Currently I am running everything through the mains and using my amp as a monitor to hear the bass. We dont have subs. Could I take the bass out of the mains and place my cab up front under a main. Our mains are peavey pr15's. My amp is an ampeg svt 3 pro with an ampeg svt115e. Would this work? Or should I just get a sub?
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Setting my bass amp under the mains
- Thread starter spacerust
- Start date
You can set up your amp and speakers however you like. I usually keep my sound out of the mains, unless we are playing a stage with a big system. I cant see any reason why you couldn't set the speaker under the mains, but would you be able to hear yourself? I'm guessing you want to do this because you think people cant hear you in the audience? Why not just keep your speaker and amp in the back with you and turn it up if needed?
It depends.....
General rule: Mains used for performance, band set up behind mains, band can feel mains, but not well enough to monitor. Enter need for on stage monitors.
If mains used for rehearsal, this is more of a monitor situation. Mains can be directed to your taste like a monitor.
If you plan to use mains for performance, FOH should worry about how mains sound, then use your rig and monitor mix to secure your live onstage sound.
General rule: Mains used for performance, band set up behind mains, band can feel mains, but not well enough to monitor. Enter need for on stage monitors.
If mains used for rehearsal, this is more of a monitor situation. Mains can be directed to your taste like a monitor.
If you plan to use mains for performance, FOH should worry about how mains sound, then use your rig and monitor mix to secure your live onstage sound.
There are positives and negatives to your idea:
Positives:
*You would time-align your bass signal with the PA signal which is always a good thing
*Your bass amp transmits your bass tone better than most PA cabs.
Negatives:
*You are taking away the engineer's control over your bass signal. It's hard to mix when you have less control.
*Your bass rig is not functioning as a sub for the PA. There's still no kick drum or keyboards in the subs so the mix is still going to feel thin.
*Your bass rig is on one side of the stage which means the other side is not going to get as much bass until you get further back in the room.
*You are taking away the engineer's control over your bass signal. It's hard to mix when you have less control (this point was important enough to mention twice)
So long story short, get a sub for the PA and continue to use your bass amp as a monitor.
Positives:
*You would time-align your bass signal with the PA signal which is always a good thing
*Your bass amp transmits your bass tone better than most PA cabs.
Negatives:
*You are taking away the engineer's control over your bass signal. It's hard to mix when you have less control.
*Your bass rig is not functioning as a sub for the PA. There's still no kick drum or keyboards in the subs so the mix is still going to feel thin.
*Your bass rig is on one side of the stage which means the other side is not going to get as much bass until you get further back in the room.
*You are taking away the engineer's control over your bass signal. It's hard to mix when you have less control (this point was important enough to mention twice)
So long story short, get a sub for the PA and continue to use your bass amp as a monitor.
Have you ever heard a sub ?
never
Read the OP. His PA system consists of 15" 2-way top boxes only. His Ampeg will transmit his bass tone to the audience much better than those cabs or any comparable standalone PA cabinet. And just because you add a sub to a PA doesn't mean you're guaranteed superior bass tone. But, if you'll read the last sentence of my previous post you'll see my recommendation is to add subs to the PA as that will benefit the entire mix as opposed to just the bass player.
Ok, I found a guy who is willing to sell me two EV 18 subs for 450. He said he doesnt play anymore and just wants to get rid of them. I have a peavey ipr 3000 power amp. If I put the mains on one channel daisy chained and the subs on the other channel daisy chained, could that work? My pr15's are 8 ohms each and the subs are 8 ohms each. The peavey amp has a built in crossover. But would this put each side at 4 ohms or at 8 ohms? Its a peavey ipr 3000.
Each channel will see 4 Ohms, which is fine.
A couple of suggestions: (1) If you're currently using the PR15s on stands, keep doing so rather than setting them on top of your new subs. Running a sub on each side invites "power alley" (excessive bottom in some parts of the room, and none in others, due to overlapping sound waves). Instead, try to couple them (stacked or side-by-side), centered in front of the stage (some folks even use this as a stage extension of sorts, putting the lead singer's wedge on the subs). If centering them is not an option, coupling them on one side or the other still gives better results than having one per side. (2) Try to keep your crossover setting around 90-100Hz if possible, especially if your subs are on one side. If you go much higher than 100 Hz the subs' location becomes sonically apparent.
Hopefully you'll have time to experiment with various configurations and settings to find out what works best for you. Good luck!
A couple of suggestions: (1) If you're currently using the PR15s on stands, keep doing so rather than setting them on top of your new subs. Running a sub on each side invites "power alley" (excessive bottom in some parts of the room, and none in others, due to overlapping sound waves). Instead, try to couple them (stacked or side-by-side), centered in front of the stage (some folks even use this as a stage extension of sorts, putting the lead singer's wedge on the subs). If centering them is not an option, coupling them on one side or the other still gives better results than having one per side. (2) Try to keep your crossover setting around 90-100Hz if possible, especially if your subs are on one side. If you go much higher than 100 Hz the subs' location becomes sonically apparent.
Hopefully you'll have time to experiment with various configurations and settings to find out what works best for you. Good luck!
