Schertler Jam 400 Placement

jacm81 · #1 07-15-2015, 02:02 AM

I just got a Schertler Jam 400 and I used it tonight for the first time. I set it up on a stand off to my side and a little in front of me. I was also running a monitor off of it. The vocals sounded great and loud but I was having trouble getting the guitar as loud as I wanted it without it feeding back. I had been using a Marshall AS100D and setting it up the same way without any problems. Any suggestions? Thanks.

jonfields45 · #2 07-15-2015, 05:43 AM

Try inverting the phase of the guitar, turning down the bass in the monitor, or a notch filter.

lschwart · #3 07-15-2015, 06:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jalbert1

I just got a Schertler Jam 400 and I used it tonight for the first time. I set it up on a stand off to my side and a little in front of me. I was also running a monitor off of it. The vocals sounded great and loud but I was having trouble getting the guitar as loud as I wanted it without it feeding back. I had been using a Marshall AS100D and setting it up the same way without any problems. Any suggestions? Thanks.

What kind of pickup do you have, and which side was the stand on (neck side or body side)? Also what was the space like?

Louis

jacm81 · #4 07-15-2015, 04:52 PM

I'm playing a custom 000 Martin with a Fishman Rare Earth and a K&K Pure mini, run into a D-TAR Solstice and then into the Schertler. I also mic the guitar with a Shure Beta 57A (though I turned that off immediately when I started getting feedback). I had the amp set up on my left (neck side). The space is a corner of a small bar area with low ceilings.

One thing I think I did wrong was I used the XLR out on the D-TAR and plugged it into one of the mic ins on the Schertler. I just tried using the 1/4 inch out on the D-TAR and the signal seemed much more manageable and stable. I also noticed that the inputs that aren't shared with a mic input seemed to sound better. Is that just my imagination? How does that acoustic filter thing on channel 6 work? Should I only use the low cut button when using an external subwoofer? The manual that comes with this thing sucks.

lschwart · #5 07-15-2015, 09:33 PM

I don't know enough about the specifics of your amp and preamp to offer much advice about the details, but from a quick peak at the very cursory Jam 400 manual, it does look like you might benefit from using channels 4/5 and 6/7 to take advantage of the feedback notch filters. You need to play to get some feedback going with the "dB" knob on the filter set to a decent cut, then sweep through the frequencies with the other knob until you hear the feedback fade out. You're basically moving the cut around until you find the feedback frequency. Use more cut if it doesn't work the first time you sweep through, but you only want to cut as much as you need to.

I can see that you're having some problems with the gain staging going through the DTAR into the Jam. Why not just use the channels on the Jam to do your blending? The DTAR seems redundant in this situation.

Beyond that, low ceilinged corners can be tricky with any equipment if you need some volume. Did you use the Marshall in this same spot without this problem? It may be that the Jam 400 just puts out a lot more bottom end and it's kind of collecting in that corner (those frequencies are omnidirectional, so it does't necessarily help to have the amp a little in front of you). You may need to get it more than a little away from both you and the corner. Cutting some of the bass frequencies might also be necessary in this situation (you can experiment to see which source it's most effective with (see below). The SW Out switch isn't like a High Pass Filter for cutting lows on certain channels of a mix. It seems to be designed only for when you have a subwoofer attached. It may not work at all without a sub plugged in, and it's a little higher than the usual HPF, but you could try it to see how it affects the sound in this situation. Or you may need to experiment more with the placement of your monitor. If it was facing up at your guitar and into the ceiling and corner behind you, for example, that could certainly cause trouble.

Worst case, you could use only the Rare Earth mag pickup. It's certainly the least likely source of any feedback problem. At least you may need to blend-in only a little of the K&K or only the upper mids and highs from the K&K, letting the Rare Earth give you your lows.

In any case, I hope something in this scatter of comments is helpful!

Louis

Spook · #6 07-16-2015, 01:07 AM

Not a good idea to plug balanced line outs into microphone inputs.

Rikdogski · #7 07-16-2015, 01:59 AM

I own a jam 400. The worst time I've ever had trying to eq was when its in front of me

A lot of bass comes from the rear I don't know why.

Try it more behind you.

Worked for me.

jacm81 · #8 08-01-2015, 10:13 PM

I lowered it down to about a foot off the ground and put it about two feet to my left and five feet behind me. Works great. I should have figured out that's the way it's meant to be used by how the mixer is aligned on the top. Thanks for the help.

Andy Howell · #9 08-02-2015, 03:40 AM

You need to explore the notch filters.

Spook · #10 08-02-2015, 02:04 PM

If you plug a line out from a DTAR Solstice into a microphone input on a Schertler Jam 400, it will not only sound bad, but it will cause any number of other problems you get when you significantly overdrive an input. Line outs don't go to microphone ins. Should be a great sounding system after you get all the ins and outs where they should be.

If you're using a monitor, position of the Jam 400 shouldn't be an issue. Just like any PA, you get behind the speakers if you're running higher volumes and rely on your monitor to hear what you're doing.

Finally, there is a thread on this forum on mounting a Jam 400 (Rockabilly was the author) on a 4 foot speaker stand. You can still reach the controls and it gets the speaker off the floor and projecting.

bayoubengal · #11 08-02-2015, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jalbert1

I lowered it down to about a foot off the ground and put it about two feet to my left and five feet behind me. Works great. I should have figured out that's the way it's meant to be used by how the mixer is aligned on the top. Thanks for the help.

I use one of these fancy amp stands to get my 400 off the ground (although I did paint it brown to blend in with the wood look of the amp).

jacm81 · #12 08-03-2015, 05:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bayoubengal

I use one of these fancy amp stands to get my 400 off the ground (although I did paint it brown to blend in with the wood look of the amp).

Pretty sweet. I use one of these with the legs splayed all the way open. It's just barely narrow enough to hold the 400, but it works great.