I've done three shows now with my new Model I. This thing is amazing. I got the ultimate complement last ngight. A member of the audience at Redfire Grille could not understand how my guitar could be heard all over the restaurant without being plugged in. I said, "Well, I am plugged in. That's my PA." and pointed to the Model 1. He replied, "It sure sounds great."

At the first two shows, I was getting some serious bass thud with my K&K equipped guitars whenever my hand came anywhere near the bridge. I play nearly exclusively finger picking (thumb pick and bare fingers) and my palm spends a lot of time around the bridge. Sometimes I can get aggressive there. I posted the problem here and was promptly informed about the two high-pass presets (80 and 81). So last night I tried them out. 80 was OK, but still thumped more than natrual. 81 did the trick. Lush, rich, full woody tone, plenty of dreadnought boom (but controllable) from my Collings D1A, and great mid punch from my hand-built OM. I am absolutley thrilled with this system.

And the vocal channel is the best I've ever heard. SM58 preset sounded flat out natural. I'm not the best singer in the world. One buddy asked if I've been taking singing lessons. Nope, the Bose just makes it easy to hear yourself and sing on key.

Can't wait to try it with my duo in June. I might even schedule a freebie somewhere to try it out first.

Thank you Bose! I would have never thoght you could impove on the sound of my AER compact 60 for small gigs, but this L1/B1 is amazing. I did not realize how much I was missing some real bass.

Cheers,
David

This message has been edited. Last edited by: dberch,

OK, I did my first outdoor show today. Lunch concert for Bloomington (IL) Parks and Rec. I was on a large enclosed mobile stage about 4 feet off the ground. Audience of 80 - 100 folks spread out over maybe 150' x 300' grassy area with a few trees.

I had big problems. My guitar was distoted. A buddy kept telling me to turn it up. I could not it would just distort. My vocals were fine, but if I moved away from the mic, it would feedback like mad.

How can this thing sound so good in a beer garden and go south like this a week later?

I think I need to call someone and discuss this in detail. Right now I'm inclined to think I could gat as goood a sound from my AER Compact 60 and one powered 15" PA speaker.

Can someone point me to a support number. I have another outdoor show Friday and I don't want to get involved in a long forum discussion. Not that there's anything wrong with that!

Thanks!
David

Hi David,

Here's the number.

Call Bose® Product & Technical Support at (877) 335-2673 (U.S. and Canada only)
Monday-Friday: 8:30 AM - 9:00 PM ET
Saturday 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM ET
Currently no support available on Sunday

First things I would check (not assuming that you have not) are input trim, batteries, and cables.

But definitely call the support folks.

Thanks for the info ST.

Trim (on L1 channel 1) was down all the way. My guitar signal is pretty strong. Brand new battery as of yesterday. Cable is a possibility.

I'll let you know what I find out.

David

This message has been edited. Last edited by: dberch,

Try turning the trim on the guitar up to 1/2 or 12 o'clock and then adjust the gain staging on the L1. If you have the preamp too low on the guitar, you will be getting a lot of distortion through to the L1.

Most guitar pre-amps are designed to be run all the way up, except for the Taylor ES which is designed to be run at 12 o'clock.

If you are turned down then you are starving the L1 for signal.

Hope it helps.

Hey, thanks Gordy. If I don't have time to call support I will try that.

Am I expecting too much from an L1 mod 1 + just one B1 to sound good outdoors for acoustic and vocals?

quote:

Am I expecting too much from an L1 mod 1 + just one B1 to sound good outdoors for acoustic and vocals?

NO.

It should sound as spectacular outdoors as in.

Something's wrong. You should be able to get that guitar and voice loud and clear.

My first instinct is that the signal from your guitar is too hot or already distorted. Can you plug it into something else to see if that's the case?

We collectively will help you get this sorted.

Ken

If you play a lot of outdoor events, investing in a 2nd B1 would be a good idea, but as Ken said, they sound as good outside as in.

The 2nd B1 really helps on the low end, and with added headroom for bigger venues and outdoors, but I use mine all the time.

Hope you can get it figured out ASAP.

Bose tech support is the best.

quote:

Originally posted by Ken-at-Bose:
My first instinct is that the signal from your guitar is too hot or already distorted. Can you plug it into something else to see if that's the case?

Hi Ken, I've played this same rig through an AER Compact 60, a Roland AC-100, and a Yamaha EMX640 with two 12" mains and never had distortion like this. I've pushed all these systems pretty hard at times.

I've got some meetings this morning, but I plan to call support this afternoon.

We must get this sorted out.

Tell us what is happening.

Ken

OK, I'll tell you what I know so far. I have three outdoor shows this weekend and I plan to record until I get a good example of what is happening.

My rig: Acoustic guitar (Collings D1A or Larrive OM-05MT) with K&K Pure Wester mini (superglued) -> K&K Pure XLR preamp (new batter) -> Boss Tu-2 tuner (via 1/4" patch cord) -> L1M1 Channel 1 with #80 preset.

I have tried the followng settings and get distortion with all of them. Last night I got it at low volume in a quiet restaurant when I played hard through the Larrivee.

K&K Pure Preamp - I've tried input gain at 0 and about 50%, which is as high is I think I should go.

L1 - I've tried input trim at 0 and as high as 10. Distortion happens at all settings. Only when I play hard.

If I get distortion tonight, I plan to call Supprt during break and see what we can do.

Getting distortion at low volume, but only when playing hard makes me think that the problem is in front of the L1.

Because it seems not to change when you alter the gain staging, makes me think it is a defective component, or just sounds coming from your guitar you haven't heard before.

Do you still have one of those other rigs around that you could try, just to see for sure if it is the guitar or not??

Have you tried to eliminate the tuner from signal path?

Have you tried to eliminate preamp from signal path?

Tap on guitars, visually check with mirrow, to see if pickups are still where they are supposed to be.

Acoustic guitars, as I am sure you know, can be very strange at times. Heat, cold, humidity, all can affect our instruments causing changes in tone and playability.

Because you are only hearing the distortion when you play hard, I wonder if what you are hearing is high harmonics, overtones, whatever you like to call them, sounds that sustain over the note or strum that you are currently playing.

I am not a finess player, I beat a guitar without mercy, and sometimes depending on key, or capo placement I hear things that drive me crazy. I have learned to remove some of this with the T1 para eq. Sometimes around 880 hz, sometimes higher. It seems to always be divisable by 220, or therabouts.

Without doubt, the L1 will allow you to hear things you have never heard before.

The pickup doesn't care what sounds the guitar makes, it sends it all out without judgement.

Hopefuly this is just new user jitters and with some continued tweaking your guitar sound will come around and you will get rid of that vocal feedback issue as well.

Hope to hear good news soon.

O..

quote:

Without doubt, the L1 will allow you to hear things you have never heard before.

True. But this is really bad. I don't see how this can be anything other than a) distortion from too much signal to L1, or b) Cutting out from to little signal to L1.

Did indoor show this evening. L1 performed wonderfully. Two more outdoor shows Sat and Sun. Wish me luck.

Hi Dave,

quote:

Did indoor show this evening. L1 performed wonderfully. Two more outdoor shows Sat and Sun. Wish me luck.

First - best of luck.

Second - if you like the way it sounded this evening, then when you take it outside don't change anything except the Master Level on the R1 Remote. Don't change anything else and it should sound the pretty much the same, except louder.

If you get distortion - having changed only the Master, and if there no red lights on the Power Stand or the Remote, then I would suspect something internal is malfunctioning. And that, while disappointing is unusual, and fixable.

Oh - and if it still sounds great, but you need more volume, then turn up the R1 Channel Levels for Channels 1 and 2.

I know that you are going to be in the middle of the gig and the last thing you need is to be doing diagnostics. But if you start getting distortion, please try to make a mental note of the last thing you changed before it happened.

Best of luck. You shouldn't need it, and I hope we can help you get to a place that you feel the same way.

Thanks, ST. I really appreciate all the help here. I'll check in tonight!

Played outdoors today at a two-day festival for restoring an old mansion (www.duncanmanor.org). I'll be back tomorrow. I had to set up about 100 feet from the mansion, facing the mansion and right in front of me is a tent containing tables and chairs. (betwwn me and the mansion). I needed to fill the entire yard with sound including vendors and booths on both sides of the house.

Tried the L1M1/B1 first.Used same settings as yesterday on everything. Sounded pretty good to me, but folks kept telling me to turn up. So I turn up and right away I start getting distortion on the guitar. This is NOT just more sound that I'm not used to hearing. This sounds like blow speakers and power cutting out. Even the iPod, into line 1 on L1 was distorting. I had iPod volume at 50% and line 1 trim at 50%.

I brought my old PA just in case. So I set it up with speakers wide apart and foward of me (20 feet to each side and maybe 10 feet forward). Plugged everything into old PA, including iPod into Tape In at FULL volume, and ran line level Main out from PA to L1 channel 1 at 50%. Cranked PA until 0db was lighting and then turned up Main on Remote. Wonderful Pristine sound! The L1/B1 is the best monitor I've ever used, but it sure can't fill a yard like my PA. I'll try to draw up a pic to illustrate. I think maybe I'm asking too much of the L1. Kind of dissapppointing, but at least I did the job as advertised. Got many, many comments on my sound. But I ususally do, even before the Bose.

This setup worked really well as the immediate audience in the nearby tent was hearing mostly the L1/B1 and the mansion and surrounding yard was hearing the PA speakers.

I just haven't had time to call Bose Support and troubleshoot. Maybe next weekend I can set it up in my yard, and call them and find how to get the most out of it. For now, I'm inclined to think I can use the L1/B1 by itself in the following situations:
- Small venue indoors
- Large venue indoors without low noise
- Outdoors if close, small, and not too noisy

For these situations, I'll need L1/B1 plus my old PA:
- Loud and/or large venues, indoors or out.

Hi David,

quote:

Tried the L1M1/B1 first.Used same settings as yesterday on everything. Sounded pretty good to me, but folks kept telling me to turn up. So I turn up and right away I start getting distortion on the guitar.

What did you turn up?
Guitar?
PreAmp?
Power Stand Channel Trim?
R1 Remote Channel?
R1 Remote Master?

quote:

For these situations, I'll need L1/B1 plus my old PA:
- Loud and/or large venues, indoors or out.

Hi David
I'm sorry to hear about your problem. There should be plenty of power for the situation you described .We play outdoor concerts regularly and have had no problems filling large areas I would make that call to support ASAP.

Ran mine last night for a small wedding reception.
60-80 folks tops.
Trio (e-drums, acoustic, line 6 variax acoustic - 3 vox) routed to a Soundcraft MFX mixer. Vocals panned hard left, instruments panned hard right.
iPod panned hard right.
Mixer outputs in the green.

Left output going to Ch1 on the Bose, Right output going to Ch2 on the Bose. Both inputs on the BOSE set to 3.

BOSE Remote: Master at 1-2 o'clock. Ch1 and Ch2 set to around 11 o'clock.

System ran fine most of the night. Only once did it clamp down (system mute/limiter came on) on Ch2 when the drummer and guitarist did a dynamic/percussive build.

Occasionally I'd see a pink flash on Ch2 on the BOSE base unit but never saw anything but green on the remote. (SIDE QUESTION: anyone noticed the remote seems to be a few db less sensitive than the base unit of the L1?)

Only time I heard distortion was when the ipod played. It was obviously in the tower and not the subs. Mids were just crunchy and broken up.
Nothing was clipping on the board. No red or pink lights on the L1 base. And no red lights on the Bose remote.

FWIW, BOSE presets were both on 00.
Bose Remote EQ had High (12 o'clock), Mid (12 o'clock) and Low (3 o'clock).

Hello Rain,

quote:

Occasionally I'd see a pink flash on Ch2 on the BOSE base unit but never saw anything but green on the remote. (SIDE QUESTION: anyone noticed the remote seems to be a few db less sensitive than the base unit of the L1?)

The LEDs on the Power Stand, and the LEDS on the R1 Remote are indicating the signal state at a different points in the signal chain, so that will not necessarily be in sync.

Here are some details:

What do the LEDs mean (Power Stand)

What do the LEDs mean (R1 Remote)


However, if the input trim on the Power Stand is set optimally and the R1 Remote Channel Levels are set at 12:00 (straight up) the LEDS will probably match up. Since you had your R1 Remote Channel Levels set at 11:00 it isn't surprising that the LEDs didn't match.

Reference:
The LED on the power stand and on the remote are calibrated, if nothing is connected to the insert loop. The LEDs are in sync when the channel volume on the remote is at 12 o'clock.
-- Hilmar-at-Bose Talks about the R1 Remote settings