Quick Question about Rigs:

[hgiles]

What the smallest rig possible that will get you through 75% of your gigs?

Wattage? Number of speakers? Size of Speaker?
What style of music do you play? Typical venue size and environment?

[CL400Peavey]

fEARful 12/6 and any high powered amp. Genz shuttlemax 9.2, streamliner, gk mb800, ampeg svt 7-pro, mesa m9...

[kevteop]

I do all my gigs these days with a Schroeder 1212L and a Shuttle 6.2. I can carry both and still have a hand free. I guess that's 600W into 4 ohms, and a 4 ohm cab rated for 800W (if I remember correctly), two twelves and a tweeter.

I do a bunch of different gigs from punk/reggae sort of stuff to sets of standards on double bass, venues from small pubs to 900-capacity theatres and small festivals with crowds of a couple of thousand.

In most venues I'll only be using my rig for stage monitoring, but it does go loud - it is quite capable of drowning out anyone else that I play with regularly if I needed it to, thankfully I don't.

I'm in my mid 30s now and I am done lugging 2x15 or 8x10 cabs around. Neo speakers and class D amps all the way from now on. The benefits far outweigh the downsides.

[Kmonk]

Theoretically you could get buy with a small combo as long as you are also running through FOH. I play rock, blues and a little bit of country. Venues range from clubs to large outdoor venues and I always use both of my SVT 410 cabs. I could get buy with one in many cases. I also use either my early 70s SVT head (300 watts) or my SVT 6 PRO (1,100 watts). This is more power than I need. Sometimes use my 810 cab.

[Floyd Eye]

Don't know about what it is you are trying to ascertain exactly, but I play every gig with 1000 watts and an Ampeg 8x10.

[39-Bassist]

I have played with just my Line6 XT Bass Pod direct into the FOH and just sent monitor mix. But most of the time I run my HD750 w/2-4x10's...I feel better to have it and not need it, then to need it and not have it...

[jumblemind]

Quick question, lol.

I just picked up a Mark Bass Big Bang. I'm fully confident I can use it to cover most of my gigs with a ported 2x10 cabinet running at 300watts. For outdoor gigs I have a 1x15 that will let it run at 500 watts. Most gig are with a 4 piece mostly rock cover band with a drummer and guitar player that sometimes get in volume contests. Mostly bars and wedding venues ranging from 100 to 500 people.

Up to recently I'd been doing all of those same gigs with a B2r running at 250watts through an old 4x10 cabinet.

[hgiles]

Just trying to figure out whats really necessary and what part of GAS is Napolean complex.

[Downunderwonder]

Originally Posted by hgiles

What the smallest rig possible that will get you through 75% of your gigs?

Wattage? Number of speakers? Size of Speaker?
What style of music do you play? Typical venue size and environment?

Get through, or be loud enough to be too loud if I didn't watch the loud knob? Big difference.

To get through I only need a monitor. I routinely use my 2x10 and 250w Trace or 180w tube Mesa, turned way down, or working it for covering small rooms.

On big stages or bigger rooms I use 2x15 or 2x10 and 1x15.

Classic rock, big band jazz, jazz lounge trio, anything from private party or small bar with just backline, acoustic drums, to big stage with big PA.

There's an imaginary dividing line between rigs that cover every imaginary PA-less gig you might get, and lesser rigs. In my mind a rig that your drummer has to bash to keep up to is a waste because I've always got PA for big gigs and no wish to gig with a bashing drumkit.

[Got2SadowskyNYC]

MarkBass 2x10 combo. Lots of sound from a small, light weight package. It's got a really nice DI for FOH.

If you need more get the 2x10 or 1x15 extension cab. I prefer the 2x10 option.

If you wan to spend some extra money and really go top shelf. Get a powered Bag End 2x10 (1000 watts) and a small pre like the EBS Microbass 2. But I might be bias.

[two fingers]

Mesa Walkabout Scout 15" combo and matching ext. cab. It's rare that I can take the combo alone. I play with really loud drummers and guitar players most of the time.

[jungleheat]

I feel like I could get by in most situations I'm likely to be in with 200w and a stout 1x15, but that might be pushing the limits in a lot of situations. Add another 200w and a 2x10 or another 15, and that should cover me for about 95% of things. I think the most I would ever WANT to have unless I playing HUGE places (arenas and above) would be about 4 15s (or 2 15s and 4 10s) and about 600-800w.

[Sartori]

I'm pretty certain that a 25 watt tube amp and a single 15" speaker could probably get me through most of my gigs, probably the vast majority.

At least right now.

My most frequently gigging band is the folk/rock band. If my doom metal band was the most frequently gigging band of mine, I wouldn't want less than a 100 watt tube amp and a 2x15.

[Bert Slide]

I use an Ampeg V-4b 100 watt head with an LDS 2/15 for most gigs with my power trio. It ain't light but it's better than lugging the SVT and fridge for small/med rooms.

[Josh Thatguy]

Only ONE bridged QSC (1,450w) into only ONE American Ampeg 810.

[Bass_Pounder]

Originally Posted by hgiles

Just trying to figure out whats really necessary and what part of GAS is Napolean complex.

Only YOU can know what is just right for YOU

Don't worry about how large or small others rigs are, or what their reasoning is.

[RickenBoogie]

Too many variables to set a standard for everyone. I use a 300 watt 2x12 rig for most everything I do, and it's usuaslly more than enough, but some players would be buried in the mix with my rig, and others grossly overblown. You just can't generalize, really.

[bassgod0dmw]

I use a pair of 1X15's and whatever head I feel like playing through that night. The lowest wattage I currently have is 300w @ 4 ohms.

It's plenty loud for the majority of my gigs. When we play outdoors I wish that I had a larger cab, like a 4X12.

EDIT: This is also the smallest rig that I would feel comfortable using at 75% of my gigs. I could substitute the 15's for 12's if needed, but I'd need two no matter what.

[bassfran]

Originally Posted by jungleheat

I feel like I could get by in most situations I'm likely to be in with 200w and a stout 1x15, but that might be pushing the limits in a lot of situations. *snip*

Me, too. I'm typically using a decent house p.a. as well, so this can do the trick these days.

[B-string]

Originally Posted by hgiles

What the smallest rig possible that will get you through 75% of your gigs?

Wattage? Number of speakers? Size of Speaker?
What style of music do you play? Typical venue size and environment?

People may have trouble understanding the question?
Around here 75% of the gigs are very small to medium, 50-200 people. I could easily cover with a 212 cab and 200 watts.
We play 50's to current, rock, country, blues, pop. PA only gets bass at outside shows for balance (then the 412 comes out).