Your "Amp-Less" Setup!

[Muzz]

Bass

-> Stomp

-> PA

-> In-ears

Or (band depending)

Bass

-> Stomp

-> Small monitoring combo/PA

[Bassmonkey2510]

For function gigs…
 

Bass-> wireless -> tuner -> tc spectracomp - direct into Behringer XR18 mixer with an amp modeller on the channel. 
 

sounds cool and super light.
 

Decided to ditch the DI as I was getting great signal into the mixer from my John East J Retro Deluxe Pre on my bass and the buffered signal from the compressor. 

 

tbh, I could ditch the whole board and go direct in, but I can’t leave the tuner at home so might as well carry one. 

For Big Band gigs, I go direct to Monitor wedge and that’s it. 
 

The John East pre is so good 👍

[Jack]

I've posted this before, but unfortunately my setup has settled into something that is exceedingly capable, if a little boring and I just haven't changed anything in years. Either digital or analogue, depending on mood.

[Chaddy]

On 10/01/2023 at 09:58, BigRedX said:

BTW for those saying that the Helix is too expensive, bear in mind that in real terms what you get is considerably cheaper than what you would have paid just 15 years ago. My first multi-effects unit which did only a fraction of what I can do with the Helix cost almost as much when I bought it in the early 90s. Also the bass rig that the Helix and RCF cab replaced cost me considerable more even though most of it had been bought second-hand. When I sold this rig and the guitar one, because the Helix had made them superfluous, I came away with a small profit

Yeah..... Just bought one yesterday and it's sitting next to me. Board feels abit naked now   Stomp and a B7K off to the side. 

Penny drop when everything else is not surplus to requirements so got pedals to go.  

[thodrik]

I tried running just a Sansamp into the PA with a monitor wedge at a gig circa 2009, but the soundman refused to put any bass through the monitor on account that  'the monitor is for vocals only' irrespective of the fact that we were an instrumental band and were headlining the gig! 

For that reason I have generally always used my Mesa Walkabout 1x15 combo so I at least have a monitor for me whatever the set up at the venue, even if none of the Walkabout tone is going through to the audience. Being honest, this is probably a good thing since the Walkabout is usually turned up beyond a level  where clean headroom is actually possible. 

I will always own some mammothly loud amplifiers and cabinets, but that is just a personal interest. I don't need them, I just like them.

I have been tempted by the Helix route, but was put off by having a Bass Pod, where I got option paralysis and discovered that the Sansamp was a far quicker and more practical for gigging. Yes the range of sounds on the Sansamp are limited but the sound it does is pretty much everything I need when gigging and recording at speed when I just need to lay something down for somebody. 

A Helix is definitely on the cards though as it could cover so much of my recording needs for both guitar and bass. 

 

 

[BigRedX]

33 minutes ago, thodrik said:

I have been tempted by the Helix route, but was put off by having a Bass Pod, where I got option paralysis and discovered that the Sansamp was a far quicker and more practical for gigging. Yes the range of sounds on the Sansamp are limited but the sound it does is pretty much everything I need when gigging and recording at speed when I just need to lay something down for somebody. 

 

The easiest way to avoid this is to make the swap when you don't have any urgent and/or important gigs coming up so you can spend some time getting to know it.

 

When I got mine I spent several days auditioning the various modules and making a note of the ones I liked. Remember that you don't have to stick to "bass" sims especially with the amps and cabs, as unlike their real world counterparts you can't cause any damage by sticking a bass guitar through them, and the worst that can happen is that you won't like the sound of the results, in which case you can move on to find one that you do like. Also bear in mind that a lot of "vintage" bass amps were simply guitar amps with a different badge and maybe the EQ frequencies moved down an octave. I don't even use an amp or cab sim on a lot of my patches and just have an EQ and distortion module instead, and a lot of the patches that do use an amp/cab it's the Roland Jazz Chorus Combo sim - something you'd never use with a bass guitar in real life - because the sound suits one of the bands I play with.

 

Having done that I made up a few patches of core sounds with all the effects I might want to use already in place in the order I'd most likely want them and with usable settings but turned off. That way I can quickly make up a new patch whenever I need one and only have to dive deeper if I want something out of the ordinary. 

 

I currently play in bands where I have a separate patch (even if the differences are just a slight EQ and volume tweak to sit in the correct place in the mix of the other instruments) and up to 4 snap shots for every song, but I'd still be using it even if I stuck to a single patch for the whole set, because I know that I'd have the perfect sound for my bass in the context of the band at the press of a button.

[Baloney Balderdash]

 

Edit!!!:

 

Original reply deleted.

 

Made a couple of changes in my setup and posted the second incarnation of that setup here, however I revisited the setup once again, which I am pretty certain will be the final one (at least for a foreseeable future), and decided to instead just update the OP.

 

Edited January 27, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash
A momentary lapse of reason

[thodrik]

16 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

 

The easiest way to avoid this is to make the swap when you don't have any urgent and/or important gigs coming up so you can spend some time getting to know it.

 

When I got mine I spent several days auditioning the various modules and making a note of the ones I liked. Remember that you don't have to stick to "bass" sims especially with the amps and cabs, as unlike their real world counterparts you can't cause any damage by sticking a bass guitar through them, and the worst that can happen is that you won't like the sound of the results, in which case you can move on to find one that you do like. Also bear in mind that a lot of "vintage" bass amps were simply guitar amps with a different badge and maybe the EQ frequencies moved down an octave. I don't even use an amp or cab sim on a lot of my patches and just have an EQ and distortion module instead, and a lot of the patches that do use an amp/cab it's the Roland Jazz Chorus Combo sim - something you'd never use with a bass guitar in real life - because the sound suits one of the bands I play with.

 

Having done that I made up a few patches of core sounds with all the effects I might want to use already in place in the order I'd most likely want them and with usable settings but turned off. That way I can quickly make up a new patch whenever I need one and only have to dive deeper if I want something out of the ordinary. 

 

I currently play in bands where I have a separate patch (even if the differences are just a slight EQ and volume tweak to sit in the correct place in the mix of the other instruments) and up to 4 snap shots for every song, but I'd still be using it even if I stuck to a single patch for the whole set, because I know that I'd have the perfect sound for my bass in the context of the band at the press of a button.

Thanks! Your posts on the Helix over the last while have really brought my head round to the idea. It is definitely on my list of purchases. This year hopefully!
 

[krispn]

Here’s my set up…

Bass>Tuner>HPF>Basswitch (drive and comp in the fxloop)>Drive pedal >Filter>Omni IR cab sim 

The Basswitch is the ‘the brain’ and has the TRex (set to low gain) and the HL compressor in the ‘always on’ parallel  loop. The other effects come after the Basswitch. It does have another fx loop but I prefer the sound of the drive and filter after the eq. This feeds into the Omni cab sim with DI out to the desk and I can run a line ‘Thru’ to an amp if I’m using one. On occasion I might run all this into my tube DI and send that to the desk. More recently I’ve been experimenting running the out of the tube DI to my amp as it has a really positive effect on the tone on account of the tubes and transformer. I’d best describe it as sounding like increasing the ‘bandwidth’ what one might hear using a pedal in 18v mode as opposed to 9v if you’ve ever compared those option in a preamp or drive unit. 
 

If I’m feeling lazy I’ll just use my DITTO tube DI box!

Edited January 13, 2023 by krispn

[JapanAxe]

Should the sad day arrive when I have to go amp-less, it will be this plus a tuner pedal:

 

[Chaddy]

22 hours ago, BigRedX said:

 

The easiest way to avoid this is to make the swap when you don't have any urgent and/or important gigs coming up so you can spend some time getting to know it.

 

When I got mine I spent several days auditioning the various modules and making a note of the ones I liked. Remember that you don't have to stick to "bass" sims especially with the amps and cabs, as unlike their real world counterparts you can't cause any damage by sticking a bass guitar through them, and the worst that can happen is that you won't like the sound of the results, in which case you can move on to find one that you do like. Also bear in mind that a lot of "vintage" bass amps were simply guitar amps with a different badge and maybe the EQ frequencies moved down an octave. I don't even use an amp or cab sim on a lot of my patches and just have an EQ and distortion module instead, and a lot of the patches that do use an amp/cab it's the Roland Jazz Chorus Combo sim - something you'd never use with a bass guitar in real life - because the sound suits one of the bands I play with.

 

Having done that I made up a few patches of core sounds with all the effects I might want to use already in place in the order I'd most likely want them and with usable settings but turned off. That way I can quickly make up a new patch whenever I need one and only have to dive deeper if I want something out of the ordinary. 

 

I currently play in bands where I have a separate patch (even if the differences are just a slight EQ and volume tweak to sit in the correct place in the mix of the other instruments) and up to 4 snap shots for every song, but I'd still be using it even if I stuck to a single patch for the whole set, because I know that I'd have the perfect sound for my bass in the context of the band at the press of a button.

Would you upload any onto Line 6 for a mooch?

 

[Chaddy]

22 hours ago, thodrik said:

Thanks! Your posts on the Helix over the last while have really brought my head round to the idea. It is definitely on my list of purchases. This year hopefully!
 

Where you based mate?

[thodrik]

14 minutes ago, Chaddy said:

Where you based mate?

Usually Orkney, sometimes Edinburgh and Glasgow. Though the Helix is on the back burner for the next few months at least owing to housing renovations at the moment

[jazzyvee]

Mine is really simple. Bass -> EBS Stanley Clarke Acoustic Preamp -> DI - out to PA.

Not gigged with it yet but use that setup for rehearsals.

[0175westwood29]

Got this setup to basically be able to go into an amp or direct into pa depends what preset im using iin the es5

 

the top hides alot of sins lol

Also need to redo those labels

[Chienmortbb]

Of course, and with my pedant's hat on, there is no such thing as an ampless setup. There are always amplifiers twixt the instrument and our ears, so I suppose that we are discussing backline, amplification on stage, controlled by the musician. As an Electronic Engineer by trade, some of those pedal boards look like hum and noise generators, but each to his own. I suppose my advice would be to keep the number of individual devices between you and the FOH input as low as possible.

 

Get a good power supply, one that is really isolated. If it costs less than £80 it probably is not isolated. In an isolated supply, each output has isolated 0V lines, so no noise or unwanted signal is fed into other pedals via the power lines.

[Baloney Balderdash]

4 hours ago, Chienmortbb said:

Of course, and with my pedant's hat on, there is no such thing as an ampless setup. There are always amplifiers twixt the instrument and our ears, so I suppose that we are discussing backline, amplification on stage, controlled by the musician. As an Electronic Engineer by trade, some of those pedal boards look like hum and noise generators, but each to his own. I suppose my advice would be to keep the number of individual devices between you and the FOH input as low as possible.

 

Get a good power supply, one that is really isolated. If it costs less than £80 it probably is not isolated. In an isolated supply, each output has isolated 0V lines, so no noise or unwanted signal is fed into other pedals via the power lines.

Thank you Captain Obvious. 

 

Yes, and Coca Cola Light is a scam, it isn't actually any lighter but weights exactly the same as a normal one!

 

Noticed how I put "amp-less" in brackets?

 

This is what you call an "amp-less" setup even if in strictly literal terms it isn't (hence the brackets), and I don't think anyone is mislead here to think it actually is or claiming that it is for that matter.

 

As I stated in my OP the obvious advantage of such a setup, beside usually being a lot lighter and easier/more practical to transport, is that you sound more or less exactly the same whether you are practicing at home with a good set a studio grade (here meaning approximately flat response) headphones, DI'ed on recordings, at band rehearsals through a PA or FRFR cab, or through a given venue's PA live, that is to say consistency of tone, and that you can actually count on the settings you dialed in on eventual additional gear/effects at home wearing headphones, at least largely (that is that there it is not going to be a day and night difference and most likely only relatively minor additional tweaks needs being made to make it work wherever).

 

Edited January 14, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash

[Frank Blank]

Ooohhh, handbags at dawn.

[Chienmortbb]

1 hour ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

Thank you Captain Obvious. 

 

Yes, and Coca Cola Light is a scam, it isn't actually any lighter but weights exactly the same as a normal one!

 

Noticed how I put "amp-less" in brackets.

 

This is what you call an "amp-less" setup even if in strictly literal terms it isn't (hence the brackets), and I don't think anyone is mislead here to think it actually is or claiming that it is for that matter.

 

As I stated in my OP the obvious advantage of such a setup, beside usually being a lot lighter and easier/more practical to transport, is that you sound more or less exactly the same whether you are practicing at home with a good set a studio grade (here meaning approximately flat response) headphones, DI'ed on recordings, at band rehearsals through a PA or FRFR cab, and through a given venue's PA live, that is to say consistency of tone.

 

Ouch!

[Chienmortbb]

1 hour ago, Frank Blank said:

Ooohhh, handbags at dawn.

I am now completely handbag-less. I rely on PIT, Pockets In Trousers.

[steve-bbb]

any gig that doesnt require my own rig i just use a sansamp di

[Frank Blank]

2 hours ago, Chienmortbb said:

Ouch!

Come away, eee ain't worth it

Edited January 14, 2023 by Frank Blank

[BlueMoon]

On 14/01/2023 at 19:02, steve-bbb said:

any gig that doesnt require my own rig i just use a sansamp di

This is pretty much my approach, except I use an EBS Microbass 2 or Avalon U5.

[Naigewron]

I use an HX Stomp and Darkglass Photon. Through some creative routing using the FX loops, a splitter and a 5-way patch bay, this board is set up for a multitude of different scenarios, all of which can be active at the same time.

 

I can run a synth and a bass through this at the same time, and send them to different outputs. I can also send my bass direct to the desk and to an amp at the same time. The desk gets a cab sim, the amp does not. I also have a dry output on the board, which send my unaffected bass signal straight through.

 

The board has two main inputs:

1. Wireless unit (for my bass), goes into a Y splitter (for the dry output) and then into the main input on the HX Stomp
2. Synth input (through the patch bay), going into an FX return

And it has six outputs:

1. Dry out, for an unaffected bass signal
   Basically a clean DI, split off right after my wireless receiver
    
2. Amp out, for a wet bass signal with no cab simulation
   Uses the right output of the Photon. The left output has cab sim applied and is sent back into the HX Stomp for use with the recording outputs (see 3 and 4)
    
3. Recording out R, and:
4. Recording out L.
   These are used for recording or  personal monitoring. They output both bass and synth, fully wet (cab sim and all), in stereo (when applicable). I use these and my dry out for recording at home, allowing me to capture both a clean DI and a fully wet signal at the same time. I can also plug a personal monitor into these outputs (either IEM or a wedge) if I need to hear myself.
    
5. Bass Direct out
   This is the Photon DI output, and it outputs a cab sim bass signal for going direct
    
6. Synth direct out.
   This uses an FX send in the HX Stomp and gives me a direct output for the synth signal

 

To achieve this madness, the Photon is in an FX loop of the HX Stomp.

 

The synth in&out is only active on certain select presets, where I've split off a dedicated synth effects path in the effects chain. In those presets, the bass is still processed separately and sent to its appropriate outputs, so that there's never a chance that the synth is sent through the dedicated bass outputs and vice versa. If I try to play the synth when any other preset is active, it will not be processed (which is essential). The last thing I want is to send the synth to my bass amp and/or to the bass channel in FoH just because I forgot to change presets before the song started.

 

I'm extremely happy with the power that this setup gives me in an extremely compact package. My core bass tone is contained in the Photon, which frees up the HX Stomp to act entirely as a signal routing device and effects platform, either for my bass or my synth (or both at once).

 

Don't have an updated picture, but here's a slightly older version.

 

 

I no longer have the loop switcher on the board, and the MIDI controller is now up front, like this:

 

I think that if I were to move on from here, it would be to move to a Quad Cortex, which will fit comfortably on the same pedalboard along with the wireless. I've been contemplating going for the Helix LT, which I know I can set up to give me the same options as my current board, but it's just so freaking massive. I just love the compact size of this setup, both for lugging to rehearsals and gigs, and for not taking up much floor space.

Edited January 18, 2023 by Naigewron

[BigJHW]

ha my "ampless" setup i suppose isn't "Ampless" at all - mine is more "cab-less"

Bass - Eich T900 - PA - Wired IEM

The T900 can be used without a cab so rather than fall in to the rabbit warren that is PEDALS !! i decided to keep it as is right now just without cab (knocked 16kg off my load in and load out and saved a huge chuck of space in the boot of the car)