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Can an amp be too big??

#41
Your basement is similar to mine (concrete walls and low ceiling). My walls are finished but that doesn't make much difference. I've done a little research (not an acoustical engineer) and would say that the acoustics are bad. Some frequencies cancel each other out. Without adding acoustical treatments there is not much you can do except maybe putting the bass cab on the front wall in the center of the room. You could experiment with some cheap bass traps.

How effective are Bass traps for room accostics?
 
#42
Ok....so I suggest you all agree to spend somewhere around $250 each and get smaller rigs appropriate for practicing in a basement. I gig with 500 watts. I rehearse through a 1979 Peavey TKO60 in the drummer's basement. It pushes plenty of air in the space and we still have to dial it back a couple of times a night.

Oh...and the entire basement is carpeted and has a dropped ceiling so its not a concrete echo chamber.
 
#43
That room screams a big boom can as noted from everyone else. Try taking a cab, put it in front of you and tilt it up monitor style. That should get it directed to your ears and not blowing up the room. That seems to help me in mushy rooms if I can get away with it.

Also as stated, watch your ears. I sat in with a band last night, subbing for the bassist. The drummer used in ears, and was also one of the loudest drummers I've played with. No dynamics besides just loud. I think the in ears had something to do with that, but the small room was boomy, and my ears are ringing terribly today. I'm slotted for five more shows, but if the drummer can't get a handle on his playing, I'm going to cancel. I talked to the bl about this already, and told them I'd bring ear plugs next gig, but it was way to loud for the room. I'm very sensitive to a loud stage volume these days, and my hearing is worth more than a nightly club band can pay me. Just take care of your ears, tinnitus is no fun, believe me.

Hopefully this helps. Plugs will help with the sound
 
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#44
lz4005 said:
That can happen. Could you put a high pass filter on the mics? That works to eliminate stage rumble.
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Even cutting lows doesn't eliminate problems when the upper reaches of my top cab (Fearful 15/6 & 15sub stack) fires straight into the vocal mics. I've stopped stacking my cabs high to help this problem (successfully). Using a tall stack to make sure you can hear yourself can do more harm than good. Better to turn everybody down.
 
#49
Ric5 said:
Dead+Wall+1.jpg
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Can I get a little more bass in the monitors?
 
#50
Ukiah Bass said:
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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This is a really good point. If the guitars lift their amps off the ground (chair or amp stand) they can be quieter but also they'll probably conflict less with your frequencies.
ultimately you have a frequency issue probably caused by all the cement.
 
#51
I fully support using in ear monitors for rehearsal! the band I play bass for is pretty loud and in a small room. I just play wired directly (uh, non-wireless) for practice. I can really hear everything so much better than if I was using earplugs, or not using earplugs, for that matter. I'm the one who speaks up when our vocal harmonies are off because I can hear them so well in my earbuds.
 
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#55
This is a lot less about size of amps than it is using common sense with the controls on the amps. If your band mates are comfortable in the current noise/volume environment and you're searching for a way to get heard, it's time for a serious band meeting (I can't believe I just suggested that). The first topic should be how rehearsals are useful if you guys can't hear each other - shout the question if you have to.
 

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