem to matter was a good gig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ambient Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 (edited) Sometimes it's eq more than volume. Trace Elliot gear with than horrible, inherent smily face eq may sound nice on its own, but soon gets lost in a band situation. I did 30 or so jazz gigs with a tiny Phil Jones 75 watt combo. Admittedly not huge venues, but still typical of most gigs that guys on here do, art galleries, marquees and pubs. I never had a problem with being heard, possibly because of its ultra clean sound ? Edited March 28, 2016 by ambient Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulWarning Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 [quote name='ambient' timestamp='1459174357' post='3014095'] Sometimes it's eq more than volume. Trace Elliot gear with than horrible, inherent smily face eq may sound nice on its own, but soon gets lost in a band situation. I did 30 or so jazz gigs with a tiny Phil Jones 75 watt combo. Admittedly not huge venues, but still typical of most gigs that guys on here do, art galleries, marquees and pubs. I never had a problem with being heard, possibly because of its ultra clean sound ? [/quote]first thing I did was turn that off, it was just as bad when I switched to my Fender Rumble for the 2nd half, it's not a question of lack of volume (I only had it on 9 o clock), we do have a loud drummer though, the problem being I was loud enough FOH just that I couldn't really hear myself, very strange, I've never experienced it before (not that degree anyway) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_bass5 Posted March 29, 2016 Share Posted March 29, 2016 (edited) [quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1459166554' post='3013997'] I'm getting better at finding a balance with my new SC's. They sound very different to my Bergs but I'm getting there. [/quote] Im finding the same thing going from my never not loud enough 1212L to my Barefaced BB2. Im finding the low end is so big that im basing my volume level on the volume of the E string, and then finding the rest of the bass isnt loud enough. Ive even mythologised to the band for being a bit loud after a gig, only to be told by all of them that they couldn't hear me most of the time. Im now working on having the lows back off a bit (never done that before), low mids up a bit and volume louder than i feel it should be. Seems to be getting there. It also doesn't help that when we sound check everyone else backs off a bit, doesn't put any effort in to it. Then when we play its louder, except i dont tend to turn up during a gig as i do base my level on sound checks. Edited March 29, 2016 by dave_bass5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevB Posted March 30, 2016 Share Posted March 30, 2016 [quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1459166820' post='3014000'] played a gig on Saturday, sound check fine, when we started I could hardly hear myself, which should be ridiculous as I have a stack behind me, so I turned up a notch (trace elliot ) came off at half time and was told I was too loud, well you know what? I thought stuff that if I can't here myself what's the point? didn't seem to matter was a good gig [/quote] I get that with my Trace combo sometimes, usually when I've ended up practically stood on top of it due to limited band space. It just seems to go through you and you don't really hear how loud it properly is unless you go off with a long lead or wireless down to where the crowd will be. I always briefly check my level roughly in the middle of where I'm expecting punters to be stood come showtime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulWarning Posted March 30, 2016 Share Posted March 30, 2016 [quote name='KevB' timestamp='1459345836' post='3015630'] I get that with my Trace combo sometimes, usually when I've ended up practically stood on top of it due to limited band space. It just seems to go through you and you don't really hear how loud it properly is unless you go off with a long lead or wireless down to where the crowd will be. I always briefly check my level roughly in the middle of where I'm expecting punters to be stood come showtime. [/quote]I think that was the problem, trouble is if I can't hear myself I just don't enjoy it, gonna try boosting the 300hz range next time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue Posted March 31, 2016 Share Posted March 31, 2016 (edited) [quote name='Kevin Dean' timestamp='1459164250' post='3013956'] So I played my first gig with my new band in a very very small venue , I had my Barefaced Super Compact behind me powered by my Ashdown ABM1000 on top of an active sub (that I use to give the bass drum a bit of quality ) I thought I was easily loud enough But I got a lot of comments that I wasn't ? It's just occurred to me that a lot of the tone could have been blocked by my big fat carcass as I was only 12" away from it , Sound check sounded fine , but then I was wandering around on the dance floor . I'll try putting it on the floor next time as I'm built like a baked potato with two cocktail sticks for legs [/quote] If your all low frequency, a lot of people can't hear the low end notes in that range. Blue Edited March 31, 2016 by blue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bassman7755 Posted March 31, 2016 Share Posted March 31, 2016 (edited) [quote name='dave_bass5' timestamp='1459260659' post='3014872'] Im finding the low end is so big that im basing my volume level on the volume of the E string, and then finding the rest of the bass isnt loud enough. [/quote] Might be worth looking at your pickup height, pretty much every bass I've ever owned came shipped with the pickup height set the same at the high and low strings and I've always adjusted them so that the pickups are closer to the thinner strings than the fatter ones to even out the volume difference. If you have a multi pickup instrument then its worth playing around with the pickup blend to get the basic sound as close to what you need frequency wise - IME this works a a lot more consistently than bludgeoning the tone into submission with amp EQ. Edited March 31, 2016 by bassman7755 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_bass5 Posted March 31, 2016 Share Posted March 31, 2016 Its more to do with the fact that im now using a decent full range cab, that has proper lows. The bass is just a passive P bass, and the pup is arranged so the E is backed off a bit. I guess i should have said fullness of the E string rather than volume. In the past ive been using a Schroeder 1212L. Nice cab, very mid heavy so never really needed EQ much to get me heard, but lacking any real low end. Now im hearing this low end and i just need to back it off a bit on the amp to give me a more even tone across the strings. Ive never had to back off the lows with the 1212L, so its never been an issue. I think it was the lows overpowering the tone a bit, so i would turn down until the lows felt right, whereas i should have been backing the lows off and not going quieter. Im still getting used to having a full range cab, and realise i need to start using the EQ and not rely on a mid heavy cab to get me heard. Lowering the low's on the amp, and upping the low mids a touch seems to work well, at least with my new MB800. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Dean Posted March 31, 2016 Author Share Posted March 31, 2016 I think I have it sorted , I was using Rotosound Swing Bass (extra long) 45, 65, 80, 105, & the E string seemed a lot louder than the others .I messed about with with pick up & String height etc . Then I tried some Rotosounds RB . 40,60,80,100s & for anyone that is interested they just fit a 36" & the sound balance is spot on . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.