Question for Touring bassists. Need for cabs?

[Manticore]

The best KB players can only come up with an acceptable bass part as they think chords 1st and bass 2nd. Now, that may be all the music they a playing calls for and if it works it works. I've played 100's of gigs with a duo using a drum machine. And, it used pedals to select multiple patterns and fills. Most people wanted to know where the drummer was. But, I was singing lead or harmony, running the drum machine, and playing bass. At the end of the gig I would be mentally exhausted.

Check out the bass lines from this guy...

 

[Sackvegas1]

I don't. I'm provided with backline and it's always left turned off and sitting there as a backup (kind of a waste, but hey, if they're going to keep providing them...). I run a line from a preamp on my pedal board to my IEM and it's pretty darn close to what I'd want to hear from a cab.

Totally agree. I use a REDDi tube direct box for the tube sound in my iem’s and FOH. Picked up a tecamp Enersquare. I use a little 4 Channel powered board to power the enersquare and I also use an input from the board to separately mic the bass drum. So, my Shure 535’s give clear sound, my REDDi give the tube tone, my enersquare is a tactile transducer that allows me to feel the bass drum and bass. This enersquare platform takes playing bass to a whole new dimension. My 230lbs SVT CL rig stays at our jam space. I love my tube bass amp but this system is at another level at gigs. Oh, and there is no bass sound on stage. Puts a big smile on peoples faces when the come on stage and put in my iem’s and stand on the platform .

 

[Sackvegas1]

Totally agree. I use a REDDi tube direct box for the tube sound in my iem’s and FOH. Picked up a tecamp Enersquare. I use a little 4 Channel powered board to power the enersquare and I also use an input from the board to separately mic the bass drum. So, my Shure 535’s give clear sound, my REDDi give the tube tone, my enersquare is a tactile transducer that allows me to feel the bass drum and bass. This enersquare platform takes playing bass to a whole new dimension. My 230lbs SVT CL rig stays at our jam space. I love my tube bass amp but this system is at another level at gigs. Oh, and there is no bass sound on stage. Puts a big smile on peoples faces when the come on stage and put in my iem’s and stand on the platform .

 

[QweziRider]

My 230lbs SVT CL rig...

My back just cringed.