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Setup For Whisky

S

swelltrain

Mar 3, 2010
49
0
#1
Hello all!

I am rather new here and not sure if this is the correct forum for my question, but I'll try.

First, some quick background about me and my playing:
I have only played bass for a year, but have some other "musical" background w/ guitar, hand drums, home recording, etc.

The band I am playing with started as two people with acoustics and has grown to include a backup band.

I started playing with the two original members in my garage about a month ago and they have asked me to play out w/ them (yay!). The first show I will play with the full band is Sun Apr 18th at the Whisky in LA (!!! for me!).

Unfortunately I only have a little 90 watt practice amp an NO experience setting up for a stage, sound check, etc. Help!

I know I will have to rent something, but I'm not sure what? If it makes a difference, the band sound is close to something like Coldplay with a female vocalist, clean sounds, acoustic gtr, etc.

My practice amp has an EQ and I set the treble down, and boost the mid and lower since I don't slap and I want to minimize my (somewhat) noisy finger transitions.

Thanks in advance for any advice. -s
 
#4
swelltrain said:
Hello all!

I am rather new here and not sure if this is the correct forum for my question, but I'll try.

First, some quick background about me and my playing:
I have only played bass for a year, but have some other "musical" background w/ guitar, hand drums, home recording, etc.

The band I am playing with started as two people with acoustics and has grown to include a backup band.

I started playing with the two original members in my garage about a month ago and they have asked me to play out w/ them (yay!). The first show I will play with the full band is Sun Apr 18th at the Whisky in LA (!!! for me!).

Unfortunately I only have a little 90 watt practice amp an NO experience setting up for a stage, sound check, etc. Help!

I know I will have to rent something, but I'm not sure what? If it makes a difference, the band sound is close to something like Coldplay with a female vocalist, clean sounds, acoustic gtr, etc.

My practice amp has an EQ and I set the treble down, and boost the mid and lower since I don't slap and I want to minimize my (somewhat) noisy finger transitions.

Thanks in advance for any advice. -s
Click to expand...
time to do some digging....you may need a di,find out about the monitor situation.....put together a kit with everything you might need,extra cables,batteries,strings,stands,and mark everything you own clearly.....if you rent something like an svt,the sound guy will be familiar enough with it to get a decent sound,and you will not be caught short of power
 
#5
We did a showcase there in May 2008.

Was a good experience, but it was hard to get good tone. You'll be playing with like 5-7 other bands, have your gear stacked in front of or behind their stuff, and have a one-song soundcheck early in the afternoon (assuming it's a weekend).

I think their board is digital, so they save the presets for each band, as the entire lineup soundchecks in reverse order of how you play, so the stage gets stacked/staged properly.

They will (at least when I was there) run a line out from your amp (if you have a DI out, I'd set it to Pre), and then mic your cab with a Shure Beta 52 kick mic. If not, they'll use the house DI (not sure what it was- my Boogie has a DI out), and then they mic'd the cab.

They have these hanging "monitors" on each side of the stage, and I think they have a few that are in front on the floor. You're not playing long enough to get a great mix, so just make sure you can hear yourself. That room disperses sound very well, so need to turn up so you can hear. Otherwise you'll get blasted by guitars through the monitors and side-fills.

It's a fun place still IMO to play. I was flown out there for a week to do some indie-label face time, etc., and was one of the best trips of my life, not actually living in CA. Brought my gf, had a great time. f

But yeah, hope that above info helps.
 
#6
a little 90w amp isn't exactly "little." it can still throw some wattage. and with a pa playing coldplay type stuff, you're probably not going to need to be really loud, and if you are, you'll have a pa to compensate.

i might consider upgrading in the near future, though. i love my old b-15n at 25w but i'll be the first to admit i can't use it on every gig i do.
 
#7
JimmyM said:
a little 90w amp isn't exactly "little." it can still throw some wattage. and with a pa playing coldplay type stuff, you're probably not going to need to be really loud, and if you are, you'll have a pa to compensate.

i might consider upgrading in the near future, though. i love my old b-15n at 25w but i'll be the first to admit i can't use it on every gig i do.
Click to expand...

Did he say if it was tube or SS? I have a Nemesis 110 combo that's 110W. My computer system is louder. Lol.

From playing on that stage, unless everyone else is whisper quiet, he's not gonna hear a thing from that amp.
 
#8
ok here's a shot of me at the Whiskey. Like mentioned earlier, they'll get a DI signal as well as mic up your map. You can see both here:

Link Removed

Since it's a coldplay like band you SHOULD be ok with a 90w practice amp and the house system. If your practice amp doesn't have a DI out then you may wanna consider getting something like a Sansamp BDDI or anything that has a DI out.
 
#9
Thanks very much for the feedback.

The amp I have is a Behringer Ultrabass BXL900A. Unfortunately it does not have a DI out.

I think I will end up borrowing or renting.

One addl question: If you were on a budget and could get one compressor pedal that is set and forget, what would it be (again for Coldplayish, non-slapping, root note following tiny tasteful fill style play :)? I try to be conscious of my dynamics when practicing, but in this case I'm willing to take a $150 "shortcut".

If compressor pedal is not a shortcut, but a good investment, even better! I am not presuming to know one way or the other. Thanks again guys and awesome pic Dacalac!
-s
 
#13
Pretty much what RockStarBassist said is how it goes. The wedges come in handy..they ask what you want more or less of in your wedges for stage volume. You can show up with no amp and have no problems really.
 
#14
swelltrain said:
Thanks very much for the feedback.

The amp I have is a Behringer Ultrabass BXL900A. Unfortunately it does not have a DI out.

I think I will end up borrowing or renting.

One addl question: If you were on a budget and could get one compressor pedal that is set and forget, what would it be (again for Coldplayish, non-slapping, root note following tiny tasteful fill style play :)? I try to be conscious of my dynamics when practicing, but in this case I'm willing to take a $150 "shortcut".

If compressor pedal is not a shortcut, but a good investment, even better! I am not presuming to know one way or the other. Thanks again guys and awesome pic Dacalac!
-s
Click to expand...
honestly, i'd take that $150 and save it to upgrade your basic rig before you start thinking about a compressor. most sound systems have a compressor they're going to run you in anyway, just to protect their pa. and if you're going to get serious with this, you need to upgrade your rig.
 
#16
The nice thing about The Whiskey is you can forget about your tone: the sound guys and management simply don't care how you sound. They're more focussed on selling $8 domestic beers. Have fun, take a pic of your band name on the marquis, and never go back.
 
#17
Thanks everybody for the advice. Esp Stumbo for the info on the compressors. However, I think I will take JimmyM's advice and hold off for a better rig.

As far as the Whisky and pay to play goes, I honestly don't really know or care. The band I am playing with is The Conleys Invalid Link Removed and AFAIK they didn't pay to play. I think it has more to do with somebody knowing somebody who can get you in (which is probably less fair than pay to play, but Hollywood). Apparently their manager is one of those people. I'm too old to be cynical about a gig or a club (36). Between a career, mortgage, two kids and a bass I just picked up about a year ago, I'm just stoked somebody asked me to play with them. :) -s
 
#18
swelltrain said:
I'm too old to be cynical about a gig or a club (36). Between a career, mortgage, two kids and a bass I just picked up about a year ago, I'm just stoked somebody asked me to play with them. :) -s
Click to expand...

This is the EXACT attitude ALL musicians should have for their entire life, by the way, no matter how big, famous, or successful they get. No gig is too small to take seriously, and that will set you apart from the millions of other arrogant musicians that think location played = talent of musicians playing.
 
#20
JimmyM said:
honestly, i'd take that $150 and save it to upgrade your basic rig before you start thinking about a compressor. most sound systems have a compressor they're going to run you in anyway, just to protect their pa. and if you're going to get serious with this, you need to upgrade your rig.
Click to expand...

Plus some amps have built in compressors anyway, if that's something you really want.
 

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