Bose l1 compact?

[Wgtroutman]

Don't shoot me. I do a lot of public speaking/small gigs with vocal and guitar and am trying to justify the purchase of one of these. Would it work as a bass amp?

 

[billfitzmaurice]

For the price you can buy a complete PA and a separate bass rig.

 

[MNAirHead]

An EV Live X or K12 is what you're discussing

 

[bongomania]

For the price you can buy a complete PA and a separate bass rig.

Plus, in order to use the Bose tower effectively as a bass amp, you have to buy an additional small power amp and an additional traditional-shaped bass speaker box.

The system actually sounds pretty good--I have been to a few shows where they used the full subs-plus-towers Bose rigs and the sound was quite easy to listen to, anywhere in the venue. But one tower and power amp module won't do the job; two towers and two subs might be enough for a coffee shop; you need between four and six of them to fill a medium-sized space, and the cost for all that is enough to make a sensible person run away screaming.

 

[MNAirHead]

I play with a guy that's stellar with one...

But then unlike most TBers, plays guitar, sings and reads the manual.

The L1 concept is cool.. I've seen entire bands that have embraced it... it works GREAT..

I'm just not convinced I'd spend copuntless bucks for multiple towers

 

[kesslari]

One tower plus one sub is enough for a coffee shop gig, but not for use as a bass rig. It handles acoustic guitar and vox well. For bass, I like a separate bass amp. In fact, for those gigs I use a BFM Omni 10.5, and it's perfect

 

[B-string]

Don't shoot me. I do a lot of public speaking/small gigs with vocal and guitar and am trying to justify the purchase of one of these. Would it work as a bass amp?

Not very well at all. Guitarist I used to play with had the system for two weeks and took it back. Did not work well enough for the amount you have to spend.

 

[KevInDaBassment]

Bose is VERY proud of their products...and the price shows

Basically what everyone else is saying...bang for the buck isn't there by any means. Your money, Your decision...but for that money you can get a far superior bass amp PLUS a good PA.

 

[shastaband]

On a slightly different note, would a L1 compact system work for a small theater group doing readings? Two or three people at most, small venues, no mics, but sound cues need to be played (door knocks, doorbells, phone ringing, train sounds as background, light music at intermission, etc.).

 

[B-string]

On a slightly different note, would a L1 compact system work for a small theater group doing readings? Two or three people at most, small venues, no mics, but sound cues need to be played (door knocks, doorbells, phone ringing, train sounds as background, light music at intermission, etc.).

Might work well in that setting.

 

[billfitzmaurice]

On a slightly different note, would a L1 compact system work for a small theater group doing readings? Two or three people at most, small venues, no mics, but sound cues need to be played (door knocks, doorbells, phone ringing, train sounds as background, light music at intermission, etc.).

It will work, but not as well as this, for almost half the price:
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[kerrycares]

i have tried or heard every generation of that product and it only seems to work for keys or vocals and specifically someone who wants "surround sound". i tried it with upright bass thinking it would fix my search for the perfect rig ..... kept it for one week after playing Bakers Keyboard Lounge in Detroit. too big, no booty, too expensive. i heard a band that won one of these systems for the whole band and it sounded like a transistor radio. i thought they were coming through the house system.

 

[Wgtroutman]

this is not what I wanted to hear, but what I expected.

what would you guys buy?

 

[Johnny Crab]

The ONLY way it will work is if you read the manual, play with it A LOT to get a decent sound, do not care about cost, and can accept little or no "punch you in the chest" bass.
THE BASS BINS are CUTOFF BELOW 40 HZ per Bose-folks commentary on their forum. Any use for a 5 string is all psychoacoustics tricks for the B string(yes, I have 5 strings I use with these). ACME kills them for real low B stuff.
I use one with 4 "bass bins" for a lot of shows when the rest of the band uses them(no FOH for those shows). The one I use was band-provided. It's been to BOSE for repair once in 270 gigs(band has 5 of them). They are VERY useful for "impossible places"....see below.
My rig in one trip:

The impossible gig:

See the comment by my name "BOSE Abuser".

 

[billfitzmaurice]

this is not what I wanted to hear, but what I expected.

what would you guys buy?

Buy Other Sound Equipment!

 

[Bassmec]

Buy Other Sound Equipment!

Almost everything else is better but if you must have PA on a stick, PJB has a better system that will take bass guitar.

 

[MNAirHead]

An EV Live X or K12 is what you're discussing

What to buy..

in my first reply I gave you the solution... if unsure if you saw it.

 

[Darknut]

The ONLY way it will work is if you read the manual, play with it A LOT to get a decent sound, do not care about cost, and can accept little or no "punch you in the chest" bass.
THE BASS BINS are CUTOFF BELOW 40 HZ per Bose-folks commentary on their forum. Any use for a 5 string is all psychoacoustics tricks for the B string(yes, I have 5 strings I use with these). ACME kills them for real low B stuff.
I use one with 4 "bass bins" for a lot of shows when the rest of the band uses them(no FOH for those shows). The one I use was band-provided. It's been to BOSE for repair once in 270 gigs(band has 5 of them). They are VERY useful for "impossible places"....see below.
My rig in one trip:

The impossible gig:

See the comment by my name "BOSE Abuser".

How do you ever get loud enough with those B1's to play with a drummer?

I tried 4 B1's as bass cabs & though they sounded pretty good they were really low volume even with 500 watts pushing them.

 

[MNAirHead]

you could pull off the same boat gig with a small mixer and a single K12 or EV Live... on a tree... you could probably run it behind and not have monitors.. yes including bass (probably not one with an F# string)

 

[cchorney]

My band runs 2 towers, each with 2 subs (3 towers if we are micing the drums), and it works well. This allows me to use my smaller amp and not have to schlep the Big Rig. We make a point of not playing loud enough to have fun but not so lout the bartenders can't hear the drink orders. If you are just going for hearing damage, other brands may be better.