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Can wooden stages rob your tone?


Guest MoJo
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Last week we played a small local pub. We almost invariably go off our backline. At the end of the gig I received two comments from separate individuals who said how nice my bass sounded. Keeping the old adage "If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it" at the back of my mind, I left all the settings exactly the same for tonights gig. The sound was totally different to the point that one of the guys who had made a comment previously, now said that it was probably the worst sound that I'd had at a gig.
The only differences between the venues was that the first was carpeted and the second was on a wooden stage. I did notice that playing in the lower registers made my skull resonate.

Has anyone any idea what has happened here? Could the wooden stage have made that much difference?


Cheers, Mark

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It's not the stage covering that's the problem it's what's under the stage. If it's empty space, it will resonate in sympathy with the lower registers. In these conditions I , and many others here, stand the amp on an accoustic isolating platform like a "Gramma Pad". It very effectively decouples the amp from the stage. I always take mine with me now and at the first sight of a stage it's the first bit of kit out of the car.

Edited by obbm
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[quote name='warwickhunt' post='238321' date='Jul 13 2008, 08:41 AM']Sadly beer crates are harder to find in pubs these days as that was the old fix :)[/quote]


I carry a Grolsch crate in the boot of the car for this very reason!

Edited by JimH
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[quote]The only differences between the venues was that the first was carpeted and the second was on a wooden stage.[/quote]Even though they may look similar - every venue will be different. The wooden or carpeted stage [i]will[/i] make a difference, but there are so many other variables.

[quote]I did notice that playing in the lower registers made my skull resonate.[/quote]Did that not give you a clue that perhaps you needed to make some adjustments? :)

There are a couple of threads running that refer to getting "your sound". I wonder how many players sit in their bedroom getting "their sound", even marking their settings, only to get to a gig and find that "their sound" isn't so hot after all. :huh:

You can't rely on your settings.

[b]TRUST YOUR EARS[/b]

Steve

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+1 for the gramma pad but you sometime need to add some low end to make up for the reduced coupling with the stage. Thought there was a sticky on this and there is an article on the wiki about speaker position that can help reduce boom at some frequencies although venues that are normally affected by this kind of thing often have little choice of cab position.

Any yes - the tone controls are there to tweak for room acoustics as well as your sound, which is why "your sound" should never have everything on full as it leaves no room for room acoustics. This is also why some players like to keep their EQ as flat as possible.

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I know fine well that if I arrive at a venue (pub) with a raised area (stage) then I'm invariably going to need to roll off a bit of bottom end. On the same subject my 'usual' tone in the house has a bit of a mid scoop whereas live I know fine well that will just get lost so my EQ is generally flat and I'll work from there to get what I want. You'd be amazed how much mid and top you can add that sounds horrendous in isolation but can be required in a band mix that is relying on backline rather than PA support... unless you play a P bass with flats :) (sorry MB)

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It looks as though I'm going to isolate the cab from the stage if we play there again (which looks very likely). The engineer commented that my bass sounded hollow which is amazing as I've not used that 'scooped' sound since the nineties. I tend now to boost the low-mids a bit to get that drive and allow the bass to cut through the mix.

The stage felt hollow beneath which is probably why it turned into a huge sound board. I think next time we play there, I'm going to use something to isolate the cab, reduce the volume and DI into the PA.

M

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When I practice at home I disconnect the multi band EQ circuit and nail my tone like that, the EQ sliders are only used live for acoustic correction. I usually try to memorise the effect of each individual slider of whatever amp I'm using, that way I can recognise and easily adjust whatever frequency is causing problems.

Edited by Oscar South
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I would say 90% of my gigs are on wooden stages. So far ive not raised my cab off the stage but i have noticed that if i lower the low Freq on my MarkBass SA450 it cleans up the sound stage sound ok but out front my tone is thin.
I now tend to EQ for halfway down the room. Normally this just means leaving the EQ more or less flat.
Since i got my 1212L i notice the lows are a bit clearer than my old UL212 and it seems to still sound better out front.

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[quote name='bass_ferret' post='238625' date='Jul 13 2008, 05:11 PM']Was it you that started the last epic on this subject Dave? Maybe it should be pinned.[/quote]


I think i did.
There was a lot of good information in that thread, much of which i have forgotten :-o

The WMC's we play all have wooden stages and ive done them all many times with different cabs and the 1212L is certainly the best for these sort of gigs IME.

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[quote name='bass_ferret' post='238663' date='Jul 13 2008, 06:15 PM'][url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=2746&hl="]here it is[/url][/quote]


yeah, i was just looking through that thread.

All good advice there but im pretty sure it was my cab that was causeing my problems and while i did take it all in at the time im more happy now with just putting my 1212L on the floor.
Its not ideal but for me it works.
I didnt realise how old it was. Almost seems like a year ago :-)

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  • 1 month later...

After a pretty bad gig on Sat because of the flimsy wooden stage i ve now decided to get a strip of the Auralex Platfoam.
Studio spares are out of stock although they expect some in today but looking around i cant seem to find anyone else that sells the single strips.

Anyone know of a place?


Cheers.

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[quote name='cheddatom' post='274327' date='Sep 1 2008, 11:08 AM']Is it just me who loves playing on a hollow wooden stage? The vibratons go all the way up my legs and tickle my balls in a way that no other stage can accomplish.[/quote]


No, i love them.
In fact i had a really full, thick but clear sound on Sat. But, once off the stage it was all thin and lacked low end.
Most of the gigs with this band are on stages and most of them are fine, but just recently one or two have been rubbish (combined with the room i guess) so my only option has been to back off the lows and turn up. Not good as i cant hear the guitarist (some might say bonus) across the other side of the stage.

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  • 1 month later...

[quote name='cheddatom' post='274327' date='Sep 1 2008, 11:08 AM']Is it just me who loves playing on a hollow wooden stage? The vibratons go all the way up my legs and tickle my balls in a way that no other stage can accomplish.[/quote]

+1 - worse sound ever on a concrete stage under a high, conservatory-type roof.

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