Bass rig placement

All this time ive been committing a terrible crime by not having my bass amp against a wall and i didnt even know it!

My eyes are open.

 

For me, I would put my bass rig in the corner, move the PA out to the middle of the room facing back at the band.

 

Either really, the drums can shift north or south to accommodate.

 

Most drummers like to have the bass player on their hi-hat side and a bit behind them. Partly it's because right-handed drummers face that direction somewhat. Most it's because they're deaf in that ear.

 

Me too.

I'd put the PA basically across from where it is now, on the opposite side of your half of the room.
I'd put the bass amp in either of those corners
I'd probably put on of the guitar amps in the other corner, but that's just because because

 

.. depends on what it is ... I usually dont care for a rear ported cab against a wall, and bass is primarily omnidirectional ... I like to maintain a semblence of what would be a stage set-up in relationship to drummer though ..

... rehearsal is a time to clearly hear what everybody is playing and how it fits, so what ever arrangement best affords that ... it is more important to keep volume levels where individual instruments/vocals are clearly audible, which is sometimes more of a problem than where everyone is located ..

... JMHO

 

Go on the hi-hat side, as the majority of the time that is the percussion piece that is keeping the most consistent beat.

 

There are good reasons for the bassist to prefer it as well...mostly having to do with optimum line of sight in that position, making it easier to establish eye contact.

MM

 

I like corner loading.

 

Corner by drummer.
Pick one.

 

Hi-hat side of drummer.

 

You do not want any of the amps facing each other . If you put a bass amp anywhere near a wall the wall will reinforce the Bass to a point . More so in a corner than in the middle of the wall . Amps facing each other causes some frequencies to cancel each other out. Then you have to turn up louder so you can hear the sounds you want and getting much louder than needed. Put all the amps along the wall behind the drummer Bass in center guitars on either side . Pa in the front Facing the band. But if you don't really need all that volume you can just use your monitors and play at a lower level if that works for you. If not use your mains for the extra volume.

 

Keeping the PA where it is reduces the amount of reverberation from its opposite wall being farthest. Stacking the PA may possibly reduce reverb from the floor and ceiling interplay, could also fail to cover everyone but worth an experiment. Turning the PA about and putting in the middle is likely to get messy for everyone if your drumkit is drawn to scale.

The beginners placement directive is simplistic to the point of errors. Generally it's good to be set right on a wall, or both walls (corner) but it's by no means set in stone.

 

I'm having the exact same room situation.
Our PA is in the middle of the room, pointing at the band. The drums are a bit south and i'm in the top right corner. Guitar amps are on top of the PA subs.
Sounds terrible. Needs better placement.

 

Sheer volume can screw things up in a practice room to the point in won't work out good no matter how you have things set up.

I'd slide the drummer north a bit and put your rig on his hihat side. Put the guitar amps on either wall, leaned back against the wall so their speakers are pointed up at the players ear. All gather in a circle for eye contact and play, focusing on getting a nice sound, not volume.

No mics on anything but vocals. Balance to the natural volume of the drums assuming they're played by a sane person.


Couple things....

Wall and/or corner loading increases bass, so turn the bass eq down to clean things up. This goes for vocals and anything else, not just bass guitar.

Most any even simple powered mixer will have a mains eq control somewhere in the 250hz neighborhood. Cut that a bit to take woofiness out of vocals and help understand lyrics better.


You have a whole 'nother half a room there unused that is basically a reverb chamber. Keep that in mind when trying things.

If the other band you're sharing with has a decent thing worked out, look at what they're doing right.


A lot of us can show up in a practice room and just kind of put things wherever they fit and get decent sound provided the volume isn't crazy and you eq with your ears and not your eyes.

When adjusting knobs, be they eq or volume or whatever, don't turn up what you want to hear, rather turn down what you don't want to hear first. Then if you need to bring volume up, you're just increasing the good stuff. That goes for any instrument.

 

I hope the PA subs are just there for storage and not actually being used.