It all depends on the stage volume and I (and my 58 year old hearing loss!!) personally believe the lower the stage volume the better
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
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.
How many watts/cabinets do i need to gig with??
- Thread starter IvanMike
- Start date
There isn't such a thing as "overkill" when it comes to bass wattage.
Couldn't agree more. If you play gigs there will be a time and place when you wish you had more cut-through. 500w minimum into 2 cabs such as 2x10 and 1x15 for me. Each to their own though.
TL,DR; All of them.
Actually all I use indoors are the top two because they are right at ear level and don’t wash out our stage. Haven’t played an outdoor show yet to really turn them loose.
Actually all I use indoors are the top two because they are right at ear level and don’t wash out our stage. Haven’t played an outdoor show yet to really turn them loose.
I didn't read the entire thread but the answer is "it depends":
1. What is your situation, is it a band? With a loud drummer? Loud guitar player? More than one guitar player?
2. What are the venues you play, smallish? Mid-sized rooms, a lot of large rooms or outside gigs?
3. What style of music? This makes a big difference.
4. 4 string or 5 string bass? Generally you needs more with a low B string
I've been out of playing live for a while but what met my needs in the last band - Classic Rock cover band with an extremely loud drummer and one loud guitar player
A. Inside - less than 100 seats or so: 350 - 450 watts through a single 2 x 10" cabinet. This was ALWAYS Plenty for those kinds of rooms. If the room was small I used my Ampeg B2-R (350 watts); slightly larger I used a Bugera BVP-5500 (rated at 550 watts but more like 450, it was louder than the B2-R. The cabinet in question is a Carvin Redline 2 x 10", this is not on par with the boutique stuff but was light (42 pounds) in the era when I purchased them (I own 2) and sounded fine to me, my bandmates and the audience.
Not a great low B cabinet but I play four string basses.
B. Outside - generally I used a rackmount rig with an Ampeg SVP-Pro tube preamp, which fed a QSC PLX-1602.
This was used mainly with two Carvin cabinets, one of the 2 x 10" cabinets on top of a single 18 cabinet.
The cabs are four ohms so I got 1,000 watts from that rig, NEVER felt like I needed more and generally never cracked more than about 4 on the volume output of the Ampeg preamp.
Sometimes I used a pair of the 2 x 10" cabinets but I preferred the 2 x 10" plus single 18" setup.
Note these situations for the larger gigs always had PA support as well.
I used the "big rig" from stuff like opening for a version of "Asia" in a venue that held about 600 people to playing outdoor festivals, one time we headlined a 4th of July thing for a good 5,000 people.
So my simplistic answer(s):
300 to 500 watts into a single cabinet for smaller venues or venues with really good PA support
800 to 1500 watts into two cabinets for large shows, especially outdoors. A 300 watt SVT will handle this just fine as well but at the cost of lugging around an 85 pound head and a 160 pound cabinet.
My Power Amp/Preamp rack (which also has a PSU/volt-Amp meter, a rackmount wireless and a Korg Rackmount tuner) weighs about 48 pounds. The Carvins are light, 42 pounds for the 2 x 10", 72 pounds for the single 18".
I use the factory casters on the single 18", and I would just set up the entire rig on the side of the stage and then roll it where I needed it.
Even with the rack front/rear panels, and covers for the cabinets I could set up or tear down that rig in under 5 minutes....easy peasy.
Analogeezer
1. What is your situation, is it a band? With a loud drummer? Loud guitar player? More than one guitar player?
2. What are the venues you play, smallish? Mid-sized rooms, a lot of large rooms or outside gigs?
3. What style of music? This makes a big difference.
4. 4 string or 5 string bass? Generally you needs more with a low B string
I've been out of playing live for a while but what met my needs in the last band - Classic Rock cover band with an extremely loud drummer and one loud guitar player
A. Inside - less than 100 seats or so: 350 - 450 watts through a single 2 x 10" cabinet. This was ALWAYS Plenty for those kinds of rooms. If the room was small I used my Ampeg B2-R (350 watts); slightly larger I used a Bugera BVP-5500 (rated at 550 watts but more like 450, it was louder than the B2-R. The cabinet in question is a Carvin Redline 2 x 10", this is not on par with the boutique stuff but was light (42 pounds) in the era when I purchased them (I own 2) and sounded fine to me, my bandmates and the audience.
Not a great low B cabinet but I play four string basses.
B. Outside - generally I used a rackmount rig with an Ampeg SVP-Pro tube preamp, which fed a QSC PLX-1602.
This was used mainly with two Carvin cabinets, one of the 2 x 10" cabinets on top of a single 18 cabinet.
The cabs are four ohms so I got 1,000 watts from that rig, NEVER felt like I needed more and generally never cracked more than about 4 on the volume output of the Ampeg preamp.
Sometimes I used a pair of the 2 x 10" cabinets but I preferred the 2 x 10" plus single 18" setup.
Note these situations for the larger gigs always had PA support as well.
I used the "big rig" from stuff like opening for a version of "Asia" in a venue that held about 600 people to playing outdoor festivals, one time we headlined a 4th of July thing for a good 5,000 people.
So my simplistic answer(s):
300 to 500 watts into a single cabinet for smaller venues or venues with really good PA support
800 to 1500 watts into two cabinets for large shows, especially outdoors. A 300 watt SVT will handle this just fine as well but at the cost of lugging around an 85 pound head and a 160 pound cabinet.
My Power Amp/Preamp rack (which also has a PSU/volt-Amp meter, a rackmount wireless and a Korg Rackmount tuner) weighs about 48 pounds. The Carvins are light, 42 pounds for the 2 x 10", 72 pounds for the single 18".
I use the factory casters on the single 18", and I would just set up the entire rig on the side of the stage and then roll it where I needed it.
Even with the rack front/rear panels, and covers for the cabinets I could set up or tear down that rig in under 5 minutes....easy peasy.
Analogeezer
