I have been playing bass for many years and have owned all types of bass amp/cabinet combinations.
Currently own three 500-800 watt class D amps and one SVT head and a Tech 21 RBI in a rack with a 1000 watt crown power amp. I have multiple cabinets, SVT 8x10, SWR 8x10, GK Neo 2x12, Eden 4x10,
EA Whizzy 10 and Trace Elliot 2x8, I play in 4 different bands playing different styles of music and use whatever gear I feel is appropriate for the gig for each band.
Last week at one of my band's rehearsal I was in a rush and grabbed my pedalboard case (which also houses one of my D class heads) and headed out to rehearsal. Open up the pedalboard case and the class D head isn't in the case. I had played a gig a few nights before at a venue that has an excellent backlne,(brand new SVT full rig as the backline) so I had taken my class D head out of my pedalboard case. So I'm screwed. At this particular band's rehearsal there are two guitarist who both use tube amps, Orange head/cabinet, PRS combo amp. The drummer is a ROCK drummer and the band plays guitar based rock music, Its loud but not crushing.
One of the guitarists says he has something I can use. He hands me a 50 watt 4 channel PA head. I'm thinking this is going to suck but it's better than nothing because the PA at the rehearsal space is really only for vocals. There are two Peavey 2x10 bass cabinets at the rehearsal space I stack vertically and I connect the no-name PA head to the speakers and proceed. The PA head only had bass and treble controls for each channel as well as a gain knob (no clip light on the channel to set the gain). No master eq just a master volume.
I turn the bass and treble halfway up and and the gain halfway up too. I use my preamp pedals on my pedalboard to shape my bass sound so wasn't looking to use the PA tone controls. Next I turn up the master volume up hoping for the best. I tell the band to play a song while I make some adjustments.
So... with the master volume turned up to the 1 o'clock position I'm amazed that the bass fit in the mix just fine with this low wattage head! At rehearsal my bandmates do not play quiet. The rehearsal room is 20x40 which is a decent size and not dampened in any way.
Now I'm thinking it's time to completely re-evaluate my amplifier needs. I wish there was a commercially available class D power amp in a super compact form I could just mount to my pedalboard. I think something in the 200-300 watt range would be able to address most of the gigs I do. If playing an outdoor show I could use one of my higher powered heads.
Currently own three 500-800 watt class D amps and one SVT head and a Tech 21 RBI in a rack with a 1000 watt crown power amp. I have multiple cabinets, SVT 8x10, SWR 8x10, GK Neo 2x12, Eden 4x10,
EA Whizzy 10 and Trace Elliot 2x8, I play in 4 different bands playing different styles of music and use whatever gear I feel is appropriate for the gig for each band.
Last week at one of my band's rehearsal I was in a rush and grabbed my pedalboard case (which also houses one of my D class heads) and headed out to rehearsal. Open up the pedalboard case and the class D head isn't in the case. I had played a gig a few nights before at a venue that has an excellent backlne,(brand new SVT full rig as the backline) so I had taken my class D head out of my pedalboard case. So I'm screwed. At this particular band's rehearsal there are two guitarist who both use tube amps, Orange head/cabinet, PRS combo amp. The drummer is a ROCK drummer and the band plays guitar based rock music, Its loud but not crushing.
One of the guitarists says he has something I can use. He hands me a 50 watt 4 channel PA head. I'm thinking this is going to suck but it's better than nothing because the PA at the rehearsal space is really only for vocals. There are two Peavey 2x10 bass cabinets at the rehearsal space I stack vertically and I connect the no-name PA head to the speakers and proceed. The PA head only had bass and treble controls for each channel as well as a gain knob (no clip light on the channel to set the gain). No master eq just a master volume.
I turn the bass and treble halfway up and and the gain halfway up too. I use my preamp pedals on my pedalboard to shape my bass sound so wasn't looking to use the PA tone controls. Next I turn up the master volume up hoping for the best. I tell the band to play a song while I make some adjustments.
So... with the master volume turned up to the 1 o'clock position I'm amazed that the bass fit in the mix just fine with this low wattage head! At rehearsal my bandmates do not play quiet. The rehearsal room is 20x40 which is a decent size and not dampened in any way.
Now I'm thinking it's time to completely re-evaluate my amplifier needs. I wish there was a commercially available class D power amp in a super compact form I could just mount to my pedalboard. I think something in the 200-300 watt range would be able to address most of the gigs I do. If playing an outdoor show I could use one of my higher powered heads.
Last edited:
