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Are bass amps obsolete?

#541
Larger venues I play with a sound guy I insist on micing my cab or at the minimum di-ing from my multi-effects. I spent hours getting my tone right, I'm not about to hand it over to a sound guy, as good as they may happen to be (same reason I never di straight from the bass - always route through my preamp and multi-effects). Smaller venues my rig is enough volume for the whole venue. Even when our keyboard player/defacto sound guy mics me up (he never di's me) he only uses it to capture overtones (he's something of an audiophilic technical genius when it comes to sound production - not sure why he wanted to be our keyboard player). When my rig is supplying volume for the whole venue I've got my settings and eq right (hours spent on tone remember) so it doesn't boom and sits in the mix nice at the right volume.

Most of the other bass players I know around town work exactly the same way. So I guess I said all that to say - in my opinion - no way; the amp is not dead, and shows no signs of distress either.
 
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#543
One day in the near future Firemen will be hunting for those Bass amps and the owners still using them...when found they will light them on fire with all of your KISS albums...

A few brave Bass players will bring their amp to the end of a long railroad track and become the SVT, the Aguilar DB750, Mesa 800+ and Bergantino I/amp.

What do you think, cousin?
 
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#544
two fingers said:
I agree with you. The picture I painted won't work for every genre, or crowd. I'm not FOR the scenario I described. I just see it coming.

I'm sure metal fans feel the same way as metal musicians.

Here's my question for you. Musical styles come and go. As amps become less and less relevant, will metal follow suit? If mainstream music venues go high-tech, will a "proper" metal show with amps and speakers just become sort of "a hassle"?

(I am not anti metal. This is just an interesting discussion of technology and how it affects trends. None of us really know what's coming.)
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Some Euro metallers have been in-ear for quite awhile already. The stateside ones probably don't visit Talk Amp.
 
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#545
yes, bass amps are redundant. my rack mount pedal replaces the tone controls on a bass amp and my in-ears replace the need for a bass cab. The only time I use an amp is when I am in a band who doesn't use in-ears (Neanderthals). We use in-ears at rehearsal. But that is my circumstance and it will eventually be yours or your children's. I am guessing a lot of readers are finding themselves having to play with people who don't use or can not afford in-ears. In those cases a bulky, heavy, annoying bass amp is your life.
 
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#546
I always insist on micing my amp. I want to have control over how I sound. And the audio guys that usually use digital stuff can make your bass crazy loud and actually nasty. It just has to sit in the mix, not be muddy, that's what kickdrum is for! :p I can't wait until I can afford to build my own tube amp based on Hiwatt DR201. I will be able to get a sweet drive not carring any effects. I don't use any effects anyway.
I'm 19 years old and I love it the old way, I guess. Nowadays music is just too coherent. Too perfect. There are no more funny mistakes on the albums that created the sound. That's why I love Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac.
 
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#547
I find it that bass amps are nowadays just a big monitor which will be DI'd to the the FOH anyway so my idea is to use a good sounding DI box (the Noble amps one) and use wedges, in ears och hook up to the venue's amp's effects return for personal stage sound. Same sound every night. Now I've started experimenting with two DIs, one clean and a bit scooped, the other driven or with other effects and mid heavy, and lastly blending the two to one signal of doom. For the other signal I'm using the Atomic Ampli Fire. This is not really the same but here I'm using the setup to do a Royal blood setup, i.e bass and fake "guitar". If I were to do it with amps, I would need to buy a bus to haul the stuff for a gig:

 
#548
sanwin17 said:
In every situation I have played in the last several years FOH has controlled the bass, volume and tone. My stage amp, when I have occasion to use one, serves as my personal monitor. This is not only on big stages but also in small clubs when band leader provides sound and mix. FOH always wants the stage volume down so they can control the mix. And yet, it seems almost every day, a new bass amp is out.
Thoughts?
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#549
It's has it's advantage, BUT only if the sound man knows what he is doing. I always talk to them so they know what I want, when I have to use their rigging, I let them hear what my amp sounds like with me playing and most of the time they get it right. But always leave a little room for yourself to adjust the sound yourself from your guitar and amp so you do get the sound you want to hear.
 
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#551
Some of the smallest venues are where I've been forced to use IEM only. The band leader has full control over the house volume so no arguments with owner, managers, bar tenders, etc. Some outdoor venues in s Florida have very strict noise level regs. $500 fines for violations are not uncommon. At those places amps are usually banned by the house. IEMs only. All FOH sound goes through the main P.A. controlled by management.
 
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#552
95% of my jobs (clubs, church, festivals, private functions) I use an amp for personal monitor or to reinforce the room. 5% are in ear monitor (clean stage). 30% are a combination of both amplifier and IEM.

I prefer to play with an amp and custom mold Westone ER9 (9 DB reduction) ear plugs.
 
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#553
matante said:
Geddy Lee was using an Orange Tube amp live among other amps. He may not have had them on stage, but he used amps. He famously had a rig that was all EQs, compressors, and power amps into 2x15 cabs (off stage) without a conventional preamp.
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Geddy had been using the RBI since the early 2000's and switched to the RPM sometime before 2010. The Oranges were used to add some upper end distortion but his main tone was the RPM and the Avalon and Orange etc. would be mixed in. When he joined Yes for the RR HOF performance he only used the GED-2112 and used in-ears.
 
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#554
Yup. IEM is where things are headed, if not mostly already there. And, it can work really well, once you sort out the signal chain.

Still; there is something simply visceral about standing in front of a great amp on the stage. That aspect is definitely part of what I associate with “Rock n Roll.” IEM’s definitely work; but, they are also most definitely NOT “Rock n Roll.”

Adapt or die and can’t live life in the rear view mirror. Still, better isn’t always better.
 
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#555
sanwin17 said:
In every situation I have played in the last several years FOH has controlled the bass, volume and tone. My stage amp, when I have occasion to use one, serves as my personal monitor. This is not only on big stages but also in small clubs when band leader provides sound and mix. FOH always wants the stage volume down so they can control the mix. And yet, it seems almost every day, a new bass amp is out.
Thoughts?
Click to expand...
We haven't played in a venue with FOH in 3 1/2 years. No bass amp, no bass.
 
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#556
Hambone70 said:
Running the sound, I find FOH SO much cleaner when there's no bass bleeding into every stage mic. Combine a silent stage with a quality digital mixer, relatively inexpensive powered speakers, musician-controlled IEMs, and a decent engineer, and it can sound like a giant hi-fi for the audience (room acoustics notwithstanding). All at volumes appropriate for the venue and style of music.

It's the future... at least until we have the brain implant thing!

Then again, we do still have some dinosaurs roaming the earth...
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Hambone70 said:
For those precious about their tone, why not mic a small cab with your pedals and amp of choice? You can then keep the bass from polluting the stage and other mics, thus improving FOH.
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Your pissing me off , learn how to run a PA, stop blaming bass.
 
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#559
What WILL become obsolete is bass players, and probably all musicians, who cannot make good music without instruments that weigh more than themselves! The best musicians demand total control over the sound of their music, especially all of the nuances of the tonal qualities of their instruments.
 
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#560
Eric Vee said:
What WILL become obsolete is bass players, and probably all musicians, who cannot make good music without instruments that weigh more than themselves! The best musicians demand total control over the sound of their music, especially all of the nuances of the tonal qualities of their instruments.
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In the ideal world, yes.
 
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