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Nagging Problem With My Rig

Stingray_EB

Stingray_EB

May 1, 2006
797
19
Edinburgh, Scotland
#1
:hmm:

Its not a good day. Came off feeling really down about a gig we had on Saturday night. We played in a small town in a pub that was dead....

This band is a new band and the line up is guitar, drums, bass and keyboard.

Trouble is, my sound was awful. I felt so dissapointed. I just couldnt get a good sound, I couldnt be loud enough without being muddy. I couldnt be defined without being lost in the mix. NOT HAPPY

My rig is worth over £3000 excluding my bass and I cant help but feel like my money is wasted.

2004 Musicman Stingray > Mesa Boggie Big Block 750 > Aguilar GS212.

The BB750 is giving the cab 550w and it can handle 600. I just cant get a good well rounded punchy tone. Its either tingy with no balls or mud.

What can I do Im at the end of the line here.
 
#2
that's how it sounded to you onstage? How about out in the crowd? I know I played places where my onstage sound was terrible, but walking out in the place with the wireless, it was actually sounding good.
your rig should sound spectacular BTW, are you sure you don't have the mids scooped out? What kind of music do you play?
 
#4
Man, I can't imagine your setup sounding anything but great!?!? Here's a weird thought. Have you checked to see if your speakers are out of phase with each other? That normally causes volume drops but I suppose it could also affect tone.
 
#5
the gear you have IS amazing, but maybe regardless of their quality, two twelves is just not enough for the volume you want? Everything has a breaking point, even top of the line gear. no 212 is designed to be anywhere near as loud as say, a 610 or 412 of similar quality. Your head is also more than capable of powering two cabs. Maybe another GS212 would solve the problem?

on another note though, i totally feel your pain.... i have been there.

I have a 210 and a 115 I power with a 500 watt head, and sometimes i just dont understand why it sounds muddy at volumes I consider reasonable... its a ****** feeling when you spend so much money and it doesnt perform the way you expected it would.
 
#6
it has to be your EQ on stage. I play a Trace V6 through 2 x Aguilar GS112NTs and in my room it sounds AMAZING but on stage it often sounds muddy and gets lost in the mix. Recently, I've been adding more mids to my sound live, and all of a sudden my sound has come alive. However, in my room, this new "live" setting sounds gross....it's all about finding frequencies that no one else in the band is on and you won't get lost in the mix. I doubt your preamp tube is dead. Just try different settings out with the band until you can come to a happy medium.
 
#9
Yeah, you wouldn't hear any of your bass sound if a tube had died, I don't know what that one poster was thinking. Aside from trying different EQ, maybe with more high-mids boosted at the amp, and cutting the lows a bit, I'd recommend getting another cab and setting it on top of the first one, pointed at your head (more or less). That way (a) you get more loudness from your rig overall, from the added speaker area, and (b) there's a cab up nearer to ear level, pointed at you. Can't go wrong.
 
#11
Stingray_EB said:
... I had everything set flat on the amp and boosted the mids and bass on the guitar.

.
Click to expand...

billfitzmaurice said:
Why?
Tone controls/EQ are there so that you can get the sound you want. Use them.
As for not being able to hear yourself, lift the cab or tilt it back.
Click to expand...
agreed .
that rig should sound awesome .

good luck .
 
#14
also maybe try getting the cab up off the floor to reduce boomyness. I use a Markbass LMII with either two GS112s or one GS210 and almost always have them up off the floor. I play in some fairly loud bands but I do have PA support. Never have a problem hearing myself.
 
#15
Sorry forgot to elaborate. I started with the amp flat and it sounded like a banjo. Then using the bass preamp didnt make it overly better. Somehow though, the EQ on the amp makes very little difference to my tone ?

I will have to try the tilt thing, those wedge things look like they could do the job.
 
#16
you don't need new gear.

is the battery in your bass guitar fresh? when was the last time you had a tech go through your amplifier? were the speakers in the 2x12 accidentaly wired out of phase?

these are all relatively quick and inexpensive fixes considering the amount of time you researched and money you spent to put that rig together.

how does it sound on it's own in your practice space?
 
#17
Congratulations on owning some great gear there. I'm sure you worked hard to get that great stuff!

I haven't had any experience with the aguilar or the mesa, but have felt the same after 'dead' gigs. Sometimes its the lack of energy in the crowd or band, and i never enjoy my tone as much on those nights.

How was the band setup, mic'd kick? What were the key boardists amp settings? Maybe its not just your specific problem- just an overall band eqing problem. I'm sure you'll be able to work through it.
 
#18
ive had the same issue in the past at some small bar gigs i used to do. i went through a period where i thought i sounded like crap as well, i couldnt figure it out, i tried everything and i thought my rig was junk.
but that was me standing right next to my rig. i asked a good friend of mine at the bar and he said the bass sounded sick, that it was driving the whole band, which was just a trio, but still.
i would have thought my rig sucked as well if he never told me. sometimes you gota have an ear you can trust in the crowd take a listen and let you know, the difference can be very suprising.
 
#19
im sorry to hear that my friend. i will guess that two twelves is just not enough to compete with drums. at that level the speakers are probably not working in a linear fashion, not reproducing the input signal faithfully, sounding crappy. just my 2 cents. if at other times the sound is satisfying, i would chalk it up to bad acoustics in the particular room. johnny a. staind
 

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