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Last night's backline.......not impressed.......

#81
DWBass said:
Ok, had a gig, last night, at a well known venue in Richmond, VA. This was my backline.
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I though Aguilar was supposed to be the bees knees! Nope. This rig had zero booty and something was buzzing. Couldn't tell if it was a speaker or cab bracing. I had to ask the soundman to add my bass in my monitor. Could barely hear anything below low E. SMH. I had my rig in the car but they wouldn't let me use it. Could have been the stage. Soundman mentioned a lot of bass players complain about the rig.
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Tin Pan? If that is where you played, I was less than impressed with that head as well as the cab.

That particular head is one of many class D heads I’ve found lacking. I spent a fair amount of time with the sound tech there, and the only thing that helped was using my Eden WTDI into the line input as opposed to the instrument input. That helped a great deal with the tone, but the amp output suffers from some serious latency issues.

BTW, how was the room? Good audience? Great acoustics, Stage is a bit wonky, it makes sense the way the whole club is laid out. Played there several times with 8 piece dance band. I loved the venue, the amp an Cab, not so much.
 
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#83
murphy said:
Could have been the speaker cable


check your instrument cable
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OP mentions “something was buzzing”, which would lead down path of checking the speaker/instrument cables. From the picture it looks like the Aguilar’s DI out is being utilized, so if the buzzing was not in monitors or FOH the process of elimination leads me to the speaker cable or the speaker cabinet / speakers as source of problem. But gosh, I’m no expert and wasn’t there. Sorry to hear about the technical problems.
 
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#84
Few years ago played the premium Sam Diego club (Stones did a private party there) w an SVT back line

Sounded like pure garbage on stage, beat to hell, but Boy Howdy did it sound amazing out front in the recordings. Best sound me and the guitarist ever had

Same thing at Buddy Guys club years ago, think he’s upped the gear since

Learned to make do on stage long as the audience hears the good stuff
 
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#86
I never bonded with the TH500, and I was so very disappointed, having been an Aguilar fanboy for years.

DB680/659 with power amp, DB359 all tube amp, the venerable DB750 (never should have gotten rid of that one) ... and I gigged an AG500SC with 2 GS112's for several years.


I was completely underwhelmed by the TH500.

Like the OP, I just couldn't get any thick bass out of it. Plenty of low-end extension, but it didn't have that 'smooth and thick puddin down low with the glass up top' that I defined as the 'Aguilar Sound'.

I recently got back into Aguilar via an AG700 and an SL212, and am glad to say I'm back. With the 'deep' and 'bright' switch in, and a smidge on my Sadowsky, it killed it on the R&B/Soul/Neo-Soul gig I did over the weekend.

Big fat notes on every part of the neck that keeps the groove going, and more complex mids than I got out of my DB750 rig.
 
#88
I'm not saying this applies to the OP, but so many bassists beat the hell out of backline gear at every gig, and then they complain when they get broken and/or cheap backline gear. Like, guys, if you took care of it, maybe it wouldn't be broken? It definitely sounds like someone has abused the cab in the past, unless there was some acoustic anomaly in the room (out of phase with subs, cancellation from walls, etc...). If every bass player treated backline gear like their own prized possession, none of them should be broken unless the venue bought them that way.

MattZilla said:
Hmmm...
+
I wonder if he intentionally sabotaged the rig because the stage and room are difficult to mix.
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I really doubt this is the case, but if I was a venue owner or manager and found out someone did this, they would be fired immediately (mid gig, IDGAF, and definitely no pay), and I would do my best to make sure they never worked within a 3 state radius again.

Even with bands I hate, where I tell the guitarist (it's ALWAYS the guitarist) to turn down, and then he pretends but by 2 songs into the next set he's even louder than before, I STILL do my best to make them sound as good as possible.

But if the gear is known to be an issue, nobody should be telling bands they have to use it. It should be there for emergency purposes only and bands should be ENCOURAGED to bring their own stuff. Personally, I avoid backline gear because 9 times out of 10 I'm going to prefer my own and feel more comfortable. And I basically don't share my stuff precisely because most people beat the hell out of the venue's or their own. So some bill mate who has no leverage over you is definitely not going to be treated with respect. And maybe 8 times out of 10 it would be ok, but like russian roulette, eventually you hit the time it's not ok and it's game over.

I'm always amazed how poorly people treat gear. And it's really not that hard to treat it well. And even with treating it well, over time it's still subject to wear and tear, so why would you want to accelerate that by treating stuff like crap? And some people might say "hey man, it's only GEAR", but if you have so little attachment to it, why would you want to be spending money replacing it all the time?
 
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#89
I've encountered sucky backline before but this was the first time there was no 'booty'! It could be user error (never played through one before). Could have been a phase issue but it sounded bad before the subs were turned on. Cab was definitely buzzing (sounded like the cab and not a speaker). In the end, as long as I was able to hear myself (for the most part) I was good to go. I'll use my amp next time.
 
#90
baxter_x said:
That's pretty much my definition of Aguilar tone. Everything in the mids. If you want clean and massive tone, go for an Ampeg or MEsa amp.
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I ditched my two Ampegs in favour of a TH500. Loved the Ampeg sound but didn’t love the weight, and I’ve been able to get very similar sounds out of the TH, with plenty of low end.
 
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#93
DWBass said:
Found this video with Anthony Wellington playing through one. If you look at the settings (he has everything set flat, gain at noon, no drive), I had it the same way before I slightly boosted the bass and treble to try to get something out of it.
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Do you like the tone in that video? I have to say that I don't find that demo particularly flattering on any level. Wouldn't make me want to buy a TH500 or a Fodera. Luckily the tone in that video doesn't match up at all with my experience of the amp.

Having said that, I know that a person's enjoyment of a particular piece of gear can be dependent on any number of variables. I've had really good luck with the TH500 but my choice of bass and cabinet might have a lot to do with that. Of the various cabinets I've used with a TH500, the Bergantinos have definitely been my favourites.
 
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#94
ihaveaquestion said:
I can't understand why amp companies sometimes makes videos with these horrible line output tones, instead of putting a mic in front of the cab
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Not to mention the fact that they really don't do much actual "tweaking" of the amp in that video. Not a great demo at all in my opinion.
 
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#95
Hey, how do you like this amp?

not impressed.jpeg
 
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#96
DWBass said:
Ok, had a gig, last night, at a well known venue in Richmond, VA. This was my backline.
Link Removed
I though Aguilar was supposed to be the bees knees! Nope. This rig had zero booty and something was buzzing. Couldn't tell if it was a speaker or cab bracing. I had to ask the soundman to add my bass in my monitor. Could barely hear anything below low E. SMH. I had my rig in the car but they wouldn't let me use it. Could have been the stage. Soundman mentioned a lot of bass players complain about the rig.
Click to expand...


Surprised but much like a rental car, its probably not taken proper care of by some.

Would have told band leader, who would have then informed venue that luckily, our bass player will be using his amp.

Would have been a quiet night if that was refused.

No reason to put up with that and the fact the sound guy knew is disturbing?
 
#97
DWBass said:
Found this video with Anthony Wellington playing through one. If you look at the settings (he has everything set flat, gain at noon, no drive), I had it the same way before I slightly boosted the bass and treble to try to get something out of it.
Click to expand...


Not knocking the amp at all, but agree with other posters. Why would a company start a showcase vid of their amp with the player playing some super muted, clacky indistinct part? I feel a part like that would sound the same on a pawn shop special and a 10w Gorilla amp! At least later on with his chords and slap you can at least hear something. The other Aguilar vids are like this too, jazz guys wanking up high with heavy delay and loops. Is there an Aguilar produced video that shows this amp used in rock, funk, RandB, etc? Or are they only seeing their target audience as a select few? Pardon my ignorance, I just don't get it.
 
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#98
twc1313 said:
Not knocking the amp at all, but agree with other posters. Why would a company start a showcase vid of their amp with the player playing some super muted, clacky indistinct part? I feel a part like that would sound the same on a pawn shop special and a 10w Gorilla amp! At least later on with his chords and slap you can at least hear something. The other Aguilar vids are like this too, jazz guys wanking up high with heavy delay and loops. Is there an Aguilar produced video that shows this amp used in rock, funk, RandB, etc? Or are they only seeing their target audience as a select few? Pardon my ignorance, I just don't get it.
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Lol!!! It does sound like a 10 watt Gorilla amp. I'm not even a Tonehammer fan and I have to admit the amp doesn't sound as bad as the video. :laugh:
 
#100
ihaveaquestion said:
I guess that's the case. Markbass is like that as well, but from what i hear, including a concert without PA support, Markbass is more versatile

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@3:13 when you hear the chair squeak louder than the bass amp has been in the whole video, you know you have a production problem

Edit - ok possibly its his leather strap hitting his mic, but either way...COME ON
 
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