Re: Amp in front like a monitor?

"Les Cargill" <lcargill@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"Les Cargill" <lcargill@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
Yes or no?

1....2....3... I don't see any responses yet. I guess you fussy people
want more information.

Played with band #2 last night and I have to play one last gig with
them tonight before the band dissolves and everyone goes their separate
ways. The guitarist and keyboard player were even louder than usual,
and we played a club which is a nightmare for sound. Turns everything
to crap. Couldn't hear my bass at all. The sound guy couldn't haul the
singer's voice out from under the noise, and the PA's got gobs of
power. The guitar & keyboard were dialed out of the mains and it still
didn't help. Talking to the two idiots will not work, and I left my gun
at home.

So, between sets, I noticed that a mature, sane friend had stopped by
to hear the band. He's been playing for decades. He commented that
although it wouldn't be a panacea considering the situation, it might
help to put at least one of my two cabinets at the front of the stage
facing back & tipped up like a monitor. Has anyone tried this? Has it
made much of a difference simply because the cabs were in front?
Experimenting will cost me nothing more than the price of a longer
speaker cable for one (or maybe both) cabs. One is a 2x10 Eden and the
other is a 1x15 Mesa, both run by an Ampeg B2R (400-ish watts when
running both cabs, 4 ohms).
Solve the real problem - the keys and guitar player are too loud. Sure,
you can turn a bass cab around like a wedge monitor. But it'll still
be too loud. Since you say "... band dissolves and everyone goes their
separate ways" looks like you've solved it.

Back when people used nonmaster volume tube amps for guitar, they'd
turn them around and put a moving blanket over them to attenuate
the sound, or carry a big amp & a small amp and scale to the room.
Amps were still on the backline. If you'd seen AC/DC on Saturday Night
Live, they did this.

Even if everybody has good volume discipline and everything is thru
the PA, the bass amp onstage (indeed, all instruments onstage)
will probably act as a fill for the hole between the mains
speakers. You'll lose some of that if you turn around.

When people are too loud, everybody suffers. Don't put up with it.
It's not necessary.

Les Cargill

This band's a nightmare in many ways. Last night, while packing up after
the show, I asked the singer where he's hearing my bass: Through his
IEMs? From the amp itself? He said "I just feel it. That's why I like a
loud bass player." Oy.


Well.... yeah. That's half my business model; running the "feel" part
down the volume scale. Gittin' that sub-200Hz thing right. I can't
hardly use an amp without a graphic; I'm ringing the room out
for the first three songs ( and sometimes more ).

I set a little under what seems like the optimum and only turn up if
asked. I snapshot the guitar player's level, where the snare
is, then set a level, listen, then (usually) back off a smidge.

Ad there are still times when I am too loud, but it's only by
request. But for cultural reasons, "there can't be too much bass".
I check that 10-20 feet out in the room, too - usually the room is
eating bass a tad.

FWIW, I think about this a lot at gigs. .... but done right, it adds a lot
of value. Most bass players I catch from the audience are kinda
hard to find in the mix, even when they're too loud.

The drummer uses IEMs and gets my bass in his mix, but wants more
control, so we'll be running a 2nd balanced line from my Sennheiser
wireless receiver to his personal mixer.

Oh geez.

He wanted to add more bass because the two 'oids were so loud that they were
making it through his IEMs, and they weren't even in the mix!

:)

Just spoke to tonight's sound man (not the same as last night's). He's gonna
play the bad guy and demand lower stage volume from the two 'oids, since the
singer/leader is unable to be the mean guy.


.

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