Doug Pinnick Bass Rig: A Pic

[Savage_Dreams]

A few weeks ago I got to see D. P. do two shows with a back lined rig. He was using a Fractal Audio Axe Fx rack box driving an SVT into 2 8x10s. Anyone here know anything about these?
http://www.fractalaudio.com

Several artists at this 'festival' were using them for both guitar and bass. Billy Sheehan was also on the bill, but he had a Hartke rig with an EBS preamp- no Fractal Audio.

D.P.'s tone in the room and side stage was nice, but I'm not sure it was the kind of massive he might have had earlier in his career.

Man, did he look like he was having fun though!

im not so sure it was just backlined, or at least not just a generic backline. i remember him talking about the fractal stuff somewhere but cant recall at all right now when or where. but i think it is something he has used off and on.

*edit*
as a matter of fact he is listed on fractal's artist page
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[catgut]

My worst nightmare... graphic EQ's. They're the devil. Just too many sliders and crap. I'd spend hours upon hours tweaking that set up.

No doubt. It would never be right… right… RIGHT???

 

[JimmyM]

A few weeks ago I got to see D. P. do two shows with a back lined rig. He was using a Fractal Audio Axe Fx rack box driving an SVT into 2 8x10s. Anyone here know anything about these?
http://www.fractalaudio.com

Several artists at this 'festival' were using them for both guitar and bass. Billy Sheehan was also on the bill, but he had a Hartke rig with an EBS preamp- no Fractal Audio.

D.P.'s tone in the room and side stage was nice, but I'm not sure it was the kind of massive he might have had earlier in his career.

Man, did he look like he was having fun though!

dUg has always gone in for overkill. I twice saw him in a club that seats about 700 with King's X using two SVT's, two Fender Dual Showmans, and four 810's! So while not the massive he once had, sounds like it was still pretty massive.

 

[spcmstrbtasp]

Thanks for the input on the Fractal Audio gear. I see why someone in Dug's situation would go that route.

The guitarists from another band on the bill- Periphery- skipped cabs entirely, but the bassist ran through the backline 8x10 rig. For me, their 'look' on stage came across as a bit strange w/o cabs but I'd bet this is going to be the trend going forward. In ears make cabs unnecessary as monitors so if you don't need them for visual aesthetics, it's less to pack and move.

I'm definitely curious about the Axe FX stuff. I use an assortment of M9 patches, so I'm guessing an Axe FX could do that and more...

 

[JimmyM]

Thanks for the input on the Fractal Audio gear. I see why someone in Dug's situation would go that route.

The guitarists from another band on the bill- Periphery- skipped cabs entirely, but the bassist ran through the backline 8x10 rig. For me, their 'look' on stage came across as a bit strange w/o cabs but I'd bet this is going to be the trend going forward. In ears make cabs unnecessary as monitors so if you don't need them for visual aesthetics, it's less to pack and move.

I'd rather pack and move

 

[Barisaxman]

I'd rather pack and move

Me too...I've tried ampless, and I'm still working on an ampless rig but I've never been quite happy with not having the "feel" of a real amp on stage moving some air. I can see where a complicated rig like this will benefit from new technology like the AxeFX, but I can see too why the choice for some/many would be to pipe it back through some cabinets on stage.

 

[jimfist]

that's the benefit of the AxeFx flexibility. You can use it with full amp & cab sims thru IEM or a decent stage monitor system, or carry your own full range stage rig....OR...disable cabinet sims and run it into a solid state power amp into a traditional bass cabinet back line...OR...disable cabinet sims and power amp modeling and run it into a tube amp driving a traditional cabinet...OR...use it for effects only in front of or in the effects loop of your traditional rig....

Other routings and signal splits allow you to serve different ends so that, for example, you send cab simulations to FOH while your stage rig amp has cab sims disabled.

I also know users who discretely run 2 guitars or a guitar and a bass using just one Axefx, with no shortage of effects and processors.

Ultimately I'm still a fan of real bass cabs on big stages. Problem is that I'm getting tired of hauling my 8x10 SVT, and see it as providing diminishing returns in the larger scope of things. That being the case, I've opted for a modular lightweight speaker rig. The AxeFx provides the preamping, tone shaping, effects, tuner and direct box all in one. It sounds as good as any rig I've used, though it doesn't push that heavenly amount of air like an 8x10. Feeling the beef is great, but it can sound and feel just as good to me (and more controlled for the rest of the band) without the (usually) overkill tube head/refrigerator, and using very good quality full range speakers instead.

I guess I'm lucky in that I can be just as happy either way. It took a few years of fiddling to crack that nut using Modelers and full range cabinets, but now that I have, I'm pretty satisfied and I can travel much lighter, set up/tear down faster, etc.

FWIW

 

[jimfist]

Thanks for the input on the Fractal Audio gear.

I'm definitely curious about the Axe FX stuff. I use an assortment of M9 patches, so I'm guessing an Axe FX could do that and more...

If you like to have lots of effects at once, lots of choices of effects, and like to do live control moves of those effects without the hassle of "conventional" pedal rigs, then the AxeFx is worth a look, provided you don't mind the programming aspects of a MIDI pedalboard.

Many users create a preset of a "virtual pedalboard" loaded to the hilt with all their effects and tone variations, and employ the "Scenes" feature which allows you to set the engaged/bypass states of the effects on a scene-by-scene basis, 8 scenes per preset. It's like having presets within presets, and is invaluable for seamless "spillover" time domain effects (echo/reverb). It alleviates the necessary need to change presets to make tone/effect alterations to your sound. Even with multiple iterations available of most effects which can be placed anywhere on the 4x12 routing grid, running out if CPU processing power is typically not a worry. For example:

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[Remus_Redbone]

By the way, Mr. Pinnick has been lurking around the earth for 63 years....

 

[JimmyM]

that's the benefit of the AxeFx flexibility. You can use it with full amp & cab sims thru IEM or a decent stage monitor system, or carry your own full range stage rig....OR...disable cabinet sims and run it into a solid state power amp into a traditional bass cabinet back line...OR...disable cabinet sims and power amp modeling and run it into a tube amp driving a traditional cabinet...OR...use it for effects only in front of or in the effects loop of your traditional rig....

Other routings and signal splits allow you to serve different ends so that, for example, you send cab simulations to FOH while your stage rig amp has cab sims disabled.

I also know users who discretely run 2 guitars or a guitar and a bass using just one Axefx, with no shortage of effects and processors.

Ultimately I'm still a fan of real bass cabs on big stages. Problem is that I'm getting tired of hauling my 8x10 SVT, and see it as providing diminishing returns in the larger scope of things. That being the case, I've opted for a modular lightweight speaker rig. The AxeFx provides the preamping, tone shaping, effects, tuner and direct box all in one. It sounds as good as any rig I've used, though it doesn't push that heavenly amount of air like an 8x10. Feeling the beef is great, but it can sound and feel just as good to me (and more controlled for the rest of the band) without the (usually) overkill tube head/refrigerator, and using very good quality full range speakers instead.

I guess I'm lucky in that I can be just as happy either way. It took a few years of fiddling to crack that nut using Modelers and full range cabinets, but now that I have, I'm pretty satisfied and I can travel much lighter, set up/tear down faster, etc.

FWIW

Well if you have to go digital, it sounds like Axe-FX is the way to go. Inexpensive digital modeling still sounds inexpensive to me, but it does seem to get much better the more processing power you throw at it. I like Guitar Rig and Amplitube way more than I do Line 6 and TC, I know that much.

 

[jimfist]

Well if you have to go digital, it sounds like Axe-FX is the way to go. Inexpensive digital modeling still sounds inexpensive to me, but it does seem to get much better the more processing power you throw at it. I like Guitar Rig and Amplitube way more than I do Line 6 and TC, I know that much.

IMHO, high end digital modeling is like paying a visit to a decent hooker (not that I'd know anything about that!!). The sex can still be pretty good - even satisfying - but it's still not the same as finding the love of your life that knows how to push all of the right buttons!

Ideally, with a road crew, I'd be using all-tube beasts with big cabinets. But that's just not the case for me these days. My practical side really does appreciate the Swiss Army Knife aspect of the AxeFx, and that's pretty much all it comes down to, and it sounds great no matter what the application (into a traditional rig or full direct to FOH with cab sims, or even direct recording/re-amping).

 

[comingxcurse]

IMHO, high end digital modeling is like paying a visit to a decent hooker (not that I'd know anything about that!!). The sex can still be pretty good - even satisfying - but it's still not the same as finding the love of your life that knows how to push all of the right buttons!

Ideally, with a road crew, I'd be using all-tube beasts with big cabinets. But that's just not the case for me these days. My practical side really does appreciate the Swiss Army Knife aspect of the AxeFx, and that's pretty much all it comes down to, and it sounds great no matter what the application (into a traditional rig or full direct to FOH with cab sims, or even direct recording/re-amping).

I agree with you for the most part, but, hauling in gear can also make you resent it and wish you had a magic box to replace most of it

That being said, I've been messing around with the idea of bi-amping before I came across dUg's rig. I think it would be cool because you get the full range of frequencies your instrument produces without forcing your speaker to push a range that it's not designed for. I think Pete Steele had tweeters on his rig for that same purpose. And, while the fundamental is indeed pushing the low end, there are harmonics "within the note" that may benefit from being run through a guitar amp.

But, something like that would have to be A/B'ed in a studio to really be able to pin point if it makes much of a difference.

 

[Omega Monkey]

Only 150 bands of EQ... will it be enough?

 

[comingxcurse]

Only 150 bands of EQ... will it be enough?

Never enough EQ!