Oh, man... That's a totally different story... I do need to feel the bass to play in the kind of band that I play. BTW, I don't use headphones in the studio.
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How big an amp do you think you need?
- Thread starter Pbassred
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Oh, man... That's a totally different story... I do need to feel the bass to play in the kind of band that I play. BTW, I don't use headphones in the studio.
In such a big place you would have a big P.A. You can feel the bass from the P.A.
"How big an amp do you think you need?"
I get asked that question all the time but being naturally well indow...... Sorry I didn't understand the question. ......... How big is your car?
With bass it's the watts you don't use that are important. It takes quite a bit of power/watts to reproduce a nice fat, clean signal thru a good sturdy speaker in a well made speaker cabinet. Then taking that signal so it can be heard over top of guitars, which can get away with a lot less watts and drums, not to mention drummers. Then you factor in the type of music you've chosen to play. Metal=lots, Jazz=less.
So if you have a bass amp that says 500 watts, your first 100 watts are super clean. But when you get into 1/2-way the 250 watt range your amp is working harder and sounds different, even if you don't hear it. More expensive amps can take more because they a true watts. Remember, like everything, you get what you pay for.
In the old days lots of watts meant lots of weight, the power wattage came from the transformer. Now with the modern switching systems in amps 500 watts can weight 10-lbs.
So if your pushing you amp past half way, volume wise, you don't have enough wattage. If you have two volumes your power amp can be at 3/4 and you pre-amp at 4 or 5 and that's where the amp likes to be at max volume.
After that, as Scotty said; "I'm afraid she's breaking up Captain."
I get asked that question all the time but being naturally well indow...... Sorry I didn't understand the question. ......... How big is your car?
With bass it's the watts you don't use that are important. It takes quite a bit of power/watts to reproduce a nice fat, clean signal thru a good sturdy speaker in a well made speaker cabinet. Then taking that signal so it can be heard over top of guitars, which can get away with a lot less watts and drums, not to mention drummers. Then you factor in the type of music you've chosen to play. Metal=lots, Jazz=less.
So if you have a bass amp that says 500 watts, your first 100 watts are super clean. But when you get into 1/2-way the 250 watt range your amp is working harder and sounds different, even if you don't hear it. More expensive amps can take more because they a true watts. Remember, like everything, you get what you pay for.
In the old days lots of watts meant lots of weight, the power wattage came from the transformer. Now with the modern switching systems in amps 500 watts can weight 10-lbs.
So if your pushing you amp past half way, volume wise, you don't have enough wattage. If you have two volumes your power amp can be at 3/4 and you pre-amp at 4 or 5 and that's where the amp likes to be at max volume.
After that, as Scotty said; "I'm afraid she's breaking up Captain."
I don't understand - can't the other musicians turn down?
You have no idea how loud those drums can get onstage. No, they can't turn it down.
How come they can't play softer? Are they a special kind of drum? I mean in the videos I linked there were lots of percussion and horns and in the first one the guy was playing a double bass. So I was wondering if maybe they were a different brand of drums or something.
I get where Allex is coming from, Pedro. Drums have a completely different tonality when you slam them as opposed to playing lighter. So if you want them to sound like they're being slammed, they have to be slammed.
What happens when they play in a club where its not so big? And as I said, in the previous videos they didn't seem to need to be so loud. That's why I thought maybe it was a special brand of percussion that were made to be loud.
I don't think they're fitting that show in a club
So then he only plays stadiums? Wow it must be nice. I bet he makes a lot of money.
Ya know Jimmy, I'm confused (again). Here's the bass player for Santana playing to a whole lot of folks using a 200 watt amp.
How was he able to hear himself?
How was he able to hear himself?
Pedro, you're preaching to the choir with me, bro. Never did a job that an SVT couldn't handle.
Your right.
My point was.
My 55 watt tube head, with a 2x15 cab.
Was louder, with more head room.
Than my 300 watt SS Shuttle 3.0 into a 2x10 cab.
Gah, threads like these are fun.
If you're playing covers and jazz and everything, no you don't need a super rig. Not at all. You just have to be heard. Hell, for some gigs I'd love to do DI->mixer->in ears.
But for a lot of genres out there, it has to be loud and it has to be big. I think the reason a lot of us like huge heads is because, yeah the 300 watt SVT is enough for anything. It sounds great. But some of us need a clean sound at those same volume levels. I don't know squat about the inner-workings of amps, but I think that when an SVT is being pushed really hard, it's putting out more than 300 watts.
Also, a lot of genres are a lot more superficial and aesthetic than others. Try playing in some indie noise rock band with a mini rig of doom. It's just not intimidating enough. Sometimes you just need a fridge behind you.
If you're playing covers and jazz and everything, no you don't need a super rig. Not at all. You just have to be heard. Hell, for some gigs I'd love to do DI->mixer->in ears.
But for a lot of genres out there, it has to be loud and it has to be big. I think the reason a lot of us like huge heads is because, yeah the 300 watt SVT is enough for anything. It sounds great. But some of us need a clean sound at those same volume levels. I don't know squat about the inner-workings of amps, but I think that when an SVT is being pushed really hard, it's putting out more than 300 watts.
Also, a lot of genres are a lot more superficial and aesthetic than others. Try playing in some indie noise rock band with a mini rig of doom. It's just not intimidating enough. Sometimes you just need a fridge behind you.
I have a feeling you're right. Jimmy you'd probably do this gig just like Daryl did w/ a B15.
I disagree a little with this. The problem is finding a drummer that plays like Dennis Chambers or Omar Hakim, (to pick two good examples). They can make a kit sound as "slammed" as anyone and not be very loud at all.
