peaking a hell of alot?!

[musicman1119]

I agree w/ tdub0199, my tone I practice alone w/ is different from when I play with my band, also the room you're playing in dictates what your EQ setting needs to be.

Eden WT300,SONIC 410,AVATAR 115

 

[craig.p]

Here's something else to consider. If you want more bass, consider whether a different cab -- one with more bass extension -- is in order. You can burn watts like crazy trying to up-EQ the bass you want out of the cab you have, but get it by default, i.e. without the boost, from a cab that's designed to go a lot lower.

Also check for subsonic problems. Watch your cones to see what they're doing while you're playing at full practice volume. If they look like they're hopping around, this is not acceptable, and you're burning watts for no reason other than to wreck your drivers' mechanics.

 

[Bassdirty]

yeah i thought that too but when i tried adding mids i hated the sound of it

I tried that amp..seemed verry middy..I also cut back mids on that.
(I didnt ever play it with a band though..as I didnt think it would cut it)

I know my info doesnt really help you as you said it was new.
But yeah, you could add more speakers.

 

[Bassmec]

yeah i thought that too but when i tried adding mids i hated the sound of it

Don't like what you sound like with a bit of definition eh?.
Of course +3db boost in any frequency band is requiring twice the amplifier power in watts. Its a log E scale, so I am to believe you have such a badly designed bass guitar and speaker cabinets that you actually need 16 times the amplifier power
(excluding the other 16 times I suspect you are probably already introducing out of an active bass EQ) to produce a fundamental at 50 hz as you do to produce a note at 500hz.

 

[groovaholic]

Do a little reading on the Fletcher-Munson curves of perceived loudness -- your "V" EQ settings are making your amp harder to hear, requiring you to compensate with more volume.

Another thing to watch out for on Ampegs is the Ultra Lo which, again, boosts lows and cuts mids.

If you're using Ultra Lo AND "V" EQ, you could end up with a +12 db bass boost and a -12 to -18 db mid cut...which is a tonal recipe for inaudibility.

 

[tocs100]

Is your cab 4 or 8 ohms? I have a b2 combo 115 and I add a 210 to get the full 350 watts. Without it it's not enough to keep up with a full band.

That's a good ballpark set-up for your average small/medium club. Then you'll find some super-dead (usually square) room where you'll need 2-3x that much wattage. At which time you'll wonder why your off-the-shelf speakers are groaning, and you'll soon join the new legion of fEARful (search here) users.

If you're smart, you'll grab at least a custom-built, sturdy 1x15 (search TL606) cab with some kind of Eminence in it before you blow your starter-rig and can't get anything for it used.

 

[darkstorm]

I agree with Belga that you might need more cone area. EQ settings certainly contribute to your problem, but also I've lost track of how many times I've "fixed" a low-power amp by doubling the cone count. 35 years ago I "fixed" a V4Bs measly 100 watts by running it into four (rather than two) fifteens. Problem solved. So... just one more thing you might look at.

Very wise. Im constantly amazed when peeps thinks they need more watts when theyre real problem is not enough air movement.

 

[Jerrold Tiers]

clipping audibly

Well, listening on the POS computer speakers wasn't very revealing, but I was looking closely, and I didn't see any CLIP LIGHTS on anything visible near you. Of course that was sorta dark and I wasn't sure what was there except for a very small cab (which might be part of the problem) and "something" on top of it.

So, if you are HEARING clipping, you must have the limiter OFF. Maybe you could try it with the limiter ON.

if the limiter is ON, then you might have cab distortion , possibly from amp settings.

I also didn't see any INPUT peak light, which SHOULD be lighting fairly often.....

That amp doesn't have an unending supply of power, so you don't want to waste a lot of it on a "smile EQ" when you only have 250W at 8 ohms....

Maybe they just weren't placed right to be seen from the camera angle...........

 

[ddhm]

It's early and I've not had my coffee, so feel free to ignore anything I say. There is a good chance that I'm repeating stuff that others say (in which case, I agree with you folks).

The "Metallicurve" (or V shape) on your EQ is probably a part of the problem I would wager. I wonder what the lowest band of that EQ is? 40hz? 30hz? You'd need to be standing quite far from your amp to hear those frequencies properly. I'm not gonna do the math, but 40 hz is like a 30 foot wave I think. Yes, you can feel them but you aren't hearing them correctly. Boosting those low end frequencies to make them sound right at the distance you are from the speaker could be eating a lot of the power of your amp making it inefficient.

You could also be having a speaker excursion problem. Meaning that you speaker is having to move farther than it really wants to.

I don't really know, but I'm assuming that you aren't playing large venues (say the 1500 seat or larger places)? Meaning that your P.A.system isn't having to carry your bass much and is being used in the "sound reinforcement" role? Your amp is the bass sound that the audience is hearing. Stand where the audience is standing and listen to your amp. Also be sure to have your amp at ear level. I can't tell you how many gigs that I've done (I'm an audio engineer by trade) and seen guitarists with their amps pointed at their knees (I've checked, their ears weren't near their knees) and bassists that stand 1 foot from their amps. Meanwhile both of those guys are killing me at Front of House.

This idea applies to band practice too. Put you amp across the room and at ear height.

I know that what you hear from your amp is SUPER IMPORTANT but you have to find some sort of balance... a middle ground that works for you and the audience (your band mates) and your best friend the sound guy.