Has anyone given up using a 'normal' bass rig?

[NJE]

I know its a slightly odd question but I am interested to see if anyone has given up using 'normal' bass rig? By that I mean has anyone stopped using a traditional cab and amp setup designed for bass and moved to using PA cabs power amp, preamps and graphic EQs?

I have found myself in a situation whereby I DI and use the PA all the time for front of house sound and my rig is just there for me and the band as a glorified monitor. I could just as easily have my bass pumped through the bands monitors as well and not even really bother with an amp at all.

I do however like having something a bit more than a monitor on stage but I find that I often struggle to hear my amp on stage as I am standing so close to it, that it just flies past my legs. I use two Aguilar DB112 cabs and a tonehammer 350 and when I DI I send pre-eq so I am not really using the Aguilars sound.

My idea is to switch over to something like an Avalon U5 Pre and go straight into some powered PA speakers which have some tone shaping and eq and just use them on stage, perhaps even as a wedge in front of me firing up to my ears.

Has anyone done anything similar? I'm really interested to see if there is a reason this will or wont work.

Edited June 1, 2016 by NJE

[EBS_freak]

Yes.

PA provides front of house. IEMs provide my monitoring however. I split the input to channels on the digital desk so I can EQ for my inears and EQ for front of house.

I sometimes use a Microbass 2 before the desk... but have found the tone shaping on the desk usually enough to give me exactly what I want as the EQ is a lot more powerful than any analogue solution.

It's only if you are into running drive, fx loops etc, that I would say a preamp before the desk would be useful. Otherwise, if you are a plug straight in kinda guy, than just plug straight into the desk. I would wager that nobody would be any the wiser if you were using your Avalon or not. Sack off the Avalon and buy some proper IEM inears, moulded preferably.

My preference now is certainly big PA (think two full range tops and subs - or at least top end 15s) and as little backline as possible. Your band will sound better if you let your PA do the work. How many gigs have we been to in smaller venues where if you stand at the front, the guitarist takes your head off... yet if you stand at the back of the room, you can't even hear the guitar as the bodies of people are doing a great job of absorbing it all? Well, let your PA do the work - problem disappears.

[Twincam]

The only thing that would worry me is if something fails, maybe you could of used your amp to get through the gig.

I'm not sure I agree totally with ebs freak about letting the pa do all the work, but I'm not disagreeing.
I've heard many bands in small to medium sized venues that have used various amounts of pa. To the guitar and bass sometimes using no pa at all and sounding excellent. I certainly get his point it won't make you sound worse. As said what's for backup if something goes slightly wrong.

[lowhand_mike]

we go through the pa post eq if we are doing a larger gig but most is vocals and maybe a bit of drums (mostly kick) through the pa for normal gigs.
we have been trying IEMs but i'm not keen yet but that may just be getting the settings right. Would i do away with my rig behind me? i dont think so, feeling the bass as well as hearing it is just as important and if it only going through front of house then i'm not going to feel it. Just my opinion of course

[EBS_freak]

[quote name='lowhand_mike' timestamp='1464813715' post='3062888']
we go through the pa post eq if we are doing a larger gig but most is vocals and maybe a bit of drums (mostly kick) through the pa for normal gigs.
we have been trying IEMs but i'm not keen yet but that may just be getting the settings right. Would i do away with my rig behind me? i dont think so, feeling the bass as well as hearing it is just as important and if it only going through front of house then i'm not going to feel it. Just my opinion of course
[/quote]
Feeling bass all depends what you are running foh. There are ways of getting the feeling of bass back if you find it lacking - by using things like a pleasure board. If you want some pointers, there's an excellent thead in the Misc section of the forum.

[EBS_freak]

Re backup

Isn't this true of anything though... If your PA goes down, how are you gonna hear the singer?

[xgsjx]

There's a thread in the FX section dedicated to using iOS gigging rigs to replace your fx & amp. I'll likely go down this route if I go gigging (more likely to be the macbook & audio interface for me though as I have NI guitar rig & Logic Pro X on there).

[sprocketflup]

IEMs here too. Cant remember the last time I used my amp

[cheddatom]

I don't use an amp but just use the monitors at whatever venue I'm playing - no IEMs - works for me!

[Japhet]

But.....but.....but what about GAS and the eternal search for sonic nirvana? I played through PA only once at a festival and felt naked! Hated it.

Edited June 2, 2016 by Japhet

[EBS_freak]

[quote name='Japhet' timestamp='1464853887' post='3063097']
But.....but.....but what about GAS and the eternal search for sonic nirvana? I played through PA only once at a festival and felt naked! Hated it.
[/quote]

Google JH Audio, Ultimate Ears, 1964 ears... Should help you along.

And some proper PA that pins you to the back wall should get the juices flowing.

[NJE]

Our band leader/owner of all the PA/drummer was really keen to try IEM but it meant an investment in a digital desk for him to make it work well so I think we as a band have kind of given up on the idea now. Its a shame as I think it would be the best option to keep volume levels low in smaller venues, especially since our drummer started using the top end Roland drums.

The main issue I have, is that I have my amp fairly loud on stage as I can rarely hear it because often I am so close to it or even beside it. This then means that my amp is very boomy and loud and competing with the front of house sound which said band leader and drummer moans about, fair point though!

I am not really in a position to go IEM for the time being but I am debating either losing the Aguilar cabs and getting a floor monitor for my bass amp pointing back at me, or getting one cab to sit on a flight case much higher than my Aguilars normally are so that I can hear my bass without using huge volume. Possibly looking at a powerful 2x10 or 3x10 or a 15 with a 6" horn. I need to de-couple my bass from stages and keep the speakers closer to head height. I used to use a Auralex gramma but it doesn't give me the height.

Really I just need to hear bass on stage and at the moment the Aguilars, which are phenomenal when I have a big stage, aren't working in the current situation.

[alexclaber]

I did. Avalon U5 as a preamp into a QSC PLX3002 power amp. That was into two Acme Low-B2s but they were then replaced by a DIY cab of my own design which became the Barefaced Big One. The Barefaced Big Twin 2 is the direct descendant of that first cab and I still use that same rack. Until you get into [b]very[/b] expensive (and usually very bulky and heavy) active PA speakers I don't think it's possible to achieve better high accuracy reproduction of your DI'd tone.

[Musicman20]

I've not gigged for some time (career commitments and moving house 3 times in a few years) but the last run of gigs a few years back was basically just bass into a Tech 21 BDDI Sansamp, make the mids flat, (e.g. take out the scoop) then straight into the PA.

Add grit if desired, or not.

Did I miss lugging gear? No. Did I notice any difference out front when sound checking? No. Could I notice a difference behind me? Yes, but enough volume from other sources to make it absolutely fine.

If I gigged more often I'd invest in in-ears.

[EBS_freak]

[quote name='alexclaber' timestamp='1464863349' post='3063210']
I did. Avalon U5 as a preamp into a QSC PLX3002 power amp. That was into two Acme Low-B2s but they were then replaced by a DIY cab of my own design which became the Barefaced Big One. The Barefaced Big Twin 2 is the direct descendant of that first cab and I still use that same rack. Until you get into [b]very[/b] expensive (and usually very bulky and heavy) active PA speakers I don't think it's possible to achieve better high accuracy reproduction of your DI'd tone.
[/quote]

Not baiting here - just generally interested. What's your definition of very expensive and what sort of spec?

Edited June 2, 2016 by EBS_freak

[LewisK1975]

Really been considering this for some time. Our singer HATES it if the stage volume is too loud. I by my own admission get sulky at being asked/told to turn down to a point where I can barely hear myself, and it obviously sours the whole gig for me. Seems a good fix for everyone if I switched to in-ears! We probably need a better mixer to get it going properly though.....

[Lozz196]

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1464864340' post='3063224']
I've not gigged for some time (career commitments and moving house 3 times in a few years) but the last run of gigs a few years back was basically just bass into a Tech 21 BDDI Sansamp, make the mids flat, (e.g. take out the scoop) then straight into the PA.

Add grit if desired, or not.

Did I miss lugging gear? No. Did I notice any difference out front when sound checking? No. Could I notice a difference behind me? Yes, but enough volume from other sources to make it absolutely fine.

If I gigged more often I'd invest in in-ears.
[/quote]

I had to do this a couple of times in my old band. We had 2 basses, so if playing a gig where we had been told we couldn`t bring amps, as had to use the provided rigs, we knew there wouldn`t be 2 bass rigs. So I used my Zoom B3 and got a monitor mix. I do prefer having an amp/cab on stage, but have to say it does make gigging a lot easier.

[sunburstjazz1967]

I've played in a trio with an electric upright straight into the desk, electric drums and a guitarist using a variax through a vox pedal board. Clutter free silent stage!