Gigging Rig for someone that DI's

[Tom Brookes Music]

Hi guys first post here (not sure what happened to my old account but it has died!)

Basically I'm going to be doing a lot of gigging this year with my originals band. We are a rock/funk/indie thing. Anyway, I use a Sansamp BDDI as part of my pedalboard and always di straight to front of house....in my previous projects this has been fine (a mix of functions and other things where good monitoring was guaranteed. Anyway, keeping track of what venues have what monitoring in place is a bit of a nightmare given the number of different venues that we're playing at this year....I have an Ashdown electric blue combo that I use at home....I'm not sure if this going to cut it at some if the bigger venues (Islington Academy etc) that we're playing.

Basically I'm not even sure what it is that I want....my FOH will still be coming via my sansamp, so just something that will allow me to hear my self on stage that is easy to transport would be ideal....I play a fair bit of slap and pop so something with clear mids would be nice!

[Bankai]

The first question is, how much are you willing to spend?

If you like the sound of the Sansamp I would imagine an Ampeg head of some form would be best to give you a similiar sound. If you can afford it, an SVT-II or SVT-CL will always be best, but if you're looking for something cheaper then the SVT-350 or SVT-450 can be bought for a good price second hand.

As for the cab, if you can afford it then a Barefaced 69'er would be right up your street I imagine. It's a clone of the original Ampeg SVT810 'fridge' cabinet. Although the Barefaced is louder, better, and a lot lighter! Price wise, it's fairly costly. A cheaper option would be picking up one of the smaller Barefaced cabinets, or alternatively, just a 4x10 or 6x10 from a decent brand.



This looks like a fairly good deal: http://basschat.co.uk/topic/219318-price-drop-ampeg-svt-pro-3-head-usa-92-ampeg-b-410hlf-cab-for-sale-l550/

Edited January 5, 2014 by Bankai

[Lozz196]

Easy to transport I`d look at a Barefaced cab, then amp-wise, well Markbass, TC Electronic, Genz Benz Shuttle, EBS, all of these are worth checking out.

[0175westwood29]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1388950291' post='2328055']
Easy to transport I`d look at a Barefaced cab, then amp-wise, well Markbass, TC Electronic, Genz Benz Shuttle, EBS, all of these are worth checking out.
[/quote]

the problem with the barefaced is he'd have to go second hand, as waiting for a new new cab will take months ( not a hater just being honest )

if you want easy to move and not going for sound as im guessing you'll be running the sansamp into it maybe try and grab a small mb combo?

andy

[Guest bassman7755]

Some smallish neutral sounding rig - neutral sounding so that what your hearing is reasonably close to comes out of FOH. Could be actual bass gear (e.g. GB shuttle + 2/3 way bass speaker) or a decent self powered PA speaker (e.g. FBT QSC etc).

Edited January 6, 2014 by bassman7755

[ezbass]

Phil Jones Suitcase or similar, small, light, clear as a bell, perfect for monitoring.

[BruceBass3901]

Unless you have your heart set on a rig of some description, you could look into in-ear monitors in order to hear yourself? They would be easier to transport and just allow you to hear what is going to the FOH

[Monckyman]

+1 for the in ears.
IF you are taking an engineer with you.

[Tom Brookes Music]

Yeah I'd considered IEM kits. Not going to be taking an engineer with us and at some venues I'd guess our first song will be the soundcheck so I'm so sure that it would be the best way to go...

Thanks for the replies so far guys, food for thought.

[EBS_freak]

[quote name='Tom Brookes Music' timestamp='1389015764' post='2328767']
Yeah I'd considered IEM kits. Not going to be taking an engineer with us and at some venues I'd guess our first song will be the soundcheck so I'm so sure that it would be the best way to go...

Thanks for the replies so far guys, food for thought.
[/quote]

Don't bother with IEMs if you haven't got the ability to sound check properly...

[Jack]

If you're always going to have PA but not monitors then check our a little powered wedge. If you want to play it safe then have a look a decent, neutralish sounding 4x10" or similar. 500W or so and a 4x10" or 2x12" will get you through most situations. Genze Benz stuff was cheap new not so long ago. Failing that our very own forum has a great classifieds section.

An amp will always be more versatile than a monitor or IEMs.

[chrismuzz]

You could easily get away with going DI as usual, then plugging into your combo and putting it on stage at ear level, if you didn't want to spend more money

[Phil Starr]

If you just want to monitor on stage then a little kickback combo will do the job. I use the discontinued Hartke 10 for this and it works well. Roll back the bass a touch on the Hartke and you will get the rest loud enough. A powered wedge will do the same with a lower profile but check it is happy with bass giong through it. If it really is just for monitoring then you don't need to carry anything more than this, a 4x10 would be just too much to carry and why have a separate amp and extra wires?

However

If you are buying something to do this anyway would it be sensible to buy something more versatile? Something you could use on its own if you get to play in other bands where a stack or a decent combo would be more appropriate. It's a choice only you can make; something small and simple that just does this one job, or something bigger heavier and more versatile. I've ended up with both.