Are the big amps history?

[GwenOnBass]

too much beer

^ apostasy ^

 

[bobyoung53]

But why do you have to play with said drummer?
....and yes I have enough watts but playing quieter and quieter can have an embarrassing effect on the loud ones. Try it, it works. Soon the rest of the band is asking the offender to turn down.

Volume wars can work two ways. Someone who is playing too soft is just as bad as someone playing too loud.

 

[javi_bassist]

A lot of big rigs don't sound like better class D/ lightweight rigs.

No, I didn't mean that big amps are always better. There are a lot of class D amps that sound great. But they are just different

 

[4StringDave]

Double up your small rig and tell me it doesn't sound better.

I honestly prefer the sound of one speaker to two.

 

[Manticore]

Gotta give you credit...most people assume there's some sort of invisible wall at the end of the stage that stops any sound from your amp hitting the crowd

Gotta give you credit...most people assume there's some sort of invisible wall at the end of the stage that stops any sound from your amp hitting the crowd

This may be an oversimplification of what is readily observable, by me anyway, on a large stage. In sound check on a large stage with two 810 cabs provided for the back line I've notice before the PA and monitors are up the bass rig provides adequate volume for playing. Not thunderous given the size of the hall, but serviceable. When the PA is brought up the sound from the bass rig virtually disappears, totally enveloped and overpowered by the PA. That is why the PA is there. This disparity between what the bass rig provides versus what is provided by the PA widens exponentially on larger outdoor stages. But then again, this is merely my own experience. Your mileage may vary.

 

[aborgman]

Double up your small rig and tell me it doesn't sound better.

I did... and once I adjusted the volume so there was no difference - it sounded the same.

 

[GreyBeard]

Just had to add this one from the past. I got to play through one of these once. It was fun

 

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

I like my rigs, especially my A and B rigs. But I especially like when I don't have to bring one because backline has been provided. I've had everything from an SVT over an 8×10 to a Quilter Bass Block into a pair of Bassliner cabs. And in between, Ampeg and G-K combos, etc. I've not felt let down by any of them, and in fact I've been glad to play through them.

 

[JimmyM]

This may be an oversimplification of what is readily observable, by me anyway, on a large stage. In sound check on a large stage with two 810 cabs provided for the back line I've notice before the PA and monitors are up the bass rig provides adequate volume for playing. Not thunderous given the size of the hall, but serviceable. When the PA is brought up the sound from the bass rig virtually disappears, totally enveloped and overpowered by the PA. That is why the PA is there. This disparity between what the bass rig provides versus what is provided by the PA widens exponentially on larger outdoor stages. But then again, this is merely my own experience. Your mileage may vary.

It does, as it's very much room-dependent, but that's OK

I did... and once I adjusted the volume so there was no difference - it sounded the same.

I honestly prefer the sound of one speaker to two.

There's always one...or two

 

[aborgman]

There's always one...or two

I thought two sounded better...

Then I tried with just one, but put it on an amp stand so it was firing at my head just like the second cab in the stack was... and then I adjusted the volume using an actual SPL meter (to do away with the 3dB you gain from speaker coupling... study upon study shows that humans will say the exact same sound, just louder, sounds better) - and it sounded the same to me.

...but, it may have just been my mind (just as you thinking it sounds better with double cabinets) - because with any sighted, non-blind trial - we're all subject to unconscious bias.

 

[MegaSwing]

Ever since it became clear to me in the late-90s that big bass actually does come in small packages, I have been riding that wave, and even more so as components grew lighter as well as smaller. Knowing that with my sub-50-lb. combo I have more volume and thrust than I could ever let loose on nearly any gig, I don't fully get the enduring appeal of outsized bass rigs, beyond a sense of tradition and tribute, which is cool enough if that's what turns you on. If the extra mass isn't absolutely necessary, why add it?

Everybody's got a thing.

 

[chadds]

Volume wars can work two ways. Someone who is playing too soft is just as bad as someone playing too loud.

Like people driving too slow!! I meant to start playing regular volume and decrease within the same tune. Exposes the maniac or unaware.

I also mean walk on. I get it at a jam. Yet even there I excuse myself and head for better settings. The volume can be accompanied by no listening, no dynamics, working out fantasies, enebriation. For me not necessary ingredients of good music. In a band if you can't talk and cooperate say about volume, then find some other players.
But pack to the topic.

 

[Manticore]

Just had to add this one from the past. I got to play through one of these once. It was funView attachment 1174524

IMO, these things looked so cool back in the day.

 

[alaskaleftybass]

Ever since it became clear to me in the late-90s that big bass actually does come in small packages, I have been riding that wave, and even more so as components grew lighter as well as smaller. Knowing that with my sub-50-lb. combo I have more volume and thrust than I could ever let loose on nearly any gig, I don't fully get the enduring appeal of outsized bass rigs, beyond a sense of tradition and tribute, which is cool enough if that's what turns you on. If the extra mass isn't absolutely necessary, why add it?

Everybody's got a thing.

I've been on the perfect small rig quest for quite a while and gone through a lot of speakers. It's threads like this that make me realize, I no longer have to buy an SVT for what I'm doing. I live in a small town and the clubs aren't packing hundreds / thousands of people. And yes, the Class D / ultralight cab phenomenon has really caught on with bass players. Look at the classifieds here on TB. Filled with Big Iron. Your post affirms what I've already been feeling for a while. Get a rig that's manageable but pay up a little and get one that's very capable. Of course for younger fellers in the city it will be wonderful to still use an Ampeg SVT/810 stack.

 

[alaskaleftybass]

Just had to add this one from the past. I got to play through one of these once. It was funView attachment 1174524

Gimme gimme!

 

[Honch]

Volume wars can work two ways. Someone who is playing too soft is just as bad as someone playing too loud.

Nope. Too loud always ruins your hearing. Too soft not. I've yet to hear anyone do that.

 

[Honch]

I honestly prefer the sound of one speaker to two.

Actually this is what I've found out too. When standing at the side to a 4x10 or 8x10, is that you have to stand several feet from it, before it sounds even remotely decent. One speaker, however it may be a 15, is better to me. There's no phase anomalies. Don't know, in the past I thought many smaill speakers moves faster, but then I had second thoughts and it dawned on me slowly. It's the same with 2x12 stacks, and even Barefaced small "cubicles". I don't like it on guitar cabs either.

 

[wmhill]

IMO, these things looked so cool back in the day.

They still look cool- I looked into having some modern bass cabs covered in the "tuck & roll" a few years back..... the price scared me!

 

[Brad Johnson]

I've used that approach in the past - for about 6 years, I gigged in a loud 2 guitar rock band - with 2 Mesa halfstacks and a loud drummer... Back then, I used an M-pulse 600 and PH810 - and would occasionally remind them that I had 600 watts, 8 tens, and ear plugs, lol... Honestly, I don't miss those days...

Me neither. I like my hearing and dislike people making me need ear protection.

 

[Brad Johnson]

Double up your small rig and tell me it doesn't sound better.

It does not sound better. And I know that because I actually tried it a few times... I'm not afraid to experiment, it's how I test potentials. One cab sounded much better, was more focused AND as mentioned was capable of way more than I needed.

Sorry. While this is often true with conventional cabs, that ain't what I'm using. Not even close.