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How far away to stand from rig

JonnyAngle

JonnyAngle

Dropping Acid Pedal Etching .com
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Nov 24, 2008
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#1
How far do you stand from your rig when playing a gig? I have a 300w GK with a 4X10 cab. I usually stand 5-6 feet in front of it. I wish I could hear it a little better. If I stand farther away from it, will I hear it better (on the other half of the stage)? That's what a friend of my guitarist said.:confused:
 
#2
If you can tilt it back, you'll hear it better.
Stack a 1x15 on top or on the bottom would help.
Further away is better, too.
Bump the mids a bit and you might hear it better.
 
#4
Gee, some of the venues in Sydney you are literally standing with your butt cheeks caressing the grill of your rig (Three Wise Monkeys, George St, Sydney).

I am happy when I'm a few metres away, though I don't like to get too far away from my "zone of influence". Basically, if I can hear the guitarist too much I'll step back a foot or two :)
 
#5
depends on the size of the stage, or if there is a stage at all. I run around all over the place, and go up to the crowd and head bang with em. If you can't hear yourself from your amp or your monitor, you might want to do something about that.
 
#6
JonnyAngle said:
How far do you stand from your rig when playing a gig? I have a 300w GK with a 4X10 cab. I usually stand 5-6 feet in front of it. I wish I could hear it a little better. If I stand farther away from it, will I hear it better (on the other half of the stage)? That's what a friend of my guitarist said.:confused:
Click to expand...
Friends of guitarists say a lot of wrong things. This is based on a faulty but often-repeated idea that bass waves need several feet to develop. Not true.

The closer you are to it, the better you will hear it, except that being 5-6 ft. away will result in a lot of the mids and highs blowing right past your ears, which would cause you some problems hearing it. You need to tilt it back. That's all.
 
#8
IME it's always been a problem to hear what you're playing. Rarely do I have enough room to place the cab a decent distance behind me (to let the sound develop) so I often use a cab with 10's. As the previous posters said - get it up to ear level and you'll usually hear better. Tilting the cab back is a great idea but often not practical.
Good luck! :D
 
#10
lindseyp said:
I have never seen a pro bass player stand near his speakers in any concerts I've attended.
Musicman7722, how's that Acoustic B600H working out for you?
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Yeah, because the speakers are mostly for show and the stage is much bigger than the stuff most of us get to play on. In a pro setup the bass is almost certainly running through the monitors, either stage wedges or in-ear.
 
#11
I am running 850w on stage. I can't always hear myself. Sometimes I am 3 feet away, sometimes 10 feet. It doesn't really matter. We run In-Ear monitors and I have some bass put through them for smaller venues and on the really big stages, I have it coming through the floor wedges, but then I also wear ear plugs. I do seem to hear myself much better on Big Stages where I am several feet away from my cabinets.
 
#13
Jehos said:
Yeah, because the speakers are mostly for show and the stage is much bigger than the stuff most of us get to play on. In a pro setup the bass is almost certainly running through the monitors, either stage wedges or in-ear.
Click to expand...
Happens less than you think, though. A lot of us hate the sound of bass thru monitors or IEM's.
 
#15
I find it's easier to hear the lower tones the closer I get to my amp, as the higher the frequencies become the more directional they are. Conversely, much lower frequencies tend to be more omni directional. A lot of the time I like to hear the rumble so I'm almost on my rig, at others I stand a bit of a ways away to hear more of the tones develop (especially with new strings!).

If you're not hearing yourself you could also just turn up a notch... ;)
 
#18
lindseyp said:
I have never seen a pro bass player stand near his speakers in any concerts I've attended.
Musicman7722, how's that Acoustic B600H working out for you?
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The B600H is fabulous. I can happily say I'm cured of my gas. I still have the B200H as well for rehersals but the 600 has the watts, the sounds and the features that wok for me. Sounds very nice with my dual Neo210's.

CP

ps I did paint the rack this week and have corners and handles coming.
 

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#19
musicman7722 said:
The B600H is fabulous. I can happily say I'm cured of my gas. I still have the B200H as well for rehersals but the 600 has the watts, the sounds and the features that wok for me. Sounds very nice with my dual Neo210's.

CP

ps I did paint the rack this week and have corners and handles coming.
Click to expand...
Don't you loose a lot of the low end rumble with your cabinet off the floor?
 

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