bassman7755

I think there are often hidden factors at play here, aside from the obvious tone-in-the-fingers stuff I think many classic guitar and bass tones owe a lot to how it was recorded, e.g. mic setup, effects EQ compression etc applied at the desk as much as they do to the bass and amp.

I thing I've only once ever bought any kit because some artist used it, way back in the day when I bought a marshall 50w master volume stack because thats what micheal shenker used. Certainly never been a factor in any bass gear I've bought, although the thing that been closest to tempting me is the tech 21 geddy lee signature pedal.

But generally you arnt taking a direct feed from the main mixer to power your IEMs - there will some local preamp or mixer where you control the final volume. What I do is have a small mixer which I mix my local DI with a "rest of the band" signal from the FoH mixer, but even without that there will usually be some other volume control in the chain e.g the volume on the radio link if your going wireless.

No, why should I be any more scared of doing this than say via headphones or earphones plugged into my hifi / computer / phone / etc ?.

Never liked them myself but before slagging them off i felt I had a duty to have a quick listen so had a quick skim through a greatest hits collection on youtube (taking one for the team here ...). My observations: I dont think anyone in the band has ever heard of a rest - bass / guitar / piano / whatever just drone on and on, its a constant wall of noise with no dynamics or rhythmic content and this probably why they seemingly dont have many fans in the bass playing circles. The singer wandering in and out of falsetto all the time really irritates me. A small minority of their songs are above averagely catchy but I thinks its the singers distinctive slow motion yodelling vocal style more than any actual tune that make them memorable (for better or worse depending on whether you like it or not).

.... because it was designed to be used that way (assumption on my part but a fairly safe one).

The "middle" volume on your amp is probably a preamp out volume, usually you would only have one of these if you have an effects loop and/or multiple preamp channels. If you have multiple channels then obviously then use the channel volume to balance them, if you're using effects loop then run this volume as high as possible before the effects clip or distort. If not doing either then just set it to half way. So to set it up ... Run as much gain as you can consistent with the sound you want as per Lozz's description. Run any intermediate volume/level at 50% / 12'oc as a starting point. Adjust your final level using the master volume.

Stick the subs one on top of the other in a convenient corner of the venue and just have the tops out front. No weird asymmetric stand stuff to worry about.

Pretty poor design if the master volume wont turn fully off. Never come across that in any kit I've ever used. I would think it would be a fairly simple job for a tech to change the pot for one that works better.

I believe gear is important but not necessarily in the priority people assume. Having strings in good condition is for example one of the biggest factors, to my ears a £175 bass with fresh strings will sound better than a £3000 bass with old dull ones (I actually own basses from both these price points). The other way of looking at it is if there is a weak link that will bring down everything else, so long as there is nothing hugely deficient in the signal chain it comes down to playing an musical context. Obviously this applies to "vanilla" bass sounds and not overtly effected ones which is whole other ball game.

Sometime soon, it wont go away, ever. You have a limit window of time to protect your ears better after which the damage will be permanent. You dont get a second chance.

I like how they couldnt even make an effort to find a model who could actually play guitar (you can tell this guys has never even held one before)

This is a good point, listening to a recording it might sound a bit sparse but at gig with the volume and general "buzz" around a live performance people wont notice the lack of rhythm guitar so much. I recall one occasion where I was in a two guitar rock covers band and we had to do a gig where one guitarist was absent and noone in the audience (judging by the reception) really noticed much difference at the gig, indeed one person who was there who had seen us with a full lineup said it took him half the set to realise were were missing anyone.

If it were me I would go for something like this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Behringer-MX400-Micromix-Noise-Channel/dp/B000KGYAYQ?th=1

The effects return is usually more sensitive than the input on a dedicated power amp. Interesting that your SVP pro struggled with the crown amp, maybe these ampeg preamps have some poor quality control or something where the output isnt consistent between units or something.