What's your gig rig philosophy?

[groovaholic]

My philosophy around gig gear is:
"Better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it"
...but then apply a minimalist approach to that maxim.
i.e., ensure I have all of the essentials covered, but don't bring anything extraneous.

I'll bring enough amp to ensure I can easily hear myself, but not so much that I overwhelm the room.

It's important to me that I have fun when I play, and that means finding a balance between the schlep and the actual playing time.

 

[Jebberz]

Bass, Microphone (for back vocals), Wireless, pedalboard, and a small mixer for IEM.

We do our own sound and if found out that the bass sounds better and more consistend accross the room in FOH whent I'm not using an amp (No phase fights between the amp and FOH) so I ditched the amp and rely only on IEM to hear myself.

 

[WI Short Scaler]

The only part of our PA that I don't own/haul is the subwoofer(s). Our guitarist owns and hauls those.

For most of gigs we use one 15" Mackie sub with 2 12" Mackie Thump tops. But in a few spaces where space is limited we use 2 Behringer 12" subs with speaker poles to hold the tops in the interest of space. The Mackie board, my Rumble 100, pedalboard (wireless, tuner, sub n up pedal, light controller), and 2 basses to every gig. My two parts-basses go to almost every gig. And I have one golf bag travel case that has all the various stands.

I also own and haul 3 sets of Chauvet wash lights, one color bar that go for night gigs.

I can fit it all in my Ford Edge so life is good.

 

[nono]

I've been putting together my live rig, and since PA support is good at my current gig, it provides a really easy, and cheap load out.

My rig is currently a Sterling Sub 5 HH (just procured), and a Rogue fretless 4 that I've been modding. GK MB115 neo is the amp, and that's pretty much it. No pedals, sometimes a wireless.

We've got wireless IEMs we run as well, so having my own mix makes things very easy.

My expensive gear is staying home now. I've got stuff I couldn't possibly replace, and risking it at gigs didn't seem like a great idea.

What kind of gear do you tend to grab for your gigs?

Two basses in a double gig bag, because breaking strings does happen. Wireless receiver with two transmitters because two basses. One stand for at least two basses. Whatever I need to get into the PA (the last few years with my former band it was a GT-10B, if I don't need the multi-fx part I 'll take a DI). A microphone in case the rest of the band does not forbid me to use it. A power strip because you never have enough sockets on stage. A few cables, spare batteries and strings, some basic tools like a Leatherman. Set lists. That's it.

My former band always had enough PA as one of the guitarists could provide it. I don't know about my future band yet but I don't own an amp anyway so I'll have to hope the trend continues.

 

[mambo4]

My philosophy is "Bets sound I can get with One trip from the car to venue".
bass and GenzBenz SL 900 in the gig bags ( + cables ) over the shoulder,
fEarful 12/6 in my right hand.

I doubt will ever need more.

 

[31HZ]

Have a good time, all the time.

That's my philosophy, Marty.

 

[Bulltrout]

Whenever there is a PA, I bring a tuner pedal and DI and in-ears - that usually it. I was using a light-weight Traynor combo until I recently replaced that with a Mesa Walkabout combo, which I'll bring if there is no PA.

 

[DirtDog]

Travel light, travel fast. Not just for gigs, either!

 

[Timmah]

I play 90% small clubs, bars, etc with no PA support, so I use a 210 combo or 212 head/cab depending on the situation. The combo comes to small gigs and places with a PITA load-in, the stack comes to anyplace I feel like I need to project. I bring only what I need and a backup for everything.

Some gigs I run straight from bass to amp. Some gigs require effects so I bring a board (I have one pedalboard based around an HX stomp and a couple analog pedals that I use for everything).

I always have an extra tuner, extra cable, and usually extra strings in my gig bag. When I can, I also like to bring a backup bass, amp head, and a cheap MultiFx that can work in a pinch. The extra amp lives in my car, but I try to keep the rest handy to minimize interruption if anything goes down.

 

[turf3]

So here's the question - forgive me as an upright player - but I play pretty hard on upright, have never broken a string there. Electric bass strings are a bit thinner, but on the other hand the scale's a lot shorter so the tension is less, and if I play the electric even 1/10 as hard as I play the upright, it just gives me buzzes and vibrations and all kinds of unwanted crap. I have to do what feels like just barely stroking the strings ever so gently or the thing rattles all over the place. What the heck are you guys doing to break strings on electric basses? Do you have your action set to the moon? And if that's it, why? There's an amp to do the heavy lifting.

 

[DJ Bebop]

The few ampless things I’ve done I'm too cheap to cobble together some fly rig. So it’s bass and my amp head, WD800 for my DI and feed to my headphones or my in my ears or IEM or whatever that thing is the kids are doing now.

 

[TheReceder]

The pay determines the rig. Big pay, big rig. Less... I may be able to do the load in in one trip without a cart.

 

[socialleper]

I have exactly one rig...so that...
I keep two of the same bass so I have a backup, but I rarely bring it to local shows; just tours. I have a Mesa 800+ that sits at home. Again it is a backup in case my DB751 dies, which nothing sounds like. I only have one speaker cab. The Barefaced Big Twin is the perfect cab for me. I can't afford to have two, nor to I really need it.

 

[Michedelic]

I may be chronologically advanced, but I’ve endeavored to not let myself become a decrepit old man. Moving an amp, which I will be using, is not a problem, in fact it’s part of the activity regimen. I can’t stand IEM’s, headphones, etc, and I want to physically feel what I’m playing; all I want to hear in any monitors is vocals. Of course I have pedals, they’re spices and flavoring on what I’m cooking up. I don’t think that how bass sounded in, say, 1965, is the apex or particularly sacred. Did I mention that I use roundwounds? There, I guess I just did.
If I’m playing at Funzo’s Knuckle Room, I’ll play an SX P knockoff with upgraded parts, but if I’m in a situation where puke and theft are not likely, I’ll use much nicer, but not necessarily FSO, instruments.

 

[FugaziBomb]

This

And this

And one of these

And a couple of these

 

[Wasnex]

So here's the question - forgive me as an upright player - but I play pretty hard on upright, have never broken a string there. Electric bass strings are a bit thinner, but on the other hand the scale's a lot shorter so the tension is less, and if I play the electric even 1/10 as hard as I play the upright, it just gives me buzzes and vibrations and all kinds of unwanted crap. I have to do what feels like just barely stroking the strings ever so gently or the thing rattles all over the place. What the heck are you guys doing to break strings on electric basses? Do you have your action set to the moon? And if that's it, why? There's an amp to do the heavy lifting.

I have broken strings, but it's very rare. In fact usually use strings for over a decade, and eventually replace them when I want a livelier sound. I find that old strings get really dull ad thuddy if I play a few hours daily, but seem to recover a bit if I don't play everyday. When it gets to this point I may remove tension and retune.

I noticed a similar effect on upright and typical, even with spiros.


Aggressive slap and pick playing can result in more regularly broken strings. My slap and pick technique are relatively light though, so it's not a problem for me.

 

[sawzalot]

Almost all my gigs have good PA support, so it's my bass into a Line6 HX Stomp XL into the PA. The effects chain has compression, a parametric EQ, an octaver, and an amp sim. Done. The only fancy stuff is that I have separate presets to even out the levels of different basses so I present a consistent signal to the PA.

 

[Timmah]

So here's the question - forgive me as an upright player - but I play pretty hard on upright, have never broken a string there. Electric bass strings are a bit thinner, but on the other hand the scale's a lot shorter so the tension is less, and if I play the electric even 1/10 as hard as I play the upright, it just gives me buzzes and vibrations and all kinds of unwanted crap. I have to do what feels like just barely stroking the strings ever so gently or the thing rattles all over the place. What the heck are you guys doing to break strings on electric basses? Do you have your action set to the moon? And if that's it, why? There's an amp to do the heavy lifting.

Depends on the gig and the bass. Sometimes I like to dig in quite a bit with my fingers for that clangy sound, especially in a heavy rock context with new rounds. Heavy pick playing or slapping can also break strings, but it’s a different sound than a light touch produces.

Mostly, though, I bring extra strings cause sh*t happens. Sometimes it’s a heavy hand, sometimes a manufacturing defect, sometimes the thing just falls over. I myself have only broken one string on a gig, but it was enough to teach me to carry a spare set. Over the years those spares have saved other players a few times, too.

 

[brianrost]

My expensive gear is staying home now. I've got stuff I couldn't possibly replace, and risking it at gigs didn't seem like a great idea.

Not much sense to me in buying amps that are too precious to bring to gigs.

P.S. getting a bit jealous of all you guys who never have to bring amps any more

 

[bftbassman]

super simple rigs

Ibanez TMB30>cord>tuner>Ampeg VB4>Berg 610nv

Gibson SGJ>cord>tuner>SD-1> Peavey 5150(block letter) Marshall 4x12 5150 speakers up top & EMI swamp Things below