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Tubes, SS Monsters, and fEarfuls

#81
Mark Nye said:
:eek:

I run an STM900 with a single GB Bassic 15. With the gain button in, vol at noon and gain at noon, I can never manage to get the master past 12:00 before I'm told to turn down.

The only time I ever had volume issues with my STM was when I had a faulty preamp tube. If you're running the gain at max, the tone should be pretty wooly. If it's not, I'd check your tubes.
Click to expand...

That Basic 15 (with either a 3015 or the FaitalPro) is much closer in sensitivity and general tonality to the Hartke cab the OP likes than the fEARful. Nothing much better to me than a Streamliner into a 3015 (nonLF) box for sure. Lots of midrange grunt and natural, warm top end. NICE RIG!
 
#82
Wolffgang said:
I agree, generally; that's why using the Markbass and the Hartke was such a revelation, I was really enjoying not having to fiddle. But even if the hartke wasn't so damned heavy, it's not my cab, so I'd have to get another cab anyway. So if I can make gear I already have work better, I'd much rather do that. It doesn't have to sound just like the other combination, I just want to feel like I'm not hurting for volume all the time and overloading on other frequencies trying to get it. It sounds like a 'flatter' head (as opposed to the Streamliner) and making some real use of my EQ will do a lot.

Anyone know anything about the Aguilar DB659? People don't seem have much to say about it around here. It'd be kind of hilarious if it had a mid-scooped voicing like the Streamliner and that was a large part of my problem. Seems like the kind of thing I would have looked into before I bought it, but... actually, I'm not sure how that sentence ends.
Click to expand...

The DB 659 is really cool. I'm really glad it has an effects loop that can be switched parallel or series. I slash out the mids some of the time with the Yamaha 31 band graphic as you can see. The eq section on the DB 659 is very - abbreviated, and I sometimes need the Yamaha which is dead quiet (this eq cost me $30.00 at ******** center). I'll settle on this amp rig for as long as I can because it's dummy proof and super user friendly. Your Streamliner would make a fine preamp and you already know it's tone.
P.S.
fEARful forever
 
#83
DrumsAndBass said:
The DB 659 is really cool. I'm really glad it has an effects loop that can be switched parallel or series. I slash out the mids some of the time with the Yamaha 31 band graphic as you can see. The eq section on the DB 659 is very - abbreviated, and I sometimes need the Yamaha which is dead quiet (this eq cost me $30.00 at ******** center). I'll settle on this amp rig for as long as I can because it's dummy proof and super user friendly. Your Streamliner would make a fine preamp and you already know it's tone.
P.S.
fEARful forever
Click to expand...

Sweet lookin' rig!

Yeah I was planning on using the streamliner as a pre until I started to suspect it might be part of the problem. I'll steal your aguilar settings and see where that gets me :) Speaking of which, I get running the amp full out and winding up the aguilar to get volume, but why do that with the aguilar's master so low? Not a criticism, I just want to learn to use my rig better.
 
#84
Mark Nye said:
:eek:

I run an STM900 with a single GB Bassic 15. With the gain button in, vol at noon and gain at noon, I can never manage to get the master past 12:00 before I'm told to turn down.

The only time I ever had volume issues with my STM was when I had a faulty preamp tube. If you're running the gain at max, the tone should be pretty wooly. If it's not, I'd check your tubes.
Click to expand...

Yeah back when I was using the Streamliner with an 8x10e that was the case for me as well, getting told to turn down. But that was generally just because I was being self-indulgent and enjoying my own sound too much.

With the fearful, it's like... it's loud, but I can't hear it. Like, loud enough to be interfering with the FOH mix out in the room, but lacking 'presence' on stage, both for me and the drummer.

I'm going to be bringing the fearful, streamliner and LMII to a gig out in the sticks (styx? whichever.) this weekend, and hopefully come back with an answer. I live in a flat at the moment, so there's relatively little I can get done outside of a gig or rehearsal. It never really occurred to me to book out the studio for just me and work on my bass sound, but hell, maybe that's what I need to be doing.
 
#85
Wolffgang said:
Sweet lookin' rig!

Yeah I was planning on using the streamliner as a pre until I started to suspect it might be part of the problem. I'll steal your aguilar settings and see where that gets me :) Speaking of which, I get running the amp full out and winding up the aguilar to get volume, but why do that with the aguilar's master so low? Not a criticism, I just want to learn to use my rig better.
Click to expand...

I have the master low because the eq level is way up and it's in Series mode in the fx loop. I use my passive bass turned up all the way. So that overall rig volume in that photo is very moderate. The taper of every knob on the Aguilar is very very smooth and even and controllable - same as my past AG 500sc and DB 680. The same goes for my TH500. Aguilar build quality is awesome. I understand that the Streamliner has very good taper as well.
 
#86
KJung said:
That Basic 15 (with either a 3015 or the FaitalPro) is much closer in sensitivity and general tonality to the Hartke cab the OP likes than the fEARful. Nothing much better to me than a Streamliner into a 3015 (nonLF) box for sure. Lots of midrange grunt and natural, warm top end. NICE RIG!
Click to expand...

Thanks! Mine's a 3015.

Invalid Link Removed

Your description is about as accurate as it gets. I definitely have a second one on the way (irrespective of the fact that one is enough), because I want my shirts to flap at the same frequency as my pants.

Wolffgang said:
Yeah back when I was using the Streamliner with an 8x10e that was the case for me as well, getting told to turn down. But that was generally just because I was being self-indulgent and enjoying my own sound too much.

With the fearful, it's like... it's loud, but I can't hear it. Like, loud enough to be interfering with the FOH mix out in the room, but lacking 'presence' on stage, both for me and the drummer.
Click to expand...

The STM into an SVT 8x10 certainly is a thing of beauty. I've done it before and still might be doing it if someone else was moving the rig around for me!

I get what you mean about being "loud, but I can't hear it." I had a similar experience when I first got the Bassic, because I was operating under the assumption that I could EQ it the same way as the Ampeg cabs it replaced. I was WAY wrong.

With the Ampegs, I basically ran the STM at what most users call "flat" (Bass - 10:30, mid - 2:00/600Hz, treble, 11:00). However, with the Bassic, that setup was kinda "woofy" and undefined to my ear. It was there, and it was loud enough, but lacked...how shall I say it..."authority."

The way I'm running it now, I've got bass @ noon, mids @ 1:30/2.5kHz, and treble at 1:00. Much happier that way. (FYI, my volume/gain are always at noon, gain button in. The only thing I like to change is the master.)

Granted, all of this varies from bass to bass and bassist to bassist, and obviously, you're using a different cab setup. But, the moral of the story here is that the STM is not really a "set it all at noon and go" kind of head, especially with GB cabs. There's at least one user on the GB forums that loves the STM, but fights with the EQ every time he plugs it into his Dually.

I had to make my peace with new thinking about EQ to get the most of the cab. YMMV.
 
#87
Wolffgang said:
With the fearful, it's like... it's loud, but I can't hear it. Like, loud enough to be interfering with the FOH mix out in the room, but lacking 'presence' on stage, both for me and the drummer.
Click to expand...

What does it sound like onstage when you pull your bass completely out of the mains?
 
#91
Wolffgang said:
Honestly, I don't think that's happened. Like, soundchecking or otherwise playing by myself, it generally sounds fine when it's not meshing with anything else. I feel like I'm not answering your question properly, what are you suggesting?
Click to expand...

I'm just trying to suggest out a for getting to the heart of the problem. Muting the PA might tell you if mic bleed is an issue. Initially I was wondering if time/phase interference between FOH bass reinforcement and your amp was a possibility, but if there's mic bleed that could still be a possibility.

The first thing that came to mind in both this and your other thread was suggested back at post #2: just put a VT pedal in front of your amp. That is so 'not my thing,' but PA/mix/monitoring issues are always very interesting to me. ;)
 
#92
Passinwind said:
I'm just trying to suggest out a for getting to the heart of the problem. Muting the PA might tell you if mic bleed is an issue. Initially I was wondering if time/phase interference between FOH bass reinforcement and your amp was a possibility, but if there's mic bleed that could still be a possibility.

The first thing that came to mind in both this and your other thread was suggested back at post #2: just put a VT pedal in front of your amp. That is so 'not my thing,' but PA/mix/monitoring issues are always very interesting to me. ;)
Click to expand...

Considering I've had the problem consistently over many gigs and rehearsal, and that it went away completely with the different, I doubt it, but I'll certainly talk to our PA guy about it. Thanks :)
 
#94
Downunderwonder said:
You always use both ff stacked vertically right? Are they mirrored to line up the mids and highs?

Also wonder if one of your mids might be miswired.
Click to expand...

One's a 15/6/1, and one's a 15 sub, and I was told to stack them so the ports meet up (one horizontally, one vertically, meeting at a corner). I wondered by some kind of issue between the two cabs as well, but I get the same sort of issue running just one, and it's still the same after having another crossover built for it, so I'm thinking everything's working fine, and that I just don't know how to work it yet.

Current plan is to dial in an unpleasant amount of mids, then scale it back some :P I'm really hoping that's all I missed, it'd make my life a lot easier.
 
#95
Wolffgang said:
Considering I've had the problem consistently over many gigs and rehearsal, and that it went away completely with the different, I doubt it, but I'll certainly talk to our PA guy about it. Thanks :)
Click to expand...

Just one more thing to try. You may simply end up being be a non Kool-Aid drinker though; that's not all that uncommon IME. For me a 15/15/6/1 stack (my own, not an ff) gave me the most presence and clarity and punch onstage of any rig I've played through in 40 years, but definitely required some tweaking to dial in to my liking. Best of luck!
 
#98
Taken from the invoice I got with it:

"Eminence Kappalite 3015LF & Eighteen Sound 6NM410 / Eminence APT80 / greenboy CBG crossover"

And no, it's not a phase issue, still happens with just the one cab. If anything, it's too much bottom end, in relation to the mids, anyway
 
#99
Wolffgang said:
If anything, it's too much bottom end, in relation to the mids, anyway
Click to expand...

Well this is probably impractical, but it sounds to me like you've literally got more cab than you need. Imo the same parts in about 2.3 cubic feet (net) tuned to 52 Hz will result in a curve closer to what you're looking for. If you seriously consider that, let me know as there is one possible issue I'd want you to be aware of.
 

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