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I STILL fail at getting volume!!!!

Pishaw.... I bet I could keep up with this guitarist... I agree, 4 cones will not = a full Marshall stack, no way no how... Not cranked to 8 anyway. In six countries, a full 100w Marshall stack is a registered lethal weapon.

Two stacks together, I think I could still keep up. But if he went to three, I'd be adding some more cabs. You can't compare apples and oranges, you guys that think you can are all wrong.

OK so, I have a rock crusher for a bass rig... Now lets compare what I'm saying here. 6 SVT-4PRO heads driving 6 fridges = 2 100w plexis with 4 1960 cabs... So that means how many SVT-4PROS and 810 cabs to equal a 100w full stack marshall? Do the math...

Now start buying guys.

If you pushed it, and I mean really push it you MIGHT be able to get by with a pair of SVT's and 810's keeping up with one 100W Marshall... but I really think it needs THREE just so you don't have to crank the poop outta the SVT setup. Reality is sure a bitch ain't it?

BOB
 
As for the bass, yeah, I didn't think I needed that either. I just wanted something that would keep up in any situation I threw at it. Turns out it doesn't even keep up in the mildest of situations - a jam session at a house!
I was looking for a place to post about how I cover my jam session/rehearsals with 225 watts and a Bag End 15 and still need hearing protection....and then I found this thread.

I can't imagine how truly horrifying the volume in that unholy bassment must be. I'd start learning ASL now while you can still hear the person teaching it. (I'd have posted the appropriate smilie, but they seem to have taken down the one that has the puzzled look on his face and the bleeding ears).

Mike
 
you may be pushing too much sub bass to get loud. first check your cabs for
polarity. its easy. plug a 1/4" cord into the first cab. grab the other end. touch
the tip to + of a 9v battery, shank to negative. watch the speaker cones, they
will most likely push outward. now do the same to the other cab. if both cones do not
push out, they are out of phase. if they are the same then you are ok.

now try cutting the sub bass a bit, & raise the low mids a bit...

As above. If that fails, they make 8000 watt amps now. get a couple of those. only $10,000 each. :confused:
 
+1 more speaker area. I run an Ashdown ABM500 (575w RMS) into an ABM810 and it kills. I have plenty of volume in reserve (12 o'clock gain, 10/11 o'clock master) and it competes well with a Mesa Dual Rec into a 4x12 and 2x12.

You need more speakers mate, and yes, tell the guitarist to lose a cab AND turn down!
 
You need more speakers mate, and yes, tell the guitarist to lose a cab AND turn down!

It took years to get from a band in the garage to one where a guitarist actually had a full stack... You don't chop the stack, they be kewl....

It is time for bassist to grow rig to match. I explained how a few lines up the page...

I don't want to go back to a KALAMAZOO Bass-30 why should he?

BOB
 
The guitar player in my band runs a Marshall half-stack (4x12). I'm not even sure of the wattage. He runs a Hot Plate when we play OUT. At punk/rock gigs. With a full band in medium to large rooms. He does this so he doesn't tear his own head off. I wear earplugs ALWAYS, and he damn near tears off mine. Your guy needs a reality check or you're all gonna be shopping for hearing aids.
 
I just kinda skimmed through this thread but here is what happened to me with Avatar cabs: First off I've had a few of them and they are great. I recently had an SB112 paired with an Avatar 210. I had a new Carvin BX500 running the cabs. After about 20 seconds of playing, especially aggressive playing, the amp would go into protect mode and shut down. It did this over and over, driving me nuts.

I didn't think it was the cabs. The 112 was new. Anyway, long story even longer, the brand new Avatar 112 had a loose wire and vibration was making the bare wire make contact with the metal frame of the speaker. That's all it was. Open them up and have a look, you never know...
Oh and by the way, the volume was weak as well. I had another incident with an Avatar where they had to send me a new crossover. Otherwise they make great cabs!

This has been the only ACTUAL piece of advice on this thread. I'm going to assume the OP is not a total idiot, and knows what a 1500 watt, 2x12" 2x10" rig is supposed to sound like. Granted, that's WAY too much power for a basement, but it seems like berating him about his guitarist, telling him to quit the band, telling him to buy a $1000, 200 lbs 8x10, and telling him to boost his low-mids isn't very good advice.
 
Destructo- My humble old-fart recommendation is to start over... unless you can rent an arena for your rehearsal space. 1600 watts can power an entire band quite handily, let alone the bass rig. I can't begin to imagine how loud your band must be....being in the same room with a 100 watt guitar amp turned all the way up would probably throw me into some kind of seizure.
A Fender Princeton for your guitar player and an Ampeg B-15 for you. Get back into playing and put the watt wars aside for a while.
 
This has been the only ACTUAL piece of advice on this thread. I'm going to assume the OP is not a total idiot, and knows what a 1500 watt, 2x12" 2x10" rig is supposed to sound like. Granted, that's WAY too much power for a basement, but it seems like berating him about his guitarist, telling him to quit the band, telling him to buy a $1000, 200 lbs 8x10, and telling him to boost his low-mids isn't very good advice.

Plus 1000

So many childish assumptions being thrown around likely by people whose musical preferences differ vastly.

So his guitarist likes the sound of a full stack, so what, how do all the haters posting here know how that sounds in that room, have you been in their basement?

Just cos you use a big stack and enjoy the lush big physical sounds they produce with ease does not mean you sit infront of it drooling at the mouth cos your enjoying making yourself go deaf.

To the OP - Its a shame that rig has not worked out for you. You might need a different set up, you might just have dud speakers.

But do try some other speakers first ... have mostly read only good remarks about the Carvin amp you have

also Some rooms eat bass.- this might even be why the guitarist uses so much volume himself
 
The only realistic assumption is the one that's been on the "safe side", in the interest of the OP: It does sound from his post like those guys are playing at very high volumes for the space (we assume it's not a big space with large windows or high cielings, it's been described as a "bassment"). The assumption is that they are all in danger of damaging their ears. Not a bad one to make if you're going to make one.

"Haters" or not,... too much spl is bad. A lot of collective experience, even if only 1 out of 5 here know what they're talking about, says you don't need to do that for rehearsal in a small room no matter what style of music you're into. Whatever it takes, you need to take care of your hearing.

Assuming you want to do that. :hiding:
 
Yup - in a functioning band, the drummer sets the stage volume, not the guitard - and even the drummer needs to be aware that they can play too loud for practical purposes...



- georgestrings

+1000 If you can't hear the kick drum--everybody's too loud. How else are you gonna refine and finesse things if it's just a blur?

Some rooms eat bass.

Like I said with my post, playing an SVT for the vert first time in a little rec-room--I couldn't hear myself. Granted in my case I WAS young and inexperienced and the band was WAY to loud to be even remotely reasonable, but this is SO true--the room can "eat" frequencies, mask them, etc. (especially with a loud guitar stack blasting away). That of course doesn't mean you're not gonna kill your ears----even more chance of it, actually.
Perhaps the next best step for the OP is to take the rig somewhere else and play through it--rent a rehearsal room somewhere for a few hours. A bigger space then you're currently in. See how it sounds in there.