SIZE!!!! Does it matter?

[chadds]

Bring a pencil to a writing contest, a knife to a knife fight or an Apache helicopter gunship if that's what is called for.
Don't sell all your gear off and put together a rig for practice/coffee house gigs, one for mediums and one for outside with and without, PA gigs.

Then you can whip out whatever you need. Ooops, guess that was a private joke.

 

[Mudfuzz]

My cabs are not the same height so I can't put them side by side with my head in the middle so I stack them when I need two cabs, it is just that simple.

 

[fokof]

Anywho, I disagree that a DI doesn't color your sound. It won't always color your sound, but many of them do impart their own tonal thing to the sound. One of the favorite DI's of all, the Reddi, was designed to sound like a mic'ed B-15.

Of course.
And a cable will also change the sound. The sweat in my hands is gonna change the sound. The humidity and temperature is gonna change the sound. etc.....

I think you'll agree with me that the closest thing to the bass sound out of your plug is a DI , not a miked cab .

I also disagree about leaving FOH alone. The audience doesn't know from FOH. All they know is good sound and bad sound. I won't hesitate to get on the FOH guy to get the sound I want in the PA because if my sound is bad, the audience blames me and my band, not the FOH guy. There are some gigs I do where my band isn't in charge, so I'm not as picky on those gigs, but you should never let a FOH guy screw you if you can help it because it comes back on you.

I'm a sound engineer too. 50% of my income is as a FOH guy. ( Studio tech also ) So when I play , and the board is not onstage , you can't fight it.
While you play on stage , how do you know how it sound in the back of the room ? While the show is on , you're gonna go in the back , have a listen then go tell the FOH guy to do this & that to the mix while groovin'N'Playing... ?????

I don't have that ability......

PS:If I do a gig and know that the sound is awfull , if then I start to think about that , I won't play good.

 

[Rob Mancini]

I will say that I USED to agree with you about the DI for about a 10 year period. I don't know that I agree anymore. Nowadays, I feel like I get more convincing tones with a mic, but then, that's all amp and cab-dependent.

Re FOH, I can't tell you I know exactly what it sounds like everywhere in the house. I've sat on both sides of the board, too. But I can tell you that I know when something is wrong, and I usually know what it is. And when I get offstage during soundchecks, I find I'm right most of the time. Call it instinct. I can feel a vibe as the sound bounces back to me from the wall, or the sound pressure from the house PA cabs feels a bit unusual, stuff like that.

 

[fokof]

It,s one thing to go in front on the sound check , but it's a completly different ball game to go in front in the show !
And that's the important game.....

The crowd will change the sound a lot , and if you hear something wrong while playing , how are you telling the sound dude ? In the mic ?
" hey , cut 123hz on the floor , I think I feel that the gtr back vocal is not loud enough.....etc..." Doesn't sound very professional.
Personaly , I can't tell what it sounds like in front while on stage.I'm on the back of the PA , so what I hear is slapback and everything -300HZ.
Of course if there is a feed back , you can tell the frequency or when there is a hum too , but standing waves are gonna be different on the stage and in front. If you have done FOH or monitor sound , you know what I'm talking about.
Of course , I can do my smartass and tell the guy do this and that , but when the door open , and you start the show , it won't matter anymore.You'll still be on the hands of the sound dude.

Anyways to got back on topic , does size matter ; yes it does , but it's not the bass player's job the fill a room.
when there is a PA of course , I don't talk about small clubs.

 

[Inflin]

Back when I was playing in mid-level rock bands, and we had to drive our own van and carry our own gear, I used to think the other guys where CRAZY to have the Ampeg fridges and the rest. I had a tiny 2x10 60W Bassman that could be heard on stage, and a good DI. Why break my back with an 8x10?!

But then I had the very enviable position of being in a touring band with ROADIES! And GEAR BUDGETS! And a TRUCK! So I had two 8x10 Ampeg SVT rigs. And boy, do you feel like a god with 1600 inches of woofer breathing down your neck!

So to summarise: I love a rig as big as they can go, unless I'm carrying it.

 

[Mudfuzz]

Eh, SVTs aren't really that heavy, I lug CL and big cabs [I don't like the sound of 8X10 "fridges"] around when ever I can, it doesn't bother me, I like the sound.

As for direct [I absolutely love Radial JDIs], it is convenient, but you are at the total mercy of the soundman, which is sometime good and sometimes bad, but no matter what you have to play through it and do you best to rise above it if the sound is crap.

 

[markdax]

I cant wait to get my Mesa 1000 powerhouse...a 4x10 and a 1x15 in one cab...for me its all about moving as much air as possible...and making the earth shake for all the women in the venue ;-) ROCK ON!!!

But do i need it? nah probably not...could i use the £1600 on home improvements or a new car? probably...but then...wheres the fun in that?!

 

[Curtybob]

Last night my drummer rigged up a really old Westbury combo amp with a mic into the PA... it sounded awesome. This is the first time we've run any bass through the PA other than a little in the drummer's monitor, and I think we are gonna start doing it more often.

The Westbury was only supposed to be an emergency rig for the old singer/bass player of the band I'm in... but I think I'm gonna spend a little time over there trying to get that tone outta my POD rig.

 

[SpectorBass]

If you ask me, it's more about displacement than power. Sure, a 112 cab fed with 300 watts is going to sound louder than a 112 cab fed with 150 watts, but an 810 fed with 150 watts will crush the 300 watt 112.

For volume, cone area matters more than pure wattage.

 

[Lelander]

If you ask me, it's more about displacement than power. Sure, a 112 cab fed with 300 watts is going to sound louder than a 112 cab fed with 150 watts, but an 810 fed with 150 watts will crush the 300 watt 112.

For volume, cone area matters more than pure wattage.

And efficient cabinet design matters as much as either. The best of both world would likely be a cabinet with the interior volume of an average 8x10 with 4 10" drivers up at the top where you can hear the mids.

 

[SwamiRob]

I think you'll agree with me that the closest thing to the bass sound out of your plug is a DI , not a miked cab .
.

I don't like the sound of my bass, I like the sound of my bass AND my amp