So, you're looking for a new bass setup for your church band (or any band)? With sooooo many options assaulting you as you walk into your local musical instrument super duper mall, where should you start? How much power do you need? How big do your speakers need to be? Is bigger necessarily better? In this installment, we'll examine some particular needs for a bass rig, and then help you choose the pieces of equipment that will work best.
- the building blocks -
First off, lets take a look at the basic building blocks of a bass rig. Other than your bass, there's the preamp section, the power section, and the speaker. Sure, you can get a bunch of effects to liven up a boring sound, but getting a good-sounding basic setup should be your primary concern.
The sound / signal from your bass travels to the preamp, where most of your tone- shaping occurs. You'll find the volume, EQ, and the like here. Think of it as the brain or control center of your bass rig. The sound, after being shaped at the preamp, then passes into the power section. Here, the signal is amplified or made louder. So, the bigger and more wattage the power section has, the louder the rig will be. And of course, finally, the signal reaches the speakers, where you can hear what your bass sounds like. Usually the speaker is housed in what's known as the cabinet, or cab for short. Also, you'll see descriptions like 2x10, which just means two speakers of 10 size. The most common sizes are the 4x10, 2x10, 1x12, and 1x15.
The most common setup is the combo, or combination setup, where all three of these sections are in one tidy and neat box. Combos are convenient and more affordable for most players. Often times, there's also the head, which is the preamp and power amp in one convenient box, where the speaker cab is separate. A more serious investment would be getting a separate preamp, power amp and speaker cab, but we'll tackle that in a later, more in-depth look.
- how much power? -
So, how many watts do you actually need? Well, its important to realize that bass frequencies need a lot more power to reproduce low, low sounds that can be heard over the rest of the band. So, many bassists go by the 4x rule, which means the bassist's setup should have at least 4 times the wattage of the guitarist. For example, if the guitarist is using a 30 watt amp, you'll need at least 120 watts to be heard and not be dwarfed by him. This rule only applies if your guitarist is cranking his amp to the max. So, its more a safety precaution just in case he/she feels like rockin' out one day. But more realistically, the guitar amp will only be turned up to 3 or 4 on the volume dial, and you'll set your volume accordingly.
- which speakers? -
As for speaker cabs, lets take a look at how your bass sound is affected by the speaker size. There are three general sizes; the 10, 15, and the more recent 12. The general rule is the smaller the speaker, the more punch, clarity and definition the overall sound will have. Vice versa, the bigger the speaker, the more natural bottom-end. Why? Because a smaller speaker moves much more quickly than a larger speaker, thus your sound responds much more quickly, but at the sacrifice of natural bottom-end. Also, the more speakers, the bigger the natural bottom-end. Not only is the sound louder, but perceptibly bigger.
A single 10 speaker, while very punchy and articulate, has very little low end, and at most, should only be used in pairs like in a 2x10 cab. One 15 alone gives you lots of big, cushy bottom end, but its sound is too pillowy to really punch or project thru a dense mix. For example, in a large band, where there are lots of instruments onstage that compete against the bass sound, a 2x10 will fare far better than a larger 1x15 cab, which wont cut or punch through nearly as clearly. With that said, in a much smaller band, like a trio or quartet, that 15 speaker really fills out a rather empty sound group.
There's also the new 12 speaker which has been gaining ground, and while a new phenomenon, has quickly become a favorite among many players. It sort of has a little bit of both of the attributes of the 10 and 15 speakers. The 12 has a nice punch that's better than the 15 speaker, and yet, a single 12 speaker has more low-end than a single 10 speaker, allowing it to be used alone in one cab.
Now this is only scratching the surface of the many aspects that can be explored in a bass rig. In the next installment, we'll go through the modular setup, and explore more options and possibilities in-depth.
