Pirellithecat

Fascinating - just back from a(nother) frustrating gig on the sound front! So, being a simple chap, just want to check that Zoom H2N set up is connected to the IEM's with a suitably long 3.5mm Jack lead (via a connector) directly to the IEM's?

Apologies if this is a bit "off topic", but how do the Two10's compare to the Barefaced 12inch equivalents? Spec wise the 2x12's seem more likely to survive at volume, but it would be great to get "real world" experience. Has anyone swapped? I guess a Barefaced 2x12 would be loud enough for all gigs and is a single carry and less cost than, say, 2xTwo10's?? But how does it compare sound wise? Maybe the answer is in the photo's above - pairs of Barefaced Two10's ???

Update. First. Tried a Fender Performer P this week. PJ set up and insertion loss just like my pre mod Squire. Second Completed all the cavity routing and battery box added. Added all the bits. And reassembled. Third BRILLIANT!!! Works a treat. Usable blend control to give predicable mix of each pickup. I'd recommend it and, should I ever have another passive PJ, I'd immediately add the EMG ABC control, or go active EMG have been brilliant throughout, lots of questions answered and very helpful. Big callout for Alison at their HQ. Result!!

Returning to "The Central". After the excitement of a new offering and in the light of experience, what's the current feeling? I have a VM4, tried Stingray for the first time yesterday, and was mightily impressed with the "Punch" - quite different to what I'm used to. How does the the Central compare generally and particularly in that characteristically punchy Stingray sound? I like almost everything about the Sandberg VM4 and to have a second bass with similar "topography" but with a different "sound" would be great!

But , of course you're right - try the SPB's first. Trying to resist actually modding anything at the moment as tomorrow I'm routing out a battery box on my other bass and it would be tempting fate to disassemble both at the same time (although typical!!)

When you say "killer" .... how would you describe the tone? I think I need to emphasise the mids rather than the deep bass, as there's plenty going on down there.

Any views o the Seymour Duncan SPB1's - I had them in my "other" back-up bass until recently - be daft to sell these without trying them I guess.

Well - clarity is what I'm after (in terms of reducing the Muffledness!). I wonder whether there's a cheaper option - just because if it doesn't work it'll be (another) expensive mistake! Tempted though, as I have a set of Seymour Duncan SPB-1's and SJB-1's which I could sell and fund (partially) the Fender originals. Maybe one more gig and rehearsal a decent set up and if it still looks promising ............ go for it! Thanks for the suggestion.

Thanks. I'll double check for any partial shorts.

Could you expand on this? The grounding wires, including that from the pickup, are effectively "star earthed" before they reach the volume pot and then use the housing of each pot to daisy chain to the jack socket. I did wonder whether I'd the polarity were reversed this might be the cause of the problem. Simply put, the bridge ground, and the ground soldered to the copper cavity screening are summed with the pickup ground immediately before the pot. This feed is soldered to the casing of the pot and a wire goes to the tone control casing and then to the jack socket.

Thanks Bass Adder. I'm pretty much a fingerstyle player, so your remarks are very pertinent. I think the underlying issue is now under control and aggressive EQ helps a lot with getting the sound I want. The original pickups are very hot, but also have a very shallow profile so whilst changing them is tempting I would need to route the current pickup cavity to fit eg a Geezer Butler. I'll have a look at Dimarzio. I'm guessing you think it might help the upper mids?

Yep that is my understanding too. Maybe is was just a dodgy connection? The alternative is that with sufficient eq- ing I managed to overcome the issue. But whatever I've done it now seems possible to get a great sound from the bass, in contrast to my previous experience

Used the offending article at last night's gig ............. WOW! I believe it is now sorted. It has phenomenal "heft" - if basses can have that, and deserves a bit more TLC to make it a really good bass to play live. (bit of action tweaking, maybe new nut .... etc! Thanks for all the input BCers.

Update. Limited time last night but ...... Tried single 12 and 15 inch cab. Added 15 to 12 in combo. Confirms that what I like is more sq cms of speaker cone. The combo is far more authoritative. The 15incher does pretty well (raised up on other speaker), didn't drive it to breaking point, but at a volume I could hear myself playing "the notes" above the volume of the band. All good but lacks thump/scale etc. The 12 incher I'd be more worried about in terms of subjecting it to undue "stress". In a situation with bass in PA/FOH the single 15" would probably be OK but you'd need someone out front to let you know how the sound was. So OK as a stage monitor for the Bass Player. Useful experiment. The new Guitar Speaker is a mixed blessing though - fantastic in terms of getting to hear what the guitar is doing at all locations on "the stage" , but it is much stronger in the low mids, which makes it much more difficult to hear the notes on the bass. It's also much louder ........... The very unhelpful aspect of all this is the Catch22 scenario where to protect their ears, the drummer and guitarist use ear plugs. They then tend to play more loudly. Watched the dB meter ........... Peaks still at 115, but the range is in the region of high 90's to 115 peak - I'd say that the average SPL are in the region of 105. Work to do!

Our "total" output PEAKS at 115dB - so I guess our average is in the "School Dance" category. We do not put bass through FOH I've used a single BB2 gen 3 and a single LfSys Monaco in this situation and as I don't like driving cabs too much, they are not loud enough (according to the Guitarist and drummer and me). If I add another cab (1 x12 or 1x15) to spread the load, I'm much happier and the sound, tonewise, is more pleasant. So, "yes", I'd like to use a single cab to help set up and carrying "time" but so far am unconvinced that a single 12inch or 15inch cab will be sufficient. Tonight, as per Phils suggestions, I shall try out a singel 12inch cab and a single 15inch cab and report back. I might even take some dB readings.

Please Sir, can I borrow a pencil .................... Now, what do I need to do to get out of remedial class .....🤔

I'm going to continue to try, methodically, to eliminate the main causes of feedback before resorting to extra tech - the Shark might end up being needed, and as you say, it's the monitor feeds which cause the issues. Working on the Mic positioning in relation to the monitor(s) is paying dividends, but it's going to be a slow process and reducing stage volume is starting to get traction, but there's a long way to go. A lot of the issues are "perceptual" rather than real, which makes it very difficult. It is, as they say almost impossible to change emotionally held beliefs with technically based argument, so there's lots of subtle work to be done. Major wins so far are; Monitor volume/positioning. Mic "choice" and positioning. Paying more attention to gain structure (particularly Mic pre-amp gain) and EQ. Our rather excellent Guitard has bought a new 2x12cab with an angled top baffle making it easier to hear guitar on stage. Getting "everything" into the mixer which gives the option of reducing stage volume whilst having the chance to subtley add feeds into the FOH for a better audience mix. Interestingly, we set up a vocal mix and a dedicated monitor mix for the drummer at the last gig. All worked well except for unexpected feedback from the vocal monitor initially, Couldn't work it out, so turned off various feeds and played with volumes - all a bit tricky mid songs!! Forgot to reinstate the guitar mix into the drummers monitor. He didn't notice for the whole of the rest of the gig!! (perceptual vs real?). And the cause ..... Guitarist and vocalist had inadvertently "swapped" Mics. SM 58 vs SM58Beta. So, gain structure now wrong, Monitor positioning wrong, volume wrong ......... looked up halfway through gig and saw the tell tale blue line on the wrong mic. DOH!! ....... Onward and Upward ... 🙄🤣

Thanks Vince. I'm going to see whether the Mic upgrade works over the next week or so and then may well be in touch. Is it the small footprint (Shark)? as we don't use a rack we're a bit short of space foe a full sized unit??

Success!!! Changed monitor arrangement Deployed SM58 Beta. Drummer sang No Feedback Drummer could hear most of what he needed. 👍😁 A little finessing to do and still need to work on volume, but looking hopeful. 🤞🤞 So big a "thank you" to everyone for all your engagement on the struggle.

Given the limited space available at gigs - has anyone any experience of the Behringer FBQ100 SHARK Microphone Feedback Destroyer? Small footprint and could sit next to the mixer - could use for just the drummer's vocal mic. Borrowed a Shure SM58Beta for this evening - upside is it should pick up less from the monitor (if I can get it positioned well) bad news - no mic switch, so drummer can't turn it off when not singing!!! We'll see. I like the headset idea - but it'll take a bit of persuasion ....... Thanks for all the continuing good ideas ........

Good point. Sadly though, having looked everywhere, I can't find the volume control on the drum kit. I'll look again this evening.

The LfSys Monaco is indeed a brilliant cab. I prefer it to all the 1x12" cabs I've tried. Probably a bit louder and certainly much better dispersion, so easy to hear yourself on stage. I just wish there was a 2x12 as this might fit the bill to replace 2 400 Watt Cabs with a single cab to make for fewer trips between car/venue/ home and simplify set up a little. I think my original question was just seeking reassurance that there wasn't going to be significant reduction in headroom should I replace e.g. 2 Mesa Subway single driver cabs with a single Mesa Subway 2 driver cab or similar. Rather than taking one or two cabs depending on venue I now think it's better to have a single cab with sufficient headroom for all gigs and use volume control as appropriate.🤔😄

Mesa's European Distribution set up just sent this. We are hoping to start shipping our MESA products to the European (including the UK) market either towards the end of the year or the start of 2024. So not long to wait now! I'll just have to de-GAS for while longer

Had a quick look at feedback destroyers .......... what would you suggest as they are fairly costly In terms of investment I wonder whether a better Mic. might be the first step. But I guess the drummer should cough up for this and that might mean it doesn't happen.