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What is enough for gigging?

M

metdistortion

Aug 13, 2008
246
3
England
www.lightwithin.org.uk
#1
My band have almost finished writing our first EP and shall soon be starting gigging.

The thing is, I'm a bit of a noob when it comes to gigging. The only experience I have is playing at Church worship evenings and helping to set up sound systems at school music performances. So I don't really know what I would need for a small gig.

I only have a 15-watt Marshall bass amp (MB15), which I doubt will be enough for a small gig, although it was enough to fill a church when I had it miked up. The amp also has a line-out which can be used to play through bigger speakers. But if I use my Washburn XB125, which is a high ouput bass, I can only play on lower volumes when using my preferred tone on my practice amp, although it does not have this problem with a bigger amp.

Will this be enough if i mike it up or route it through a bigger speaker using the line-out. Will I be able to do this at most small venues?

This may sound like a stupid question, but can I use my MB15's lienout to plug it into a Cab, and essentially use the MB15 as an amp head?

If not, how big an amp will be needed for small venues?

Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance:).
 
#2
this is really an amp question and there are a lot of threads in the amps faq sticky that have heated debates about this.

i can tell you that 15 watts isnt gonna come close. With a pa that can handle the bass then you can use anything as long as you can hear it. otherwise, not so much.
 
#3
IvanMike said:
this is really an amp question and there are a lot of threads in the amps faq sticky that have heated debates about this.

i can tell you that 15 watts isnt gonna come close. With a pa that can handle the bass then you can use anything as long as you can hear it. otherwise, not so much.
Click to expand...

Yeah I was thinking of using the amp as a foldback and let the PA handle things. My amp is pretty loud for 15 watts, people have said it sounds more like 30-50 watts. But I'm worried that there might be really basic venues that don't have PAs, and just rely on the amps the performers bring.
 
#4
I personally think that as a rule of thumb, the bass amp should be at least three times as powerful as your guitar player's amp. If they're playing a 30w, you push 100. If they are pushing 100, have earplugs and a 300, etc. Of course, in these days of DI, if you can get your stage volume right and use FOH, you're set.

This isn't just for a pissing contest with your guitarist, it's because lower frequencies (bass) need more power for equal volume.
 
#8
metdistortion said:
I think that plugging the amp into the PA would be the best option, using an amp as a monitor.

How exactly is this done? I believe you need a DI unit and some XLR cables. But how many and where are they plugged into on the amp?
Click to expand...

well that right there sorta outs you a bit. that and saying that some people think your 15 watt amp sounds more like a 30 watt amp.

Any time you double watts you get a maximum 3 dB increase in volume, which to most people is just noticeable. To get twice as loud (a 10 dB increase) you need ten times the watts. Bass amps generally need a lot more watts than guitar amps to be as loud. Some 100 - 150 watt 1x15" combos cut it for gigging, but many on the board will reccomend more wattage than that.

As far as going into the PA, that's cool. IF the pa can handle the bass guitar (many smaller ones cannot, especially the speakers). If your amp has a DI out you can use an XLR/mike cable right out of the amp into the PA. If not you have to use a direct box before your amp (one output goes to the pa, the other to your amp). Or your amp may have a line out. in that case you can run a 1/4" cable to the pa if it has a line level input on at least one channel.
 

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