Bose L1 w/ 5.0 - Thoughts & A Picture!!

Muzick

Muzick

Experienced
When I first received the Axe II w/ V1.0 - I was dissapointed. Not so much with any clean sounds, but I could walk over to a cheap ass $100 pair of PA speakers, get waaaay better sounding crunch / heavy rhythm tones, than I could on the Bose L1. F**K!! Here I spent my life's savings on a sound system for my band, that was having massive feed back issues, and the best modeler in the world sounded like crap on these gold paper weights!! My bank account gave me a swift kick to the nads. The guys over at the Bose L1 forums told me: "Hold out! Just hold out Brandon! We promise it will get better once you learn how to use this system." I swallowed my pride and a large f*cking amount of money, and took their word for it. (I even had several phone conversations with people using the Bose successfully w/ bands)

V2.0 - Honestly the transition from FW 2 to 3 was so quick I don't remember using it. Cliff is too fast, lol.

V3.0 - The first time I noticed the Axe II had depth on the Bose L1 tower. The distortion was not there yet. It still sounded plastic. Almost like it was being run by Guitar Rig 1 from native instruments. The PA speakers still held a clear advantage over the Bose. I was a bit happier - but still seriously considering selling my whole Bose L1 setup and drop it on a mixer, floor monitors, PA speakers, and a subwoofer. (Hell of a lot more to setup and carry around)

V4.0 - YES!!!!!!! The first time the distortion had depth. Grid Modeler introduced. Could that have been the key for the Bose? There was complexity in the harmonics. I finally had a decent sounding (still not quite there) crunch / rhythm tone. By this point, I've become more adept at tweaking the Axe II. This + Cliff's updates, made me realize it was just a matter of time before I could get this combination to work.

V5.0 - This was the ticket lady(ies?) and gentlemen! WOW! I'm stunned!!!!! If you could have dropped back in time when I was using firmware 1, and told me the Axe will eventually sound BAD F***ING ASS at V5..... I would NEVER have believed it. The added speaker motor modeling, sag, dynamics, revamped grid modeling... this is all EXTREMELY (positively) noticable on the Bose L1's.

Now before I go too far off the deep end here, there is still one caveat that remains using these Bose L1 towers: Volume level.
  • At low volumes the Bose still has this weird mid range boost going on that I can't quite put my finger on. Over the past several months I've been able to identify some EQ cuts on the Axe that helps, but it's still noticable.
  • Also at low volumes, monitors and traditional PA's still sound better. That's probably because they are moving more air.
Now the plus side and something all of us here mainly care about: Gig volumes.
  • The thing thats good to understand about the bose, is that it has much wider sound field radius, than most other PA systems. In other words a very VERY large sweet spot for the crowd.
I loaded V5 into my magical black box. Ran into my garage studio (see pic attached), turned it on and tweaked for about 30-45 minutes. (The Bose are like the Yahmaha NS1s. They make you work hard to get a good tone). Notched the volume knob up to gig level dBs on the Bose l1 tower - my jaw dropped. And because of wide sound array combined with V5.0 from Cliff... I felt like I just won the golden ticket to Charlie's chocalate factory. Gig volume levels sound 95% as good as the many different PA speakers I've tried at guitar center. The other 5% may just be that lack of tweaking knowledge I have yet to gain, or maybe another firmware down the road. For now, I'm happy as can be. The distortion is rich, the dynamics are 'there', and the cleans are OUTSTANDING! They were great on V1 but with the transition to 5... it is killer. 3D depth like I've heard on no other PA system (even the ones I still, to this day, ever so slightly, prefer distortion on) Crunch and distortion sound amazing as well. Even if I never achieve that extra 5 % for the distortion tones.... I am a completely satisfied how my live, gig volume level, crunch/distortion tones sound. ENORMOUS & RICH.

If you've made it this far in my post, thanks for reading. I'm not trying to tell you to by a Bose but rather attempting to lessen the negative sterotypes surrounding this technology. Bose is bashed all over the world - even by respected audio engineers. To all of those that are nay sayers - don't knock it until you've been in my shoes. This company has made an excellent product and it makes you work hard to get the sound you want. The sh*tty part is that so many people blindy follow other lemmings and throw down a negative stereotypes. Oh BTW - Pat Methany uses Bose L1's for his tours. That's gotta hold some weight for some of you out there?

My next gig is on Feb 2nd and it's my first time not running through the House PA.... and I'm F**KING exicted!!!!!

Thanks for reading

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Nice to hear. I've been using Bose L1's for about 4 years and the axe ultra for about 18 months, I get great sounds ( to my ears) from both at gig volumes, agree the L1 sucks at low volume. . My axe 2 arrives next week so I'm looking forward to awesome tones through the tower. ..
 
I've always been interested in these Bose PA things, what kinda standard PA output do they compare to ?

I mean would they hold their own against a hard hitting drummer ?
 
SparkyG said:
Nice to hear. I've been using Bose L1's for about 4 years and the axe ultra for about 18 months, I get great sounds ( to my ears) from both at gig volumes, agree the L1 sucks at low volume. . My axe 2 arrives next week so I'm looking forward to awesome tones through the tower. ..
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I never owned the ultra. From what I understand, the ultra made you work hard for tone and so does the Bose. I would imagine you will probably be able to dial in your tone MUCH easier now, and the depth will put a grin on your face. :) Congrats on your Axe 2!!!
 
Japster said:
I've always been interested in these Bose PA things, what kinda standard PA output do they compare to ?

I mean would they hold their own against a hard hitting drummer ?
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I would consider our drummer a VERY hard hitter.

We mainly play pop-rock / indie-rock / rock. The beauty of this device is that it sets up behind your band, and everyone (including yourself) has the ability to hear your instrument the way the audience is intended hear it. I find that our drummer, and band has a whole, naturally plays with more dynamics because the sound field envelopes you. (everyone in my band uses their own L1, except for the bassist) No longer are you struggling to hear everyone else because the drummer takes volume precedence on stage.

Now that being said, I've been told by some metal / black metal bands on the forums that this could not keep up with their volume levels. That may be true, but I've never attended a black metal concert. Having this garage studio I tested the max volume level on these babies. I threw some ear plugs in and thought, 'how in the world is this not loud enough?!!?' The air being moved in my studio was f*cking ridiculous. I stood 20 feet away from my 1 tower and with the strike of a simple palm mute chord, it vibrated my whole body!! LOL! (I have two subs hooked up to my tower) Oh that reminds me!!! The speaker resonance controls are EXTREMELY important for the Bose towers!

Honestly Japster, I have my Bose volume sitting at about 50% during gig / practice sessions.. never more than 60% when soloing. That extra 40% is ear bleeding... and maybe needed for a black metal band.

Hope that helps!
 
Great to hear your experience with the Bose :)

I've been playing in an experimental metal band using an L1 and have never had volume problems. I've yet to gig with the Bose & my AxeFX2 but I'm certainly looking forward to it.
 
BORNintoMUSIC said:
I would consider our drummer a VERY hard hitter.

We mainly play pop-rock / indie-rock / rock. The beauty of this device is that it sets up behind your band, and everyone (including yourself) has the ability to hear your instrument the way the audience is intended hear it. I find that our drummer, and band has a whole, naturally plays with more dynamics because the sound field envelopes you. (everyone in my band uses their own L1, except for the bassist) No longer are you struggling to hear everyone else because the drummer takes volume precedence on stage.

Now that being said, I've been told by some metal / black metal bands on the forums that this could not keep up with their volume levels. That may be true, but I've never attended a black metal concert. Having this garage studio I tested the max volume level on these babies. I threw some ear plugs in and thought, 'how in the world is this not loud enough?!!?' The air being moved in my studio was f*cking ridiculous. I stood 20 feet away from my 1 tower and with the strike of a simple palm mute chord, it vibrated my whole body!! LOL! (I have two subs hooked up to my tower) Oh that reminds me!!! The speaker resonance controls are EXTREMELY important for the Bose towers!

Honestly Japster, I have my Bose volume sitting at about 50% during gig / practice sessions.. never more than 60% when soloing. That extra 40% is ear bleeding... and maybe needed for a black metal band.

Hope that helps!
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Hey there, thanks for your detailed reply :D

20 years of gigging has certainly taken it's toll on my back - I'll have to take a serious look at these babies now as every Monday morning I have trouble getting up from my desk, it can't be doing me any good !
 
Leo Pedersen said:
Great to hear your experience with the Bose :)

I've been playing in an experimental metal band using an L1 and have never had volume problems. I've yet to gig with the Bose & my AxeFX2 but I'm certainly looking forward to it.
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Good to hear a metal guitarist backup the L1 volume! :)

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
 
Japster said:
Hey there, thanks for your detailed reply :D

20 years of gigging has certainly taken it's toll on my back - I'll have to take a serious look at these babies now as every Monday morning I have trouble getting up from my desk, it can't be doing me any good !
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It's definitely good to visit the L1 forums. Those guys are very helpful. I still struggle with microphone feedback on the L1's. It's gotten waaay better since my band first started using them, but were not where we should be. I'm not worried though as we keep making progress and trying new things to reduce it.... it's manageable at this point.
 
Last week we were playing a venue that has a L1 system, where the speakers are at the back of the stage.
So in fact we were playing in front of the PA speakers. There were 4 speakers (inner and outer) and only the inner speakers were on. They could certainly handle the load. However, our drummer (placed and playing between the inner speakers) left the gig with a buzz in his ears which hasn't disappeared since. The whole L1 concept (personal monitoring etc.) is nice, but the loudness / placement certainly is an important aspect / risk.
 
yek said:
Last week we were playing a venue that has a L1 system, where the speakers are at the back of the stage.
So in fact we were playing in front of the PA speakers. There were 4 speakers (inner and outer) and only the inner speakers were on. They could certainly handle the load. However, our drummer (placed and playing between the inner speakers) left the gig with a buzz in his ears which hasn't disappeared since. The whole L1 concept (personal monitoring etc.) is nice, but the loudness / placement certainly is an important aspect / risk.
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This is definitely a risk Yek! Ear protection is a must if you plan on using the L1 towers to envelope a noisy bar crowd in your bands' sound. The feedback these towers can throw at you is deafening at gig volume levels too! Keep your microphones tilted at an upward angle, pointing above the top of the L1 tower. A vocalist needs to modify their technique just slightly because of this, not too big of a deal really... but a huge ear saver!!!
 
antcarrier said:
Not meaning to be an a-hole but with an accurate FRFR system you really shouldn't have to work hard to get a good tone with the axe (ultra or 2)...
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To be honest I've only owned one amp before the Axe FX II - the Fender Cyber Twin SE. This was Fender's failed idea of what Cliff accomplished gracefully. I fought that amp tooth and nail for several years to achieve passable distorted tones. Perhaps it's just my own inexperience with boutique tube amps, that I struggled to find great tone. At this point in the game, I'm much faster achieving great tone - distorted and/or clean.

By the way my tones translate very well to other FRFR systems in it's class. Thus making Bose an "accurate" PA.
 
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