Who's going Direct these days??

I would love to go ampless...BUT.. Band leader likes the wall of amps look..If i am gonna bring it, I might as well use it.... That said, I did a gig last year, straight DI through monitors...Loved it

 

I've been running ampless (only DI + IEMs) for the last year and a half. I used my Ampeg B-15N one time just for the look, but I couldn't even hear it on stage and it wasn't even mic'd.

I usually use a tube DI, Radial J48, Countryman, or my DBX DB12 and ears. Always have large PA support whether out or playing in churches. No mess, easy load in/out, and no fuss about stage volume. If it were purely for the look, sure...I'd love to have 2 8x10 rigs behind me, but the only sound I'll hear in my ears is still the sound of my DI because I don't usually mic a stage rig (unless it is my B-15N!).

 

I did pedalboard>DI>PA with a touring band for a while. Everyone was on in-ears. I kind of missed having my rig, but the guitars were direct also, so I just rolled with it.

Worked fine until one night right before going on for an hour and a half set at a huge street festival, opening for a pretty big artist, turned on my ears pack... And nothing. No signal at all. "Ok, we're on!"

No wedges on stage, no amp, the only thing I could hear was the drums and the bounce back from the mains, which were a good ten feet in front of us, so not much help. There were easily 5000 people in attendance. I just had to trust that I knew the songs. After about 45 minutes the stage manager finally got it working, but that was the longest 45 minutes of my life.

So now I always have an amp onstage.

 

Your experience is a very valid reason to have an amp on stage. This I can totally see.

 

I love to feel the rumble of the amp, playing loud music and all, but going direct is so nice when you're sick and tired of lugging gear around. Sounds great too. My personal preference is still to be able to walk over to my amp and feel the low-end wind through my once flowing locks, but direct has its benefits. I record everything direct, btw. Sounds great!

 

And he'll call the next guy on his list who will set up his own amp

Now that I have a REDDI, the idea doesn't gross me out like it once did, but I just don't work in that ampless world very often. I'll be happy to do it if it pays enough and I don't have to go out of pocket, but otherwise I can't hang. Too isolating.

 

For the band I’m putting together now, I’m providing good monitors and individual mixes, but no amps (cabs) allowed on stage… so that means me, too.


But yeah, if/when we’re playing a big stage (not the norm), I'll bring out some big guitar & bass rigs.

 

I'm amp-less and it works well for me. We are all IEM and run our own sound also so we (actually I) control our monitor situation. I could see how it would be a problem with a dedicated person running sound and/or monitors.

The key to is it good monitoring because you have to be able to hear yourself. Also it helps if you're not super picky about your sound because just going bass>DI>PA takes away a lot of the tone shaping you get with an amp.

It is cool though to be set up and ready to go in 5 minutes.

 

I play ampless frequently; let the sound guy deal with it so I can concentrate on my playing.

 

I've done ampless gigs before and I always miss having the feel of an SVT stack behind me. The way those 810's move air is special.

 

Yes bass driver Di pedal to the Bose PA no stage amp

 

I just bought an A Designs REDDI so ampless is about to get even better! Sorry...had to brag for a second.

 

I've been going bass > SansAmp > board with IEMs more and more. I'd say I played about 5 shows that way last year, this year it's already been 3 or 4 gigs ampless and I'll be rolling that way on my next one too.

Even when I run an amp it's just a 150-watt Line6 combo, but some of the spaces we play the "stage" is so tight that it's just not worth trying to carve out space for any kind of bass amp.

We have plenty of subs and wattage and like I said we're all on IEMs so I'm really not giving up all that much except more work at set-up.

 

Uhhhh.....

 

When possible - yes

 

"Very Nice!"