Rehearsal in a small room

[Tymophil]

Hi gents... and fair ladies,

i rehearse in a small room. I have a 65W Peavey Bass Amp. It's not up to the task. The sound is loud enough, but very poor, as I need to push it to its limits. I wonder if a bigger amp would be in order... Yet I am not sure.

I thought it would be a good idea to use an active mixer (PEAVEY XR 8600) and a pair of passive monitors (HK AUDIO pro15x).

I plan hooking my Zoom B9.1UT to the mixer, along with the three singers, and maybe the guitars.

Am I wrong ? What would you recommand ?

 

[Lo-E]

It would probably work, but I doubt it would be ideal so you'd just be trading one less-than-ideal situation for another.

Wattage is always a tough number to nail down, since speaker efficiency and configuration plays such a big role in a rig's volume and manufacturers always play games with the numbers anyway. It's a little like comparing apples to asparagus.

That notwithstanding, 65W is pretty low under any circumstances - even with very efficient speakers and a very small room. It's just not enough to compete with a drummer.

I would recommend getting a louder rig. Not bigger, necessarily, but more powerful. If you're working within a tight budget, you can almost always find powerful Peavy rigs in the local Craigslist ads for a steal, but if you've got some money to play with now would be the time to think about building a rig.

You didn't say in your post whether or not you use a bigger rig for gigging. If you do, it's time to move it, or part of it to the rehearsal space.

Good luck!

 

[Tymophil]

It would probably work, but I doubt it would be ideal so you'd just be trading one less-than-ideal situation for another.

I guessed so...

I would recommend getting a louder rig. Not bigger, necessarily, but more powerful. If you're working within a tight budget, you can almost always find powerful Peavy rigs in the local Craigslist ads for a steal, but if you've got some money to play with now would be the time to think about building a rig.

Do you mean a more powerful bass amp ?

You didn't say in your post whether or not you use a bigger rig for gigging. If you do, it's time to move it, or part of it to the rehearsal space.

The bass map I used on stage so far was a powerful Fender (300w) one, but it doesn't belong to me... It is also very cumbersome : heavy and large.

I would like a small amp... The room is small.

 

[klokker]

I've rehearsed in some very small rooms with a drum set in them before. Its a nightmare especially if the walls have no sound damping. The bass drum should have a pillow in it at least. Make sure you wear ear plugs!

In that small room there was a 100 watt Ashdown 210 to play on. It wasn't nearly enough.

Having said that, any 1X15 or 210 combo shouldn't be too big, so you could get something like that. In my experience when I took my beater Fender Bassman 250/115 practice amp in there, my problems were solved, so I'd say at least a 250 to 300 watt combo should work for you. The peaveys are great, if you ask me.

Again, make sure you wear ear plugs!

 

[Lo-E]

I've been able to keep up with a drummer in a small room (barely) with a little, 100W Crate Powerblock. The trick is having a really efficient speaker cabinet. In that case, a Kolbe 112.

Klokker is right, though. For portability and convenience, a combo is pretty great. Keep the 65 for practicing at home, but if you're going to be playing with others on a regular basis, you're simply going to have to get a more powerful rig.

 

[M0ses]

A PA capable of carrying vocals and your bass simultaneously and sounding good is going to be FAR, FAR more expensive than a nice amp. If you only need this amp for rehearsal, then it'll be ok, just have everyone else turn down. But it is never going to be enough for anything but really tiny coffee house gigs.