Nope, certainly not the same, sorry. IMO, Valvestate's are worse than Transtube's. The power-soak idears are better, and smaller cabs if they want to keep the heads - at least disconnect two or even 3 speakers.
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Loud Guitarists, What are my Amp Options?
- Thread starter twc1313
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Nope, certainly not the same, sorry. IMO, Valvestate's are worse than Transtube's. The power-soak idears are better, and smaller cabs if they want to keep the heads - at least disconnect two or even 3 speakers.
But that would mean no sledgehammer and I can't abide that!
(I have no idea what you're talking about btw, I just know I get a lot of compliments for the recorded tones I get with the 2000 AVT 25W I have in my project studio)
dont know what to tell yah.
most people complain the drummer is too loud.
we had a hard time finding a drummer louder than us LOL
your options are the same they have always been, a truck a van and a 810 or 4x15
likewise with large cabs and small cars a roofrack will fit one 8x10 or a pair of 2x15.
fullstacks sound good to me.
not really a volume issue, long as the players have skill, big rigs are fun
810 was always easier to roll in. i hated using 2 x 4x10
most people complain the drummer is too loud.
we had a hard time finding a drummer louder than us LOL
your options are the same they have always been, a truck a van and a 810 or 4x15
likewise with large cabs and small cars a roofrack will fit one 8x10 or a pair of 2x15.
fullstacks sound good to me.
not really a volume issue, long as the players have skill, big rigs are fun
810 was always easier to roll in. i hated using 2 x 4x10
There was a time when I ran into this situation where the guitar wants to provide all the bottom end, I instead would play on the secondary beats and play what the guitars should normally be doing. More often than not, everything ground to a halt with lots of confusion. Then, I would impolitely tell them to get the hell out of my sonic space.
Now, unless I hear the musicians are worth the effort, I just don't get involved. A great musician told me once, "Always play with better musicians than yourself. You'll learn far more than playing with guys that don't know what they are doing."
Move on and find mature musicians to play with.
I had this issue with a keyboard player who insisted on playing in my register with sustained notes... My guitarist turned to me one night and said I was too loud and to please turn down. I looked at him and told him I wasn't playing.
I had this issue with a keyboard player who insisted on playing in my register with sustained notes... My guitarist turned to me one night and said I was too loud and to please turn down. I looked at him and told him I wasn't playing.
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Exactly; it's not only the part of the frequency spectrum the instrument occupies, but also when the bass notes happen in time. If there's no space for the bass guitar in both instances, you may as well just put a cardboard cutout of a bass player on the stage.
fill in the frequencies that the guitars are missing and just have fun. not ideal but better than just sitting at home for some
That's what I'm suggesting. Either they don't need one, or aren't advanced enough yet to deserve one.
If you can get the guys to fix the volume on the stage, then competing with them probably isn’t your best, only alternative. I would go with a different approach… and one that fits in my glove compartment. Buy a wireless in ear monitor (IEM) system. Go with the molded earplugs versus the standard in ear buds. Threefold benefit: block out those annoying guitarists; put exactly the mix you want in YOUR head; don’t be tied to standing in front of a monitor to hear things.
I got my set of molded in ears for about 500 bucks. They sound phenomenal and they block out everything (AlienEars.com). The transmitter and body pack portion were purchased used online - also for about $500. Be careful when you’re buying used wireless gear because some of the older systems will soon be noncompliant with FCC regs, etc. A little bit of homework will give you the whole picture on that.
Oh– fourth benefit. Won’t break your back.
I have definitely lived in both ends of the loudness wars. In the end, just like Wargames, there's no clear winner. The only way to win is not to play at all.
If you are playing venues that have a decent FOH system, let that be your assurance you will be heard - and felt. A good PA will ALWAYS drown stage volume. Run a direct out of your head, stand back and let the guitar players stooge it out.
With that aside, all you need to do is hear yourself, right? In-ears are a good option but, can be drowned by high stage volume. So what other sort of option do you have? I recently came across something called the BackBeat - it's basically a sub you wear on your strap. You FEEL the notes in your body. It looks like a GREAT option to combat stage volume. While I haven't tried it out yet, I'm ordering one soon. You might check it out.
My experience is that when guitarists want to drown you out, they will no matter what you bring to the gig.
The answer is in communication and mutual goals. If that doesn’t work, the answer is still communication, but this time with yourself: do you or do you not want to stay in that situation?
The answer is never more gear, in my experience. Because the problem is not in the gear. It’s in the vision of the band. It’s in peoples brains.
John
The answer is in communication and mutual goals. If that doesn’t work, the answer is still communication, but this time with yourself: do you or do you not want to stay in that situation?
The answer is never more gear, in my experience. Because the problem is not in the gear. It’s in the vision of the band. It’s in peoples brains.
John
I've sat in with a few different country bands where the rhythm guitarist is constantly trying to play the bass lines. This gets old pretty fast, sound terrible, and blocks the bass player up so they can't deviate from what the guitar is doing. That's invading the bassist's space, timing-wise. Once they start boosting the low frequencies on the guitar(s), it just compounds the problem.
I don't have the patience for putting up with that anymore.
I don't have the patience for putting up with that anymore.
Agreed. Hasn't anyone else wondered how the audience can stand being in the venue with all that ego blasting out? My guitarist brother plays into a 15W Wem, 30W Vox or 50W Marshall head, depending on the size of the gig.
If you're happy being there just to contribute to the general noise, then have at it. However, if you take pride in producing quality music, and the other guys are counterproductive in that department, why waste your time even being there?
Rule of thumb: If the musicians on stage don't sound good playing on their own, adding your bass into the fray isn't going to make them sound any better.
The problem is not them... its you. But the problem is them too. Most guitarists (including me when I was strictly a guitarist) thought what you heard on an album was the guitars. It isn't... its a professionally mixed amalgamation of bass and guitars compressed and limited and eq'd into a finely filtered frequency spectrum.
If your guitarists are completely against compromising on their tone to fit you in, my guess is they wont alter a single frequency band, then you need to eq your bass to fit into a frequency occupied by guitars. Make sense?
It is physics.
Big strings mean lower freqs, little strings mean higher freqs. If they cannot understand that in those kindergarten terms, then you have to do the compromising.
Short answer...because no matter what, if you turn up, they cant hear guitars, if they turn up, you cant hear you. You are stomping all over each others frequencies.
The only way to be heard and even at a lower volume is to change your frequencies. Mix with them, dont fight with them.
If your guitarists are completely against compromising on their tone to fit you in, my guess is they wont alter a single frequency band, then you need to eq your bass to fit into a frequency occupied by guitars. Make sense?
It is physics.
Big strings mean lower freqs, little strings mean higher freqs. If they cannot understand that in those kindergarten terms, then you have to do the compromising.
Short answer...because no matter what, if you turn up, they cant hear guitars, if they turn up, you cant hear you. You are stomping all over each others frequencies.
The only way to be heard and even at a lower volume is to change your frequencies. Mix with them, dont fight with them.
