Physically and Financially Efficient Touring Rigs

[cfbass1996]

Hi all,
I am embarking on a 30-date tour in a couple of months, most dates of which will be held in 300-500 cap venues. I am currently in search of a small, loud, and cost-effective amplifier rig for my stock Fender Mustang bass. I’m running la bella flats and use a small amount of pedals. I’ve been eyeing the Peavey MiniMax head and some sort of lightweight 1x12 or 2x10 cab, as vehicle space will not allow for anything much larger. Working bassists, what are your recommendations for a small but mighty rig that won’t break the bank?

Thanks all!

 

[pfschim]

Well, to start with, will you have FOH support for your bass on all of the tour stops ? That'll make a big difference. Also, what kind of music and how loud would get you some more refined answers to your question.

So, if you know you will have FOH, you can focus on getting the best/most representative tone to the PA vs focusing on a stage rig. For this situation consider bass pre/DI's and a small basic rig for stage monitoring.

If you won't have FOH support pretty much everywhere, then you can look at any number of amp/cab combinations. For amps, pretty much all of the class D offerings are quite small and weigh in under 10lbs. You already mentioned the Peavey MiniMax. There are the Quilter Bass Block, Trace Elf, and a little bigger might be the Mesa D800 or the Genzler Magellan.

For cabs .. here is a link to a TB discussion about sub 20lb cabs that might help you. They talk about RevSound, Barefaced, Audio Kinesis, Genzler and several others that offer small 12's that come in around 20lbs. I use a Berg CN112 that runs 28lbs and is pretty small but not super tiny.
Ultra lightweight bass cab under 20 pounds

good luck, lots of options to consider.

 

[micguy]

I play 400 to 2000 capacity places, and haven't used an amplifier in any of those paces in half a decade. My first question is: do you really need/want an amp on stage? Most decent sized gigs nowadays are ampless/in ears.

 

[cfbass1996]

Well, to start with, will you have FOH support for your bass on all of the tour stops ? That'll make a big difference. Also, what kind of music and how loud would get you some more refined answers to your question.

So, if you know you will have FOH, you can focus on getting the best/most representative tone to the PA vs focusing on a stage rig. For this situation consider bass pre/DI's and a small basic rig for stage monitoring.

If you won't have FOH support pretty much everywhere, then you can look at any number of amp/cab combinations. For amps, pretty much all of the class D offerings are quite small and weigh in under 10lbs. You already mentioned the Peavey MiniMax. There are the Quilter Bass Block, Trace Elf, and a little bigger might be the Mesa D800 or the Genzler Magellan.

For cabs .. here is a link to a TB discussion about sub 20lb cabs that might help you. They talk about RevSound, Barefaced, Audio Kinesis, Genzler and several others that offer small 12's that come in around 20lbs. I use a Berg CN112 that runs 28lbs and is pretty small but not super tiny.
Ultra lightweight bass cab under 20 pounds

good luck, lots of options to consider.

Thank you! I’m almost certain I will have FOH at every venue, but it never hurts to have a backup cab just in case. I will definitely be checking out the thread you have linked.