Pirellithecat

OK - Thanks for the info - I'm re-assured. Reason for asking. I have 2 Mesa Subway cabs (115 and a 112) and as the person who transports and unloads/loads/sets up the PA, I was thinking of changing from 2 cabs to a single cab to reduce carries into/out of the car/venue/home and to (albeit marginally) reduce set up complexity/time. Space is at absolute premium in the car - just about room for me once I get the bass Rig/PA/Monitors/lights etc in, so I've been looking at single cabs which don't reduce the overall wattage/potential volume. I've used a Barefaced BB2 in the past, but on it's own it just isn't sufficiently "big" - I've also tried the LfSys Monaco (which I prefer over the BB2) but again I'd need 2 which rather defeats the purpose. I've also found counterintuitive ratings for cabs which I assume are just doubled up versions of their single unit versions. Choice seems limited if I need an 800+ Watt cab that's not too heavy - there's a limited Barefaced Supertwin, a GRBass AT 212 Slim, or a Mesa Subway 2x12 unless anyone can suggest something else. So many thanks for the reality check 👍

Sorry Phil - I can see I'm going to have to start giving you a fee for consultation work! The Speakers are my "hypothetical bass cabs", so passive and usually on stage, vertically stacked, under an 800W Amp. I should have been more clear ... oops!

When I say "Watts" in the last sentence, I mean The nominal max wattage of the pair/ the nominal max wattage rating of an attached amplifier?

Looking for informed comment on a "thought experiment" which I'm going to have to take in stages ............ unless the answer is so obvious when explained that I run for cover ....... Hyperthetically, let's say that I have a 400W 8Ohm cab. Has a sensitivity of 100dB @ 1meter Nominally it has a Max output of 120 dB Actually, I have 2 identical cabs. When used together, giving a 4Ohm load, what is their combined sensitivety and Max Output. (dB AND Watts)?

Anyone know when Mesa Products might be available in the UK? Thinking of moving from 2 cabs to one to reduce set up/loading time/trips to the car. Toying with GR, or maybe Barefaced, but if Mesa a Mesa Subway Ultralite was available I'd be tempted.

I may be kidding myself! I've just swapped (reversed) the white and black wires from the pickup into the Volume Control. Also removed all the grounding wires (Bridge/ Copper shielding). And it seems much better! I've tried reversing the reversal (with no additional ground) and it reverts to muffledness. Very difficult to know whether the change will be as positive through the bass rig .... but I'll reinstate some grounding wires and try it out at rehearsal on Thursday. If this turns out to be the issue I shall be very pleased!!

HaHa..... Well, my ears a very definitely on their way out! Which is why even a slight reduction in the upper registers are so important. The Strings are new(ish) GHS Basics (following on from d'addario NYXL's). I think that using TI's and used in the context of playing Blues it would be fine and it could be that my expectations are unrealistic. If I I remember correctly, when it was strung with TI flats it was great ..... until I took it to a Jam Session where the resident bassist was using a Mark Bass Head set up for a very bright SX Jazz Bass. I literally couldn't hear the notes that I might have been playing! Pick-ups - they are stock 1990's Squier Japan - could well be the problem ...... maybe I'll swap them out but the only ones I have "spare" that will fit are SD PB1's - good reminder - I'll do that now. I wanted to put my EMG Geezer Butler's in it but this would require routing as the "pocket" is insufficiently deep. Any suggestions on a decent pickup which isn't too "dark"? Currently using a Genzler Magellan 800 which is certainly not muffling anything. In terms of recording, a) I've never done that so not sure how I'd get a representative tone. b) My ears tell me that clips of basses even on good quality headphones are not really representative and, most of all ........c) without the heavy disquise of lots of drums and crashing guitar NO-ONE would want to hear me playing ANY bass on its own! I'll have a play with strings and pickups this evening.

Good idea, I think over time he may come round to this. At the moment I think he's uncomfortable with the "look" but we'll try some decent headphones at rehearsal over the coming weeks to see if the sound "benefits" motivate change. Softly softly catchee Monkey and all that ............ Actually, may be in search of the impossible. I don't think we sound bad, many people complement us on our sets. Few mention "it's too loud", but whilst the Excellent may be the Enemy of the Good, I feel that if we could all hear what was going on better, we would play better, the songs would end up tighter, and the individual instruments would contribute better to "The Song" rather than just the overall impact of the sound.

Haha, it's a labour of love! Or maybe a fools errand! But it'll be a slow process. The sound is a lot better on stage and the feedback issue is pretty well sorted except for the drummer. He has a less than ideal mic, so if we can improve that and work on appropriate monitor positioning, I'm hopeful we'll get on top of the situation. Just need to get the overall volume on and off stage under control after that. Optimistic that a little PA support for backline will allow a reduction of backline volume so it's a work in progress. 🤞🤞

2 steps forward, one back! Drummer doesn't like IEM's so wants his monitor back! Very loud gig last night and drum monitor leads to feedback. Got it controlled but it's touch and go. I can borrow a Shure SM58 Beta for the next Saturday's gig, but are there any thoughts on mics for drummers (which are not too prone to feedback)? Going to try mounting his monitor on a stand to get it pointing directly at his ears. Anything else I can do? Except REDUCE THE VOLUME!!

Yes, you're right Pick transforms the sound! Sadly I'm unable to use a pick for anything more than the simplest of pieces........ I'll keep trying ...... it's a lovely bass to play! Ta!

Bigger "performance area" than usual on Saturday. Changes made One monitor (rather than up to 3) IEM's for me and drummer Better Mic/monitor positioning Mic sensitivities done pre gig Monitoring set up after FOH volume. New guitar cab - portrait angled top vs on floor to ankle. IEM's for me and drummer Increased FOH speaker vol/reduced mixer gain. Sneaked a bit of guitars into front of house instead of cranking volume ....... Results No feedback! Still very loud out front Loud but not painful on stage IEM's not very successful in consistently getting right mix (any mix for me). Needs work if we are going to continue to uses them for drummer. Even without any actual mix (tech issues?) IEM's good in term of noise reduction but being able to hear. For drummer we will need to add overhead Mic(s) to capture all drums in IEM mix. Drummer could sing without feed back - great benefit. So, either a benign venue or the changes are having an effect! We went down a storm so just for fun, here's the band in action!!

Hmm - I wonder what the common-or-garden-pub-gigging-band's budget is? Am I right in thinking this is around £1400? Might be a compelling argument for going digital? I must become more brave ...........

Bloody hell - and I'm worrying about too complex! How long does it usually take to get set up and sound check? I guess with experience (and less back line) it gets easier/quicker? I ask because at our upcoming gig we follow a band who nominally finish at 8pm. No shared gear so they have to clear away before we can make a start setting up (PA, Drums, Monitors, Backline, Sound Check) and be ready to start at 9pm. If they have an encore - we're stuffed! In preparation I shall watching replays of Formula 1 Pit Stops! Thanks for the detail though - very useful!

Yep - had it all apart last night and the tone pot is OK. It works in so far as it increases "muffledness" when rotated anticlockwise!! But good thought.

I suspect that you might be right! However, when I listen to other players using P Basses I don't notice the "muffledness" but that could very well be that, from the audience point of view, everything sounds the same😂 I really should try an alternative , but it has to be at home, as in shops I find it difficult to really judge the sound as I'm usually hijacked by the action/playability and my ears seem to have a "shop filter" . But that would be the definitive QC check!

Pickup Height - well.... I've just checked that and it might be a tad too low .... so I've taken everything apart, put new "foam" under the pickups and re-assembled. Not sure it sounds any different, but I'll reserve judgement until I take it to rehearsal on Wednesday. I've actually also reduced the relief on the neck and adjusted string height and intonation - certainly this makes it a little better to play but I'll leave it overnight and check it all tomorrow once everything has settled down a tad. It does play really nicely, and the 40mm neck is great and it might be that I'm expecting too much tonal variation from an "old" P bass. On the Cobalt front, I've tried these in the past and find the D'addario NYXL's brighter ... I currently have GHS Bass Boomers on it just to experiment, but these don't really improve things over the NYXL's. But good thought. I'll report back after rehearsals.

Yep - reduce sound levels first then think about different/more monitor mixes 👍 I can (have) used the EQ controls on the Monitors. Basically rolled off the bass and fiddled with the Mids/Treble to get meaningful info out of the monitors without feedback (as far as I can with the Laney anyway!!). Cheers everyone - 4 rehearsals and 4 gigs in the next 4 weeks so I'll see how I get on and report back.

That's interesting. If I'm successful in reducing our stage volume, won't the Drummer find it (even more) difficult to hear the guitars and bass especially if he uses IEM's? Whilst i wasn't thinking of putting the guitars, drums and bass through the Vocal monitors, my trials with IEM's, so far, indicate I need vocals, guitars, bass (.... and might even be tempted with a little drum to improve the "lock-in" between bass and drums) via my monitor feed. Am I missing something?

🤣 Great! ...... so that'd be 4 monitor feeds (Bass, Drums, 2 Vocals) ... and we've recently replaced our mixer with a nice new shiny Mackie 16ProFX ........ with 3 Aux Sends!!!! 😳Doh! But you are right. I'll start trying to sell all my "spare" gear (and maybe a kidney) to fund a 4 Aux send mixer - any suggestions!! What were you using on Saturday - great sound with several monitor feeds and not enormous in terms of "footprint". Great crowd response too - how did Sunday go?

Thanks - I'm trying to use Xvive U4 currently - bit of a learning curve but fingers crossed it'll help. Yep, I've tried EQing the monitors and it certainly helps, but to get to the required volume they are still prone to feedback. Clearly if we can manage the volume we'll help with the feedback. Concerning the choice of an analogue desk, in hindsight this was a mistake. I was worried about the learning curve/complexity, the reliability of the connection and the ability to reach over mid song and deal with issues whilst playing, but I probably should have bitten the bullet. Any thought on the idea of doubling up the monitors so that we replace one large one with two more compact ones so that each vocalist can get the level they need rather than the higher level they need when sharing? Does the ability to position each monitor closer to the relevant person's ears and in better alignment with the Null area of their Mic outweigh the fact that there might be more sound overall from the sum of the sounds of having 2 Monitors rather than 1? VSmith1 of this Parish has very kindly just leant me the reference book mentioned above, together with another tomb, so I'll have a look at those over the next few days and see if I can find Nirvana! Much obliged!! Thanks all!