Gig story re: Tech 21 Bass VT

[MicG]

Hey guys,

Just played a show today and had quite an experience so I thought i'd share. My band plays alt/modern rock covers and was invited to play a benefit show in the area. It was actually a music festival; we were aloud to play for about an hour. Anyway, we were told NOT to bring any of our amps and that a backline was being provided to minimize set-up/take-down time. Weary of this, I brought my Tech 21 Bass VT pedal so i'd at least have MY sound already.

So I show up today and behold, I find out that there was a "miscommunication" and we were suppose to bring amps. The "miscommunication" was that the backline stuff was simply D.I->FOH. I had little choice but to get my pedal out and plug in. This little box saved my butt.

All I had was a single monitor; I could hardly hear myself and that was with the tone knob up full on my P-bass. FOH had subs, mains..the whole nine yards. Sound guy complimented the pedal as apparently my sound out front was ballsy enough. Still- holy crap what an experience. Wished I would have had a better mix on stage...But it worked out! Actually, I probably could have turned up a bit as I had a few people in the audience say the bass could have been louder. I guess that's a good thing

Lesson learned.

[bongomania]

Two lessons learned!

1) Bring your own rig no matter what the promoter says.

2) Having a great little tone box in your gig bag can really save the day.

[RickenBoogie]

Absolutely. +1 to both points.

[PSPookie]

1) allowed
2) wary
3) cool story -- lesson learned

[M@ddest_H@tter!]

glad everything worked out for you.....sounded like a harrowing experience to say the least

[DosiYanarchy]

Im a big fan of the VT and although just sold mine (to fund a new cab), I find it excells even further in DI'd recording (as i do at home) and through a mixer. I think its one of those 'essential' little boxes - if you've spent the time finding the tones you want and even if its not part of your regular setup, Just having one around is always a great comfort, especially if you're using less than ideal amplification at a gig (or none at all) and the speaker simulation i'd imagine helps no end when using distortions and such before it (i think its a 5k roll off)

big fan, will get another soon

[MicG]

Originally Posted by PSPookie

1) allowed
2) wary
3) cool story -- lesson learned

Apologies for the spelling. I was still pretty wired I guess-lol.

Yea, two BIG lessons learned here- thanks for pointing that out. I've been thinking about this experience and how everything worked out using a simple DI and the Tech 21 VT. The only major issue as mentioned was the on-stage mix which, I suppose, could be improved on with better monitors and/or in-ear? Just sharing some observations although i'm not quite ready to sell my Mesa gear just yet

[bwv1013]

i had a similar experience, had a gig straight after work, no time to load up the rig so i just packed the VT. the stage mix was awful but the bass came through PHAT in the house, and even through the video we took. that's about as good as we can ask for, IME no matter how good stage monitors are, nothing beats a real bass amp.

[sonic assassin]

did the guitarists have amps? DI bass is half acceptable.. guitars cant be salvaged

[MicG]

Originally Posted by sonic assassin

did the guitarists have amps? DI bass is half acceptable.. guitars cant be salvaged

Yes! as a matter of fact, my guitar player thought to grab his amp at the last minute just in case. Amps were not provided, period. They were trying to tell everyone to just go straight into the board and use monitors for stage volume. Can't imagine what would have happened if my guitarist hadn't brought his amp last minute.

And of course, I'm the fool in the band right now. I had maintained communication with the promoter and asked several times whether or not we needed or own gear. The answer was the same every time: "you'll get a backline so don't be too concerned about bringing your own stuff- besides, you won't have much time anyway to set it up." So naturally I believed that and encouraged the others to do the same, even when they all expressed concern about the potential risk involved

I guess its like whats been said, live and learn

[sonic assassin]

so there was absolutely NOTHING provided? wow.. that promoter needs to find a new profession. good save on the VT.

[nad]

I'm purposely not bringing my amp to a gig tonight. I honestly don't see the point when you get PA support, sound guys usually want your amp so low that you can't hear it over the drummer anyhow. Oh sure, a mic'd cabinet sounds infinitely superior to a DI signal, but how often does that happen for bassists? Also, I'm sure the clubgoers will appreciate me not running over their collective toes with my usual cart o' tricks, which perchance shall win us an extra fan or two even.

I'll be sure to post in this thread later if tonight all ends in tears of course.

[Unrepresented]

Originally Posted by nad

I'm purposely not bringing my amp to a gig tonight. I honestly don't see the point when you get PA support, sound guys usually want your amp so low that you can't hear it over the drummer anyhow. Oh sure, a mic'd cabinet sounds infinitely superior to a DI signal, but how often does that happen for bassists? Also, I'm sure the clubgoers will appreciate me not running over their collective toes with my usual cart o' tricks, which perchance shall win us an extra fan or two even.

I'll be sure to post in this thread later if tonight all ends in tears of course.

I played a show a while ago without any backline and used only a freshly purchased BDDI. Can't say I liked it. It was apparently okay front of house, but the monitor situation on stage was miserable. No sound once the rest of the (amplified) band kicked in.

On the flip side. The next gig I played at the same club a week later, brought the rig plus had the BDDI on the pedal board and the soundguy commented "yeah, that actually sounded really good last time, let's use it again" and during our last song my frontman got a little crazy and broke an input jack on my amp killing my stage sound, but the audience had almost no loss FOH because I'd gone through the BDDI off my board.

[JimmyM]

Character building

Thread I just started about some experiences this weekend using very unfavorable rented backline. Came to a similar conclusion. Even if you didn't have the VT, I'm sure you would still have been fine. Having said that, I bring a VT and my own DI on the road now as a failsafe against the insanely bad rented gear I'm sometimes forced to use.

[nad]

Gig went fine. I mounted the stage carrying nothing but two cables, one dirt box, an AC adapter, and then wearing my bass. It took approximately 42 seconds to set up once the sound dude gave me a house DI. Sure the stage sound wasn't very good (although it never really is with PA support), but we got a good audience reaction, so I will definitely do that again.

[NKBassman]

I would get one for just that reason, but i'm a little turned off by the fact that it doesn't have an XLR out... If they'd reissue it with one I'd pick it up in a second.

[Fullmetal]

This is weird! The exact same thing happened to me last night!

Unfortunantly I didn't have a VT Bass to get my sound, I had to use another band's amp (the bassist had 2, a totally awesome Warwick, or a crummy Peavey from the dark ages, guess which one I was stuck with) The setup was horrible, too much treble and mid range, I cut through everything else but was overpowering. It was a horrible clacky sound too.

I have just this moment pulled the trigger on a VT Bass and I doubt I'll ever regret the decision. Having tried one out 4-5 times in the shop, I'm ready to own one.

Should be coming in the next couple of days.

I sure as hell learnt my lesson too!

[Easy8]

Had a similar experience at a multi band benefit this weekend.

The provided backline was a Peavey TKO 60 - 60 watts and 1x15. The guitar amps were a 100 watt Marshall 4x12 and a Fender Deluxe. Needless to say the bass player in the previous band could barely be heard.

I had my rig in the truck, but decided to try the SBDDI direct to the PA first. The PA wasn't much either, Peavey 1x15s and assorted monitors.

The sound was surprisingly good both onstage and FOH. The bass player from the following band was impressed as well.

[bongomania]

Originally Posted by Fullmetal

I had to use another band's amp (the bassist had 2, a totally awesome Warwick, or a crummy Peavey from the dark ages, guess which one I was stuck with) The setup was horrible, too much treble and mid range, I cut through everything else but was overpowering. It was a horrible clacky sound too.

You couldn't adjust the EQ on the Peavey?

[ibnzneksrul]

Originally Posted by MicG

They were trying to tell everyone to just go straight into the board and use monitors for stage volume.

Yeah, that'll work.