Ha. That reminds me of a gig I got once when I was in high school. A friend of mine from a family of country and blues musicians, he played guitar as well as drums in country gigs, asked if I wanted in on a country gig he was drumming for. So I brought my Fender bassman and we met up with these two good old boys, drive about 60 miles to a dive bar for river rats on the Mississippi. We set up, the lead guitarist plugs in to my high channel and away we went. It was pretty bad, but the drunks didn't care and I got paid my 20 bucks. Fortunately he brought an amp on subsequent gigs. It was an education for sure.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Using Combo Amp as PA
- Thread starter Dorito200
- Start date
It won't work very well for that amp. That Combo will be too dark sounding to get much clarity out of the vocals. The tweeter is tuned WAYYY up high - virtually in hiss-territory and very clacky and thin. For vocals, you need a much lower tweeter range.
You can do it, but it won't sound great. The amp is flat, but the cab is really heavily voiced and it's just not gonna sound clear. (I have the same combo. Great for bass, but not ideal for PA-style sound reproduction.) That said, a full-range extension cab could possibly fix this.
You might be better off going direct into your mixer and running that out to a powered PA speaker. That would handle your bass but would also work well for the rest of the band in terms of clarity and frequencies.
You might be better off going direct into your mixer and running that out to a powered PA speaker. That would handle your bass but would also work well for the rest of the band in terms of clarity and frequencies.
My family used to have a fairly large gathering every year (~150 people) - A Pig Roast with "Pot Luck" side dishes. At our last one, three years ago, I brought over my Rumble 500 head, a single R410 cab, my "Jam Man" pedal, mic and XLR cable. The Jam Man was loaded with 8-10 hours of material, from Frankie Yankovic Polka (my dad's favorite) to Metallica, along with a recording of me playing the "Star Spangled Banner" on EB (inspired by a TB thread about Flea playing SSB for Kobe's retirement). Jam Man pedal has an XLR mic input, with level adjustment, I really like that thing.
We had background music on the Jam Man, and the Mic for singing along, announcements, etc. We kicked it off with SSB, with me singing along through the Mic, and I told everybody that if they sang loud enough, nobody would hear my clam (actually not a "wrong" note, but rather a "missing" note). My niece (10 yo old at the time) had a blast up on the stage (deck) singing along with songs she knew. It worked great, got all kinds of compliments, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
Of course, YMMV.
We had background music on the Jam Man, and the Mic for singing along, announcements, etc. We kicked it off with SSB, with me singing along through the Mic, and I told everybody that if they sang loud enough, nobody would hear my clam (actually not a "wrong" note, but rather a "missing" note). My niece (10 yo old at the time) had a blast up on the stage (deck) singing along with songs she knew. It worked great, got all kinds of compliments, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
Of course, YMMV.
My first real concert experience - B.J. Thomas back around 1969, I think. Left side "PA" was a Kustom 2x10 combo with a 4x8 column, right-side "PA" was a Kustom 4x10 combo, and there might have been a 4x8 column on the other side. So, yeah, it *can* be done, but....
I think the mishmosh of different gear may have been a result of them hitting the local music store and saying "give us whatever you have on hand...". It was a pretty small town, but the music store did have a few Kustom pieces.
I think the mishmosh of different gear may have been a result of them hitting the local music store and saying "give us whatever you have on hand...". It was a pretty small town, but the music store did have a few Kustom pieces.
I know, pics or it didn't happen, and I didn't remember having these. I hate to be a thread killer.
The "Stage". In the background, the R500 head & JamMan are on table. R410 Cab underneath, pointed towards the lake.
Our friends (that "R" is my father Ralph, and also my MI).
Good times!
https://www.amazon.com/Philips-Wire..._rd_i=B083TKKLTH&psc=1&ref_=pd_bap_m_rp_23_sc
these things are so cheap and sound great. Just run your mixer into a couple of them
these things are so cheap and sound great. Just run your mixer into a couple of them
As an Amazon Associate, TalkBass may receive commissions from qualifying purchases made via links on this site.
Hahah... didn't Ashdown do something like that... I think they called it the "B-Social" or something... basically a boombox with a bass input and bluetooth (I think?)...
EDIT: Why, yes... it was one of many things Ashdown tried.
B-Social-75
Last edited:
This is actually what’s called a party speaker. Has two microphone inputs and a guitar input, so it works great for busking.
