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New Carvin BX1500 setup ideas - help!

Toddbass65

Toddbass65

Supporting Member
Oct 21, 2012
740
605
NY
#1
:help:OK - finally made my decision and ordered a Carvin BX1500 head with (2) BR410 cabinets - 8ohm. So my plan will be to run the cabs bridged to run the full 1500 watts. I need some ideas for how to set everything to start out of the box. I play in a progressive metal band with 2 guitarists that play Mesa rack systems through 412 cabs. They are pretty loud. I would like to find a nice setup that has some grit, but not overly distorted. I play an Ibanez 4 string tuned down a whole step, with low string tuned down 2 steps to C. Standard passive Ibanez pickups with precision and jazz configuration. I like to play with my tone low or off on my bass as my personal preference. I like the warm Geezer Butler type tone, not the more modern treble type tone lots of young guys like.....I'm old school. ideas on where I should start would be great with this amp. Thanks for the help! Also - I wanna make sure I have the bridging set up right, so how do I set that up as well just so I don't fry anything.:hyper:
 
#2
I would start out with that amp and cabs not bridged. Run each one off of its own channel. See if this meets your volume needs. Its a very powerful head in bridge mode, more than capable of toasting two of those cabs. See if it meets your needs in dual mono first.

Ok starting from left to right.

Drive - Bring it up until you reach your desired amount of grit
Leave your contour flat, always and forever.
Compressor - If you can hear it greatly effecting your tone, turn it down. Should never hear it working
Bass - leave it at noon, if not cut a tad
Low mid - Set it at 100 Hz kick it up a small bit
High mid - Will depend on your play style and bass set up, cutting works better here
Highs - leave at noon if not cut.
GEQ - I would start with this off. If you just cant get what you want with out it start with it flat and experiment with cutting frequencies. Very small boosts, and the right cuts will be more effective than large boosts.
Cross over - Dont use it, run both dual mono, or bridged if you need a bit more, but be careful.
 
#3
Start flat, and see what you have. The contour knob is very powerful. It is a cut centered @ 250hz. Start with that off, for "flat". These amps are very powerful, and for your set up, I would run bridged. Try to get your sound with the parametric first. If you can find what you want, you can use the graphic for another sound entirely. The graphic can be switched on/off with a footswitch. I use mine for solo sound and boost. The "drive " knob is where you can go for "grit". I don't find a lot of dirt in this amp at all, but I don't like much either. It's a great amp. Have fun with it!
 
#4
Just start off flat and dial it in from there. More gain will give you more grit, less will be cleaner. You just have to set it up to your ear and your basses.

As far as bridging, just set the 'bridged/mono' switch to 'bridged' and plug a Speakon into the center 'Bridged output' jack, then into your first cab. Loop to the second cab with another speakon and you should be set. You want to be on 'mute' while doing all this, and make sure the crossover switch on the front is 'off'.
 
#5
CL400Peavey said:
I would start out with that amp and cabs not bridged. Run each one off of its own channel. See if this meets your volume needs. Its a very powerful head in bridge mode, more than capable of toasting two of those cabs. See if it meets your needs in dual mono first.

Ok starting from left to right.

Drive - Bring it up until you reach your desired amount of grit
Leave your contour flat, always and forever.
Compressor - If you can hear it greatly effecting your tone, turn it down. Should never hear it working
Bass - leave it at noon, if not cut a tad
Low mid - Set it at 100 Hz kick it up a small bit
High mid - Will depend on your play style and bass set up, cutting works better here
Highs - leave at noon if not cut.
GEQ - I would start with this off. If you just cant get what you want with out it start with it flat and experiment with cutting frequencies. Very small boosts, and the right cuts will be more effective than large boosts.
Cross over - Dont use it, run both dual mono, or bridged if you need a bit more, but be careful.
Click to expand...

Pretty much everything you said except if I were him, I'd experiment with X-OVER on because it can really help in certain rooms and on certain stages. Boosting the LOW MIDS @ 100 is right on. Both my MB10 and my BX1200 are set this way. I have two different cabs hooked up to my BX1200 though, one 12" sub and one 12", 3-way cab so X-OVER on makes more sense for me.
"and the right cuts will be more effective than large boosts".
This is VERY true. It's also why I believe some people don't get the sound they want. They feel they're missing something and think the way to solve it is turn UP something. Like a good sauce, removing unwanted ingredients is the way to go!
Wish I lived by the OP so I could come out and hear the new stack! DUAL MONO or BI-AMP mode is the best way IMO. You'll have two separate volume controls this way and I can't tell you how much this comes in handy in gig situations. Every gig for me is different, sometimes I boost the top cab and sometimes the bottom cab. I would only BRIDGE when extreme volume is needed but be careful because you can blow your cabs this way.
If you have two basses, dial one up twith the graphic EQ on, then the other bass with it off. Then just flip the switch when you change basses!
 
#6
CL400Peavey said:
I would start out with that amp and cabs not bridged. Run each one off of its own channel. See if this meets your volume needs. Its a very powerful head in bridge mode, more than capable of toasting two of those cabs. See if it meets your needs in dual mono first.
Click to expand...

I agree fully. I run mine with a single 2x10 4Ω cabinet per channel. I've never needed more. I've been running stereo power amps since the late seventies. I've never felt the need to bridge any of them.
 
#11
It took me a year with the amp to find a tone that I was happy with where I didn't want to touch it anymore. All the other tones were great, but after a week or two I would hear something missing. Now that I have a better cab, I truly realize how amazing the amp is.
 
#12
+1 to most of what cl400peavey is saying.

But I'd use a slightly different starting EQ. This thing has a long, sloping rolloff on the low end with "knobs at noon". To cure it, and render it "flat", turn off the graphic eq, contour all the way down, and all parametric knobs at noon. Then set the low mid to 75Hz, and boost it to +5. Voila, curve gone, amp is darn near flat top to bottom. (According to measurements/tests by passinwind.)

Of course that is just a starting point, not an end goal. You might very well prefer the low mid at 100Hz. But with "flat" as a reference starting point, you'll know where you're at when you dial in other things that sound good to you.
 
#14
Heya guys. I picked up on of these gem dandies and have been toying with it. Im running it thru an SWR Goliath iii 4x10 single cab. Just wondering if anyone here has any insight on ideal settings for my setup. The more in detail the better. This head seems pretty powerful and I'd hate to blow this cab. It's a workhorse.
 

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