Should I be getting a slave amp? Or...

Damani311 · #1 02-28-2013, 04:32 PM

something like a signal boost pedal...

I have an SWR 750x running into two 8 ohm SWR Golight 410's, which handle 800 watts each...so it's loud, but given the SWR's penchant to lose headroom providing a clean, uncolored output it actually gets drowned out in our practice with 2 guitars and a drummer. If I turn the gain and master volume up to 90% then I have plenty of sound coming out, but I'm worried that this is just going to push the amp too hard in the long run.

So get another 750, or another solution? Thanks

**CL400Peavey** · #2 02-28-2013, 04:36 PM

Cut your low bass, boost low mids to add punch, Dial in high mids for presence. It may not sound good solo, but will cut through in a mix.

45acp · #3 02-28-2013, 05:23 PM

Wait wait wait-

You're running all that, at 90% (or thereabouts) for BAND PRACTICE? Wow and i thought we practiced loud....

**CL400Peavey** · #4 02-28-2013, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 45acp

Wait wait wait-

You're running all that, at 90% (or thereabouts) for BAND PRACTICE? Wow and i thought we practiced loud....

Meh... I have used this rig at practice. About 1700 watts through a 3 woofer fEARful set up.

Razman · #5 02-28-2013, 05:43 PM

What bass/pup/pre combination are you using? I suppose a volume pedal could give you a little boost (or a DI like my MXR M80); I wouldn't add anything unnecessary to your chain though.

45acp · #6 03-01-2013, 05:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CL400Peavey

Meh... I have used this rig at practice. About 1700 watts through a 3 woofer fEARful set up.

I wasnt shocked by what he was using for band practice... i was shocked by the settings on what he was using. I gigged with a buddy's 750x once a few months ago and im pretty sure that running it at that volume level during practice would crack the foundation on my house.

Damani311 · #7 03-01-2013, 09:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 45acp

I wasnt shocked by what he was using for band practice... i was shocked by the settings on what he was using. I gigged with a buddy's 750x once a few months ago and im pretty sure that running it at that volume level during practice would crack the foundation on my house.

i dunno its loud but a 25 w guitar amp with a single cabinet can blow this thing out of the water

it sounds more like a 500w amp than a 750w amp

so i haven't heard anyone say it sounds like a need a second amp, which is a good thing...but i'm not sure how turning down low bass and turning up mids is really going to give me any more volume, it does free up some headroom but its not much more than a 5% boost to the total output.

Damani311 · #8 03-01-2013, 03:02 PM

::crickets::

Sid Fang · #9 03-01-2013, 04:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damani311

i dunno its loud but a 25 w guitar amp with a single cabinet can blow this thing out of the water

it sounds more like a 500w amp than a 750w amp

There's actually very little audible difference between the loudness of a 500W and a 750W amp. But that's not the point. If you're being "blown out of the water" by a 25W guitar amp with a single cabinet (4x12? 2x12?), with 750 nominal watts going into 8 10s at 2 ohms, there's something wrong with your rig. With that kind of speaker area, even 300W (e.g. an SVT) should more than sufficient for clean, loud sound. Have you tried running with just one cab, then the other (in case one is really sick and just sucking power instead of producing sound)? Can you borrow someone else's head, just for an evening, to see if your amp's output is somehow being bridled? Careful about hooking both 4ohm cabs to a head that's not rated for 2ohm operation, mind you.

And CL400Peavy's point is a good one - turning up the bass control on your amp is NOT the way to be heard - quite the opposite. It diverts massive power to the part of the spectrum that is least efficient for your speakers to reproduce, and least noticeable psychoaccoustically.

Damani311 · #10 03-01-2013, 04:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sid Fang

There's actually very little audible difference between the loudness of a 500W and a 750W amp. But that's not the point. If you're being "blown out of the water" by a 25W guitar amp with a single cabinet (4x12? 2x12?), with 750 nominal watts going into 8 10s at 2 ohms, there's something wrong with your rig. With that kind of speaker area, even 300W (e.g. an SVT) should more than sufficient for clean, loud sound. Have you tried running with just one cab, then the other (in case one is really sick and just sucking power instead of producing sound)? Can you borrow someone else's head, just for an evening, to see if your amp's output is somehow being bridled? Careful about hooking both 4ohm cabs to a head that's not rated for 2ohm operation, mind you.

And CL400Peavy's point is a good one - turning up the bass control on your amp is NOT the way to be heard - quite the opposite. It diverts massive power to the part of the spectrum that is least efficient for your speakers to reproduce, and least noticeable psychoaccoustically.

its going in at 4 ohms

i messed up bad in my opening post, fixed

coyote1 · #11 03-01-2013, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 45acp

Wait wait wait-

You're running all that, at 90% (or thereabouts) for BAND PRACTICE? Wow and i thought we practiced loud....

It's the current SWR amps. They just don't have power.

A 200w Hartke will blow the doors off that 750x. But the SWR has great tone... the Hartke does too, but it is different.

Sid Fang · #12 03-01-2013, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damani311

its going in at 4 ohms

i messed up bad in my opening post, fixed

OK, but it doesn't materially change the points I was making. It just means that you don't need to be quite as nervous about A/B testing against another bass head.

BogeyBass · #13 03-01-2013, 09:23 PM

that is just weird dude.

the swr's make it easy to dial in rather muddy tone
so that could be the problem as mentioned.

something sounds wrong a 450 watt amp should be able to float you in that situation pretty good with 810

so the amp is too squishy or your tone is too squishy.

or there is something missing in the info, are the cabinets actually both matching , or is one cab out of phase, maybe one of the speakers cables is reversed or something.

something dont sound right even a squishy 300 watts should be loud enough with those cabs.

45acp · #14 03-02-2013, 05:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sid Fang

There's actually very little audible difference between the loudness of a 500W and a 750W amp. But that's not the point. If you're being "blown out of the water" by a 25W guitar amp with a single cabinet (4x12? 2x12?), with 750 nominal watts going into 8 10s at 2 ohms, there's something wrong with your rig. With that kind of speaker area, even 300W (e.g. an SVT) should more than sufficient for clean, loud sound. Have you tried running with just one cab, then the other (in case one is really sick and just sucking power instead of producing sound)? Can you borrow someone else's head, just for an evening, to see if your amp's output is somehow being bridled? Careful about hooking both 4ohm cabs to a head that's not rated for 2ohm operation, mind you.

And CL400Peavy's point is a good one - turning up the bass control on your amp is NOT the way to be heard - quite the opposite. It diverts massive power to the part of the spectrum that is least efficient for your speakers to reproduce, and least noticeable psychoaccoustically.

This. There is something that is not adding up... be it some radical settings on the amp, a cab out of phase, a compressor with the gain set way low or something is wrong with your amp. I have ran this amp 4 ohms through two 115's and i promise- with the gain and master volume around 90% it will kill household pets and most children under the age of 12.

Quote:

Originally Posted by coyote1

It's the current SWR amps. They just don't have power.

A 200w Hartke will blow the doors off that 750x. But the SWR has great tone... the Hartke does too, but it is different.

Are they THAT bad now? I dont doubt you... i understand how ratings are cheated etc. etc... but i cant see how that amp went from being awesome one year to a weak POS the next year.

lowfreq33 · #15 03-02-2013, 05:29 AM

Do you have the aural enhancer turned up? It cuts mids.

Damani311 · #16 03-02-2013, 10:39 AM

i think i have purposefully have a lot of my mids cut....which i like, but might not be able to keep that way

so assuming i want to keep a scooped midrange signal, what's my best option to make it louder now xD

guy n. cognito · #17 03-02-2013, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damani311

i think i have purposefully have a lot of my mids cut....which i like, but might not be able to keep that way

so assuming i want to keep a scooped midrange signal, what's my best option to make it louder now xD

Honestly, run you signal flat for just one rehearsal and see if it addresses the issue.

spector_boogie · #18 03-02-2013, 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damani311

i think i have purposefully have a lot of my mids cut....which i like, but might not be able to keep that way

so assuming i want to keep a scooped midrange signal, what's my best option to make it louder now xD

To not scoop. Dial back low bass and put low mids and mids altogether back in. Those uber-lows are just getting lost in the sauce.

jefkritz · #19 03-02-2013, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by guy n. cognito

Honestly, run you signal flat for just one rehearsal and see if it addresses the issue.

this.

if you feel a need to eq after a practice with flat eq, subtle tweaks are the way to go.

Caca de Kick · #20 03-02-2013, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damani311

i think i have purposefully have a lot of my mids cut....which i like, but might not be able to keep that way

so assuming i want to keep a scooped midrange signal, what's my best option to make it louder now xD

The killer settings for practicing alone in your bedroom just about never work right for a full band stage setting.