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Am I crazy, no amp go direct?

#61
Bodeanly said:
On the few occasions where we've used IEM, I couldn't get over the feeling of being a million miles away from the audience. I will continue to use a rig/ wedges until it's no longer up to me.
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I'm with you, man! It just isn't the same amount of fun,and since fun is the only reason I play, I am gonna feel it and hear it. If I played as my only income of course I would do whatever I had to do, but if there is a choice...
I hear all this stuff about being at the mercy of the soundman. Not really; you can bring an independent mixer, run both your DI to it and the send from the main monitor mixer, out to in or over ears, then adjust it however you want.
 
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#63
If you care about tone at all which you should if you play bass.. then you would have a bass amp.. I honestly cant imagine not standing behind my trusty bass rig.. its more organic and your more involved with the other musicians on stage plus you can change your eq on the fly.. not having a bass rig is pathetic in my opinion.
 
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#64
Takes a bit to get used to iem but with good setup & capable PA is just amazing clarity allowing you to play better & for sound man to do his job properly. Agreed the level of shows many play here might not work as well. I always have a small rig on stage but don't hear that much from it. Every show, wherever I stand, whatever way I turn, sound is always the same; that's nice.
 
#66
I have it all covered. 5 bass rigs, LB30, SB300, Genz SM9.2, LM300, GK RB400 210 combo, Avatar 212 neo, Genz Uber 410, Tech 21 410, and a 115.

I also have a pedal board with a VT deluxe, and an IEM system.

Any gig, any where, tube, SS, class D, with or without amp I have it covered.

It is nice to have options however I prefer heavy iron and glass these days.
 
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#67
tfer said:
If the kick drum was loud enough though, it'd sound like pretty much every rock show I've been to recently!
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Well... I have to be fair about this. We play a large variety of venues. Some, the FOH is absolutely terrible... Pretty much vocals only. Others, the FOH is terrific with a huge PA system... In which case, our large amps become show pieces. I think the new wave of IEM systems is a great idea. But, I prefer to have large amps and not need it...rather than show up, saying to myself 'dang, I should of brought another cab'. That's just me, of course...
 
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#68
When I play at church I plug into a volume pedal (& maybe other pedals) then a DI box, then one line from the DI goes to the PA and another goes into a small bass amp I place beside me on an ampstand--so I can make sure I can always hear myself (Very important to me, especially when I play fretless)
 
#69
In ear monitoring has had the unfortunate effect of disconnecting the performers from the real dynamics of their performance.
Singers especially don't benefit from being audible in in ear monitor mixes when they are not via the floor monitors.
Who said easier was ever really universally better.:-)X
 
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#71
Using the Post DI on my amp also gives me one more advantage over using my entire rig. If I turn the Bass Amp EQ to 5 o'clock and turn the DEEP switch on, my 2x12 NEO cab farts on the B and E strings. That's just too much low for that cab at any volume. But by going DI the outboard equipment takes care of that overload and sends a much cleaner low to the FOH. So I can crank up the lows and not worry about frying my cab. My bass is the only thing going into the sub so I'm not competing with the kick drum.
 
#72
Blankandson said:
But by going DI the outboard equipment takes care of that overload and sends a much cleaner low to the FOH.
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The board/mixer will have a HPF (High Pass Filter) to cut excessive lows from over enthusiastic use of the "low crank knob".

Boosting lows is only useful if you have an amp with sufficient power to cleanly handle the boost and cabs that can reproduce the lows you are boosting without farting out and a room and/or stage that plays well with boosted lows and doesn't just give you mud.
 
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#73
Agreed. I never tried using low bass and the DEEP switch with my older bases (Jazz, Warwick J/J, others with J/J pups) but I recently bought a Warwick Corvette $$ 5-string (Ovangkol neck) and put new EMP strings on it. I get a much cleaner low bass tone now than any of the other bases could or would give me. I've taking advantage of that and having fun. But as you say, I could never do that with my GK 212 Neo cab and my old bases. I can do it with my new bass in large rooms - but not so much in smaller rooms or bars. That cab seems to like big rooms.
 
#74
Blankandson said:
Agreed. I never tried using low bass and the DEEP switch with my older bases (Jazz, Warwick J/J, others with J/J pups) but I recently bought a Warwick Corvette $$ 5-string (Ovangkol neck) and put new EMP strings on it. I get a much cleaner low bass tone now than any of the other bases could or would give me. I've taking advantage of that and having fun. But as you say, I could never do that with my GK 212 Neo cab and my old bases. I can do it with my new bass in large rooms - but not so much in smaller rooms or bars. That cab seems to like big rooms.
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Through the PA you're probably high-passed at least at 60hz.
 
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#76
Like others have probably said, it depends on your situation. I play a church gig and never bring an amp, just plug into a DI box. Huge sound system and board. It works OK, because you're always at the same venue and can sort of get things set. If your sound people sit back there and play checkers on you though, your sort of SOL. The sound people have total control and even if it's bad, I couldn't make up for it with my own amp.

In the cover band, sometimes we have a sound person, sometimes not, so the PA varies. Set up and sound check time varies widely. Outdoor, indoor, big, small. There are many times that what you end up in terms of PA just doesn't cut it, at least in my situation. Everybody in the band counts on my rig, I and to a certain extend my band really couldn't function without it. Heck if I can't make it, they cancell rehearsal.......they won't even play without bass. 90% of the time I've needed my own amp for rehearsal because we don't use the PA for that.

For me, I need my own rig big time.
 

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