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I forgot my amp at home today

#21
I did several festival stages earlier this year and they were all monitor only. Good, experienced sound crew, got a great sound out of the provided monitors. I think they were using JBL SRX835's.

I generally bring a Berg 1x12 and a tilt back stand for my dedicated bass monitor, but regular monitoring can work great if the sound crew know their business. My signal chain is Cali76CB => Noble DI, so that helps :thumbsup: .... sure sounds great in my IEMs too.
 
#24
Played my first gig a few years ago through monitors at a small club because just like the OP, I left my amp at home. What an idiot I was. I got the cab, no amp. Don't know what I was thinking. The big problem was that we didn't have our normal PA that night. Didn't bring it because it was a smaller club and figured we'd use there PA. There was only one floor monitor for vocals in the middle. There were speakers hanging right over my head and I had to do my best all night to hear my bass through those. It was definitely not ideal. Pretty horrible actually. But, we made it through.
 
#26
bassicmike said:
I've had sound guys tell me to turn down my on-stage Rumble 100 to the point where it's inaudible.

They don't want it interfering with FOH sound.
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Yep - I've had that happen before as well. That's really their problem if you think about it. A Rumble 100 shouldn't be that impactful when it comes to FOH sound unless you're really cranking it. And, if you're having to turn up your amp to be heard, it usually means you're competing with the overall volume level of the house and sub backwash. Volume goes both ways, and FOH sound levels are generally too loud to begin with, and the low end should be shelved in more cases than not. Funny thing is, even after turning my amp off, the issues on stage remained in most cases. Everyone should be able to find a middle ground, but it usually falls on the bassist to turn down/off their rig.... which is why I stopped bringing one if a venue/tech showed a pattern like that. Not going to haul something that is not usable.
 
#27
bassicmike said:
I've got some monitors-only gigs coming up.

I always have an amp behind me as a stage monitor so I have a singular source for the bass.

So we'll see how it goes, and we'll report back.
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Ampless gig one in the books. Results inconclusive.

It was nice to just show up and plug in.

But.

The auditory experience on stage was not satisfying. But I think some of it was due to the sound guy. My monitor mix was terrible - we all complained about our mixes. At first I was so boomy in the stage mix, wound up playing the whole gig on the bridge pickup to reduce that boom ( and, yes, I made repeated requests to have the eq adjusted). I'm told the sound in the house was good. And once the show started, I had no vocals in my monitor. I could hear myself so that was ok, but the night was a challenge.

I think I still like having an amp behind me to give me stage sound.
 
#29
bassicmike said:
I think I still like having an amp behind me to give me stage sound.
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Yup, I'm pretty convinced I like having an amp behind me.

Had a private party gig on Saturday night. Your basic function hall - no stage, wood floors throughout. We did our own sound for it. And we had subs. Guitarist went ampless, but I had my rumble behind me with enough volume as to not interfere with FOH.

I was much happier hearing an amp sound rather than a monitor mix. I felt I was playing the music more than just making sure I played the correct notes and hoping they translated out front.

Another ampless gig in 2 weeks. I'm thinking I'll take my SansAmp to give me a little EQ control. More reports to follow.
 
#31
I know that a lot of people are impressed by going FOH, but not me. My amp carries whatever bass there will be. Granted we don't play arena's, but in our weekend warrior band we have three amps and drums, a little vocal PA with a couple of monitors for vocals, that's it. With a little maturity we have great sound.

We really prefer having the control over what we sound like.

Departing from our usual, we have a sound guy waiting for us this weekend at this bigger venue, and all the FOH. Can't say I'm looking forward to it. It could be great, but according to my anecdotal evidence I have my doubts.

I'm bringing my amp and cab!
 

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