• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Gonna try ampless, wish me luck

jmoorewright

jmoorewright

Apr 30, 2011
55
6
Saskatoon, SK, Canada
#1
Not sure what my question is here, mostly just looking for moral support ;)

I'm going to take the plunge at a gig tomorrow night and try going no-amp. I'll be using a Sansamp VT Bass Deluxe direct into the board. I've run this way in rehearsal over the last month or so and really like it.

My biggest question is around monitoring. This setup works really well in the [DEL]rehearsal space[/DEL] basement, but that's with the FOH speakers pointing at me so there's lots of sound. Any thoughts on getting an effective sound through floor wedges?
 
#2
I haven't gone ampless, but I've played 3-500 person gigs with a 100w 1x10 combo. The first few songs were rough as I was so quiet through the monitors I had to listen to myself through the P.A over the crowd.

Once the sound guy stopped hitting on women and gave me a glance, I shot him a thumbs up, and voila my monitor was filled with bass, no more issue.

I enjoyed it, hopefully you do too, it saves on set up/loading time.

Be warned, the time you saved packing up, your guitarist and drummer will want used to help them load all their gear. They will probably want you to help pack the van, and re-organize it when they have too much stuff to just throw it in the van at 3 a.m.
 
#4
I've done it a couple of times and to be truthful I would rather go ampless personally.

One time was when the head died just at show time and we didnt have a spare. I have a Sansamp that I use all the time. The DI out is what I send to the board anyway. The amp was always just for stage volume. We had monitors to spare, so we just pumped me into them and forged ahead. Soundguy, who at the time was the FOH guy for Exile said it sounded fabulous.

The other time, a bunch of guys who I play with had gone to a club for open mic night and the guitar player actually forgot the head to his rig (marital problems had him a little discombobulated) so we all just used DIs. It kept our stage volume down and I liked it then too.

All this plus the fact that I can go with just my gig bag with my bass in it if I do! :D

BnB
 
#5
I've had so many bad experiences with sound guys that there's no way I would trust being able to hear myself to them. I would be OK with ampless if I knew I'd always have a good sound guy.

My bands have good stage balance, so there's no serious motivation.

KO
 
#6
kraigo said:
I've had so many bad experiences with sound guys that there's no way I would trust being able to hear myself to them. I would be OK with ampless if I knew I'd always have a good sound guy.
Click to expand...

That's where I'm at... the more variables you can control yourself, the more likely you are to have a good gig.

But more power to ya if you can make amplessness work!

Mac
 
#8
PlayTheBass and kraigo, I hear you about being more at the mercy of the soundguy. We generally run our own sound, so sound guy goodness/badness is our own responsibility.

Seamonkey, yes we run subs in FOH so hopefully that will suffice for lows.

I'm doing this for two reasons:

  1. pure lazinesss (Diabolus, you're right on about becoming everybody else's roadie)
  2. an attempt to stop the volume madness
Either I can't hear myself and end up playing by feel, or I crank it up and then others do the same. In both cases, the volume gets stupid and any feel/groove flies out the window. Not saying this is going to fix everything, but seems like a good place to start.

I'm also going to try experimenting with IEM at least at rehearsal tonight. Well, I actually hesitate to call it "IEM" as it will be a pair of cheap earbuds and a little Behringer mixer to mix bass and monitor mix, but interested to see how it turns out.
 
#9
Unless you have one of those guitarists that have to drive their 100 watt tube amp to get "their tone", it could help a lot with the stage volume wars. Unless you get some really nice (heavy) wedges, you would benefit from having the ability to EQ the monitor mix separately from the FOH so you can take the heavy lows out and bump the mids, or you might not be able to really turn up the bass in your mix. Hope you have your own mix too! IEM's are definitely cool, but it takes a good while to get use to the isolation, and if you get a bad mix, there is no getting use to it!
 
#10
Been ampless for about 5 or 6 years. I use a Line6 PodxtLive (with the bass pack), it gets a sound I like, and can use. The sound guy (the gtr player) loves it (he also uses one). We run our own sound, stereo mains (mackie srm450's, 1501 bottoms and JBL subs - nice little system), 4 separate stereo monitor mixes (4 piece band), all our in-ears hard-wired by the way. Our monitor cables are built into our guitar cables. Works awesome.
Definitely not a setup for the technology challenged though...
 
#14
I play on average 20 times a month, and I seldom use an amp. Most of the time I use IEMs. I currently own an Eden rig, and (2) GK rigs that I seldom use.

I play bass at my church - full band playing loud Praise and Worship - using IEMs and no amp. Our sound "person" is the preacher's daughter who knows basically nothing about running sound. My musician buddies there tell me they seldom hear the bass.

I also have my own Bluegrass Gospel band, again ampless, again clueless sound person, but I get lots of compliments on my tone and sound. We occasionally do large festivals, and I never use an amp at those.

I also play in a neighborhood band, and I actually use a GK MB150 with a 115 cab. Six peice band, drummer plays electrics, vocals are up-front, so we are low volumne, and use two floor wedges. I actually miss my IEMs in this band.
 
#16
OK, just back from the gig. I'm sold. :D

Turned out they had pro sound guys and equipment - bonus! During sound check I ran the VT Bass direct and really liked it. The bass player from one of the other bands let me A/B with his rig (Hartke head with Markbass 2x10 and 1x15), but I preferred direct.

On a side note, he sounded great. Bass Invaders, a local Saskatoon band, if you get the change check them out. Awesome!

I could have used a bit more clarity from the monitor sound. Lots of low end, but it was difficult to make out notes at times. I think this was mostly due to the room, basically a concrete gym. Even packed with about 250 people it was boomy as heck.

So, experiment successful!
 
#17

Hey moorewright,

If you basically like going without an amp, you might work towards putting together a rig that will enhance it. I didn’t want to rely on a soundman to hear myself, not to mention the clarity issue you mentioned, so I got small Electro Voice ZX1-90 PA speaker that I just set in a stool in front of me (the cabinet is shaped so that it can also be used as a wedge). I power it with a small one-rack-space amp and I use an equalizer to help with the “clarity” issue, if needed. I use the high-pass filter output of my pre-amp’s built-in crossover, so I can dial in just enough low end and let the house subs cover the rest of the bottom end.

Others use special “kick-back” amps designed for this purpose, a nice idea for an “all in one” solution.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt



Administrator, Tobias Club
Administrator, Pedulla Club #45
Big Cabs Club #23
Tobias Club

 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back