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SIZE!!!! Does it matter?

#41
There is no one correct answer when it comes to cab size, number of cabs, FOH vs. no FOH support, wattage, amp volume, etc.

The FACT is that there are ALWAYS going to be variables that will dictate what will work best for any given gig.

I like to carry around a 610 or 810 for most of my gigs. The cab isn't turned up super loud; it's height allows me to hear a fuller tone at a more reasonable volume.

I don't care about the weight and size when it comes to moving it around; big cabs are big boy toys. If you like the tone of a cab as much as I do mine, then you'll find a way to happily move it around.

The aesthetics of a big rig behind you is mostly a waste. Except for other bassist in the audience, YOU will be the only one who cares about the visual wonder of a big amp behind you.
 
#44
I guess for me, 95% of the venues I play at have PA support and they run the bass direct into it. Given that situation, all my stage rig becomes is a monitor. I like for myself to sound good through my rig but it really is just for me and the other people in the band. The audience gets FOH. So basically, stage rig shouldn't matter as long as you can hear yourself on stage and you sound good to yourself. In all actuality, a lot us would probably be better off just buying a really nice DI for our FOH sound because that is what people out front are going to hear.

Geddy Lee and John Mayung do not use stage rigs, they have in-ear monitors and they use nice pre-amps to run their signal into the system with. The way we think about bass gear is changing. All the craze and all the new stuff is smaller, lighter and still loud and gigable. When more player start doing what Lee and Maying are doing, you'll see more and more gear coming out that caters to that trend.

I use a Schroeder 1212L and that's it and I can always hear myself pretty well. My band has a keyboard player, a guitarist, drummer, myself and a lead singer. I play mostly small to medium sized bars and clubs and private parties.
 
#45
Warpeg said:
The aesthetics of a big rig behind you is mostly a waste. Except for other bassist in the audience, YOU will be the only one who cares about the visual wonder of a big amp behind you.
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Sometimes that's enough. But I don't think I agree with this. Some people have good reasons for a monster rig. Like that girl from Clatter or Timmy C. Or even Robbie Shakespeare, who uses 3 SVT's to play reggae because he loves the sound of the amps turned down low but wants to hear himself loud. His is a bit of overkill, but personal sound is very important to the player. I know I play better when I can hear myself the way I want to hear it.
 
#46
Rob Mancini said:
Yeah, soundmen don't like you, pal!

:confused:

Anywho, if I were playing metal, I would want a big cab behind me. But a 610 is considered big in most circles.
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haha.. infact all i've had from soundmen is praise!! So I must be doing something right!

I think in rock with two guitars and a heavy hittin 'dave grohl' kinda drummer you need the height of a rig for onstage monetering.. I cant see how im going to be able to adequately hear a 2x10 on the floor... unless i go about creating some kinda mountain to put it on.. plus if a sound guy says ' can you turn down a little' its no problem!


I think it's different from the UK to the US. I can't think of one pro touring band i've toured with that uses a small but loud cab live over here... maybe it's cos we had all the rock legend like entwistle, bruce, harris, geezer to influence us and north america has geddy lee... who doesn't even have a cab insight ;)

haha
 
#47
I just sorted myself a big rig

and its quite frightening to look out, in a nicely intimidating way

but it sounds fantastic, we are enveloped in huge bass frequencies, myself and the drummer sit in a near 3D spectrum of sound and have such a good time like this.

for that thrill I gladly move a big rig around

small rigs are cool too

but I have such a good time with this big rig
 
#48
attackbass said:
haha.. infact all i've had from soundmen is praise!! So I must be doing something right!

I think in rock with two guitars and a heavy hittin 'dave grohl' kinda drummer you need the height of a rig for onstage monetering.. I cant see how im going to be able to adequately hear a 2x10 on the floor... unless i go about creating some kinda mountain to put it on.. plus if a sound guy says ' can you turn down a little' its no problem!


I think it's different from the UK to the US. I can't think of one pro touring band i've toured with that uses a small but loud cab live over here... maybe it's cos we had all the rock legend like entwistle, bruce, harris, geezer to influence us and north america has geddy lee... who doesn't even have a cab insight ;)

haha
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Depends on the band, but I've seen many indie bands use amps like the Vox AC30 and mic'd them up instead of using a huge Marshall stack.
 
#50
I don't get all this pessimism toward having large amps with regards to the whole DI necessity, the best bass sounds I've heard is when someone bothered to put a microphone in front of a bass amp. Why exactly aren't guitarists forced into the DI situation too? I understand the whole bass frequencies developing at whatever distance depending on etc, but that still hasn't stopped a couple of well placed mics with a little DI mixed in sounding awesome. I've always been much more impressed with how my bass sounds when there's a mic involved somehow.

When I was back at music college a pretty experienced (at least 15 years doing pretty big gigs and organising god knows how many music events and sorting out PA systems and the like) sound guy who taught me in my live sound and studio lessons was horrified to hear that I was almost never miced up at gigs and ran off nothing but a DI. He wasn't some older stuck in his ways kinda guy either, must have been no older then 35ish or something.

Personally I reckons there's plenty of people that'll suffer lugging 8x10s up stairs to get a big sound, and I hope there still will be in a few years because I'll miss the sound you only seem to be able to get out of that kinda setup.
 
#51
I was originally looking at getting 2x410's or an 810 but I ended up going with a Genz Benz 610 and I couldn't be happier. I wasn't sure about 610 cabs because they didn't have that "tower of power" look about them and of course at 6'5" I feel kind of ridiculous with a little combo or 410 behind me. The GB 610 changes all that because the vents on the bottom make it about 8-10 inches higher than most comparable 610's which makes it almost as tall an 810 and about 30-40 pounds lighter.
 
#52
SwamiRob said:
I don't get all this pessimism toward having large amps with regards to the whole DI necessity, the best bass sounds I've heard is when someone bothered to put a microphone in front of a bass amp. Why exactly aren't guitarists forced into the DI situation too? I understand the whole bass frequencies developing at whatever distance depending on etc, but that still hasn't stopped a couple of well placed mics with a little DI mixed in sounding awesome. I've always been much more impressed with how my bass sounds when there's a mic involved somehow.
Click to expand...

If you want to hear an amp ,you place a mic.
If you want to hear a bass , a DI is what you need.



With a guitar , you want to hear the distortion of the amp ,not the guitar DI'ed. That's the diference between the two.
 
#54
GK 1001 RBII, SWR Megoliath, BBE SonicMaximizer, D112, etc. My problem is this, sometimes we are playing a smaller show and sometimes we are not. Regardless if we have some heavy gear to move it is much easier to have it than not. I'm not playing with Rush but some of the bands my band gets to play with, their rigs absolutly dwarf mine. 3 8X10's n' ****.
So, even if I have to go down stairs, upstairs, down an elevator, etc, it has to be done. The Megoliath is a tough 8X10, very rugged. We've got a decent crew as well but if I'm shleppin' my own gear it better than good, cause I'm gettin' to play! LOL
If the guy at FOH (monitors) or the monitor board (stage L or R) is having a good night or a bad one I know that I can get a good sound and audibility from my setup on a small or large stage.
I really like using the DI and a mic, a D112. This setup does give me the punch and directness of the DI but via a second channel mix the "growl" of the rig. I certainly do not use this setup with smaller gigs (no DI, no mic).
I was forced to use a 4X10 GenzBenz (I think) an a GenzBenz amp head (I think 350w) as a backline, didn't cut it; I couldn't hear. Anyway, just my buck o'five.
 
#55
gkstereo.gif


Oh it matters, and I'm for it. Better to have too much than not enough. Even then, amps have this wonderful feature called a volume knob that you can turn to the left and decrease the intensity of the sound coming from your set up. If I wanted to see bass players who only use a single 1x12 I wouldn't go to see rock/alt./metal/punk bands, I'd go to acoustic coffee shop shows or jazz gigs.
 
#57
ERIC31 said:
Wow! There is no way I could fit that in my Nissan Altima! My back hurts just looking at it! :eek:
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Part of the reason why I drive a truck! And it's actually not too cumbersome. The 4x12 weighs 116 lbs but the weight is distributed pretty evenly across the cab and the handles are placed so that it's a pretty easy lift. The tilt-back wheels make it effortless to roll around too. The hardest thing to haul around is the rack!


fokof said:
If you want to hear an amp ,you place a mic.
If you want to hear a bass , a DI is what you need.

With a guitar , you want to hear the distortion of the amp ,not the guitar DI'ed. That's the diference between the two.
Click to expand...

I'll give ya that if you want a hi-fi bass tone a DI is your best bet and a great soundman can dial in some warmth and fatness, but great soundmen are few and far between, and even fewer understand what I want out of my bass sound. So it's absolutely necessary for me to bring my own amps and cabs and just easier to have them mic'ed.
 
#58
fokof said:
If you want to hear an amp ,you place a mic.
If you want to hear a bass , a DI is what you need.



With a guitar , you want to hear the distortion of the amp ,not the guitar DIed. That's the diference between the two.
Click to expand...

Yeah that's a fair point, if your into the whole Hi-Fi kinda sound where an amps more to make your bass audible rather then to be part of the intrument.

But what about DIing the guitar amp? How come sound guys don't demand that's done? I've seen a signal taken from some fancy Marshall pre-amp once and that was remarkably good but still had that flat lifeless DI kinda sound to it.

When I hopefully get whatever the newest and most powerful version of a Thunderfunk is at the time I won't be so hostile toward being DIed but I still much prefer it to be used to even out what a microphone(s) miss.
 
#60
attackbass said:
This is mainly aimed at guys in rock or metal bands i guess.. but do you feel like you need that big stack behind you when your playing live-- either a 8x10 or a 4x10 and 1x15 stack?
Click to expand...

Most of us are entertainers, not "artistes". The look of your band counts. Big amps looks good behind a metal band.

Sure, looks cannot make up for poor musicianship, but they count for a lot, in many walks of life.
 

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