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Fender Bassman 800 -Sterile Sounding?

The room is 15x24 so it’s not terribly small. I actually don’t think there’s enough sound deadening yet.
Per your original post all you've put is rugs. Assuming you're talking about floor rugs, carpet remnants, movers blankets, etc. all you're doing is reducing reflections in the mids and highs while your lower mids and bass frequencies push right through and bounce around the room. This is known in the studio world as a "boxy" sound. If you want to kill reflections you should start with low frequencies. It sounds like you're on a budget, so construct some corner traps using OC703 skinned with burlap and place them floor to ceiling straddling as many corners of the room as you can afford. They're cheap, easy to build and highly effective... if not a little ugly.
 
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Recently got a Fender Bassman 800 and Bassman Neo 410. Either playing a stock Lakland 44-60 (although I just put some Aguilar 4J-HC pickups in & haven’t had a chance to run it through the rig) or a Squier CV 70s Precision with a Fender ‘62 Original PU. Music is loud/heavy indie rock.

So far it’s feeling pretty sterile and lifeless and easily lost in the mix. Tried boosting mids/highs, etc. to no avail. I’ve found that I’m getting a better sound with the channel volume up louder but I’m running into the peak light being on a little more than I’d like.

Just the nature of Class D? Do I need to bite the bullet and go tube?

Well, I’m The last guy you want offer an opinion on class d amps and NEOs, but the issue you are having is a lack of low mids. 100-150hz. Unfortunately, you don’t have a way with your amp to bring that band to the fore without brining along other frequencies you don’t want, or cutting ones you do.

This is one of my pet peeves about a lot of the newer amps on the market is that lack of midrange control/definition to keep costs down. For me, Its a horrible place to scrimp. Anyhoo, the fix for your rig is a EQ pedal, or better yet, a parametric EQ unit. Much cheaper than a tube amp.

As for the NEOs, I’m still lugging my 60 lbs non-Neo Eden cabs around and will continue to do so until I find a better sounding Neo Cab. I haven’t yet.
 
Might be the cab, not the amp.
Have you tried it with headphones?

I think it sounds ok alone. It’s in a mix I’m having problems. I think sterile might be the wrong word. I think it’s that I’m not used to this much headroom plus the room issues. I played 350 Watts for a long time with louder bands than this with no complaints. Although there weren’t peak lights yelling at me to back off.

You may very well be right about the cab. I think the advice about EQ, probably adding a HPF are probably on point.
 
The MID FREQUENCY CONTROL is your friend if trying to cut thru a mix.
Active (overdrive) channel, doesn't have to have overdrive, just set the blend at 0.. bump up the low mids - 3 or 4 on the dial, and up the mid volume a little..... alternatively/&/ or.... cut the bass eq a little.
Remember BOTH channels (iirc) have pull bright/deep switches too, lotsa eq possibilities there
 
I think it sounds ok alone. It’s in a mix I’m having problems. I think sterile might be the wrong word. I think it’s that I’m not used to this much headroom plus the room issues. I played 350 Watts for a long time with louder bands than this with no complaints. Although there weren’t peak lights yelling at me to back off.

You may very well be right about the cab. I think the advice about EQ, probably adding a HPF are probably on point.

You will find being able to tune in the room yourself, when you don't have a FOH guy doing it, isn't hitting your presets every time in the same room.

I get why some people will advocate adding units that have preset EQ+gain, it's simpler, but less flexible.
EQ's are easier to find than a specific model pedal, and since rack gear is out of fashion you should be able to find gear cheaper than a Darkglass or ? pedal.

Try it all, see what works for you.

Everytime I visit this thread and someone says mids are the answer I think this:


Someone ask Nino Valenti what happened in the 1st clip. He's using the same 2 basses, I think the same Aguilar setup. 2nd clip sounds fine.
 
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I much prefer ceramic over neo drivers. Every neo cab I have used has sounded sterile to me. If you want to keep the look and try ceramics go for the Rumble 410. You can find them a lot less expensive than the neo 410 and you'll probably be pleasantly surprised by how much better everything sounds.
 
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Hey I bought a 500 head with a 410 cab. Thought it was lacking ?? Put a Behringer EQ using the insert on the back. It's the monster I hoped for now. 410's are more focused than a 15 cab. Standing in front of a 410 will loose that Mojo. Need to tilt it at you or stack another 410.

20190704_172558.jpg
 
Agreeing with many points so far
1. Cab break in
2. "mid scooped" sound of Fender EQ and Jazz pickups together
3. High headroom "clean" amp vs tube head
4. getting the speakers aimed at your noggin

I'm also in St Louis, you;re welcome to PM me and you can try some of my cabs, etc.
Ended I’m in STL too. Any chance you have recommendation on where to buy some good (even used) amps / cabs? I’m not from here originally.
 
Ended I’m in STL too. Any chance you have recommendation on where to buy some good (even used) amps / cabs? I’m not from here originally.

Welcome to the 314! I spend too much money at the Music Go Rounds, both south county and st charles. Usually a great selection, and if you are patient, I find almost anything one is looking for to pop up. The guitar centers are hit and miss, but prices arent bad. The more boutique places (Gravity Strings, Killer Vintage, et all) are good for your niche items, but are priced accordingly, I've found. Craigslist is eh, seems to be dominated by a coupel folks trying to take over the local used market so lots of reposts. FB Marketplace is ok, havent had a bad transaction, but if someone is savvy enough to list on there, one is usualy savvy enough to do price research etc. Not really good for deals OR you have to move REALLY fast with cash in hand.

Good luck, PM if you need more ideas
 
Thanks @Ender_rpm, much appreciated! I'll check out those places. In the market for a 4x10 and a (hopefully but $$$) 300w tube head.

Welcome to the 314! I spend too much money at the Music Go Rounds, both south county and st charles. Usually a great selection, and if you are patient, I find almost anything one is looking for to pop up. The guitar centers are hit and miss, but prices arent bad. The more boutique places (Gravity Strings, Killer Vintage, et all) are good for your niche items, but are priced accordingly, I've found. Craigslist is eh, seems to be dominated by a coupel folks trying to take over the local used market so lots of reposts. FB Marketplace is ok, havent had a bad transaction, but if someone is savvy enough to list on there, one is usualy savvy enough to do price research etc. Not really good for deals OR you have to move REALLY fast with cash in hand.

Good luck, PM if you need more ideas