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What do bass players need live??

#21
Strat Hater said:
I bring a bass and my case, that's it. However I only go to jams...
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Wow! You're brave! I've shown up to gigs in established venues (like churches, for example) and found the guitar cables shorted out. No sound, buzzing, popping, etc. Even if I were going Spartan style, I'd still bring a cable or two. If I just showed up with nothing but a bass, I couldn't be sure if I was going to be able to play or not.

Usually, I bring everything that I expect to need and a few extras. For example, I keep a cable tester in my gig bag so that if a cable (mine or someone else's) fails, I can actually test it to see if the problem is the cable or not. I carry a Leatherman Supertool and all sorts of other stuff. I guess I don't have the guts to show up with nothing but a bass and expect to play.
 
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#23
Most soundmen in a professional place have their own DIs and will strongly insist that they get to use them because they are used to them and won't have to worry about strange buzzes, pops or unexpected levels that might damage their gear.
If you have pedals or rack gear or insist on your own DI that usually just ruins their day and they don't like you no more.
 
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#24
Nev375 said:
Most soundmen in a professional place have their own DIs and will strongly insist that they get to use them because they are used to them and won't have to worry about strange buzzes, pops or unexpected levels that might damage their gear.
If you have pedals or rack gear or insist on your own DI that usually just ruins their day and they don't like you no more.
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I wish more people understood this. There's a lot of hate on TB for sound engineers over the whole DI thing. I understand the irritation over spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on gear only to be told that the SE wants you to plug into his (not your) DI. Most SEs that I've heard in working in a pro level place have a seasoned ear. They aren't no-talent, tone deaf bums. They want the whole show to sound good and they aren't try to suck your tone away. They are trying to putting where it sounds best in the mix and most of them have a good ear. IME, most SEs have a better ear than many guitarists. That's probably because they aren't focusing on ONE instrument; they're focusing on the entire sound. It can be hard to trust someone else with your sound but that's just the way it is sometimes. We have to learn to go with the flow.
 
#26
My ideal gig is "show up with your bass" but after a couple of bad experiences, I now show up to gigs with an amp head and a couple of cabinets. If the venue has good sound and I don't need the amp, at least I have a place to put my drink. Or, if I need more volume, I can go out to the car and get the second cabinet. One of these days I might invest in a good DI, but I've honestly never played a club that didn't at least have a Whirlwind or Radial for me to use.
 
#27
JoshSmith said:
I have a huge question. So me and my band are starting to play bigger venues. When i play live will the venue mic my cab or use a direct box? Will they provide the direct box or mic?
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depend.
Mic or DI also depend on many factors, including what do you and/or engineer prefer/decide, doesn't matter if it's big venue or not.
Practically, engineer prefers DI, although not all of them. That's why I recommend you to bring your own DI, the best DI you can bring.
For me it's a RedDI. For you it could be different, anything you like. But..you should be picky with DI Box choice.
 
#28
totallyfrozen said:
I wish more people understood this. There's a lot of hate on TB for sound engineers over the whole DI thing. I understand the irritation over spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on gear only to be told that the SE wants you to plug into his (not your) DI. Most SEs that I've heard in working in a pro level place have a seasoned ear. They aren't no-talent, tone deaf bums. They want the whole show to sound good and they aren't try to suck your tone away. They are trying to putting where it sounds best in the mix and most of them have a good ear. IME, most SEs have a better ear than many guitarists. That's probably because they aren't focusing on ONE instrument; they're focusing on the entire sound. It can be hard to trust someone else with your sound but that's just the way it is sometimes. We have to learn to go with the flow.
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No we don't. And why is it that the soundmen who insist on doing it their way invariably turn out the poorest mixes out of anyone we work with, while the go-with-the-flow guys always turn out great mixes?

However, I will say this...if you're a newbie to performing and the OP obviously is, go with the flow because you haven't learned enough about how live sound works to be second guessing someone with a lot of experience, even if they suck ;)
 
#29
JimmyM said:
No we don't. And why is it that the soundmen who insist on doing it their way invariably turn out the poorest mixes out of anyone we work with, while the go-with-the-flow guys always turn out great mixes?...
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Well with words like "invariably" and "always" you pretty much got it covered. I guess that ends the discussion so I'll just sit the hell down and shut up.

[/THREAD]
 
#31
GreggBummer said:
Yes. There is no need for a DI box. In fact, if you are connected to the FOH through the amps DI, and the amp dies... The FOH will still get your signal. This happened to me... And Peavey fixed the amp for free in three days.
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I am not convinced that is true for most amps as most are post preamp but pre EQ (or switchable post EQ) and need the amp on.

Going through your amp gives the sound of the preamp voicing to the sound, which generally sounds nicer than totally direct, but a sound engineer may quibble (because of the risk of the amp failing). It's not a bad thing to invest in your own DI that sounds nice, whether it is one that purely matches impedances, or one that also has a preamp (e.g. Sansamp), or you may use effects (e.g. Zoom B3). If using effects backups are handy, e.g. a Zoom MS60B that will probably sound ok through a generic DI, plus spare power supplies, batteries, etc. Especially batteries.
 
#33
I use the tonehammer on just about every gig nowadays for DI, and as a front end for whatever amp it is.
Though if it's a neat amp, I will set the controls flat and play with the amp.
it pretty much always sounds better than the house box.
Most of my larger gigs are backlined, but I still use the TH, and have an Audix D6 mic in my bag, along with some cables, batteries, flashlight, leatherman, breath mints & mic covers.
 
#34
If you don't have a quality head with a DI, should be first on your list. Past that, I have never had an issue relying on that. Never brought a mic either, I guess either one of those separately isn't a bad idea but I have never used either and have never had an issue with any gig I have done. Backup head with DI makes more sense to me than just a DI, if you are trying to be prepared.
 
#35
It depends. My band is kind of an old school metal throwback and we gig with a Marshall stack and SVT with 8X10 cabinet. Do we NEED all that? Probably not. However, we've been opening for some national acts lately and they have all used at least one Marshall half stack per guitarist and SVT with 8X10 for bass player. I've been asked to turn up at almost every job. We opened for Slaughter and one of the guitarists had 3 Marshall stacks. The other guitar player had 2 marshall stacks and the bass player had 2 8X10 Cabinets and a couple of heads.

I think this is all the exception to the rule though.
 
#38
So what I'm seeing in this thread is the usual "everyone's needs are different, do what works for you".

EX: Bringing a backup head with DI is not on the cards when you're using public transport to get to-from your gig – my micro-head has a DI and I have a DI with my preamp, sometimes I only need to bring my DI/Preamp and my backup in that case is another cheaper DI built in to an FX pedal. Some people are only playing venues that are sure to have a DI and backline, I don't have that luxury – I'm playing venues that think a PA is the DJ's crappola, if there's any PA at all.

So to the OP, be loaded for bear until you gain enough experience to know what exactly your needs are and shed the excess when/if you think you can get away with it.
 

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