"HELP".........I cant hear myself over the guitars

[Lowbrow]

Boost 4db @ 400hz. - sounds like hell soloed and is often seen as a freq to cut - but boost it when the band plays and it'll add 'loud' to your sound.

 

[Flatwoundround]

I had the same problem. Then I installed precision pickups and problem solved.

 

[Cosmiceddie]

Long Term action plan is to leave the world of combos and go for Cabinets and Head world...
In my case this changed my lyfe, since with a 4X10 and a 1X15 I can hear two different bass voices and never some frequencies are bloqued (in some heads you can use the crossover and frequency selector to improve it - this is the case of my SVT4).
OTOH this changed my lyfe too since my backs complaints about this decision.
And lyfe is made of decisions...

I second this all the way. I used to play a 250 watt bass combo and it was impossible to keep up with the two guitar player's 4x12" cabinets.

Ever since I have used a 500 watt amp and a 4x12" cabinet. Lo and behold I have no problems whatsoever to hear my bass properly. To me 15" speakers suck big time.

 

[woodyng2]

One counter-intuitive move that sometimes work is to turn down your volume. I find that if the other players realize that they can't hear the bass then they'll turn down too, which can lead to all the sounds having more definition and clarity. This assumes you're playing with people who are actually listening - YMMV.

You'd think that would work,right?
I'm convinced both guitarists in one of my bands are deaf....i've tried active discussion as well as the passive
Method you described,to no avail.
I just always wear my Hearos now......

 

[simotek]

These have existed for years - people won't use them live as the onstage volume level is always set by how loud the drummer plays. In my occasional guitarist alternate universe I use a 15w valve amp, but most guitarists still seem to be in the 50w - 100w territory...

Yeah I mostly dealt with smaller venue's and I'd much rather Mic at low power and then make up the volume by running through the foldback. Sometimes you find a guitarist who realises that this will sound much better overall other days you don't win and just make it sound as good as you can.

 

[ga_edwards]

Food for thought. me and my band's two guitarists had a rehearsal session a few months ago without the drummer or singer. The purpose was to tweak tones and levels as one of the guitarists always had issues getting the appropriate balance of volumes for clean, crunch and lead (sometimes his clean was louder than his driven lead tone) and also with eq sometimes swamping the mix. We'd often have to tell him to turn up, then down, then up again. Great guitarist and great bloke, plays well and sensitively in a band context but just never puts the time in to explore and tweak his gear - so we forced him!

Anyway, we set up in a rehearsal room, combos on the floor one side of the room and we faced them from the other side. He couldn't believe how different he sounded facing his amp from a few meters away (where an audience member might be) rather than having it just behind his knees. His clean tone took his face off!

All off us made adjustments to levels, effect levels and eq settings and now we sound far more coherent and more like 'a band'.

I highly recommend others to spend time with you band mates doing this if you're having mix problems.

 

[ColonelZulu]

In Ear Monitors

 

[nzscott]

lose the contour. Aka the invisibility knob.

hi TB'ers,I had my first practice with the band since posting this thread .
So I took some of the advice from you guys and gals and put it to practice with some very effective results ..........firstly I ditched the contour effect (mid scoop) or as Downundrwonder advised me the universal name for this effect is the (invisibility knob) which I totally agree with,it sucks tone bigtime .secondly I also got one of the guitarist to get his amp up off the floor to about chest height, and that made a big improvement to our overall mix/sound, especially as that amp is the rhythm guitarist amp and I guess is the closest to the bass in tone and is occupying some of the same sonic space as I am . thirdly I upped my volume and got in both the guitarists faces for a bit by totally blowing them out of the picture when it comes to raw power and wattage ,they asked me to turn down, "HaHa " .
So cheers TB'ers for all the info and suggestions and help ,"I love TalkBass " ,regards Scotty

 

[duncan_guitars]

It depends if your guitarists are reasonable. Many will regard you as being just there to support them and won't care about your problem. If that's the case, leave and join a three piece. You will sooner or later anyway if it bothers you. If the band is any kind of democracy, try to get the guitarists to turn down a little. Possibly a forlorn hope.