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Double Bass Headway EDB-1 + Mackie SRM150 + mic stand = acoustic gig heaven?

RMacBass

RMacBass

Bass Commander
Supporting Member
Jun 2, 2003
98
71
Victoria, BC, Canada
rossmacdonald.com
#1
I often play acoustic jazz in small restaurants where there's no need for serious amplification, but people invariably start talking and dishes clatter, making it hard to hear myself. I usually use my Markbass Micromark to provide a little more sound, but it has to sit on the floor, and I prefer to find a table or someone else's amp to sit it on.

I used my UB straight into a Mackie SRM150 last night at a tiny bistro. I set the speaker right next to me aiming at my head, and it became one of the nicest gigs I'd played in a while. It sounded perfect: just a bit more mid to high-end made it effortless to hear myself and much easier to lay down the groove for the other musicians. Having my monitor so close to my ears meant no one else cared how loud my stage volume was.

A couple of HUGE perks include the small size and weight of the Mackie SRM150. 11.2" x 8" x 6.8" and 7.6lb. Last night, in case the Mackie wasn't enough, I actually brought my Markbass Microbass combo AND the Mackie in the same small backpack.

If anyone's interested, attached are pictures of the Mackie SRM150 with the included threaded microphone stand adapter holding onto my Headway EDB-1. (While I didn't use the EDB-1 last night, I can see others REALLY digging this setup for mini-gigs like this one.)
 

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#5
That I don't know; I haven't tried it on the floor yet, and not in any sort of loud context with the bass. When I tried it to push it a little louder on the mic-stand at home, specifically the lows were too much for the speaker to reproduce. (It made a wobbly unhappy-sounding noise.)

I bet that with a high-pass filter, it would produce enough sound to amplify bass in at least a small-gig scenario. No guarantees as to the fidelity, though.

I'm willing to bet that because I've put it to test with my guitars through an amp-simulator, and it can get up to painful volumes. I've got an EB gig with a 10-piece band tonight, I'll take it along with a HPF to see how it stacks up next to the Wizzy 10 and EA Doubler. ;)
 
#7
Alright, I gigged last night with a 10-piece band (horns, woodwinds, drum set) on electric bass through a Headway EDB-1 (I needed some more EQ than simply bass and treble) with the Mackie SRM150 set up as a monitor on a mic stand, complementing a PJB Super Flightcase. I accidentally forgot to turn off my tuner before one song, so the tuner was muting the Super Flightcase but not the Mackie. It was a quiet to medium volume song, and I was audible at the front of the band going through just the SRM150.

The results are inconclusive this time around, since the band was seated in a low-ceiling section of a mostly high-ceiling big room. I was awfully impressed when I realized my big amp had been muted and I hadn't noticed, but I wondered what kind of wheezing noises might have been being covered up by the sounds of the other instruments.

I'm thinking that for _bass_, this particular amp is best suited as a personal/stage monitor, to complement an amp or acoustic bass that is already adequately audible, but that may be hard for you to hear for tuning/attack while on stage.

If it had two 5.25" speakers or an extension speaker output with a matching extension speaker cabinet, it would be KICK-ASS.
 
#8
RMacBass said:
Alright, I gigged last night with a 10-piece band (horns, woodwinds, drum set) on electric bass through a Headway EDB-1 (I needed some more EQ than simply bass and treble) with the Mackie SRM150 set up as a monitor on a mic stand, complementing a PJB Super Flightcase. I accidentally forgot to turn off my tuner before one song, so the tuner was muting the Super Flightcase but not the Mackie. It was a quiet to medium volume song, and I was audible at the front of the band going through just the SRM150.

The results are inconclusive this time around, since the band was seated in a low-ceiling section of a mostly high-ceiling big room. I was awfully impressed when I realized my big amp had been muted and I hadn't noticed, but I wondered what kind of wheezing noises might have been being covered up by the sounds of the other instruments.

I'm thinking that for _bass_, this particular amp is best suited as a personal/stage monitor, to complement an amp or acoustic bass that is already adequately audible, but that may be hard for you to hear for tuning/attack while on stage.

If it had two 5.25" speakers or an extension speaker output with a matching extension speaker cabinet, it would be KICK-ASS.
Click to expand...
I really appreciate you starting this thread. I think it's great set up. It's worth pointing out that PA speakers accept the standard pole stands so you could easily move up to something like an SRM350 with an inexpensive pole mount. Those stands have a pretty large footprint though so it might not work in limited space.
I purchased a 8" powered PA speaker for rehearsals, running an LR Baggs PADI into it. It's exceeded my expectations. It does require some pretty extreme eq'ing though (I completely dial out the mids). Have you found that to be the case with your set up?
 
#9
You know how sometimes all you need to amplify bass in a boomy space are the treble frequencies? I read somewhere that, due to psychoacoustics, the brain 'hears' lower frequencies even when you've EQ'ed them out or removed them with a high-pass filter. My feeling is that if my brain can 'imagine' a nice tight low bass response when it's not really there, why even use a speaker that's capable of reproducing the 'imagined' low frequency? Cut down on the size of the speaker, add ride cymbal, and you have one good sounding acoustic bass.

(I'm talking about acoustic-sounding instruments in general, BTW. The exaggerated volume of the low strings on an amplified electric bass or acoustic bass with a pickup or close mic is not really a sound that occurs naturally and you would need multiple or bigger speakers to really shake a room.)

I want to have what I play sound no louder than an acoustic bass, just a very directional one aimed at my head. The SRM150 might help the other players hear me, but mostly it's a personal monitor to help me match my level of effort to my stage volume.

kwd: To answer your question, with the SRM150, I have definitely found I need to use the EQ to cut bass. Both my upright and electric bass pickups definitely put out too much bass for the single 5.25" speaker in the Mackie to reproduce cleanly. Again though (thank you psychoacoustics!), I didn't notice any serious lack of bass frequencies when I played with the full band-- but there was not as much volume as when using my larger amp.

The SRM350 is a great small powered speaker, and I think I will probably get a couple when I buy a PA someday. For now, I can make a small gig work with a 7.6lb amp that's half the size and one third the weight of an SRM350!
 
#10
Re: "If it had two 5.25" speakers or an extension speaker output with a matching extension speaker cabinet, it would be KICK-ASS."

Mackie has a Video review on their website about the SRM150. In the vid- the guy mentions that you could string 2 (or more) SRM150's together. That would go a good ways for volume and presence, but surely won' do a whole lot for bass response.

It looks like one of these would be perfect for the typical gig where a GK150 (etc) is just too way much (even when I bring that out for the small gigs, it is barely up) and going amp-less might not quite be enough.

For the medium loud gigs- I plan on using this as a monitor and will get the lows from the floor cabinet.

Looking forward to the delivery.
 
#11
Bob Gollihur's...

Invalid Link Removed

... idea of using an "Alto 100 watt PAM-5A Personal Monitor" was my initial inspiration for using the SRM150. It's less versatile than the Mackie: no mixer, no EQ, slightly heavier, and not quite as loud, but it does have two 5" woofers. I was just thinking if you wanted a beefier sound from an SRM150 system, without spending $300 for another, you could use the XLR-out on the Mackie to feed this "Alto" system. Behold, a miniature PA.
 
#12
RMacBass said:
Bob Gollihur's...

Invalid Link Removed

... idea of using an "Alto 100 watt PAM-5A Personal Monitor" was my initial inspiration for using the SRM150. It's less versatile than the Mackie: no mixer, no EQ, slightly heavier, and not quite as loud, but it does have two 5" woofers. I was just thinking if you wanted a beefier sound from an SRM150 system, without spending $300 for another, you could use the XLR-out on the Mackie to feed this "Alto" system. Behold, a miniature PA.
Click to expand...

Thanks for pointing that out. The opening paragraphs in Bob's description resonated with me: the feedback creep, not being able to hear yourself,.....

I've been using a Behringer EuroLive 8". I paid $200 but I've seen them for as low as $159 at PartsExpress. You can string them together so I could continue to use that as a monitor and add, say, the 12" model placed somewhere away from the bass.

I think you're on to something with your virtual, implied low frequency theory. Feeling the vibration from a large speaker is intoxicating but I wonder if it takes away from the subtle sonic characteristics we love.
 
#13
so, fascinated by this concept i scored a srm-150 on craigslist ... set it on a very light light stand, plugged the dpa 4099 into the headway and played a sweet little gallery gig and ... it works. small drum kit, stupidly loud reso guitar, live room with lots of conversation, but i could actually hear ... in a way that sounds totally natural. i like it.

next: try it at an electric gig with the amp doing the heavy lifting.

jeff.
 
#18
JtheJazzMan said:
Has anyone tried the equivalent behringer model, the B205D?
Click to expand...

I haven't used the B205D. I have the B208. It's worked well for me. I use it primarily as a personal monitor at church. A few weeks ago I used it at a jam session and it had plenty of volume. I had played on an SWR Cali-Blonde for an hour, then moved to another room where I used my B208 w/Baggs PADI. In that nearly direct comparison to the SWR it measured up quite well and at 15lbs it's the clear winner -your opinion may vary. It can get really loud. The only complaint I have is that it doesn't have a carry handle.
 

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