3 very very quick questions about Fiberglass Basstraps...easy stuff hehe...

[Mr Music]

1. Can i made a bass trap 4 inch thick, 8 feet high and 2 feet wide
RATHER THAN 4 feet high and 2 feet wide which is the standard?

http://www.hp-h.com/p/hapicmpur/basstraps.htm
for example here in step 5: he has 2 traps in the corner...i just want to make one long one that will go from the floor to the ceiling....is that ok?

my ceiling is 8 feet so i wanted to have a single perfect cover fit from the floor to the ceiling...

2. Since 4 inches is better than 2 inches of fiberglass thickness for absorption- can i just have all my bass traps at 4 inches? because i do have enough space...
every 4 inch thick panel filled with fiberglass will have a space behind it...the corner panel...the ceiling panel and the flat wall panels...
basicly, whats the point in going for 2 inches in width when im able to do better with 4 inches...

3. I am not able to take off the carpet that i currently have in my room...is the "put some plywood beneath the area youre recording in" really a need? But other than that i have no other choice i guess..


THANK YOU SO MUCH!

 

[c7sus]

1. Yeah, why not.

2. You bet.

3. I don't know the answer to this one.

 

[Mikey likes it!]

3. It just depends on what you're doing. If you are recording direct or close micing your amp, there's no need for plywood. But if you want a little ambiance and color in your sound, throw down a sheet of plywood, put your amp at one end, your mic at the other, and blaze away.

You can also cut the plywood in half, so you'll have two 4' x 4' pieces. It's a lot easier to handle and store.

 

[FALKEN]

#3 I think is usually done for drums - which is freakin hilarious now that I think about it because when you have wood floors the drummer always puts down a carpet.

 

[Mikey likes it!]

Hehe Every drummer I've ever met was weird.

Even more so than ME!

 

[HapiCmpur]

1. Can i made a bass trap 4 inch thick, 8 feet high and 2 feet wide RATHER THAN 4 feet high and 2 feet wide which is the standard?

Yes, but an 8' trap will be heavy, cumbersome, and hard to work with. It hardly seems worth the trouble to me. If you go that way, though, be sure to secure it somehow so that it can't fall over. If an 8' bass trap comes down on your head you'll think you got hit by a giant redwood.

2. Since 4 inches is better than 2 inches of fiberglass thickness for absorption- can i just have all my bass traps at 4 inches? because i do have enough space...
basicly, whats the point in going for 2 inches in width when im able to do better with 4 inches...

From what I've learned, fiberglass bass traps must be about 4" thick to work. But is that what you're asking? I get the sense that you might be asking if it's okay to use one 4" thick sheet of fiberglass per panel instead of stacking two 2" sheets as I did. If that's what you're asking, the answer is yes; however, it's a lot easier to work with 2" sheets. They're lighter and smaller, which makes them easier to move around, and you can always stack them to get whatever thickness you want. More important, 2" sheets are easy to cut with a utility knife. I think most guys in this forum actually get 1" thick sheets so they can make a few 1" panels, a few 2" inch panels, a few 3" panels -- and so forth -- just by stacking them. The different thicknesses absorb different frequency ranges. (But that's beyond me so I don't know the details.)

3. I am not able to take off the carpet that i currently have in my room...is the "put some plywood beneath the area youre recording in" really a need?

A reflective floor is not necessary, but from what I've learned it can add a lot of snap and sparkle to instrumental recordings. Only experimentation will help you make your decision about when (and if) you want to put down a sheet of plywood.