• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Stage/Rehersal Set-Up

phatbass1

phatbass1

May 5, 2010
80
36
67
Raleigh, North Carolina
#1
Where is the best place to stand to dial in your rig when gigging or practicing...what I mean is when standing right in front of my rig I set it up to sound the way I like it in that spot. If I move a few feet in any direction it sounds DRAMATICALLY different. When I set it up (volume & Tone) the way I like it while standing right in front of the rig the drummer tells me I'm killing him...so I back it down to where its good for him and I cant hear myself the way I like to. My rig is an SVT-810 / B2RE set up. I have other gear (SVT-410HE, SVT-1510, SVT-210 and a Peavy 18. Anyway...thought I would ask where the best place to be (How far away) while dialing in my tone.
 
#2
phatbass1 said:
Where is the best place to stand to dial in your rig when gigging or practicing...what I mean is when standing right in front of my rig I set it up to sound the way I like it in that spot. If I move a few feet in any direction it sounds DRAMATICALLY different. When I set it up (volume & Tone) the way I like it while standing right in front of the rig the drummer tells me I'm killing him...so I back it down to where its good for him and I cant hear myself the way I like to. My rig is an SVT-810 / B2RE set up. I have other gear (SVT-410HE, SVT-1510, SVT-210 and a Peavy 18. Anyway...thought I would ask where the best place to be (How far away) while dialing in my tone.
Click to expand...

The best place to be would be a music store, or a woodworking shop. ;) The speaker cabs you mentioned, while great cabs, are inherently poor designs for the very reason you are experiencing.

Stand wherever you hear it best. Due to the design of those cabs, moving anywhere but where it sounds best (and it's a crapshoot no matter where you set up) will make them sound less so. That, or just crank it and don't fret about it.
 
#4
phatbass1 said:
What cabs would you recommend that would help with this issue?
Click to expand...

Any cab that aligns the drivers vertically. A 210 on end, or two of them on end and stacked (for a vertically aligned 410 if you will). Or a 215 (vertical), or two 115's (vertical). Anything that gets the drivers on top of each other instead of side by side.

When you get drivers side by side, you are going to run into what you are experiencing. Although honestly I don't think the problem is as severe as you think and it is possibly more how you are EQ'ing in any given environment. Every room will need a different EQ to compensate. You should be able to get a great sound with what you already have, IMO.

I know I put it out there constantly, but a fEARful cab is designed to solve exactly what you are trying to figure out because they can* sound tremendous no matter where you stand.

* - I mean can because a fEARful's output is directly a result of the player's input, from bass setup, to amp, EQ'ing and even how you play. One obviously can make anything sound like crap too. ;)
 
#5
phatbass1 said:
Where is the best place to stand to dial in your rig when gigging or practicing...what I mean is when standing right in front of my rig I set it up to sound the way I like it in that spot. If I move a few feet in any direction it sounds DRAMATICALLY different. When I set it up (volume & Tone) the way I like it while standing right in front of the rig the drummer tells me I'm killing him...so I back it down to where its good for him and I cant hear myself the way I like to. My rig is an SVT-810 / B2RE set up. I have other gear (SVT-410HE, SVT-1510, SVT-210 and a Peavy 18. Anyway...thought I would ask where the best place to be (How far away) while dialing in my tone.
Click to expand...

When I first encountered that phenomenon I decided to set it up the way the rest of the folks liked it and move away from it so I could hear what they were hearing. Works find that way. Use a wireless, even better.
 
#6
Sundogue said:
Any cab that aligns the drivers vertically. A 210 on end, or two of them on end and stacked (for a vertically aligned 410 if you will). Or a 215 (vertical), or two 115's (vertical). Anything that gets the drivers on top of each other instead of side by side.

When you get drivers side by side, you are going to run into what you are experiencing. Although honestly I don't think the problem is as severe as you think and it is possibly more how you are EQ'ing in any given environment. Every room will need a different EQ to compensate. You should be able to get a great sound with what you already have, IMO.

I know I put it out there constantly, but a fEARful cab is designed to solve exactly what you are trying to figure out because they can* sound tremendous no matter where you stand.

* - I mean can because a fEARful's output is directly a result of the player's input, from bass setup, to amp, EQ'ing and even how you play. One obviously can make anything sound like crap too. ;)
Click to expand...

And, as an addendum, note that larger diameter drivers "beam" more than smaller drivers, in direct proportion to their diameter; which is to say that smaller drivers have a wider angle of dispersion for the middle and high frequencies. If you put them side-by-side, however, they behave like a single big driver with respect to their horizontal dispersion characteristics. Of course, stacking them gives you lousy vertical dispersion, but unless your act includes a trampoline, this shouldn't matter.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back