stingrayPete1977

Playing live in a comprimise in the sound department, if not using the "signature bass" sound makes the whole gig sound better in certain venues with certain house PA systems and certain house engineers then for me that's the way to go.

I wasn't going to say anything!

If you want the classic Ray tone then the 2013 every time Imo

Most of the players I've seen complain about getting this killer signature bass tone have had nothing more than a generic P Bass and Ashdown rig with some crappy patches on a cheap pedal board thing, they insisted that the engineer takes at least post di if not a cab micd up only to have the worst bass sound out front all night that neither cut through the mix nor exhibited what the player was doing even when clearly playing some nice stuff, often too loud out front ruining the FOH mix because the amp was right next to the player and had to be loud for them to hear it. Of course then if any of their fans say "you played great but the sound was terrible" guess what, it's the crappy sound crew because "we've spent ages getting the mix right in the studio". I've even been that person in the past too.

I get ya, a kind of Dinosaur blues club!

I was back stage at a very high profile gig last night, there wasn't an amp in sight, I didn't hear anything lacking out front.

But these sounds are available without an actual amp for both guitar players and bass players, if it's not being used to power an on stage monitor why lug it around.

P2 Uses AAA batteries not AA.

Certainly, if I was full time pro and the sound crew got me a perfect FOH and in ear mix with the knobs in a certain spot I'd happily let them glue them in place.

I still can't understand why bass players think their high end expensive bass amp has a better EQ than a much higher end much more expensive PA system.

Pun intended? Lol

We had one where the batteries had come away like that but only after being dropped, if you are very energetic then maybe a bit of insulation tape before sliding the metal cover on would be wise.

It's crazy we paid less than £30 each for ours, wish I'd bought a spare.

I guess eventually you'll be deaf so you won't need an amp then anyway, lol.

Well musicman basses are made in one factory in california, I've been there, so I don't think they are buying those from the same factory where all this overstock is coming from! I think maybe buyer beware might be advisable, lol

^yep

If you are doing the old four bands on the Bill type gigs then you probably need your own monitoring or back line. I'm not and a lot of the people that poo poo ampless gigging aren't either.

I'd only play either with my own pa, a gig where I know I need backline, or one where I need to take it in the van just in case, if I was told there was backline then there wasn't and then there was also no monitoring I'd just pack up and leave.

You are comparing unprepared ampless to prepared back line. It wasn't the lack of amp that caused the problem, it was the lack of monitoring, you're just connecting the two because your monitoring is usually an amp.

I'm not sure that's a very fair comparison?!

I like them, do they do a Ray 5 in white?

They'll never get away with that, it's back to front!

The xr16 is less than £300 which is incredible for what it can do, the inbuilt processing and fx would fill a transit van in old school kit.

That's it, what he said ^

We went digital before going in ears, and in ears before going ampless. Once you've got the in ear mix where everyone wants it then it's saved and is ready from gig to gig. Not having the physical monitors on stage removes almost all feedback so the FOH can be set and saved and is about right for most gigs you'll ever do, it's not that much different to a DJ setting up to play some CDs or mp3s from a laptop really! Even our mid range behringer has four aux out mixes plus the headphone jack which should cover most pub bands to give individual in ear mixes.