Grammys Mumford & Sons... Sideways Ampeg 810

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by Fuzzbass

In a situation where your stage sound is the house sound, or comprises part of it, then sure, do whatever's necessary to avoid adverse tonal side effects: stack your cabs, stand your 8x10 vertically.

For the Grammys especially, stage sound is a non-factor -- completely irrelevant, in fact. You go direct-to-PA, with in-ear monitors. So, if I were Mumford dude or anyone else, and my trusted publicist said something like "Big amp rigs are out of style, they look too heavy metal. You should use small stage amps or horizontal stacks for better indie cred, show that your focus is on the music and not your gear (etc)", then that's exactly what I'd do.

In a lot of their live videos, the bass player uses four GK 410's. So much for indie cred

Also, not sure why folks think that the audience never hears their rig if it's not mic'ed up. If you have singers with mics, your amps are getting picked up by them. Don't believe me? Go early to a soundcheck sometime and sit in the audience. Have the soundman turn all stage mics off when you play, then have him turn them on and play again.

[Roscoe East]

Originally Posted by PWRL

I'm sure there's a reason they're doing it that way.

I did a show ~20 years ago where I had to lay an SVT 8x10 cabinet on its side

...because I needed a place to set my beers.

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by Roscoe East

I did a show ~20 years ago where I had to lay an SVT 8x10 cabinet on its side

...because I needed a place to set my beers.

I've been forced to do it only twice in my lifetime...once at this little tiny gig we do once a year where I forgot the frontline guys have to set up on the floor (blocked sightlines to the backline guys), once at the Mohegan Sun Arena when Jay Black's horn section was directly behind me (done without my approval and rectified this year when Jay returned). There is nothing I hate worse than using an 810 and not being able to hear it. But if someone else wants to do it, what do I care?

[Jack]

Originally Posted by I-play-bass

Trujillo from Metallica puts his 8x10s sideways and on top of each other.

I've always wondered about that, seems it's exactly the same except more work for the road crew. Wonder if only the top one is turned on? I ebt Metallica have a lot of stage volume even though they'll all be IEM, makes sense to at least have it pointing at your face.

[Fuzzbass]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

Also, not sure why folks think that the audience never hears their rig if it's not mic'ed up. If you have singers with mics, your amps are getting picked up by them. Don't believe me? Go early to a soundcheck sometime and sit in the audience. Have the soundman turn all stage mics off when you play, then have him turn them on and play again.

Of course bleed happens, but unless stage volume is way high it's doubtful that it'll overwhelm/affect the DI tone.

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by Fuzzbass

Of course bleed happens, but unless stage volume is way high it's doubtful that it'll overwhelm/affect the DI tone.

That's what I used to think until one time I was playing at our local House Of Blues. I was a regular in the Blues Brothers tribute band they had there, and I didn't have high volume levels at all, and at a soundcheck I made some comment about how I keep my levels down so they can't hear it in the audience. The soundman pipes up with, "That's what you think!" So I walked out there, and sure enough you could hear my rig plain as day mixed in with the Di sound.

[modulusman]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

That's what I used to think until one time I was playing at our local House Of Blues. I was a regular in the Blues Brothers tribute band they had there, and I didn't have high volume levels at all, and at a soundcheck I made some comment about how I keep my levels down so they can't hear it in the audience. The soundman pipes up with, "That's what you think!" So I walked out there, and sure enough you could hear my rig plain as day mixed in with the Di sound.

All the more reason to not have an amp onstage.

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by modulusman

All the more reason to not have an amp onstage.

Forget that...it sounded great onstage and off!

[spacebassed]

Originally Posted by DiabolusInMusic

I am shocked...

that you didn't change the channel when mumford and sons came on.

+100

Can't stand those guys, especially now that they robbed my fellow Ohio boys The Black Keys of album of the year.

[JimmyM]

It's nice to see actual musicians win Grammies for a change, regardless of how you feel about their music.

[agreatheight]

Originally Posted by Tunaman

Having no education about the physics... uncool

Lol, I didn't know that playing bass required a Ph.D.

[bumperbass]

Originally Posted by spacebassed

+100

Can't stand those guys, especially now that they robbed my fellow Ohio boys The Black Keys of album of the year.

Oh yeah, and another thing....really gets my goat:
The Black Keys...like them and we play a few of their tunes.....
BUT!!! They don't even have a bass player!
THEN, they get up there to do Lonely Boy, and well whadda ya know, there's 25 people helping them receate the song.
I miss the old days. IMO, if you can't pull off a song as it was recorded, then don't record it that way.

[JimmyM]

They started out as a 2-man band but for the last couple years they've carried a bassist and keyboard player. But only the two front guys are the Black Keys and everyone else are hired hands.

[rodl2005]

& there ain't many bands that do that these days eh?

[gard0300]

I've only done that once, but space required it. The elevated stage was triangular and tiny. There was enough room for the drums and a small guitar combo. That was it. So the other guitarist and myself were forced to place our rigs on the ground. I decided to lay mine on its side to give the crowd a better line of sight, of the stage and drummer.

[Oobly]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

It's nice to see actual musicians win Grammies for a change, regardless of how you feel about their music.

True dat... I was a on a bit of a righteous streak with my earlier post... sigh...

It doesn't really matter too much, I guess, but I am a stickler for "doing things right", especially when physics is involved

[alexclaber]

If the rest of the band have great monitors and the FOH PA is big, then using big cabs (or lots of big cabs) on their sides, or stacked up to make a wide array, is a great way of giving the bassist a 'hot-spot' to loiter in without the band being annoyed by how loud they are on stage. I've heard Steve Harris of Iron Maiden specifically refer to his 2x2 arrangement of 4x12" cabs like this, so he can hear lots of himself when he wants to and then step away and he gets quieter.

Great for BIG gigs with awesome PA systems but terrible if that bass rig is providing a significant part of the stage and FOH bass sound.

[astack]

Originally Posted by KJung

I saw that performance. I believe the bassist was using a Jazz Bass with what sounding like well broken in flatwound strings, which means very little 'energy' in the upper midrange area that would be impacted by a multi driver cab laying on its side.

Also, since that rig was, at the most, there for a slight bit of 'low end feel' as a personal monitor for the bassist, off axis response of the higher frequencies is again, a moot point, even if his bass was producing it.

Given that the backline had zero impact on what the audience hears, that to me is a 'three strikes and you are out' situation of believing that this particular usage of that backline cab is in ANY way not appropriate.

The fact that putting that cab sideways cleans up the stage look (especially for a band that is kind of going for the 'organic/acoustic' vibe), and it seems not only to be 'not a problem', but actually a very good decision.

Live in a bar with no front of house support, not so much.

Originally Posted by alexclaber

If the rest of the band have great monitors and the FOH PA is big, then using big cabs (or lots of big cabs) on their sides, or stacked up to make a wide array, is a great way of giving the bassist a 'hot-spot' to loiter in without the band being annoyed by how loud they are on stage. I've heard Steve Harris of Iron Maiden specifically refer to his 2x2 arrangement of 4x12" cabs like this, so he can hear lots of himself when he wants to and then step away and he gets quieter.

Great for BIG gigs with awesome PA systems but terrible if that bass rig is providing a significant part of the stage and FOH bass sound.

+1 Smart dudes.

For a lot of TB'ers playing situations vertical and all that is the right call, but it's all trade offs.

Recently started setting up my 2x12 to be side-by-side on the ground. More lows, similar near-field monitoring when I stand in front of it, and like Steve Harris, it helps keep the clack out of the guitar players' ears. Just enough clack gets picked up enough to go to FOH from DI or mic. (But not Steve Harris level clack. That clack is out of control ) If there's no PA, I'd want to turn vertical and just boost the lows, but it's hard to pass on "free" bass boosts when you can get it.

[AdamR]

Oh no ! SVT cabs on their sides and mixed drivers !!!!!

[BearCave]

I played one of my gigs using two of my Ampeg rigs and had my 810 on it's side. It rocked!Attachment 317513