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please someone explain

P

pd1134

Aug 27, 2008
91
0
38
Chantilly, VA
#1
why the heck my bass rig sounds fine up close, actually it sounds amazing up close, but not more than four feet out it sounds like that sucked out picking noise when i play,

my rig is as goes

MIM P Bass running through a sansamp bass driver, then a boss limiter/enhancer (compression), then into my svt6pro and out of my ampeg 8x10,

so my rig isnt exactly lack-luster but i have no clue as to why this is but if anyone has any suggestions, please let me know
 
#2
Do you have this problem all the time? Is the amp being played in different environments with the same results? Placement of the cabinet can amplify some frequencies and or attenuate them.
If your cabinet is in a corner or fairly close to a wall, you could have standing wave problems.
When you say it doesn't sound good, can you be more specific?
fishheadjoe
 
#3
well yeah i do notice that where my band practices (an unfinished basement that is seriously big) that it sounds way better than when i am playing live, but when i move away from my amp in the basement it starts sounding like a very cheap bass played through a very very cheap amp, this happens live as well but not as much, you know bad pups and very old strings kinda sound, now none of my stuff is cheap so i dont want it to sound that way,

i also have a MM 3 band eq, do you think that i might get better results if i tried that bass? i mean i have but its a lot of work tryin to get the MM to work with my sansamp, i dont know it just sounds too electric when plugged in like it overloads or something

another thing i also play with a pick, i play Marcus Miller sig DR's (dont ask why just try them), i play hardcore music, love twang a lot, and keep the bridge pretty low, would any of those things have an effect?

sorry for so many questions but im new here but have been looking at this forum for years, i love all the info you guys share and i pretty much know everything about bass from this site and it's incredibly smart members,



i have been lookin for that certain tone for a very long time, i mean i literally one day went from a sqiuer vm jazz bass running straight into a svt3pro and out a fender 4x10, to going and buying a MIM pbass running through a sansamp bass driver through a boss compression pedal and into my svt6pro and out my ampeg 8x10, thats a lot of dough to spend trying to find "the tone" i have tried everything from a schecter j bass to a MusicMan, i need help, a lot of help!!!!!
 
#4
Depending on the cab, you can find a spot out in front of a cab, say in the 4 to 10 foot range that sounds terrible.

I seem to experience this more with Ampeg 6x10's than other cabs, or single 15's where you can barely hear them at all.

I think it's just that with a 15 the sound takes a little room to develop, and with the 10's you might be experiencing some kind of sound/frequency cancelatioin where the sound waves from the pairs of speakers cross.

Just a thought.
 
#5
pd1134 said:
why the heck my bass rig sounds fine up close, actually it sounds amazing up close, but not more than four feet out it sounds like that sucked out picking noise when i play,

my rig is as goes

MIM P Bass running through a sansamp bass driver, then a boss limiter/enhancer (compression), then into my svt6pro and out of my ampeg 8x10,

so my rig isnt exactly lack-luster but i have no clue as to why this is but if anyone has any suggestions, please let me know
Click to expand...

stand 20-30 ft in front of your rig and tell us how it sounds. Bass frequencies require some distance to "bloom" into the room.
 
#7
buzzbass said:
stand 20-30 ft in front of your rig and tell us how it sounds. Bass frequencies require some distance to "bloom" into the room.
Click to expand...

Yup, distance matters for bass - but I've found that depends on the rig. Lower end equipment seems to be designed to sound great in a store but ends up sounding bad on stage, with the opposite being true of higher end stuff. I know my gear (ashdown/epifani) sounds fantastic if I'm about 5 to 10 feet in front of it, but kinds dull just sitting in my living room.

Heck, it seems that guitar amps work the same way - years ago I got interested in this and it seems to have to do with harmonic interference/convergence - when all the waves come together...
 
#9
BigOldHarry said:
Heck, it seems that guitar amps work the same way - years ago I got interested in this and it seems to have to do with harmonic interference/convergence - when all the waves come together...
Click to expand...


I had a situation a few years back where the D note would completely disapear on stage. Couldn't hear it at all.

There was an odd very low frequency noise coming through the monitors, and somehow, when I'd play a D, it was like I played nothing at all. Stuck my head right in front of my cab, and yup , it was there.

After the show, I asked if anyone heard anything wierd, and everyone said it sounded fine. Somehow, I think there was some kind of frequency cancilaition between the monitors and my cab, related to where I was standing.

Very strange.
 
#10
Most of us tend to put our amps near walls. In those places, and especially near corners, bass frequencies collect and make us hear a great booming girth that seems to disappear when we step a few feet away. As others have pointed out, if you could go a little farther than that you would hear the sound where low wave forms have a chance to truly complete. When you separate your cab from the floor and get it away from the wall a bit you hear a little bit truer representation of what someone might hear out front, but there's usually a little compromise involved.
 
#12
buzzbass said:
stand 20-30 ft in front of your rig and tell us how it sounds. Bass frequencies require some distance to "bloom" into the room.
Click to expand...

I agree, wholeheartedly. In all the years I've played my rig has always sounds best 15-20 ft out at the minimum. I played a gig just last weekend in a large hall, I didn't like the sound of my rig up close, but everybody else told me it sounded great out front. You kind of have to get the knack for making you your sound good up front by not having it sound so good up close at times.:smug:
 
#13
That's why I always recommend to everyone not to be so frantic about their "tone" while they are standing two feet in front of their amps, when what really counts is what it is going to sound like out in the room.

I've had that problem especially with guitar players. You just can't explain the concept to them that they have to consider the other guitarist, the bassist, and what it will sound like if their head is not in their speaker cab.
 
#14
scootron said:
That's why I always recommend to everyone not to be so frantic about their "tone" while they are standing two feet in front of their amps, when what really counts is what it is going to sound like out in the room.

I've had that problem especially with guitar players. You just can't explain the concept to them that they have to consider the other guitarist, the bassist, and what it will sound like if their head is not in their speaker cab.
Click to expand...

#1!
 

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