Ideas for a stage monitor for bass

[HarmonicBass]

My band play a lot of venues, some big, some small! I have a tech 21 VT bass pedal and I am wondering for the smaller venues if i go straight to the desk through the VT pedal, has anyone any ideas what i could use as a monitor without spending big cash. Would a cheap little bass cab be up to the task or would it even take the battering of a two hour plus gig? I came across a Tech 21 Bass Power Wedge today that claims to do just this, and will also work as an amp for jamming/ practice and some not so big venues with an output of 60w. But they are no longer available. so any ideas would be greatly appreciated..thanks guys and gals

[chuck3]

It would help to know how you are planning to power it. I use a Genz Benz Shuttle 3.0-8T as a monitor frequently and it works very well for that.



The Shuttle 3.0-10T is also good, not much bigger and has a tilt-back leg which can be good for a monitor.

You can also buy the cabs without the head.



There are no doubt cheaper alternatives but the Shuttles make very good monitors IMO.

[HarmonicBass]

That is a seriously cool piece of gear,thanks for that!

[4Mal]

I use a GK mB200 embedded in a 1x10 combo cab that TB'er Singlemalt built for me. There is a hatch cover built into the rear that forms a 90 degree wedge. I use that to prop it up into the 'kickback' position. Love it. Fantastic! I had him build a matching 1x10 extension that I use for louder gigs that don't require the heft of my fEarful or 2x15 rigs.

Those 2 10's get the vast majority of my gig's. They just freakin' work.

The cab's were modeled after a MojoSonic 1x10 that I bought here. Liked that cab enough to have Mark do the takeoffs and construction. If you can find an old mojoasonic 1x10... Buy it. They rock!

Note that I am for the most part a 4 banger guy. If it were 5's the majority of the time, I might have done similar but with 12's.

[seamonkey]

IEM's are a good way to go

[Tuned]

My practice cab is a 15" monitor wedge whose driver blew so I replaced it with an Eminence Delta Pro 15A. Gotta really butcher the EQ for vocal monitor purposes but for bass it works great. You can probably track down a dead monitor from a local shop dirt cheap, drop a bass speaker in it, and you're done.

PA speakers do work well for bass but you can only trust them to 1/4 of the driver's rated power (or 1/2 of what the cabinet says). The speaker in my wedge is a PA speaker, rated for 800W but that's just when the voice coil fries. In a vented enclosure it will reach its excursion limit (cone slams into magnet) at 400W of full-range music, but for bass it'll reach excursion limit at 200W. Good news is they're really efficient, so you'll find yourself using less knob anyway.

FYI This is why Avatar's power ratings are so high, they quote the thermal limits of the voice coils. 700W 2x10 my ass.

[ajpaul59]

Originally Posted by Tuned

My practice cab is a 15" monitor wedge whose driver blew so I replaced it with an Eminence Delta Pro 15A. Gotta really butcher the EQ for vocal monitor purposes but for bass it works great. You can probably track down a dead monitor from a local shop dirt cheap, drop a bass speaker in it, and you're done.

PA speakers do work well for bass but you can only trust them to 1/4 of the driver's rated power (or 1/2 of what the cabinet says). The speaker in my wedge is a PA speaker, rated for 800W but that's just when the voice coil fries. In a vented enclosure it will reach its excursion limit (cone slams into magnet) at 400W of full-range music, but for bass it'll reach excursion limit at 200W. Good news is they're really efficient, so you'll find yourself using less knob anyway.

FYI This is why Avatar's power ratings are so high, they quote the thermal limits of the voice coils. 700W 2x10 my ass.

+1 I did something similar only I used a blown Hartke Kickback, cut off the head enclosure, and dropped in a Delta Pro 15 as well. makes a really good tilt back monitor for me on-stage...

[BigDave16]

Why not use your bass rig? I use 1/2 of mine in small clubs. I have 2 Hartke 4x10 cabs. Small places I use only one. And teeny tiny places I still use one 4x10 and I use my direct out to the mains.

[chuck3]

Originally Posted by BigDave16

Why not use your bass rig? I use 1/2 of mine in small clubs. I have 2 Hartke 4x10 cabs. Small places I use only one. And teeny tiny places I still use one 4x10 and I use my direct out to the mains.

That's essentially what I do with the Genz Benz Shuttles. They're loud enough to use as monitors but also very compact. Great direct out, too.

[capncal]

I've a Fender BassMan 25 that works fine as an onstage moniter, with the bass way down and the mid way up. I use that at certain bars that are smallish but have good PA's. Then I just go DI with the SansAmp Tech 21 Bass Driver.