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Problems with amp "projection"

hey guys, i dont know if you've ever had this problem, but my swr 410 has really nice tone and is punchy, with nice bass up front, but the "bass" doesnt project. i practiced in an auditorium recently and i found out, whilst playing, that it doesn't give much of any bass. i dont understand why while im practicing it will shake the house but in bigger than my room places it just...doesn't project bass!? any ideas?
 
Your EQ?

If you're talking about playing with a band, and your playing just disappears, you probably have a "smiley" EQ- the mids are cut out. That's effectively what gets the bass sound heard. The bottom gets covered up by the drums and the highs get cpvered up by the guitars and cymbals.
Since joining TalkBass I've learned about this common EQ'ing error, and have never done it since. Gotta have some mids... those mid-range freqs are your friends and should be used both live and in the studio. Give it a chance.. I think after a short while you'll also subscribe to using a more flat EQ setting. I know when we record, everything is flat as a board, and it sounds just great on playback.
 
Mids, mids, mids, mids, mids.

Seriously. Cranking up the bass knob at high volumes might work against you, as it'll use up more of your headroom than anything else would. Focus more on the mids - that's where the body and punch of your sound lie. You don't have to go overboard on the mids, but the more you dial in, the more you'll stand out. Don't be afraid to CUT a little bass at high volumes, either!
 
hey guys, i dont know if you've ever had this problem, but my swr 410 has really nice tone and is punchy, with nice bass up front, but the "bass" doesnt project. i practiced in an auditorium recently and i found out, whilst playing, that it doesn't give much of any bass. i dont understand why while im practicing it will shake the house but in bigger than my room places it just...doesn't project bass!? any ideas?

Issue is physics of room size not projection. You have to displace more air molecules in a bigger room to achieve the same room shaking effect of a small room. To do this you need to push more air, meaning more speakers. This is why most auditoriums have PA systems. A 410 will not have much SPL @ 30 ft. away in an auditorium. This is the PA's job. Your 410 is designed to project bass to you and your band and the first few rows. Even an 810 will not fill an auditorium with bass.
 
Issue is physics of room size not projection. You have to displace more air molecules in a bigger room to achieve the same room shaking effect of a small room. To do this you need to push more air, meaning more speakers. This is why most auditoriums have PA systems. A 410 will not have much SPL @ 30 ft. away in an auditorium. This is the PA's job. Your 410 is designed to project bass to you and your band and the first few rows. Even an 810 will not fill an auditorium with bass.

Ah, yes, I forgot to touch upon room size. :D

Doesn't your auditorium have a PA? Not even a guitarist with a full stack can hope for tone, clarity, and volume in a venue that big.
 
what, functionally, are the best frequencies to attenuate when messing with your "mids".

I have a eq with pans at 40, 100, 250, 625, and 1.6k hertz

It's rather relative... It depends on how you want to stand out among the other instruments, and how they're EQ'd. Plus, your own tone must still be considered as well.

I wouldn't consider 40Hz or 100Hz to be mids... those are in the range of bass frequencies. Mess with the other three to your heart's content, and don't forget about the rest of your band. ;)