I practiced last night at a venue that had the biggest PA I've ever played through, a sound guy that loves low end, and we didn't have an audience whose sensibilities we had to deal with. I brought no rig, and....after an hour of bone shaking, I was smiling from ear to ear. I guess I'm anti big rig a this point, unless the rig is the PA, in which case I'm definitely pro big rig.
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We use a vocals only PA so my rig carries the house, which sometimes is outside!
I would love to roll up to a gig with my bass and DI box and plug into a huge PA (with exceptionally good monitoring) but it ain't going to happen.
cause marshall half stacks and ampeg rigs are awesome
I like my upright sound, but I like it to go BOOM! at very low frequencies. I also like sound up high where I can hear it clearly. My bass is taller than I am, my stack only goes to my chin. So I don't consider it a "big rig". We usually play at reasonable volumes, but sometimes you just have to crush it.
Bolded the key phrase there.
"Should be" doesn't translate to "is."
Maybe try doing a search on topics that have come up a million times.
Also bass through monitors usually sounds like crap to me.
And some bands are really really loud as a deliberate goal. You don't know everyone's gigging situation, so maybe don't be bothered that other people do things differently than you do in their bands.
Obviously because they rattle your boys.
I've played many a pro stage with countless national acts over the years. Needless to say I've played behind many state of the art concert level PA systems.
I can't imagine playing with just a 212 cab unless it was being miced.
These days with the killer in ear monitoring I don't actually even need a stage amp as I can get everything I need via them. I'm not playing pro these days but I always had at least a 410 and head on stage just in case something happened to the ears.
If I didn't have ears, and was stuck using side fills or wedges, having a bass system I could hear was paramount. Big stages with big foh systems are loud. As a bassist, there is a bass drone that makes hearing the actual bass on stage hard at times and it's Hard to articulate with the stage and crowd noise going.
It's also a lot easier to get a sweet spot to where you can hear yourself better with a bigger pocket of sound by adding more speakers instead of volume. It's hard to explain but a wall of speakers can actually be quieter than a few speakers trying to cover the same area.
Outdoor shows not in a club also don't have all the walls to bounce the sound off and often need a little more speaker volume than sound volume.
So that's my reasoning from being there and actually needing bigger or rigs with more coverage than a single 10 or 12 could ever offer
I can't imagine playing with just a 212 cab unless it was being miced.
These days with the killer in ear monitoring I don't actually even need a stage amp as I can get everything I need via them. I'm not playing pro these days but I always had at least a 410 and head on stage just in case something happened to the ears.
If I didn't have ears, and was stuck using side fills or wedges, having a bass system I could hear was paramount. Big stages with big foh systems are loud. As a bassist, there is a bass drone that makes hearing the actual bass on stage hard at times and it's Hard to articulate with the stage and crowd noise going.
It's also a lot easier to get a sweet spot to where you can hear yourself better with a bigger pocket of sound by adding more speakers instead of volume. It's hard to explain but a wall of speakers can actually be quieter than a few speakers trying to cover the same area.
Outdoor shows not in a club also don't have all the walls to bounce the sound off and often need a little more speaker volume than sound volume.
So that's my reasoning from being there and actually needing bigger or rigs with more coverage than a single 10 or 12 could ever offer
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My view is to always go smaller on stage as much as you can. Let the PA handle it and save your ears.
If you need to play in large venues without PA support, then insist on properly charging so you can hire a sound company. Don't damage your hearing with big iron behind you that suppose to fill the venue. That's simple suicide for your ears.
If you need to play in large venues without PA support, then insist on properly charging so you can hire a sound company. Don't damage your hearing with big iron behind you that suppose to fill the venue. That's simple suicide for your ears.
Because nearly every available monitor system I've come across either stinks at bass amplification or has someone not well versed at doing so running it. I prefer to have behind me that which I can control and hear what I want.
Because too many bassists buy the BS "We don't run BASS through the PA, only every single drum mic, vocals, guitar (which are already too loud), the conga guy who randomly shows up, 5 vocal mics."
couldn't agree more about the mb212. mine is a beast. I actually just swapped it out at our venue to my 2x10 avatar cab (elevated and vertical) because I wasn't utilizing the 212 at all really. it's size and weight is better suited as my travel amp, leaving my 2x10 and head stationary. it's just my travel amp is more powerful...lol. love that modern tech.
i cannot fathom a concert I would ever play in where a DI and/or the mb212 wouldn't fill in beautifully.
Ear plugs have existed for decades.
I don't care how big or small it is, so long as I can hear myself adequately with or without PA support and it's practical to transport. Sometimes that simply requires more speakers. Period.
Hah! Back in the day... (here we go) when no one's hearing was shot, I had a 40 watt rig and a single 15 that I carried to the school gym, walking, in the snow, uphill, both ways. We didn't have no stinking house PA.I played a school gym once where we (4 piece) were well spread out from each other. I had my 300w EA Micro and Wizzy10, it was barely enough for me and the drummer to hear it on stage (placed equidistant between us so we could both hear it, barely) — even though the company that hired us had a great big PA for the kidz to hear us, said Co had zip for monitoring. I think that's when I blew my Wizzy10's speaker.
You need the right tools for the job, and I (and the Co that hired us) did not have those tools.
Quiet with no ear plugs is a whole different feel (gutless) than loud with ear plugs.
Not everyone is playing the same gig. And some gigs are louder than others. I play in both folk/rock and metal bands. I bring ear plugs whenever there's an actual drum kit, whether I think I'll need them or not.
I don't care for the sound of bass guitar through the PA at all. So I use a rig that's just the right size to carry the room. If it's a big room then it's a big rig. Only occasionally and usually outdoors do I allow my bass to be in the mains.
