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Why do we still use amps?

#43
Raimonds said:
Yeah, in all of my gigs there has always been a bass amp in the venue. My point was: it doesn't make much sense (in rock / metal) for a guy like me to invest money in a decent bass rig, if the sound guy uses only the DI of the amp and doesn't mike the cab anyway.
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Totally understand.

I've invested a lot of time and money in finding myself a great-sounding amp rig that isn't too bulky or heavy. But after all these years I've realized that nuances of tone are for my own benefit. My style and technique are what really matters, and nobody else* cares (or should care) what bass or amp I use as long as I have a well-defined sound. It's nice to make my pants flap at loud gigs, but I would love to be able to do "suitcase gigs": basses only, maybe some pedals.


*Nobody else except other bassists ;)
 
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#44
BurningSkies said:
Repeat to your self "because I'm worth it" if you don't think others care.

(happen to know the rest of my band also like how amps sound...and others who hear it from stage volume do too)
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I get that in a lot of cases powerful amps are there only for self-satisfaction, but I created this thread out of curiosity about any measurable "tone" benefits of using an 800 watt head's DI instead of using the signal straight out of a DI box.
 
#46
A good bit of my love for big lead sled and valve gear is the sheer physicality of it.

I play prog and prog metal, and I like to feel the music - pants flapping, guitarist quelling, double kick drummer pounding BASS.

I like rock and roll with big amps and big sound, and I like having the physical presence of heavy gear making deep bass that I can control (at least on stage, FOH is usually someone else’s issue).

Enough of my life has been virtualized, minimized, pumped full of psychoacoustically trickery and offloaded. I don’t want mini-me stuff for my bass. I want to see it (an amp+cab). My bass is a physical instrument, bass frequencies are physically felt. I can physically dig in when emotion is running high and pound it so it feels goooood. Yes, I can run everything through my Helix LT and need no amp / cab - but when I do part of me feels like another thing in my life has become just zeroes and ones and is compromised in some way - it does it feel like massive, raw physical power and brute force.

I’m 55 and my 3cab dual head Trace rig doesn’t scare me or make me cry. I don’t enjoy carrying it up and down stairs but that’s part of it for me - and my full rig is about 350 pounds (not that I use the whole rig to gig with, usually my AH500X head - 95 pounds with flight case - and a 75 pound Trace 2x15).

I love the sound, the look and the flexibility it gives me on stage. It’s metal, it’s prog, it’s rock n roll.

The reality of my sound pumping through real watts, real cabs and real weight are a HUGE part of the appeal.

Small gear is gee-whiz golly cool (but as I’ve said on other threads), I have yet to see a single post here that read:

“Please help my lead sled/valve head and 6x10 sound like my micro d class head and 12 pound 1x10.”

Not. Once.

Maybe if I played another genre it might not matter. Maybe if I didn’t grow up watching heavy bands build walls of cabs in concert, I might feel differently. Maybe if I could not manage the weight and size I might feel differently. Maybe if I didn’t play with full stack Marshall amps and double kick drummers, I might feel differently.

But I didn’t and I don’t.
 
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#48
LoTone said:
Hauling amps is good for your health...
View attachment 3601784
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Until you've had a hernia repair and back surgery.

The only gig I use an amp for is an "acoustic' one - done in the round, with a small (100 or so people) audience surrounding the band; all I have to do is keep up with a piano. Every other gig I do, it's in ears, and a PA with big subs. While a bass amp can shake the ground, big subs with kilowatts driving them are better at that. My only issue with the larger venues I play is the stages are concrete, and they don't shake like a wood one would.
 
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#49
DAEC0514-9552-455F-8AEB-503B8E2CC97D.jpeg
 
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#51
I played ampless for 4 years as we had a Bose L1 Model II PA System and loved it! The system died (Bose wouldn't support the system, but that's another story)... anyway, back to using a powered head and speakers on poles and floor monitors. I will use an Acoustic B300HD head with the Bose 210 bass bin for the first time this weekend. A very small footprint with a nice sound.
 
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#53
rtav said:
A good bit of my love for big lead sled and valve gear is the sheer physicality of it.

I play prog and prog metal, and I like to feel the music - pants flapping, guitarist quelling, double kick drummer pounding BASS.

I like rock and roll with big amps and big sound, and I like having the physical presence of heavy gear making deep bass that I can control (at least on stage, FOH is usually someone else’s issue).

Enough of my life has been virtualized, minimized, pumped full of psychoacoustically trickery and offloaded. I don’t want mini-me stuff for my bass. I want to see it (an amp+cab). My bass is a physical instrument, bass frequencies are physically felt. I can physically dig in when emotion is running high and pound it so it feels goooood. Yes, I can run everything through my Helix LT and need no amp / cab - but when I do part of me feels like another thing in my life has become just zeroes and ones and is compromised in some way - it does it feel like massive, raw physical power and brute force.

I’m 55 and my 3cab dual head Trace rig doesn’t scare me or make me cry. I don’t enjoy carrying it up and down stairs but that’s part of it for me - and my full rig is about 350 pounds (not that I use the whole rig to gig with, usually my AH500X head - 95 pounds with flight case - and a 75 pound Trace 2x15).

I love the sound, the look and the flexibility it gives me on stage. It’s metal, it’s prog, it’s rock n roll.

The reality of my sound pumping through real watts, real cabs and real weight are a HUGE part of the appeal.

Small gear is gee-whiz golly cool (but as I’ve said on other threads), I have yet to see a single post here that read:

“Please help my lead sled/valve head and 6x10 sound like my micro d class head and 12 pound 1x10.”

Not. Once.

Maybe if I played another genre it might not matter. Maybe if I didn’t grow up watching heavy bands build walls of cabs in concert, I might feel differently. Maybe if I could not manage the weight and size I might feel differently. Maybe if I didn’t play with full stack Marshall amps and double kick drummers, I might feel differently.

But I didn’t and I don’t.
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Well, than you're one of the lucky ones who are fortunate enough to play gigs that pay enough to rent a trailer for your bands' gear ;)
Tours are massively expensive for underground bands and you have to think twice about every extra item you take with you.
 
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#55
2500w of power here, plus a couple cabs. Not heavy though. ;) We also have and use IEMs. Sometimes I don't even take my power amp out of standby, most of the time I do. Given the number of really crappy backline amps that permeate the world, I'm happy to have mine. Even with IEMs I can tell a bad backline amp. ;)
 
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#56
Raimonds said:
Well, than you're one of the lucky ones who are fortunate enough to play gigs that pay enough to rent a trailer for your bands' gear ;)
Tours are massively expensive for underground bands and you have to think twice about every extra item you take with you.
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Not at all.

2016 Honda Accord. Trace 2x15 slides across back seat, bass fits across backseat floorboard and amp fits in the trunk.

Truck? What do you mean?
 
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#57
Raimonds said:
Well, than you're one of the lucky ones who are fortunate enough to play gigs that pay enough to rent a trailer for your bands' gear ;)
Tours are massively expensive for underground bands and you have to think twice about every extra item you take with you.
Click to expand...

We have an extended Sprinter that beyond fitting our members also carries a full kit, Twin (in roadcase), my full rig, Keyboard setup with 3 or 4 boards, IEM rack, cable bins, merch bin(s), any ancillary stuff.

At home my full rig and gear fit in the back of my Element without any problems.
 
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#59
rtav said:
Not at all.

2016 Honda Accord. Trace 2x15 slides across back seat, bass fits across backseat floorboard and amp fits in the trunk.

Truck? What do you mean?
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I wanted to say that 4 or 5 dudes plus a bit of gear is all you can take in a van. If you rent even a small trailer for your gear it ads to the cost of the tour (and ads risk of theft).
 

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