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Can an amp be too big??

StraffordMike

StraffordMike

Apr 25, 2015
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#1
IMG_1725.JPG IMG_1726.JPG I've provided some pics to help illustrate my problem.
One of my cover bands practices in a fairly small basement and I'm hoping its the acoustics and not my amp, or worse;like I'm going nuts!
When we rehearse I can't hear myself. Sure there's lot of low end rumble but can't hear any kind of note clarity. Just one big rumble .
I've dialed the lows WAY down and boosted the mids/highs to no avail.
I'm beginning to believe that all that concrete and low ceilings is causing the problem.
In the pics you'll see the size of the room, and both rigs I have at my disposal. The Hartke rig is mine and the crate stuff is the bandleaders.
I've tried one 4x10, both 4x10's, the single 2x10 and the single 18.
Nothing seems to help and I can turn that Mini-Mega to 7-8 on the volume and you still can't hear the notes with any kind of clarity.
Ideas?
 
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#6
lz4005 said:
Amps can be too big. But in this case it's the room.

You should also check to see if it would help if the guitar players roll back their low EQ.

Can you hear your notes when you're the only one playing?
Click to expand...
Yes. Yes I can but the guitarists are actually quite aware of not crowding the low end, they both play fairly high tone wise.
I'm beginning to think it's coming through the mics
 
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#9
walterw said:
move!

put your amp in a different spot, trying to stay away from corners. you could just be getting a weird room resonance that makes the bass sound unwieldy.
Click to expand...
Tried that just yesterday. Moved it out into the open part of the basement about 10' away from any walls, there was some improvement, but not much. Recordings show the bass and it sounds good( better than I thought) but live it's one big rumble undefined mess.
 
#11
Is the rumble coming from your rig,or the pa? First thing I would do is ring out the pa to get rid of the offending frequencies. Second,tell the guitarists to turn down, or put a blanket over their cabinets to get the volume down. That should take care of most of the issues.
 
#12
Angle your cab up so you can hear it, or put it up on a table. Your cab needs to be closer than 2' or further than 8' from a wall or corner to minimize boundary cancellation.

And if you are in a small room, earplugs are a must. The compression forces on your eardrums in a cement basement are enormous. All it takes is one too many cymbal crashes or distorted guitar licks to take out your hearing sensitivity in the high frequencies permanently!
 
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#17
Yeah, there are so many things that could create that problem. And the bigger your amp gets, and the more you do the same, the bigger the problem gets.

I rehearse in a very small basement as well. Here's what makes it work and I'm being completely serious. It has nothing to do with getting more equipment or changing anything. Here's the deal:

The rest of your bandmates need to want to hear you.

I think there is no other hope. There has to be some level of maturity in the group, so that when you're playing you're actually listening to each other. If the drummer can't hear me, he's PISSED. If the guitars can't hear me, they bitch about it. If I can't make rehearsal, we don't have rehearsal. A guitar player can skip a rehearsal or the trumpet player, but they won't even have a rehearsal without drums and bass.

Guitars and keys can crush the bass anytime they want. It's just worse in a little basement. Once they actually want to hear you, actually give a rip, you're home free. If you need more than a 1x15 combo at rehearsal, it's no good.
 
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#18
If the guitar amps are low to the ground, the players won't hear them and so they turn up. If you are standing in front of the guitar cabs, the guitar volume you hear is louder than what the guitarists hear. It's a vicious cycle. Make the guitarists put their amps up on a stand and point it toward their head. That will solve the problem of too much band volume. Unless the guitarists and drummer are already deaf.
 

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