Michael's Rig

[basschips]

Michael,

I saw you at Constable Jack's in Sacramento. Really enjoyed the show.

I noticed your bass amp seemed to be really small. What were you using? What outboard gear did you use? Just curious.

Thanks,

Chip

 

[jeff schmidt]

Michael is a living example of the adage - "the tone is in your hands".

Last time I saw Michael play (august) he used a little Carvin Stagemate (not specifically a bass amp - sells for like 300 or 400) and a Boss VF-1 effect unit and played thru the house speakers. Sounded great. 1 note and you could tell it was Michael playing. His sound was as good as the record he did with David Cullen - Equilibre.

The 1 thing that impresses me most about Michael (beyond his musical ability) is the consistency of his sound from venue to venue regardless of the amount of gear he drags along.

 

[Zoot H Rollo]

i thought he was an SWR guy.

i saw him recently in Vista, CA. thought fer sure it was SWR.

that's what he's played at all the NAMM shows i've seen him at.

he had some effects, and his ubiquitous E-Bow.

f

 

[jeff schmidt]

As far as I know he is a "SWR guy" - but this gig was with an acoustic guitarist and percussionist - quite low key - he had no "amp" so to speak.

Point being - even when I've seen Michael playing the SWR stack - he sounds the same as when he's playing thru a little powered Carvin monitor.

 

[Michael Manring]

Thanks so much for the kind words, guys! I try to always bring a rig that’s appropriate for the gig I’m doing. I am, indeed, an SWR guy and when I can, I like to use my big SWR rig. But for many gigs I do (such as Tricycle, new trio with Alex DeGrassi and Chris Garcia), that would be a bit much, so I just bring one of my little practice amps. In fact, with Tricycle we try to play without using monitors onstage so everything has to be as quiet as an un-amplified acoustic guitar. One of these days I’m going to have to get one of those cool little SWR Workingman’s practice amps! For effects I usually use a Boss VF1.

 

[MKS]

Michael, I think I saw a thread here where you argued that it was well worth practising with "whatever you had" to hand from an amp and venue setting. Your point was that when you arrive at venues you never know what your rig will sound like or whether you are going direct to the PA, through your rig first, etc. So practice getting the tone you want/need no matter what the settings on your bass / amp / head are. Learning to get tone from your bass first using hands...

No?

 

[Michael Manring]

Yes, that’s my basic philosophy. It’s a little like the concept that audio engineers use: your best bet is to get the miking right at the source. Anything else is really just window dressing.