Which rigs have sounded the best to you as an audience member?

naturalkinds · #1 07-21-2010, 11:40 AM

I am curious to know what bass setups people have liked the most as a member of an audience, not as the person playing that rig on stage.

One of the best bass sounds I have heard is Rich Brown playing an R&B gig in a small Toronto nightclub on a Markbass SA450 with a Markbass 410 front-ported cabinet. No bass through the PA system that I could tell.

Another was a classic SVT through a newer Ampeg 610 cabinet. The bassist was nothing to write home about, but he was solid and carried his weird-rock outfit well.

(For the record, the hands-down worst sound I have ever heard from the audience came out of an Ampeg BA115 at a small Marnie Stern gallery show.)

Of course, there are so many confounding variables preventing this from being very scientific. (Sometimes people don't know how to EQ, etc.) But I have to say that I was absolutely floored at how good that Markbass setup sounded at the Orbit Room where I saw Rich Brown. Helps that he is a hell of a player, but it sounded really, really delicious.

hdracer · #2 07-21-2010, 11:47 AM

Wow, I have heard a lot of good sounding rigs. Cliff Williams always sounds good with his Ampeg heads & stacks, Lemmy's Marshall heads & stacks will give you involuntary bowl movements in a club setting.

Mr_Sore_Fingerz · #3 07-21-2010, 11:49 AM

Chris Joannou with Silverchair at the Meridian, he had 3 ampeg fliptops lined up on stage...sounded beastly =)

Buster Brown · #4 07-21-2010, 12:12 PM

Probably the BEST sounding amp I have ever heard was the Acoustic 360/361 pairing....

Earth shaking!!

Deluge Of Sound · #5 07-21-2010, 12:16 PM

A Marshall Plexi clone and an SVT classic through an 8x10, two 4x10's, and a 2x15. All Emperor cabs.

naturalkinds · #6 07-21-2010, 12:28 PM

Is that Plexi clone the THD Flexi?

Sufenta · #7 07-21-2010, 12:36 PM

Years ago Vernon Porter used to play through an Alembic pre/ unsure of brand of power amp, and an SWR Goliath Jr 2x10. Pedals were Boss Chorus and Octaver. No bass PA support, smallish room. His tone was/is incredible. Felt each note square in the chest. During his solos he'd kick in both pedals and generate maybe the coolest bass tone I've ever heard. Always amazed he could sound so huge through a 2x10.

KJung · #8 07-21-2010, 12:42 PM

Over probably 1000 gigs of club listening, the worst sounding rigs to me (for gigs where the band has no front of house) is the Ampeg SVT/Fridge... usually a distorted low bass/midrange mess. Also, the old SWR SM400/Goliath... scoopy, muddy, clicky, scooped mess.

The best (in general), the classic Eden 410XLT/WT800. Scary good sounding rig, and the first widely available and relatively affordable rig that produced decent low end, but more importantly, midrange and lower treble articulation that punched through a mix. While that company eventually went to hell, that rig has not been topped to this day IMO. There are rigs that sound as good, and are lighter now, but IMO, none better for a modern, punchy, articulate electric bass tone.

The all time best 'club/no front of house' rig I've ever heard (and will never forget) was back in the mid 70's.... Alembic Pre, Furman Parametric EQ, big arse Crown, driving a Bag End 15 (maybe 18)/210 (I think... maybe 112... there was a bit of ganja going on back then)/brite box' stack and the original Alembic Series II bass. That was just a revelation back then (since we were used to hearing all those boomy JBL 215 cabs and Acoustic folded horns... bass and nothing else).

Most of the boutique stuff rarely makes it on stage in large enough volume to have an opinion, although I've been told that my Markbass/Bergantino rig is the 'voice of god' out front. Second hand info though.

Passinwind · #9 07-21-2010, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by naturalkinds

I am curious to know what bass setups people have liked the most as a member of an audience, not as the person playing that rig on stage.

Charles Mingus in a 150 seat club with no amp.

BigOldHarry · #10 07-21-2010, 12:46 PM

most of what you hear is PA anyway, at least a big gigs.

Small gigs? My rig, without doubt.

naturalkinds · #11 07-21-2010, 12:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Passinwind

Charles Mingus in a 150 seat club with no amp.

Nice. When it comes to ampless playing, I have been floored by the thick, percussive tone that Scott Colley gets out of his bass.

okcrum · #12 07-21-2010, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Passinwind

Charles Mingus in a 150 seat club with no amp.

+1 FTW.

Freddie Washington was using Aggie gear (AG 500 & GS 410) when I saw him with Steely Dan, close enough to get the direct bass sound. That was pretty sweet.

megadan · #13 07-21-2010, 01:13 PM

The best live bass tone I ever heard was from an EB-0/3 (couldn't see close enough), into a GK 800RB and an ampeg 810.

Pandafist · #14 07-21-2010, 01:17 PM

The only rigs that have ever made me turn my head were SVTs (real ones) and Acoustics.
I've also been impressed with the tone out of my gk 800RB, and one time when I saw a guy playing through a Verellen Meat Smoke through an 810 (although, really, he was just copping the SVT sound).

Other than that... largely forgettable tones.

dannybuoy · #15 07-21-2010, 01:21 PM

I once heard pure awesomeness coming through a Gretsch hollowbody with flats into a Diesel Dawg pedal into DI (plus a little Hartke kickback as a monitor). I was pretty surprised when I got to the front to see what it was!

nysbob · #16 07-21-2010, 01:23 PM

I've heard some ampeg / fridge cabs sound pretty good in front of the stage - I've never liked that cab to play through personally but they project pretty well. Most notably Mark Sandman and the guy with Dada through that rig.

John Wetton through his Hiwatt was impressive.

That's about all I've got...I usually don't care for the heavy, reinforced bass sound at live shows.

JimmyM · #17 07-21-2010, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigOldHarry

most of what you hear is PA anyway, at least a big gigs.

even so, i think it makes a difference to have a good rig. look how many people say they thought geddy lee's ampless sound wasn't as good as with amps. plus if you're like me and you mic it, it makes a big difference.

anyway, i just did a gig with the lovin' spoonful last night, and their bassist used my 69 svt/73 810, and it sounded super sweet. so i'd have to say that's the rig

**jmattbassplaya** · #18 07-21-2010, 02:59 PM

There's two that stand out:

1. Ampeg Combo 1x15. I'm not sure exactly which model, but it sounded great and had a lot of thump.

2. My own SD800 and 106HR being played by another band. It just made the band sound full and it had lots of definition without being too overwhelming.

Worst:

1. My Ashdown MAG300 2x10 combo. I never noticed how bad it was until I got my wireless set and went out to do FOH levels. It just sounded like mud and didn't carry or fill the bands sound at all.

2. GK Backline and GK 1x15. I've heard a lot of different bands with bassist using these. Almost all of them suffered from being way too boomy and muddy.

**jmattbassplaya** · #19 07-21-2010, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigOldHarry

most of what you hear is PA anyway, at least a big gigs.

Small gigs? My rig, without doubt.

Very true. I never realized that the huge bass sound I was hearing in my head was really only obtainable through the use of a nice, big PA system.

That said, my post was all about bands using little or no PA support (at least none for bass).

**bass4worship** · #20 07-21-2010, 03:04 PM

I heard a Genz-Benz 410 with a GK 700 kick butt at a show with no PA support. Tone to kill for. That why I own 2 GB cabs today.