Anybody leave their amp home?

[Birdland11]

I have a few gigs i go to where i don,t even bring my amp anymore, mostly casinos and places that have huge monitors. I don't need it coming from behind if have it loud in the front. don't get me wrong, when we play a big room and stage volume isn't an issue i need my amp! However nothing beats walking into the club with just may bass and a backpack, easy load out too.

[rodl2005]

I can, but I don't wanna. I don't like my sound coming from a monitor. I like to have my sound from my amp & cab.
But, if you like it. Props to ya. I can dig the no luggin' gear thing

[radley]

can't do that in the Hardcore/Punk circuit, would baffle too many dummies while simultaneously making too many arseholes scoff. No respect = no merch sales makes me and my back a pretty bummed-out duo.

[icks]

Many players here on the board bring only their bass on gigs with good PA support.
Is has pro and cons.

[RickenBoogie]

Very common topic. Lots of bassists go direct without an amp. Lots of others can't or won't. Do what works best for you.

[snyderz]

No, but I left my bass home once.

[bassfreakah]

When we do that i will bring my sansamp and it sounds great!!!! I guess you have to like the sound of your bass flat with no color from anp and speakers. It is the way of the future though. Maybe a small amp. I like my old flip top miked.

[bassplayer8953]

Never. Most of the sound guys I've run into are putz's, and can't even get a proper vocal mix into the monitors, never mind putting the bass where you can hear it. As long as I have to hear a Marshall on the stage, I'll be bringing my amp.

[KJung]

All depends on if there is a separate monitor and monitor mix for bass. In my almost 40 years of gigging, I've found this to almost never be the case, even when you have a top notch sound company with multiple monitor mixes.

The zillions of Casino gigs I've done almost always have a backline bass amp on stage, given the above.

IF you are lucky enough to play in a venue that has monitors that can give you a sound you like on stage, and allow for a separate monitor mix so you can use the monitor as you would use a backline rig (with of course, some additional stuff in it), then yes, why bring any amp. Again, this is rarely the case, short of being in a top line national touring situation.

IMO and IME.

[Foamy]

If I can leave it at home, I do.
I often will play through the Behringer BDI-21 and a VT.
As long as the monitor is there, or I can use my Beats as IEM's, I'm happy.
I and out in a gig-bag.

[LiamPodmore]

If i could, i would happily turn up with a bass or two, pedalboard and IEM's, but the gigs i play mean i can't. I have gone DI only in the past, and it has been both good and bad.

Liam

[bassfreakah]

I guess it all comes down to having a low stage volume as a band it is hard with a phat drummer, we try to bring out his soft side. Ha ha

[BassmanPaul]

My amplifier and speakers are part of my tone. I dislike how I sound through the PA alone. Just doesn't sound like me!

[JimmyM]

I've tried it a handful of times with mixed results, mostly bad. Monitors sound like crap for bass IMHO. And I once had a drummer get up and start yelling at me because I didn't bring an amp. I was having problems with my SWR head at the time, and our local HOB has one of the few monitoring systems that sounds good for bass, so I showed up ampless. He says, "I don't want you in my monitor!"

I said, "Well take me out, then."

He gets all mad and yells, "But I want to hear you...I just want to hear you from your amp, not my monitor. My monitor is for me, not bass."

Meanwhile he always puts everyone else in the band EXCEPT me in his monitor! I got mad and told him he better get used to it because that's how I'm doing all my HOB gigs from now on. Then the next gig, my amp was fixed and I started bringing it again. I didn't like it any more than he did, despite HOB's monitors being really good.

[lfmn16]

Originally Posted by bassplayer8953

Never. Most of the sound guys I've run into are putz's, and can't even get a proper vocal mix into the monitors, never mind putting the bass where you can hear it. As long as I have to hear a Marshall on the stage, I'll be bringing my amp.

+1

I'll never put myself at the mercy of knob jockeys. Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

[soulman969]

Only for some unplugged gigs with two acoustics beside me. The rig I ran then was too big to easily fit on a cramped stage. Now that I have the GK Combo and do more of that kind of work I'll use it and run into the mains and let the others decide whether or not they want bass in their monitor mix. Larger venues with drums and a fully amplified band I always use a backline.

[bassvi]

The local casino here has a decent backline for bass, it's an Ampeg 1000+(or something like that) with an SVT410HLF cab. I can get a decent sound with my pedals (VT deluxe) or just my bass if needed, so I don't worry about bringing an amp to that gig.

The sound guy for one band I work with doesn't want any sound onstage from amps.... he wants to control it all in the monitors. On the one hand I can see how this really helps give him the control he needs to get the room sound, but I find it pretty uninspiring onstage. Everyone but me has an in=ear monitor and it sounds pretty much like **** to me onstage. Out front it's a different story. Maybe I'm just too old to get with the times, but the better I think I sound onstage the easier and apparently better I can play. There should be a reasonable compromise somewhere. The sound guy and the musician both have their jobs to do, best they can.

[dbase]

I tried it once and it was nice just to carry my bass and not the amps. Our PA has two 15's at 1000 watts. It made the bass sound too much like Hi Fi. Not punchy, just soft and deep. Plus the big kicker was the sound man kept turning me down. I don't like having someone else running the volume knob. From then on I bring my own amp.

[Nev375]

For a very small church where I play with an acoustic guitarist and maybe a piano, yes.
At a bar jam or open mic where I might be only on for a few songs and then off again, yes.

Any other time, doubtful, but maybe.