320 Watts almost maxed at practice?

[Pokerdweebz]

I have an GK RB700-II which is 320 watts at 8 ohms. I use a GK BLX-II 410 rated for 400 watts. At practice I have my volume maxed on my bass and at 7.5ish on my head. The single guitarist only has his 50 watt fender tube amp at 2-3. The drummer has a kit with 20+ pieces that is running (not terribly loudly) through the pa, along with the singer's vocals. I feel like I should not have to have my amp almost maxed at 320 watts to keep up at practice. Is it the fact the cabinet is nonported? I heard ported cabs can be louder than nonported. Are we playing too loudly(my ears never ring and I never feel uncomfortable with the volume)? Eventually I'm going to be upgrading to 2 Neo 212's. If I am using one of those at practice will I have the same problem? Am I just an idiot and this is normal?

P.S. I'm not as dumb as I sound. I've been playing for a reasonably long amount of time, but this is the first time I've ever played in a band so I have nothing to compare it to.

[fdeck]

The band is practicing too loud.

[Andyman001]

What size room? are you standing real close to your cab (pointing @ your legs)?

[DerTeufel]

Originally Posted by Andyman001

What size room? are you standing real close to your cab (pointing @ your legs)?

Also, how are you setting the EQ

[El-Bob]

My 400RB through a yorkville 4x10 is far louder than my friend's SVT-3 pro head (i've used both heads with the same bass and cab more than once).... there's no way that you should be lacking volume with that set up. Make sure the contour is off, and the active -15db thing as well. I'm sure others here can give you better advice... but I assure you, you should not be lacking volume with that rig.

[Bassics101]

+1! and I hope you are wearing protection.

[Pokerdweebz]

Originally Posted by Andyman001

What size room? are you standing real close to your cab (pointing @ your legs)?

The room itself is huge, but we are pretty close together. I can touch the guitarists mic by reaching my hand out and the sing is less than 8 feet away. I am standing directly in front of my cab with it indeed pointing at my legs.

[Pokerdweebz]

Originally Posted by DerTeufel

Also, how are you setting the EQ

I usually keep everything reasonably close to 12 oclock if not at 12 oclock.

[VanillaThundah]

Two things you need to consider:

1) What does your EQ look like? (what shape are we seeing if it was on a graphic eq)
2) Do you know how efficient (or non-efficient) that your cabinet is?


I had a GK Goldline stack (2x10s and 1x15) with a Backline 600 going through them. The GKs tend to have some scoop in the midrange, IME especially when you are pairing GK heads with cabs. This isn't a problem though, because you can boost your mids and help alleviate some of those volume woes. A 4x10 is a force to be reckoned with, but the lower-end GK cabinets aren't the most efficient cabs on the market, so you could "put" 1000w in them and still not get decent results.

I think boosting your mids (high-mids are probably your best bet for bite, while low-mids for thump or woofy cut) and using those Neo 212's will probably take care of your problem. The Neo cabs from GK are pretty good...not my ideal cabs but they are well-made and sound good when it comes to that GK tone. In the meantime, try boosting the mids and see if that doesn't help! The RB700-II is a pretty good head, I don't think it's slacking in the least.

[levis76]

Originally Posted by Pokerdweebz

The room itself is huge, but we are pretty close together. I can touch the guitarists mic by reaching my hand out and the sing is less than 8 feet away. I am standing directly in front of my cab with it indeed pointing at my legs.

Tip: Set your cab up further away from the rest of the band.

You're probably loud as hell from anywhere else in the room except from where you're standing.

[Pokerdweebz]

Originally Posted by levis76

Tip: Set your cab up further away from the rest of the band.

You're probably loud as hell from anywhere else in the room except from where you're standing.

Thanks. As of now I'm stuck in the corner but maybe I can move around.

[lowfreq33]

Get the drums out of the PA, have everyone adjust their volume to the drummer's acoustic level. Spread everyone out a bit so you get a little distance between you and your amp. The sound is effectively shooting past you.

[Pokerdweebz]

I found two things that could be the source of my problem. At some point in time I accidentally hit the -14db button, which may or may not have been before practice. Also I realized there are two different volumes on the RB700. One of labeled Volume and one is labeled Woofer/Master.

"Volume: Sets the pre-amp gain after the input stage"
"Woofer/Master: Master volume control for the woofer (Main) amplifier. Output signal is full-range"

I usually have Woofer/Master at 12. I guess I am an idiot. What is the difference between the two and where should they be?

[Pokerdweebz]

Originally Posted by lowfreq33

Get the drums out of the PA, have everyone adjust their volume to the drummer's acoustic level. Spread everyone out a bit so you get a little distance between you and your amp. The sound is effectively shooting past you.

Sounds good. I'll try to convince them at the next practice. Why isn't everyone else yelling at me for being too loud? Are they too close as well?

[megafiddle]

Volume settings do not necessarily indicate output power.
"10" usually does not mean full power. A guitar amp could
be supplying close to full power at a volume setting of 3.

Your own output needs to be determined by increasing the
drive to the amp until it just starts to clip. You could be no
where near full output if your bass output is low, for example.

I just saw you added stuff as I was posting. The -14db button
could explain things.

[PlungerModerno]

Originally Posted by Bassics101

+1! and I hope you are wearing protection.

LOL this is the first thing that came to my mind - my ears would distort at that level without proper hearing protection. If you have an amped drumkit for practice or rehearsal - you're doing it a bit loud for my taste!

[Duckwater]

Way too loud man, I barely push 50 watts at practices and around 80 at gigs

[lowfreq33]

Originally Posted by Pokerdweebz

Sounds good. I'll try to convince them at the next practice. Why isn't everyone else yelling at me for being too loud? Are they too close as well?

No, they're probably too loud as well.

[georgestrings]

Originally Posted by Pokerdweebz

The drummer has a kit with 20+ pieces that is running (not terribly loudly) through the pa

A big part of your problem right there - there is no good reason whatsoever for an acoustic drum set to be mic'd during a rehearsal...


- georgestrings

[1958Bassman]

Originally Posted by Pokerdweebz

I have an GK RB700-II which is 320 watts at 8 ohms. I use a GK BLX-II 410 rated for 400 watts. At practice I have my volume maxed on my bass and at 7.5ish on my head. The single guitarist only has his 50 watt fender tube amp at 2-3. The drummer has a kit with 20+ pieces that is running (not terribly loudly) through the pa, along with the singer's vocals. I feel like I should not have to have my amp almost maxed at 320 watts to keep up at practice. Is it the fact the cabinet is nonported? I heard ported cabs can be louder than nonported. Are we playing too loudly(my ears never ring and I never feel uncomfortable with the volume)? Eventually I'm going to be upgrading to 2 Neo 212's. If I am using one of those at practice will I have the same problem? Am I just an idiot and this is normal?

P.S. I'm not as dumb as I sound. I've been playing for a reasonably long amount of time, but this is the first time I've ever played in a band so I have nothing to compare it to.

Why the EFF is the drummer playing through the PA AT PRACTICE ???????????????????????????????????? Most of the time, the rest of a band is playing loud because the drummer is already louder than they are.