What's wrong with me?

[EvFalselight]

Alright, so i'm playing on Warwick Thumb bolt on 5, and i recently purchased the Ashdown MAG 600 with and 4*10 and a 1*15...

The reason i bought those 2 cabs was that I thought that my bass presence in my band will be more louder and clearer to hear, but i only got closer to it...

What kills me, is that i don't know if i'm really know what i'm doing when i'm using the amp, when i put the jack to the active input, i can get a cool sound which i can play with of the knobs the amps offer (compressor, eq, bright, deep etc.)
but it reaches it's pick when i'm raising the both output and input volume when i'm trying to reach balance in rehearsal room.

When i put the jack to either Send and Return (Effects loop) i get a much more clearer and louder sound but with the crappy sound of my crappy Zoom multi and i affraid it'll damage my cabs...

I'm begging you guys plz help... i'm hopeless, it's very difficult to get a good balance with drums playing and all...

[EvFalselight]

Oh, and i'm sorry for the bad english...

[Downunderwonder]

The zoom is "clearer and louder" but "crappy" compared to the sound of the Ashdown preamp?

Sounds like the zoom is cranked up too much.

Is there a VU meter on the input on this one? That should be nearly into the red and only flicking the red with your heaviest playing.

Both cabs are working? Put the 15 on top if you're going for max loudness so you can hear it complain. Usually 15's get outrun by 4x10's.

For starters leave the Zoom out of it and make sure you can get some good sound straight from the bass. Maybe you have a flat battery or no batttery? I dunno anything about that bass.

[Bassmec]

The chances are what you are hearing is the difference between a flat EQ and one that is heavily scooped.
You need to see how much bright midrange (that just about doesn't sound too harsh) you can make.
I often run an Ashdown ABM EVO with the treble rotary control on max and just use the two little faders to to tailor that with my active nordstrand mm clone, The pickup has good brightness but it also has a heck of a lot of low frequency that I really need to get rid of running active so I turn the bass control on the b guitar almost off live.
It will depend alot on your bass and to a certain extent your fingers or plectrum tone to cut through.
Where are you running the bass control on your bass.

[JHAz]

+1 to both of th above, and I don't have experience with the Ashdown to provide any real trouble shooting. But to figure out if your problem is that you got the gain wrong on your zoom, plug in without the zoom anywhere in the chain, and see if you can get what you want out of the Ashdown.

If there seems to be a power or frequency response problem, try running with just one cab. If it gets louder and fuller using only one cab, you've got cabs that are in opposite polarity (or a miswired speaker cable) and that can be fixed.

[EvFalselight]

I don't know why, i guess the Zoom's compressor is what boosting the sound much more when i'm pluging it the fx loop (but i don't know why is that...), besides that the Zoom is defenetly cranked up...

it does has a VU meter and it reaches the red and still not loud enough...

thanks for the advice with the 1*15, i do place it under the 4*10 cause i thought that if the lowers will come from the floor it will push more air...
Also i connected both of them with a simple jack to the amp...

And i using a regular GP battery for my bass...

Thank you so much for the quick reply... plz keep replying guys.

[HolmeBass]

I would try to get it sounding right without the Zoom. If you can't, you need better speakers. Ditch the 1x15 and get a second 4x10 just like the first one. No real way for a consumer 1x15 to keep up with a 4x10.

In fact, try to get a good sound with just the 4x10- put it in a chair or something to raise it up close to your head (maybe stack on the 1x15, just don't connect the 1x15...) and see if that allows you to turn your amp up more and get the volume that you need.

Once you get that good, add the Zoom back in but don't use it as an excessive volume boost, that just adds too much noise and junk to your signal.

[Bassmec]

Originally Posted by EvFalselight

I don't know why, i guess the Zoom's compressor is what boosting the sound much more when i'm pluging it the fx loop (but i don't know why is that...), besides that the Zoom is defenetly cranked up...

it does has a VU meter and it reaches the red and still not loud enough...

thanks for the advice with the 1*15, i do place it under the 4*10 cause i thought that if the lowers will come from the floor it will push more air...
Also i connected both of them with a simple jack to the amp...

And i using a regular GP battery for my bass...

Thank you so much for the quick reply... plz keep replying guys.

Forget the Zoom and all its very poor FX just try and get a sound out of your amp and by the way you haven't yet admitted to being excessively bassy and boomy, so part of the bassaholics twelve point plan here is admitting that the bass control on your bass has been dime'd all the while you have been trying to get a sound.
Anybody know how many dB boost at 50Hz a dime'd Warwick active bass control actually gives?.

[wcriley]

Originally Posted by EvFalselight

...when i put the jack to the active input, i can get a cool sound which i can play with of the knobs the amps offer (compressor, eq, bright, deep etc.)
but it reaches it's pick when i'm raising the both output and input volume when i'm trying to reach balance in rehearsal room...

...it's very difficult to get a good balance with drums playing and all...

If I understand the problem correctly, it's not loud enough.
If so, the solution is simple: stop using the 'active" input. It's cutting the volume way down. Use the regular/passive input.

[Bassmec]

Originally Posted by HolmeBass

I would try to get it sounding right without the Zoom. If you can't, you need better speakers. Ditch the 1x15 and get a second 4x10 just like the first one. No real way for a consumer 1x15 to keep up with a 4x10.

In fact, try to get a good sound with just the 4x10- put it in a chair or something to raise it up close to your head (maybe stack on the 1x15, just don't connect the 1x15...) and see if that allows you to turn your amp up more and get the volume that you need.

Once you get that good, add the Zoom back in but don't use it as an excessive volume boost, that just adds too much noise and junk to your signal.

Put the zoom in the nearest garbage can and step away.

[Raymeous]

Start over and set everything flat, at zero, or at 12 O'clock or whatever. In other words just set everything as neutral as possible and then slowly start adjusting things from there. Use your EARS to determine the settings NOT your eyes.

If your bandmates are available, stand as far from your amp as your cable allows (15'+), and then play with your eyes closed and direct your bandmate on what to adjust. "Bring up the mids a little" etc... until it sounds good. If you do this you may find that it's set up completely differently than how you've ad it.


I hope this helps in some way.

[christw]

My best piece of advice: DO NOT boost the bass AT ALL on your bass guitar, with your Zoom, or with your amplifier. Leave all bass controls at "noon" (in the middle) and try things again with your band. See if you're still too quiet.

[Downunderwonder]

Originally Posted by christw

My best piece of advice: DO NOT boost the bass AT ALL on your bass guitar, with your Zoom, or with your amplifier. Leave all bass controls at "noon" (in the middle) and try things again with your band. See if you're still too quiet.

+1, With no Zoom to start.

Someone mentioned checking polarity of speakers, the two cabs should be very much louder than one unless the polarity is stuffed.

[RickenBoogie]

Agreed. Leave the Zoom out. Put it away, and leave it alone. Then, don't boost ANY eq on your bass. Leave everything in the center. Crank the volume controls on your bass. Plug into the amp in the normal input, not the active one, with just the 4x10 connected, with a SPEAKER cable. Next, set all the eq controls on the amp to straight in the middle, and the gain too, then turn on the amp and slowly bring up the master volume. How does that sound?

[EvFalselight]

Originally Posted by Bassmec

by the way you haven't yet admitted to being excessively bassy and boomy, so part of the bassaholics twelve point plan here is admitting that the bass control on your bass has been dime'd all the while you have been trying to get a sound.

Alright, first of all thank you all guys for helping me out i really appreciate it...

Bassmec i'm sorry for not being familiar with terms like "dime'd" and "bassholics 12 point plan" but i admit that my bass control is always boosting more bass and treble for hopings... i'll take out the zoom from the chain and i'll try once again to reach preffered sound in the next rehearsal.

As for the polarity thing, the sound is almost the same either when only 4*10 plugged and both plugged, so this could be the problem? or maybe the solution is to put the 1*15 on top of the 4*10...

In addition i plugged the jack into the passive input and i get much more louder sound with tiny peaks to the red in VU meter.

Thank you all for the advices, hope things will get better

[Downunderwonder]

Originally Posted by EvFalselight

Alright, first of all thank you all guys for helping me out i really appreciate it...

Bassmec i'm sorry for not being familiar with terms like "dime'd" and "bassholics 12 point plan" but i admit that my bass control is always boosting more bass and treble for hopings... i'll take out the zoom from the chain and i'll try once again to reach preffered sound in the next rehearsal.

As for the polarity thing, the sound is almost the same either when only 4*10 plugged and both plugged, so this could be the problem? or maybe the solution is to put the 1*15 on top of the 4*10...

In addition i plugged the jack into the passive input and i get much more louder sound with tiny peaks to the red in VU meter.

Thank you all for the advices, hope things will get better

A dime is 10 cents. Ever hear of "turned up to 11"?

"Almost the same" is quite possibly mispolarity. It should be significantly louder and fuller. Either that or the cabs are a great case of true mismatch. Definitely put the 15 on top.

To investigate polarity is easy with a jack to jack cable into one cab and 9v battery on the other jack. Wth all speakon connectors is a new one for me. I would either take apart the speakon or a cab input panel. You need to get a battery on + and - with the other cab also plugged in the link.

All the cones should move the same way when you apply voltage, with a distict thump. Take off the battery or you'll drain it and slow roast the speakers eventually.

Small peaks in VU is good. Sopunds like you go the right input.

I don't know your amp inside out but this is the general rule:

You get more "bass" with less super lows. Few cabs can do the stuff that the lowest EQ knob boosts. These are the fundamental tones of your E to D strings. They suck power and make the speakers do stuff which isn't actually contributing to the loud factor.

Boosting the low mids gets you more lows.

[murphy]

speaker cable from amp to cabs?
passive input
turn bass controls on bass and amp down. mids up

make sure SUB HARMONIC is off/ out....always...this will rob power

deep button out to start