Macca's Mesa Boogie set-up

[M-Bass-M]

I had the joy of being at Paul McCartney's gig at the MEN Arena. However one of the things that puzzled me was his choice of speaker cabinets. From what I could see, he had two stacks of Mesa Boogie cabinets, the right stack was 2 1x12" and left stack was a 1x12" on the bottom and a 2x10" on top.

Now the thing that puzzles me is that as far as I could tell, the amps were DI'd to the desk, there were no mic's picking up sounds from either the 1x12" or 2x10". So in that kind of big arena sound set-up, the only sound that the audience will hear is the DI'd sound.

So my question is: why not just have 4 1x12"?

(The other bass rig was just 2 8x10" Ashdown cabinets).

[Lozz196]

Ordinarily I`d say because he can`t lift a 412, but I somehow suspect that Sirpaul has a roadie or two. So I suppose it must be that he likes the sound. He is known as being quite frugal as well - not tight, but he apparently was brought up to respect money, and not squander it. So it may be this is is home gear, and he uses it out on the road. I read that for years he wanted a Fender Precision, but didn`t buy one as they were "very expensive".

[JTUK]

He also seems to have Vox cabs up there as well...which is probably a nod to his historical image. I doubt they have much use though.

The primary role for cabs on stage is for image, personal stage monitoring, sponsorship etc etc ... and he likes that sound from that config.
Of course, he is going to have bass sound all over the stage from various monitors/fills but maybe he likes the initial source sound the Boogies give him
so he would be Di'd to the PA and monitor mixes and he would get take a bleed to his own amp set-up.

[StraightSix]

My understanding of Macca's Mesa Boogie rig is two 1X15 cabs powered with a 400+ and a 1516BE cabinet powered by a Strategy 400.

That's what he used in the past but maybe he has changed it around - money is certainly not a problem...

[chris_b]

[quote name='StraightSix' timestamp='1324647713' post='1476635']
....My understanding of Macca's Mesa Boogie rig is two 1X15 cabs powered with a 400+ and a 1516BE cabinet powered by a Strategy 400....
[/quote]
[size=4]I thought it was a 2x15, but +1 all the same.[/size]

[size=4]On any arena or Stadium gig the audience will only hear the band through the FOH. Those cabs are for PM's on stage monitoring.[/size]

[MOSCOWBASS]

I suspect sponsorship may be a major factor

[Jack]

I know money isn;t a problem for him but as has been been said he's known for being frugal. Maybe he's just not as into gear as those nerds who sit around talking about it on the net ( ) and he's just very happy with his current rig?

[StraightSix]

Who wouldn't be happy - I would love that beastly rig sat behind me...

[M-Bass-M]

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1324645799' post='1476607']
He also seems to have Vox cabs up there as well...which is probably a nod to his historical image. I doubt they have much use though.[/quote]
I thought the Vox set up was for when he was playing guitar, again more in line with the Vox / 60's British music image.

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1324645799' post='1476607']
Of course, he is going to have bass sound all over the stage from various monitors/fills but maybe he likes the initial source sound the Boogies give him
so he would be Di'd to the PA and monitor mixes and he would get take a bleed to his own amp set-up.
[/quote]
So if you liked that sound for your own set-up, wouldn't you also want to have that sound coming out the PA for the audience to hear? Otherwise why bother!

[JTUK]

[quote name='M-Bass-M' timestamp='1324669412' post='1476979']
I thought the Vox set up was for when he was playing guitar, again more in line with the Vox / 60's British music image.


So if you liked that sound for your own set-up, wouldn't you also want to have that sound coming out the PA for the audience to hear? Otherwise why bother!
[/quote]

You might do..which is where the DI would come in...either pre or post. They would have spent a lot of time on it in pre production anyway.