A Sad Upgrade

[mynameisjack2]

So my band had our first big concert: about 40 people, and us headlining. We've only been playing for a month or so, and it looks as if this is going to stay for some time.

Enough back story, I'm currently running my bass into my pedalboard into my current amp setup: SWR 550x into SWR Triad. I absolutely love the tone, but there's a pretty big problem: volume.

Our last gig ended, and most people seemed to dig the set, but a few constructive criticisms from fellow musicians (bassists included) told me that I wasn't cutting through all that well, and to turn up. I checked my amp, and throughout the set I had cranked the volume to absolute max, the gain set at about noon.

We recorded a quick demo today to submit to our high school battle of the bands. So we had some time to adjust volume levels. The band is just bass and drums, so I need to be very prominent, and the only way I could do that in our setting today was the crank the volume to max, gain to noon, level on my VTD to 3, and had a boost pedal on all the time. I got a decent tone for the demo, but I noticed on all the low notes that the 15 was working incredibly hard. I ran a direct through the VTD into PA and turned it up until there was strain in the PA speakers.

So my question I guess, is how would I go about achieving more volume? My first thought was more cabs, since I effectively need to push more air. Any other thoughts/suggestions?

Thanks for reading this essay, haha.

[MuzikMan]

The triad has to go my friend. They were an engineering nightmare. The triad may sound good at low volume but has no ability to output a lot of volume.

[Gearhead17]

Where is your Aural Enhancer knob set? SWR heads DO NOT have a lot of low mid range (around 200hz) which is what you are going to need to be loud enough. If you are pushing a lot below 100hz, you are going to need more speakers.

[colcifer]

Bring the AE down if it's up.

[mynameisjack2]

The Aural Enhancer is off, so I don't think that's the issue.

I was afraid it would be the triad. Ideas on louder replacements?

[MuzikMan]

Well, the Triad was an attempt to produce a full range cab for bass. If you like the tone of that type of cab (I know I do) then you coudn't do any better than the fEarFul design from Greenby right here on TB. Either you could build one yourself or commision a builder to make it for you. I think LowDownSound might still do this (I haven't been around TB for about a year).

The new Avatar 3 way cab looks interesting too. I haven't tried one but I like my old Avatar 1x15 just fine.

[IntrepidCellist]

A good affordable replacement would be that Avatar TB153; but they're out of stock till February at the earliest.

[mynameisjack2]

I'm intrigued by the Avatar and have only heard good things about them.

I guess I could add that the style of music is math rock. 75% tapping, mostly in the higher register.

[MuzikMan]

For you a multi driver cab is the way to go. You just need one that handles their frequency range better.