Disappointed in darkglass

[Nuage420]

darkglass is 900 watts at 4 ohms with a 4 ohm 1000 watt 212 cab, which is what generated the complaints from band members.

You realize there was a button on the back of the head that would have cut that power down? And a dial on the cab to roll back the top end.

 

[Deleted member 271037]

I've never tried the Heritage HLF but if it's anything like the "regular" 410HLF I used to own it will suck out all the mids from your tone. It sounded more or less like miking a "normal" bass cab with a scooped kick drum mic and then boost the sub bass frequencies! That cab was all about massive, rumbling, DEEP lows.

Usually when people experience what you describe I suspect it's caused by dialling in too much lows but if the HLF worked great I'm not so sure... Maybe the guitar player had gotten used to the "hole" in the mids that the HLF provides and that the stronger mid presence from the Darkglass rig is now competing for the same frequencies as the guitars? That could make him perceive the bass as being louder.

Personally I found the 410HLF more or less useless due to the extremely deep, rumbling lows and scooped mids but maybe that's exactly what you need? Lots of people love the 410HLF, it just wasn't for me.

But like I said, I've only owned an older 410HLF, not the Heritage model so I might be completely off the mark here!

 

[scott sinner]

Sometimes peoples perception of an excess volume problem is actually an EQ problem.

I think that is very much the likely culprit. Darkglass is more full frequency than those others, at middle of the dial/slider settings. You have to sculpt that stuff for the room, the drum set, the band context. I've been in groups where I would have needed that lower focused Ampeg and the group I'm in now is better suited for something like Darkglass. I can get adequate results for either with EQ, one is just a little easier, more perfect than the others, but any would get me there. Add a pedal or two and it would be absolutely no problem.

By sculpting, for example, being a low baritone singer myself, I cut some low mids that are in my vocal fundamental range routinely. I HPF to where my lowest notes are just above my drummer's kick's lowest bits, as he is peaking around 50Hz. With another kick drum that is resonating higher, I might do that differently, I might cut my lows, and let my subs live under the kick, depending on the genre too.

 

[Cory rich40]

What 1,000 watt Ampeg head are you using?

SVT 1000. All solid state. I also have an SVT vr

 

[bearhart74]

we can still hear you. please turn down.

 

[dfreeland83]

The A/O definitely has a different EQ curve than the Ampeg, which is 100% why I'm sure they complained. In church, in generally, I've discovered that people want to 'Feel' the bass, rather than hear it. They want an almost sub-bass synth sound. Heck, at two churches I used to play at... getting them to push any of the bass guitar's sound into anything other than the subs was pulling teeth.

For what it's worth, though, if the amp is close to you, you may barely be able to hear it but by the time the sound gets out to the audience, it may be ear-piercing. I had a Hartke 410XL powered by a Fender Rumble 200 a few years ago and it was so frustrating to me. I'd take it to church, I'd have the volume on '2,' I could barely hear it, and I'd be told to turn down. Finally, I had somebody else play and I walked out into the sanctuary, and sure enough, it was overpowering by the time the sound got to the middle of the room. You may try either moving the cab or having someone else play while you're out in the sanctuary so you can see if it's more of a phasing issue than a volume issue. There's a possibility it's way louder out there than it is on stage.

 

[Enriquedelapaz]

Ok don’t laugh. I had a darkglass alpha omega 900 and a DG 212 a few months ago. I play at random get togethers, family reunions, and church. When we were all practicing, I was told I was way too loud. I was told the same thing at church that night. I turned myself down so low I could barely here myself. I know you guys will say 900 watts was way overkill for church use. I get it. I have used a fender rumble 800 head and the rumble 410 with compliments. I have used a fender bassman 500 with the 410 with the overdrive channel on and the guitarist told me it sounded awesome. I have played through an ampeg SVT vr and SVT HLF 410 cab and he really loved that. I actually traded in the darkglass head and cab for the SVT vr, and that’s my best sounding rig in my opinion. So what gives with the darkglass amp? You would think the guitarist would have criticized that as well. I have a stingray and a bongo, and he favored the stingray. He even said the bongo sounded better through the SVT than the stingray did. And still admitted the stingray sounded good through it. To me it’s all like a journey to get to where your going and get the gear your happy with. I’ll admit I’m now satisfied. I’m just a little confused about the reaction of the guitarist to the darkglass stuff. I had my SVT at a reasonable level and he wanted me to turn it up louder, yet the darkglass was too loud

Seeing what the DG´s are made of, and the speakers are neodymium often these speakers reproduce a "harsh" top end for basses and guitars, i just like those magnets for PA systems... But on cabs they´re used just because its super lightweight, still i dont dig the sound, maybe a DG head with an ampeg cab is the sound you´re looking for, btw what tuning are you using with your music man basses?

 

[David A. Davis]

Just curious, were any of the people who told you that you were too loud bass players?
If not it’s probably an eq problem.

 

[Cory rich40]

Ok. The guitar player that told me I was too loud was slightly Behind me on the right side. I was on the left. So he was across from me. I had to set up where I had room to be. That’s where I always stand. The amp was nowhere near maximum volume. Not even halfway.

 

[MtManiac]

Darkglass is too metal for church. Maybe the guitar player was scared.

 

[sean_on_bass]

Ok don’t laugh. I had a darkglass alpha omega 900 and a DG 212 a few months ago. I play at random get togethers, family reunions, and church. When we were all practicing, I was told I was way too loud. I was told the same thing at church that night. I turned myself down so low I could barely here myself. I know you guys will say 900 watts was way overkill for church use. I get it. I have used a fender rumble 800 head and the rumble 410 with compliments. I have used a fender bassman 500 with the 410 with the overdrive channel on and the guitarist told me it sounded awesome. I have played through an ampeg SVT vr and SVT HLF 410 cab and he really loved that. I actually traded in the darkglass head and cab for the SVT vr, and that’s my best sounding rig in my opinion. So what gives with the darkglass amp? You would think the guitarist would have criticized that as well. I have a stingray and a bongo, and he favored the stingray. He even said the bongo sounded better through the SVT than the stingray did. And still admitted the stingray sounded good through it. To me it’s all like a journey to get to where your going and get the gear your happy with. I’ll admit I’m now satisfied. I’m just a little confused about the reaction of the guitarist to the darkglass stuff. I had my SVT at a reasonable level and he wanted me to turn it up louder, yet the darkglass was too loud

I mean, there could be no meaningful reason they thought one was louder than another. and it's relative to the volume of the rest of the group on the stage that night. You are probably over thinking this. At the end of the day, the Darkglass gear you have should work great for the situation, and so would the Ampeg, and so would the Fender. Also, stop choosing gear based on what other people say. Choose it based on what you think sounds good. You are the bassist, not them.

 

[Doug P]

Like others have said…. I’d go the eq route.

 

[lomo]

Cover up the logo and tell 'em it's made by a new bass gear co. call The Lamb.

 

[ThisBass]

Ok don’t laugh. I had a darkglass alpha omega 900 and a DG 212 a few months ago. I play at random get togethers, family reunions, and church. When we were all practicing, I was told I was way too loud. I was told the same thing at church that night. I turned myself down so low I could barely here myself. I know you guys will say 900 watts was way overkill for church use. I get it. I have used a fender rumble 800 head and the rumble 410 with compliments. I have used a fender bassman 500 with the 410 with the overdrive channel on and the guitarist told me it sounded awesome. I have played through an ampeg SVT vr and SVT HLF 410 cab and he really loved that. I actually traded in the darkglass head and cab for the SVT vr, and that’s my best sounding rig in my opinion. So what gives with the darkglass amp? You would think the guitarist would have criticized that as well. I have a stingray and a bongo, and he favored the stingray. He even said the bongo sounded better through the SVT than the stingray did. And still admitted the stingray sounded good through it. To me it’s all like a journey to get to where your going and get the gear your happy with. I’ll admit I’m now satisfied. I’m just a little confused about the reaction of the guitarist to the darkglass stuff. I had my SVT at a reasonable level and he wanted me to turn it up louder, yet the darkglass was too loud

You might have happen to get diiferent results with a different bass guitar, probably.

You might than have happen to open a new thread about different bass guitars.

 

[pepj]

Difficult to gauge unless you have context re other members. There are plenty of gtr players you can and need to ignore, tbh but my first focus os do the amp..which is an ok amp imv..and the cab pair well in other situations?