• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Can an amp be too big??

#21
26.jpg


RUSH_061215_14-1024x480.jpg
 
#27
I've spent a significant amount of time in my youth playing punk rock in small-ish basements or garages with concrete walls and/or floors without ear protection. It sure was fun, but at 39, I have to accept that tinnitus is now part of my life.

My advice to you:

  1. Turn down, wear hearing protection. There's no way you need to turn such a big rig that loud in such a small space to hear yourself;
  2. If you can, don't stand right next to the drums like I often did, I'm pretty sure being so close to the cymbals hurt my ears;
  3. Try moving away from your amp. It might surprise you but with the wavelength of bass frequencies, you may find out your hear yourself better if you're standing across the room from your amp vs having your cabs blowing at your calves / back. I have a big rig at our rehearsal space, often when I try this (standing across the room) I end up turning down the volume otherwise I would drown out everyone else, but I wouldn't know how loud I really am when standing right by the cabs - and everyone would turn way up to play with me, causing a "volume war" type of vicious circle;
  4. Avoid volume wars, if one guy is too loud, tell him - don't turn up your volume to match his, chances are he'll only turn up again. If that fails go amp less with in-ears as someone else suggested. This way Nigel Tufnel can go as loud in his in-ears without deafening everyone else.

Good luck!
 
  • Like
Reactions: funkytoe and GManfromOz
#28
I'm happily on hiatus right now from a band which had no clue about relative volume. Always required hearing protection but the drummer and I were the only ones who used it. Rest of the band seemed to think we were wimps for wearing plugs. [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] That music wasn't worth getting a lifetime of tinnitus and hearing loss from! [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
#30
That's a lot of amp for that room! Regarding the concrete, if you have a harbor freight near you, you can buy giant moving blankets for about 6 bucks each and hang them everywhere you can. My basement sounded like a gymnasium and the blankets helped control the sound a lot.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Al Kraft and Atshen
#31
Frank77 said:
I've spent a significant amount of time in my youth playing punk rock in small-ish basements or garages with concrete walls and/or floors without ear protection. It sure was fun, but at 39, I have to accept that tinnitus is now part of my life.

My advice to you:

  1. Turn down, wear hearing protection. There's no way you need to turn such a big rig that loud in such a small space to hear yourself;
  2. If you can, don't stand right next to the drums like I often did, I'm pretty sure being so close to the cymbals hurt my ears;
  3. Try moving away from your amp. It might surprise you but with the wavelength of bass frequencies, you may find out your hear yourself better if you're standing across the room from your amp vs having your cabs blowing at your calves / back. I have a big rig at our rehearsal space, often when I try this (standing across the room) I end up turning down the volume otherwise I would drown out everyone else, but I wouldn't know how loud I really am when standing right by the cabs - and everyone would turn way up to play with me, causing a "volume war" type of vicious circle;
  4. Avoid volume wars, if one guy is too loud, tell him - don't turn up your volume to match his, chances are he'll only turn up again. If that fails go amp less with in-ears as someone else suggested. This way Nigel Tufnel can go as loud in his in-ears without deafening everyone else.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

Lots of good advice. Point number 3 about wavelength being a factor is a myth. Bass frequencies radiate omnidirectionaly and function in small distances (or else headphones wouldn't work). There are other issues that get blamed on the wavelength. Issues like room acoustics, coupling, reflection surfaces, bass traps, dispersion of higher frequencies from the cabinet which can and do beam directionally, comb filtering, phase issues. The length of the bass wave is not the issue.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Frank77
#32
As so many have said, get the guitars to turn down. I rehearse in a factory unit and the guitarist has tinnitus so he's playing at 11 with earplugs. Nobody else can hear a damn thing. To compete I used a 4x10 at first then a 1x15 but all it did was make me ill. So when I arranged the groups first gig I said that we should rehearse at the venue level which is really quiet. So the guitarist wound it down from 11 to 4, I used a 12" 100w combo and we sounded awesome. Now the trick will be to continue that practice level.
 
#34
OK. So the room is not optimal and everyone definitely needs to turn down. But, there may be other issues too. What does your amp sound like in other rooms? Outside? Can you hear yourself well in other environments? I ask because your problem could be speaker phase issues (canceling frequencies). Push your amp outside and play it with the same settings. See if it is as loud as you would expect. And what about strings? How old are they? Flats or Roundwounds? If you are playing broken in flats and cutting bass frequencies in your EQ, you may be dialing out the fundamental frequency that give flats their oomph. Stainless steel roundwounds will be much brighter in the mids and easier to hear. Turn down. But also take the time to learn why this is happening. It is a valuable lesson that will pay dividends if you begin gigging in unfamiliar rooms.
 
  • Like
Reactions: CatSquare
#35
monsterthompson said:
Lots of good advice. Point number 3 about wavelength being a factor is a myth. Bass frequencies radiate omnidirectionaly and function in small distances (or else headphones wouldn't work). There are other issues that get blamed on the wavelength. Issues like room acoustics, coupling, reflection surfaces, bass traps, dispersion of higher frequencies from the cabinet which can and do beam directionally, comb filtering, phase issues. The length of the bass wave is not the issue.
Click to expand...

That's entirely possible. I gave this a try after reading an article by a well-known educator about this, and found that (at least in the spaces I've played since then) it was often true I could hear myself better further away from my rig...but yeah, there's probably lots of other things at play, too. As they say, your mileage may vary.

I just hope OP does whatever he can to protect his hearing...Concrete is a poopy surface for acoustics.
 
  • Like
Reactions: monsterthompson

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back