Mesa Cabs: Very VERY Directional?

[ibanez4life SZ!]

Hey guys!

Ever since getting my Mesa 4x12, I have noticed that the cab is HORRIBLY directional....

When I stand off to the side, it is huge, smooth, and agressive.

When I stand directly infront of it, it is SOOOO HARSH. It almost hurts to stand in that spot.

Have any of you guys also experienced this? I've heard this is a trait of V30s....

One thing I'm thinking.....I've played in pretty small quarters recently....could this be the culprit? Farther out, I assume these frequencies level out, for example, in a gig?

As always, thanks for the help!

 

[Platypus]

Yes, this is an issue with Recto cabs I've discovered as well. I always play off to the side!

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

Me too! But is there anything that can be done about it? The Beamblockers seem to be popular....

My question is, in actual live situations, gigging, etc, is it a big deal?

 

[Platypus]

I've never had an issue in a live situation no, a lot of people use duct tape on the front.

 

[oyster]

This is an issue with ALL speakers and cabs, mesa is no different.
Personally I think it is just something to put up with / live with...stuff like beam blockers just seem silly to me.
Oh well, to each his own.

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

Thanks exactly why I haven't invested in them yet....

Well, I guess I'll live!

 

[PDad]

This is an issue with ALL speakers and cabs, mesa is no different.
Personally I think it is just something to put up with / live with...

This has been my experience, too. Every cab I've owned--open back, close back, ported, etc.--all exhibited on-axis harshness to a large degree.

 

[vatoben]

if you're not playing with the amp mic'd up and running through a PA then beam blockers might be a good idea. they soften up on axis tone quite a bit. if you have to mic your cab alot then beam blockers can be kinda clumsy to get around. maybe block just two of the speakers and leave the other two open?

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

Not a bad idea at all.....

Most of the time, I do not use a PA or mic up...a mesa halfstack has more than enough power....

 

[jbird]

Something of note here, and it's not to say what I prefer is right or wrong, just a thought! I prefer EQing my amp while sitting/kneeling directly in front of the cab, as close as possible, actually more in line with one of the speakers, tweaking to the sound a mic would be picking up! With what I've been reading here, some of you are experiencing harshness while in the above mentioned scenario! It's funny to say, I actually think my amp sounds better directly in front, than off to the side! I'd prefer it aimed at my head! Maybe one would want to try EQing for what a mic is picking up, after all, that is what your audience is hearing! Either that, or to think sometimes [on a stage] your audience is at ear level with your amp! I'd hope they're not experiencing the harshness you are!

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

Not a bad idea at all!

I'll definitely give that a try later on today!

 

[Mr_You]

I agree with jbird. Also keep in mind if any audience is in front of your speakers they may be suffering from "ice pick in the ear" or it may sound rockin heh. I like the advice of letting the PA do its job which involves keeping a reasonable sound stage volume so it doesn't spill out into the PA mix (annoys the sound engineer too). This is why I like 1x12 combos for small clubs. Also easy to tilt back a combo or put it on top of something to get it closer to ear level.

 

[SeasonOfPain]

Yes, this is why it can take so long to get a decent recorded tone: what you hear when jamming off to the side bears hardly any resemblance to what the mic (or the audience, as was mentioned above) hears.

If you're not going through a mic to the P.A. when playing live with a larger cab (a common situation for smaller clubs), it's actually beneficial to angle your cab inward towards the band. It tends to cut down on stage noise (especially with 2 guitarists) and results in a smoother sound reaching the crowd. Some people even face their cab completely away from the audience.

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

Also good advice! Thanks guys!

 

[disassembled]

Very good tips. Another one is to run a cab simulator/ DI box in between the head and the cab. This way you still have the cab as yours and the band's monitor while the audience primarily hears the tone coming from the cab simulator. For the consistency and ease of setup I wouldn't want to go any other way. I just bought a Behringer GI 100 with the cab simulator and it sounds pretty good through some headphones. The behringer piece is also about $35 so either way you have an extra DI box if you don't dig the tone of the cab simulator. I was reluctant to try it out for years but glad I just went ahead and tried it. There probably are many good alternatives but for the price point and quality nothing comes close.

 

[PRSKILLER]

I face my cab to the wall and turn the amp up a little more but yeah I know what you mean about being so directional. :arrow:

 

[broknstuff]

Like it's been said, this is true with any cab, not just Mesa cabs, and closed back cabs in general will be more directional sounding.

I got a pair of beam blockers to try out in my 2x12, because honestly they're not that expensive, they're what around 15 per speaker? I mean even in a 4x12 that doesn't add up to much over 60 dollars, and when you think about how much your amp heads cost and your speakers cost, it doesn't seem like a bad idea. At least that's why I got them but I haven't had time to install them yet. And if you don't like them, just remove them, easy as that.

I tried to EQ it so it sounds great in front of it, and while I got it sounding better, i still like the way it sounded off to the side more. Whenever I play live, since I'm always on one of the sides, I just point my cab towards the walls a bit. E.I, if i'm on the right side of the stage (right side if you're on stage, facing the audience) then I'll angle my cab a bit towards the right so no one is in the direct line of the middle harshness. Or some people just straight up turn their cabs 90 degrees or 180 from the audience. Since it sounds less loud like this, you can even turn it up more (which generally sounds better with mesa's and all tube amps) and you can enjoy more of that sound comming from the sides.

I'll let you know what I think of the beam blockers, but I won't be putting them in for probably another 2 weeks. They're suppose to help distribute the high end into the whole sound and take the unevenness away, but maybe for your (or even my situation) a better solution would just be a flat absorbant piece in line with the middle of the cone, rather than reflecting what the middle of the cone produces to all sides.

 

[PDad]

Something of note here, and it's not to say what I prefer is right or wrong, just a thought! I prefer EQing my amp while sitting/kneeling directly in front of the cab, as close as possible, actually more in line with one of the speakers, tweaking to the sound a mic would be picking up! With what I've been reading here, some of you are experiencing harshness while in the above mentioned scenario! It's funny to say, I actually think my amp sounds better directly in front, than off to the side! I'd prefer it aimed at my head! Maybe one would want to try EQing for what a mic is picking up, after all, that is what your audience is hearing! Either that, or to think sometimes [on a stage] your audience is at ear level with your amp! I'd hope they're not experiencing the harshness you are!

Right on, right on...for me, anyway! I prefer the "straight on" sound, too. I stopped using my 4x12 1960 cab because in many situations I couldn't hear myself with the cab on the floor. The sound was blowing past my knees, not up to my ears. To compensate, I was turning it up louder--too loud for a good stage mix. Since we mic our amps, I was stealing control of the mix from our engineer.

I bought a Mesa 2x12 3/4 back cab about 4 months ago, and put it on one of those portable 4-leg stands (not an "X" type; the legs extend straight down) high enough to point the cab right at my shoulderblades. It helped a lot.

I also re-adjusted my EQ a bit it to control the harshness of the mic'd sound. Having said that, I also have had great success with an old H&K "Red Box" cab simulator, but it eats 9V batteries with alarming speed, and requires a screwdriver to change them, unless I want to carry around another line lump.

 

[strumminsix]

If your cab sounds bad directly in front of it and you are not mic'd the sound is likely bad to the audience. Tweak it from 15 feet out or so and trust your setting.

If you are mic'd, your sound shouldn't go too much further than the stage so work with the sound guy and get the mic nicely off-axis again listening from somewhere near the board.

It's a tough discipline as a musician but when we hit the stage we are performing and personal gratification should come from a great show not at the sacrafice of poor tone cuz it sounds great from that one angle where you are standing but bad to the rest of the house...

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

Thanks for all the help guys! I'd really like to hear the review on the beam blockers.