Wish I got an 800W head

[modelreject]

Just my own woes here.

Had a band practice on Sunday. Had my Markbass cranked. Full gain and master but had to roll off the gain because it was clipping. 300W through my 8Ohm Barefaced Super Compact. The cab could handle a lot more and I needed the extra volume. Can't return the amp now so will be out a bit of money if I do upgrade :-( Only had it a month so still under warranty. Hopefully someone will take it at near fill price. Fingers crossed.

Edited June 27, 2016 by modelreject

[paul h]

How loud is your band???

[Bigwan]

More speakers would help you more than more watts. Add another super compact. I say that knowing it's not cheap or easy to do, but the results would be better than adding more wattage.

[SubsonicSimpleton]

Do you like to boost bass frequencies (either on the amp or active bass onboard eq)?

Very often when people complain about being inaudible or their amps crapping out, the culprit turns out to be silly EQ settings - not saying this is the case in your situation, but before you jump to the conclusion that you need more amp/cab, it might be worth investigating your EQ and FX use. If you are feeding the power section of the amp a lot of very low frequency information it will use your headroom up very quickly.

[discreet]

As said, get another SC for more beans. Having said that, if you need more than 300W through an 8ohm cab for bass at a rehearsal, then your band must have serious 'volume war' problems. Get everyone to turn down. I hope you're using ear protection, too.

Edited June 27, 2016 by discreet

[Kevin Dean]

I found that the Markbass 500w heads were louder than the 800w because the 800w version had a digital power section . I'd get another cab , But It does sound like you may be too loud ?

[chris_b]

Here's another vote for a second cab before you try to push your current cab any further. You'll get more SPL from doubling your speaker area than from upgrading to a slightly more powerful amp.

When I used Bergs I stacked 3 112's with a 2 ohm amp, now my 2 SC's are easily loud enough for my loudest band with a TH500.

[Acebassmusic]

Radical proposal I know......but maybe (as well as the good advice above) get everyone else in the band to turn down a bit? It is a rehearsal after all

[modelreject]

Regarding the frequencies I actually had to roll off the low bass frequencies and I tried all variations of eq settings. Got the ear protection sorted too :-)

The reasoning behind the greater wattage was that I would get 200 more watts through the cab without having to fork out a lot of money on an extra cab.

Not that I slap the bass that much but I think there was another thread on here stating that the amp cut out. Well there was a lot of clipping happening, so I just stopped slapping...prob best anyway ;-)

It was only the first time in the rehearsal rooms so I may see what it is like the next time. Quite a large room too.

Thanks folks.

Edited June 27, 2016 by modelreject

[EliasMooseblaster]

[quote name='SubsonicSimpleton' timestamp='1467036203' post='3080642']
Do you like to boost bass frequencies (either on the amp or active bass onboard eq)?

Very often when people complain about being inaudible or their amps crapping out, [b]the culprit turns out to be silly EQ settings[/b] - not saying this is the case in your situation, but before you jump to the conclusion that you need more amp/cab, it might be worth investigating your EQ and FX use. If you are feeding the power section of the amp a lot of very low frequency information it will use your headroom up very quickly.
[/quote]

...and not always on the bass amp! Is/are your guitarist(s) clogging up your sonic space by cranking their own bass controls too high?

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

[quote name='Bigwan' timestamp='1467035935' post='3080637']
More speakers would help you more than more watts. Add another super compact. I say that knowing it's not cheap or easy to do, but the results would be better than adding more wattage.
[/quote]Agreed. The added 200 watts that he might be able to make use of with one cab would give at best 2dB additional output. A second cab will give 6dB more output without changing amps.

Edited June 27, 2016 by Bill Fitzmaurice

[lowhand_mike]

you'll only be using about 150watts (ish) with the one cab, adding another 8ohm cab will make the load 4ohm and you'll get the full 300watts

edit: ^^ yeah what they said

Edited June 27, 2016 by lowhand_mike

[Light Grenade]

That's surprising! I'm currently playing my Mark Bass Big Bang through one single 300W cab (meaning my head is running with a max of 250W), and I don't even need to push the gain or master past halfway, and our drummer is the loudest guy on the planet.

As mentioned previously, boosting EQ parameters drastically can really push the overall level. I don't think an extra 300W would help all that much, it's definitely a better shout getting an extension cabinet.

Edited June 27, 2016 by Light Grenade

[bigevilman]

[quote name='Bigwan' timestamp='1467035935' post='3080637']
More speakers would help you more than more watts. Add another super compact. I say that knowing it's not cheap or easy to do, but the results would be better than adding more wattage.
[/quote]

Deffo agree - more speakers in this case is your solution. TBH, a single 12" in a loud band situation is always going to struggle, even if it is a barefaced (which are ridiculously loud!).

[modelreject]

"[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]That's surprising! I'm currently playing my Mark Bass Big Bang through one single 300W cab (meaning my head is running with a max of 250W), and I don't even need to push the gain or master past halfway, and our drummer is the loudest guy on the planet."[/font][/color]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]There may be other frequencies interfering as it is quite synth lead and no guitars.[/font][/color]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Hmmmm. Maybe my ear drums are already shot :-) I will have to run through a few more settings at the next re[/font][/color]hearsal.

[Light Grenade]

Positioning of cabs, and people in a room can also make a huge difference to what you hear. If you're getting blasted face on with drums and guitar cabs, it can really cloud the sound. I find this happens at most of our practices, and some re-arranging seems to fix this. Not to mention that loads of guitar players love ramping every EQ parameter (including bass) on their heads so they can only hear themselves. Guitarists, pfft.

Edited June 27, 2016 by Light Grenade

[Fogtave8]

yeah definitely get another cab. another 8 ohm and unlock the full power. But I'd be inclined to encourage everyone to play at a more reasonable volume. Easier said than done, especially when everyone gets carried away.
My last band that I used to play with were ridiculously loud. Our drummer just used to beat the sh*t of the kit and the lead guitarist couldn't "hear himself", so know what you're saying.

Totally unnecessary in a practice environment. Apart from anything else, the room acoustics suffer massively when it gets too loud. It just becomes a soup of distorted noise.

[Paul S]

I'd say get a different amp. Your BF Supercompact will sing if pushed by a more powerful amp.

I've tried 300W amps of many different types, also 500W amps of different types. My rock covers band just collectively drowned them all out - mainly the drummer but also the guitarist. Now use a Trace Elliot 300W head and can hold my own through a single Supercompact.

Or possibly consider putting the MB through a poweramp?

[hubrad]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1467036253' post='3080643']
As said, get another SC for more beans. Having said that, if you need more than 300W through an 8ohm cab for bass at a rehearsal, then your band must have serious 'volume war' problems. Get everyone to turn down. I hope you're using ear protection, too.
[/quote]
In a nutshell. I SAID 'IN A NUTSHELL'!!

[lojo]

I use 2 x 8ohm Mark bass cabs at gigs with a Mark bass head but 1 cab at rehearsal is enough , can't see why your rig wouldn't be ok they must pair ok ?

Edited June 27, 2016 by lojo

[Lozz196]

More speakers is the route I`d choose - I used to have the Markbass CMD121P combo, and the addition of the extension speaker was pretty amazing. I never used it to make things louder, but the increase in the depth and bigness of the sound gave that impression.

[3below]

I will add to the more speakers route. Small rig is Shermann 15/6/1 custom build (previously BF Big One). Big rig is Barefaced Dubster. The increase in output with the Dubster is very noticeable. In the interests of pseudo scientific fairness, all cabs have the Eminence 3015LF 15" bass driver and I use the same amp..

[JTUK]

Doesn't sound like the amp and cab are a match, IMO..sell one or other.

Markbass are typically good for 300 into 8 at full whack so for me it would be the cab to go.
Why you have to have two cabs to sort this issue is a mystery to me.

[Muzz]

Add a second cab if you can - the difference is night and day (even with BF cabs, and you won't get much louder for the size/weight) - I run 2 or 3 112 Bergs like Chris B did, and I can go very, very loud without a zillion watts.

[mcnach]

[quote name='modelreject' timestamp='1467034914' post='3080629']
Just my own woes here.

Had a band practice on Sunday. Had my Markbass cranked. Full gain and master but had to roll off the gain because it was clipping. 300W through my 8Ohm Barefaced Super Compact. The cab could handle a lot more and I needed the extra volume. Can't return the amp now so will be out a bit of money if I do upgrade :-( Only had it a month so still under warranty. Hopefully someone will take it at near fill price. Fingers crossed.
[/quote]


I'm a little surprised.
I use the LM3 too. Before giving up on it, I would check that it's not something to do with EQ. Are you boosting lows a lot? That can make you run out of power relatively easily. Are guitars/keyboards producing a lot of lows that you're trying to compete with through sheer power rather than adjusting EQ so that everybody has their sonic spot?
It seems very strange that you may need to push that amp so much for a rehearsal.

Aside from that, I doubt a more powerful amp will help you much. I made that mistake a while ago... I had an LM3 and got the LMT800 because I thought the extra oomph would be useful. It wasn't. I no longer have the LMT800. I do have a Streamliner 900, but I have in the past few months do a few tests with various speakers and amps, and I'm not sure the Streamliner is noticeably louder than the LM3.
However! What will give you more volume is adding another speaker. Going from 300 to 500W will not be very effective if using one speaker.