I run my basses into my Ashdown EB 12-180...As you can imagine, i have to push it pretty hard to compete...definetly need a new rig!!!
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Another Church players topic-Post: amplification
- Thread starter dunamis
- Start date
Wow... that is interesting, that PLX should go down to 2 ohms my friend, you could run both cab's and it is only a 2.6 ohm load if that Grande is 8 ohms IIRC. Any reason why you tune you bass down that low, I mean I have heard of some gospel artist doing that, but I do not see how a 5 string could get lost in the mix if if is mixed right... or a 4 string for that matter.
I took my bass up to the church Sat. night for a pre-easter soundcheck and I just got a leo-quan bridge on it and a fresh set of DR Sunbeams and a good setup and I tell you this... my jazz bass sounds monsterish through are IEM's and though the mains... the shaker box and sub's where working well too, I was all alone for a good while, I went early just so I could hear my bass and what it sounded like through are setup and I am very pleased. Are 3 bass players, one plays a pre serial 100 serial number 5 string Tobias 2 band bart eq., another plays a 5 string Kubicki Key Factor, and the other plays either a 3 band eq. Music man or a standard America jazz bass. I seriously liked the sound of my bass the best... I did not get the chance to hear it in the mix with a full band, that would be the ultimate test but I believe it would cut through nicely and sit in the mix very well, it was like a buzz saw in going through the mains and in my cans, is was sweet, I did not want to stop but I had too.
Anyone else would like to share?
Peace,
Well, the tone was always great through the IEM's. I never minded that part of it. It was the lack of mojo. I felt like I was listening to a CD and playing along. There was no rumble in the bass, no punch in the kick drum, no air moving anywhere. Just no inspiration at all. It's just not a desirable situation to be in on a weekly basis, at least for me. I even prefer to deal with controlling stage volume rather than use in-ears. Again, my church is very progressive, so we don't attract the type of people that want to come in and have a nice and tidy service, nor are we over run with elderly people that want to sit back and sing hymns. There's nothing wrong with that, and there are churches out there that have that type of ministry. More power to them, seriously, it's not for me and it's not something that will change the world. Not having those stiffling elements in a church really lets you expand your options and try to attract a more typical, un-churched crowd that need a venue to hear the message in as well. And that's what it's all about to me, much more so than the music.
What's with the fatigues?
He was our main bassist, but he joined the army, so when he is able to come to church, he always plays bass.
rockstarbassist
Inactive
What's kind of crazy is, is that we HAVE two services-
one for the blue hair's at 8:30, and then the "contemporary" one at 10:45. Well, of course it's always too loud. I don't understand why people just don't go to the early one if they don't like what we do. Makes no sense to me, but oh well. This is what we have for now and we gotta stick to it for at least a while...
I know what you mean. Some people are born to complain, especially church folk for some reason. But hey, playing in church should be about something more than music, so you're doing the right thing by hanging in there and going with the flow. My number one goal on Sunday is to make the worship leader's job easier. So I show up a little early to setup and get ready to go. I do whatever he/she asks, and just try to have a good attitude about it. If I enjoy the music, it's a plus. I enjoy it right now, but I've pulled long stints at other churches I attended where I had to fight the drudgery each week. It always helped to remind myself that even though I didn't enjoy the music, others were definitely attracted to it, even if they were blue-hairs as you say!
rockstarbassist
Inactive
I know what you mean. Some people are born to complain, especially church folk for some reason. But hey, playing in church should be about something more than music, so you're doing the right thing by hanging in there and going with the flow. My number one goal on Sunday is to make the worship leader's job easier. So I show up a little early to setup and get ready to go. I do whatever he/she asks, and just try to have a good attitude about it. If I enjoy the music, it's a plus. I enjoy it right now, but I've pulled long stints at other churches I attended where I had to fight the drudgery each week. It always helped to remind myself that even though I didn't enjoy the music, others were definitely attracted to it, even if they were blue-hairs as you say!
Exactly.
My fight is a weekly one with the drummer, if you can call him that. He's been at the church since my family joined back, wow, when I was in elementary school (I'm 25 now!), so it's not like he's going anywhere fast. He just cannot keep rhythm, and it's sad b/c so many of those songs have great drum/bass interaction, and I'll go home and listen to the recorded version, ready to do all the hits and stuff, and he just is going crazy, way off time. It really is almost unplayable, and he hits the dang drums so loud that you get the slapback (they're a NICE electric Roland kit) which makes the people out front think the drums are really louder than they are. He says you have to "wake up" the Holy Spirit, so you hit the drums harder and louder.
And no- I wish I was making that up...
Anyways, we're building a small amphitheater that will seat about 100 outback of our church to do some summer concert stuff, and our praise band is going to start doing some local and not-so-local "gigs" for lack of a better word, so it's looking up.
But those of course will have my WT800B and Whappo Jr. in tow, as well as my FULL pedalboard, so I'm good to go! 
HA! I feel for you man. I definitely know what that feels like!Exactly.
My fight is a weekly one with the drummer, if you can call him that. He's been at the church since my family joined back, wow, when I was in elementary school (I'm 25 now!), so it's not like he's going anywhere fast. He just cannot keep rhythm, and it's sad b/c so many of those songs have great drum/bass interaction, and I'll go home and listen to the recorded version, ready to do all the hits and stuff, and he just is going crazy, way off time. It really is almost unplayable, and he hits the dang drums so loud that you get the slapback (they're a NICE electric Roland kit) which makes the people out front think the drums are really louder than they are. He says you have to "wake up" the Holy Spirit, so you hit the drums harder and louder.
And no- I wish I was making that up...
As for waking up the Holy Spirit, ask him to show you the theology of that in the Bible. I was always taught that God never sleeps.
rockstarbassist
Inactive
Tell me about it as far as the people that complain. My parents are horrible! We have 3 services, Regular, medium and rock/acoustic/pop. Sunday we had 1 variety...blended. That means we had hymns, choir and even the "contemporary band played 2 hymns and only one of them had drums. My parents still complained! That hymn is more of a Sunday night hymn not a Sunday morning anthem! I am going to look in my Bible for rules for contemporary, hymns and sunday night hymns. I don't want to goof it up! Oh, wait.......it is not in there!
The bible is quite plain when it comes to music in worship. Just look at Psalm 150. That's all you need.
so many people want to stay close minded and put God in a box. They place their rules and restrictions on God instead of leaving it to him.
so many people want to stay close minded and put God in a box. They place their rules and restrictions on God instead of leaving it to him.
Hawkeye
Canuck Amateur
I was just having fun. I'm a geezer so I often wear a sports jacket with open dress shirt or something like that. Our P&W team does have a dress code and it's pretty open-minded but we try to stay away from jeans if possible. Personally, I pretty much don't care what people wear to church or on the podium. However, if I'm speaking from the podium (which I do once or twice a year), I generally wear a tie and suit, I think people expect that so....
Here's our dress code. Even our singer with the pink hair and skull & cross-bones scarf fits into this code, I think.
"DRESS ON PLATFORM
- Please try not to wear clothing that is going to attract attention away from the worship. Dress should be Semi-Casual, not casual. Dress slacks and collared shirt are appropriate. Please No Running Shoes. If you have any questions just ask. Thank you."
I'm not quite sure what "semi-casual" means. It's probably meant to express "business casual" or something to that effect.
Unless it's an outdoor service, or special service in the evening I don't think I'd wear a t-shirt, shorts and flip-flops to lead worship. Just not my style. I wouldn't get all in a tizzy if someone else wore that though.
I use an Ampeg 115 amp. We have a very large church and everything goes through the system so I don't have to fill the sancturary with my sound. That's my monitor as well as an Avion with headphones.
I think that's fine, really! That's representative of most churches. I just prefer to go to a church that is less intimidating in appearance to people that have not grown up in church, and as such don't have all the hangups about what they wear when they show up. There are a lot of people that will never set foot in one of those traditional churches where everybody is all dressed up, hair fixed just perfect, and the music sounds like it is straight out of the 40's or 50's. I know the comeback for that is that it's more about the message they hear, but we have to keep in mind that the way people appear says a lot about what the message is before they even hear it.
Anyway, lets not derail this topic too much. I'm just glad so many here are involved somewhere and using their talents in a productive way, regardless of the style of music or dress. It's good to have different stylistic options so that everyone can find a place of worship.
The PLX is a stereo amp, so when I use both cabinets, I just run one from each half of the amp. The Whappo is 4/8 ohm switchable, I think, (its an older model), and you're right - the Grande is 8 ohm.
As for the tuning... there's been a lot of discussion on that topic elsewhere on this forum. I do use special gauge strings (SIT Conklin Signature) that are intended for that tuning. I just think it's different and interesting. Organs and synths go that low and do good things down there. It does make it easy to not be stepped on by the piano player (though our regular is a gem of a player and doesn't do that).
rockstarbassist
Inactive
The switchable Accu cabs are technically 4 ohms, based on readings, but there's been only a handful (if that) of amps that have fried w/ 2 or more switchable cabs @ 8 ohms into a 4 ohm amp, tho, so FWIW, YMMV.
CrashClint
I Play Bass therefore I Am
I feel the mojo! It is just the opposite for me on Sunday mornings. Sometimes I wish we had the IEM's. I have to wear ear plugs on stage, I am nestled between a heavy handed drummer and our guitarist's Marshall half-stack. I try to setup farther away from the drummer and our worship leader asks me to move back closer. I know the stage volume is over 100+db. I forgot my ear plugs one morning and I thought my head was going to explode. I was using a 350 Watt SWR Super Redhead along with a 15" cab, so I was pushing about 425 watts. I was having to jack the gain halfway and run the master at 3/4. I was working my amp very hard. I went out Friday and got a great deal on an almost new Genz Benz GBE-600 and GB 410T-XB2 cabinet, both for under $1000 out the door. I am digging the sound of this setup.
This is a relatively new Vineyard church plant, I remember a year ago when it was just the worship leader on acoustic, a keyboardist and me. I was using my studio amp, a Fender 60 watt rumble that I never turned up more the halfway. I am lobbying real hard for a drum shield.
