# Any of your amps make you feel sick when you stand in front of them?



## gtone (Nov 1, 2009)

I love my '66 Bassman, but it makes me feel very strange when I push it. Sure it's a loud amp, but I've got much louder that don't create this effect. Wonder if it could be the frequency of the amp's natural voice/EQ that makes me feel so woozy and disoriented. I've been to a few loud concerts that had the same result for a few hours afterward also (but then again, I've been to many more that didn't!).


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

Stood in front of the FOH bass bins at a Rush concert once. My buddy actually had to leave the hall lol. Similar effect, though he got over it fast.


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## bluzfish (Mar 12, 2011)

Everything has a resonant frequency, including our internal organs. I remember reading about the US military experimenting with sonic weapons. The technology wasn't there to actually make it work, at least at the time, but one thing I found rather humorous was one of their findings.

Apparently, if exposed to 7 Hz at enough sound pressure level, the human bowel muscles would oscillate uncontrollably at their resonent frequency and completely relax, causing the subject to poop their pants.


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## gtone (Nov 1, 2009)

Funny you mentioned Rush, Kent. The first time I had that feeling was seeing them in Peterborough around '78. Besides feeling woozy, remember ears aching from "icepick". Alex was playing HiWatts then and the level coming off the amps seemed more intense that the signal coming through the FOH.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmQ1jcYU30U
This might be a little to the extreme but it makes one wonder.


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## J S Moore (Feb 18, 2006)

Imagine what that system has done to his brain.


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## Bohdan (Jan 19, 2012)

Ive felt that playing through a 1x18 peavey bass cab.


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## J-75 (Jul 29, 2010)

Not so much the amp, but the way I'm playing what I'm trying to play that sometimes makes me sick.
- Sounds way better if I turn the amp off on those occasions.
Kinda like the male equivalent to a 'bad hair day'.


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

J S Moore said:


> Imagine what that system has done to his brain.


The damage is done..he's scrambling eggs with 20k sound system.. i use a .05 cent fork


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## Roryfan (Apr 19, 2010)

bluzfish said:


> Apparently, if exposed to 7 Hz at enough sound pressure level, the human bowel muscles would oscillate uncontrollably at their resonent frequency and completely relax, causing the subject to poop their pants.


Fibre schmibre!


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## WCGill (Mar 27, 2009)

Line 6's make me feel like that.


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## gtone (Nov 1, 2009)

WCGill said:


> Line 6's make me feel like that.


^^^Gotcha! More queasy though...


Getting back to the issue, wish I had more speakers/cabs to run the Bassman through to see if there's any difference through those. Only other cab I've tried through in the short time I've had it is a Leslie cab and it doesn't seem to produce the same effect. (A bit ironic that, since you'd think the Doppler effect from a Leslie could cause queasiness/motion sick effect). 

The feeling I'm talking about is felt much more through the chest and head than the stomach, btw but the effect still is disorienting. Really hard to describe, but it doesn't make you feel nauseous per se. You'll know the feeling though if you've experienced it before at a concert or in front of certain loud amps.


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## KujaSE (Jul 30, 2006)

Vibrations, energy and harshly moved air are passing through your body point blank. It's natural. Best remedy, don't stand right in front of it.


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## gtone (Nov 1, 2009)

KujaSE said:


> Vibrations, energy and harshly moved air are passing through your body point blank. It's natural. Best remedy, don't stand right in front of it.


Aye aye cap'n - good advice. Actually, I avoid standing anywhere near it if it's pushed, which isn't always easy depending on playing circumstances. Just odd that it's the first amp I've owned/played in 36 yrs that's really had that effect. Point of my OP was to guage if it was a commonly experienced thing. Judging by the responses, it's probably fair to say it isn't.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Any chance that one of the speakers is wired up out of phase with the others?


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## gtone (Nov 1, 2009)

mhammer said:


> Any chance that one of the speakers is wired up out of phase with the others?


They're in phase.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

OK, scratch that hypothesis.

Are there any sub-audio or low bass sideband products?

I ask because it may be an audio analog to that nauseous feeling you get when in a bus or train, beside a bunch of other buses/trains, and there is a brief instance where you can't tell if it's _your_ bus/train that's starting to move, or the other ones. The ambiguity of it can generate light nausea.

It's speculation on my part, but if there ARE low bass sideband products that create aural ambiguity in the pitch of the note, and the amp is up loud enough, I can imagine that could make some feel queasy.

Not everybody would be expected to get that, same way that not everybody gets carsick, or can't stand the sound of fingernails on a blackboard. But I can easily imagine some being very sensitive to it.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Seems that low-freq induced nausea is a real thing. Look up "sound and nausea" and you'll find plenty of hits on the topic.

Couldn't find an explanation, but the higher-volume infrasonic aspect of it makes me think that for some people, all that ultra-low bass is stimulating their vestibular sense in their inner ear in a way that conflicts with what your eyes are telling you. In a way it really IS an aural analog of what happens in the bus/train station. Conflict between what two senses are saying about the same thing often produces queaziness or nausea.

All of which suggests that a cab with tighter bass and less of a "resonant trail" (i.e., low-freq rumbling that continues for a bit after a note, much like an ultra-low reverb) would result in less nausea, or that plugging up one's ears a bit might result in less stimulation of the inner ear by sound waves, hence less conflict between sight and sense of balance.


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## Fader (Mar 10, 2009)

KujaSE said:


> Vibrations, energy and harshly moved air are passing through your body point blank. It's natural. Best remedy, don't stand right in front of it.


Good advice. Especially after bean consumption.


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## marcos (Jan 13, 2009)

I've been to a few concerts where I had to leave cause I was feeling ill. SRV and Rod Stewart come to mind. It does affect me to the point i'm either gonna hurl or my head's gonna split in two. Oh yeah I forgot, Alvin Lee was the other guy that gave me splitting headaches.


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## gtone (Nov 1, 2009)

mhammer said:


> Seems that low-freq induced nausea is a real thing. Look up "sound and nausea" and you'll find plenty of hits on the topic.
> 
> Couldn't find an explanation, but the higher-volume infrasonic aspect of it makes me think that for some people, all that ultra-low bass is stimulating their vestibular sense in their inner ear in a way that conflicts with what your eyes are telling you. In a way it really IS an aural analog of what happens in the bus/train station. Conflict between what two senses are saying about the same thing often produces queaziness or nausea.
> 
> All of which suggests that a cab with tighter bass and less of a "resonant trail" (i.e., low-freq rumbling that continues for a bit after a note, much like an ultra-low reverb) would result in less nausea, or that plugging up one's ears a bit might result in less stimulation of the inner ear by sound waves, hence less conflict between sight and sense of balance.


Think you might be on to something here Mark. The Bassman, although it makes a pretty cool guitar amp, is a bass amp by design. As such, it does seem to throw off a LOT of low frequency energy. As mentioned, I've played standard guitar amps with much more power (and at far greater volume levels) than the Bassman without experiencing this. I'll check into some of the material you've referenced - thanks for the "head's up" on it.


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## TeleZee (Nov 10, 2008)

I used to sing with a girl in an R&B band a few decades ago and she could hit notes in a Janis Joplin type of voice that would make me dizzy coming through the monitors, I had to turn away. I think it must be the fequency.


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## notjoeaverage (Oct 6, 2008)

gtone

You most likely have an over sensitivity to low frequency sound waves, just as some animals get jumpy/spooked minutes before an earthquake. They are reacting to the ultra low frequency waves from the movement of tectonic plates along a fault line.

Some poeple are also suceptible to low frequency and you just may be one. If you are make sure you never move anywhere near the wind towers, even people not overly suceptible to low frequency complain about it's effects from the turbines.

Do some research and see if there is some kind of material to use instead of the grill cloth to filter out the offending frequency without affecting your tone or volume.

Good luck


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## gibsonguitarguy (Feb 17, 2010)

i pooped my pants at a rush concert once. Mystery solved.


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## gtone (Nov 1, 2009)

Some followup here, in case anyone's interested: 

I suspected the strong low-end of the '66 Bassman in context with the setup I was using for it was the culprit, so I did a couple of things to attempt to address that. First off, Gregg Levy of HiTest Guitars informed me that the RCA Blackplate 6L6GC's I was running in the Bassman were well-known for their huge bottom end. So, out went the Blackplates in favour of a pair of the more middy JAN Philips 6L6WGB's (had matched quad of those in my stash). After having the new tubes biased, I noticed a bit of an improvement, but still the overall effect was still there, just to a lesser degree than with the RCA's. 

The Tone Tubby speakers that I had in my cab are great sounding speakers, but are very punchy and possess a full, strong bottom end. So out went the Tubby's and in went a set of more mid-forward WGS Green Berets from the guys at Steamco (shout out to you guys there - XLNT service!). That nailed it - can now play as long as I want/as loud as I want without that huge slam in the chest/diaphragm area that made me feel sick before. 

FWIW, the Green Berets are VERY cool sounding speakers right out of the box - sweet, smooth and easy on the ears, fairly quick to compress yet they don't seem to get wooly and lose their composure under gain/volume like some Celestions I've played. They're EQ'd in a way that favours the Bassman - lighter on the bottom and top, thick in the mids. I really dig 'em and can't wait to hear/play them once they've fully broken in. My second experience with WGS, and both times I've been very pleasantly surprised with how well their speakers have exceeded my expectations. Great tone, incredible value - good stuff!


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