Phil Jones Ear Box with a separate amp?

[Petebass]

Backstory: Covid has changed everything. What few gigs I get now are much smaller than before, so I put together a rig for small gigs. I got a combo which sounds nice (Ashdown Studio 15, 300w). But small gigs means small stages, so the combo is pushing the best part of the sound through my legs, and I don't have ears down there. I'm assured it's sounding nice out front, but I keep getting told to turn down to the point I can't hear what I'm playing. I've had mixed results with tilting the amp.

The Ear Box: Those who have one know the drill. The idea is you put it on a mic stand at ear level. It's designed to run parallel to the existing speaker. Great idea, except for one thing..... The 15" speaker of my combo is too efficient. It overpowers the ear box so I can't really hear it even with my head right up against it. I couldn't help but wish for a way to control the levels of the combo and the ear box independently.

The solution: a TC Electronics Bam 200 to run the Ear Box. Small, cheap, clean sounding amp. So far, I've only tried it at home but I have to say, the results seem very promising. I was worried the amp might not have enough juice. It makes 200w at 4 ohms, but it's a 32 ohm speaker so that not a lot of watts. But I've cranked the combo pretty hard at home and seemed to be able to get the ear box to keep up.

Just wondering if anyone else has tried this, or anything similar, out in gig land?

 

[Zbysek]

I own and use the Ear box.

I don’t remember bringing second amp to a gig to drive the Ear box separately.

However, I remember omitting the Bass cab and using only the Ear box. It was in a large concert hall with large subs. I knew I would hear lows from the FOH…

 

[Marko 1]

so the combo is pushing the best part of the sound through my legs,

You can just put it up on something, tilt it, whatever to get it where you can hear it.

The 15" speaker of my combo is too efficient. It overpowers the ear box so I can't really hear it even with my head right up against it. I couldn't help but wish for a way to control the levels of the combo and the ear box independently.

Sounds to me like that little ear-box thingie isn't worth much... at least in your situation.

 

[Petebass]

I feel like I should elaborate on the mixed results from tilting. I hit a couple of snags:

I mentioned earlier they small gigs means small stages. At most gigs, I literally have another band member standing right beside me. So tilting to make it louder for me also makes it louder for them. So they turn up, then I turn up, then they turn up, and so on.... and that's counter productive on so many levels. All this extra spl is now going into the vocal mics and pretty soon, everyone is unhappy.

I've also found on stages with low ceilings that tilting can create some unwanted resonances out the front. People I trust all agree the combo sounds better in the crowd when not tilted.

In a perfect world, I'll get the ear box just loud enough and pointed in just the right direction that I'll the only one who can hear it.

Still keen to hear from any other Ear Box users.