Function band gigs, time to upgrade the rig?

[Jellyfish]

Hi guys. I'm after some advice on my current rig and where to take it (if it needs to go anywhere...!)

I have a TC Electronic BH250 going through a single Genz Benz Focus LT112T currently, and don't really gig at all with it. But I have a 2 hour gig with a function band coming up, just doing old bluesy covers, but am concerned that my rig won't be able to hold its own. Unfortunately I don't know the venue or what the other members of the band are using (yet) but am wondering if I should start looking now for an extra cab to add on to my rig or just leave it and crank it up.

Mark at Bass Direct was very helpful when I was looking for a proper rig, that was also small and light-weight, and I know that the combo of these two can be loud. But I'm hoping to hear from some more experienced gigging musicians!

Thanks.

[wateroftyne]

Is it a one-off?

If so, find out if you can send a DI to the PA, If you can, point the cab at your ears, and have fun.

[JapanAxe]

It really depends on (1) the size of the venue, (2) whether you will be supported by the PA, and (3) how loud your bandmates like to play. If the answer to (2) is yes, you probably don't need to worry about (1) and (3) to a point - that point being when you can't hear yourself on stage! Are you able to borrow bigger/alternative kit? If so, set up your existing rig and the borrowed rig, so that you can switch over if you need to. Trouble is, if the answer to (2) is yes, your sound person will not thank you for changing rigs mid-set!

[hamfist]

Agreed. What you have is fine for onstage monitoring if you can go through the PA (I would advise getting your cab pointing at your head though, you will hear yourself so much better). If not, then you'll need something more or different I would expect.

If your Genz cab is an 8 ohm one, then all you actually have is about 125W through one 12" speaker. That will really not cut the mustard in anything but the lowest volume gigs if you are having to produce all your bass guitar volume yourself.

If this is going to become a regular occurence then you'll need to look at your whole rig IMO.

As a one off, short term thing, you could borrow/hire an 8 ohm 4x10, which would at least give you a fighting chance with the full 250W through 4x10's and 1x12.

Edited April 14, 2013 by hamfist

[Jellyfish]

Cheers for the advice. Is there anywhere I can look for all this ohm and wattage business in plain English before I go seeking other peoples rigs to borrow?

EDIT: Or, I'm guessing it doesn't really matter because my head is so small?

Edited April 14, 2013 by Jellyfish

[Lozz196]

Plain English for ohms/watts:

If an amp is rated 250 watts, it will be 250 at a certain amount of ohms, in the case of your amp, 4 ohms. You can connect speaker cabs up to the amp totalling 4 ohms to get the full 250 watts of power. Helpfully (or awkwardly?) two 8 ohm cabs = a total of 4 ohms.

So, if you connect one 8 ohm cab, you will be getting less than the full 250 watts, usually between 50 - 70%, so 125 watts to 150 watts.

Then regards speakers - ideally the cab should be capable of handling either the maximum the amp puts out, or more.

So re your amp, if connecting a single 4 ohm cab, it should be capable of handling at least 250 watts. If connecting one 8 ohm cab it should be capable of handling between 125 to 150 watts (as above). If connecting two 8 ohm cabs, each should be capable of handling 125 watts, as the power will be split equally between them.

Then multiple speaker cabs - say a 410. If a single 4 ohm 410 is connected, with 250 watts going into it, each speaker will be receiving 1/4 of the 250 - 62.5 watts.

Different types of cab connected at the same time - a 210 & 115, both 8 ohm cabs. Each speaker in the 210 will receive the 62.5 watts. The one in the 115 will receive 125 watts. So essentially, it will be working harder than the ones in the 210, which is why many advise not using different speaker configurations together.

That`s the theory as I know it, and as am not techie myself, hope that makes it clear.

[molan]

Where is your gig - might be someone here that could loan you a higher spec rig for the night?

[chris_b]

Just get another Focus 112.

2 112 cabs together sound 5 times better than 1.

You'll be able to do any gig with that rig.

[hamfist]

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1365977405' post='2046937']
Just get another Focus 112.

2 112 cabs together sound 5 times better than 1.

You'll be able to do any gig with that rig.
[/quote]

It would make a nice medium sized rig, but "do any gig" ? I think not. A large hall or marquee, or outdoor event with a loud band (with PA for the vocals/guitars etc). You wouldn't even hear the bass.

[chris_b]

[quote name='hamfist' timestamp='1366005678' post='2047048']
....but "do any gig" ? I think not. A large hall or marquee, or outdoor event with a loud band (with PA for the vocals/guitars etc). You wouldn't even hear the bass....
[/quote]

If the OP has a 250 watt amp then 2 112 cabs will cover any gig that amp is good for.

Anything larger won't be covered by that amp, so will need PA support no matter what cabs the OP is using.

[Highfox]

I'd say try another 112 as well. It really makes a lot of difference hooking up 2.

[Monckyman]

Yep to another 12.
Fairly essential to ask the band if you have PA support meaning your bass will be D.Id into the main PA.

[Jellyfish]

Thanks for all the advice. I won't know the ins and outs until next month but even if going D.I. into the PA is possible, I've posted a wanted ad' for another Focus 112 cab and hopefully that should see me right.

[goblin]

See what happens when you get the details of the gig back I did a function this weekend and didn't know the scenario, assumed the worst and took out the whole rig. But, yes it was a big room, but we were backed up by PA and the extra cab only really took up more space in the van. If you're going to be backed with PA, don't worry about it too much I only plan to take one cab next time.

[tonybassplayer]

I have my trusty old behringer amp and a markbass 15" cab and have played gigs from tiny pubs to 3000 biker rallies and come to the conclusion after ten years of gigging that if it needs to go louder than my current backline then we must be playing a gig that requires a big pa so therefore why take ( buy ) more than you need ??

[Lozz196]

The only time I use my extension cab is in my punk covers band, and that`s really for the depth of sound on-stage, as our volume can only go as loud as the drums. The guitarist has a very big sound, so want depth to my sound and extra speakers give that. Whereas in my other band, well we have 2 bassists so I don`t want to have too much depth of sound as it may swamp things (seeing as we have drums, 3 gtrs and sometimes keys as well).