BigRedX

The problem with this is that for a traditional bass rig your cabs are just as important to your sound as the amp, so running the amp on its own is never going to be an effective solution, as you'll be forever messing with the EQ trying to replicate the sound of the missing cab(s). If you were to look at getting a load box, the only one I could recommend for this kind of amp is the now discontinued Marshall PowerBrake, which is big, heavy and even with the fan running will get very hot (it's trying to dissipate 100W of audio power as heat). None of these devices are really designed for bass amps - they are aimed at guitarists trying to tame slightly over-loud 50W amps. IMO you are better off forgetting about the amp entirely for home recording and get a pre-amp/DI with a suitable sound.

"Better" when it comes to the sound of an amplified instrument can be very subjective. Also not matter what rig you have home practice volumes will never have the same level of "excitement" as at a gig. Without more information about how you think the current amp is lacking it is difficult to make effective suggestions.

Surely the pre-amps built in to the EMG pickups should make them appear to the rest of the circuit as standard impedance?

More better photos of Hurtsfall from the Goth Friday gig:

What don't you like about your current amp?

Friday night at The Chameleon in Nottingham with Hurtsfall, supporting Chaos Bleak and Senex IV We missed our last rehearsal as our synth player had picked up some lurgy from his kids, and we definitely noticed that we weren't as tight as we should have been, and because of that we weren't ready to play any of the new songs we had been working on so it was the same set as we did last time. Also note for future gigs not to ask for any changes to the foldback mix without trying them first - my idea of very slightly more Bass VI in the monitors and the sound engineer's was somewhat different... However the audience thought we were great and despite going on first at 7.30 it was pretty close to packed from the beginning, Saw some old faces from the past and a couple of people who regularly attend In Isolation gigs who didn't realise that I also play with Hurtsfall. Photo from the gig showing our singer in full Goth Friday mode as we play the song "Revelator":

Probably because you've been to the wrong ones. Come and see some post-punk inspired bands at small-ish venues and there will plenty of bass guitar mixed up front where it supposed to be.

Just a reminder that Hurstfall are opening the Goth Friday gig at The Chameleon in Nottingham tonight (Friday 7th April). We're on at 7.30.

And here's a photo of mine: Just making some adjustments for tonight's gig. The foldback at the venue will be more than adequate for our needs which saves me having to carry the RCF up two flights of steep and narrow stairs. I've included the backing playback system, because this also controls all the patch changes on the Helix required for the songs as well as being our drummer and second synth player. The foot pedal to the left is used to stop and start playback as well as run a macro that closes the current song and opens the next one in the set. The songs are numbered in the order we are going to play them so the set order can be quickly changed by simply renaming the songs.

Just doing some last minute adjustments before tonight's gig and therefore have a chance to take a reasonably good photo of the rig I'll be using. Eastwood Hooky Bass into Line6 Helix and then direct into the PA. The foldback at the venue we're playing tonight will be more then adequate, and so it'll save me from having to carry the RCF cab up two flights of steep and narrow stairs. Also pictured is our drummer and second synth player.

Great work. Out of interest how much did all the tools and materials you needed to do the job cost?

Do you know that the poles are longer? Or are they just in a slightly different place in relation to the coil? Is each pole an individual magnet or do they all share a common magnet along the base (in which case you could argue that there are no individual poles and that the the whole magnet/pole assembly acts as a single unit. Time to read some proper science texts I think.

Reviving this topic with some observations after using this system for the last 6 months. Firstly while the reverse hinging of the pedals takes a bit of getting used to, it has now saved me on a couple of occasions when I have inadvertently hit the front of one of the pedals during a gig. Because you have to press down on the back of the pedal to trigger an action I got away without inadvertently turning off the backing or loading the next song while we were in the middle of playing the current one! I was a bit worried about the durability/reliability of the extra-long USB lead I got to allow me to have the computer located away from the playing area. However so far it has stood up well to the rehearsing a gigging rigours and I make sure that I always carry a spare which I haven't yet needed. And the thing which in part prompted this new post: For all the recommendations here and on SOS I downloaded the manuals whre possible, and when it wasn't sent tech support emails to the companies in question detailing my specific requirements. Elgato in particular were very good about replying promptly and giving me all the information that I needed. Today completely out of the blue I finally received a reply to my request for more information about the iRig pedal, that was basically non-committal about whether it would do what I wanted. I couldn't resist letting them know that they were 6 months too late to influence my purchase, and had gone with an alternative product whose technical support department answered my requests promptly and gave me all the information I need to make an informed decision. I don't suppose they care, but for me I've had two encounters with IK Multimedia technical support and both have left me underwhelm and reluctant to consider any of their products in the future.

I think that only really holds true for those instruments based on the Fender P and J. After all they are tried and tested designs with a 60+ year pedigree and whose USP is that they can be made using 1940s technology by a relatively unskilled labour force; and TBH if you are a guitar manufacturer and you can't make a decent P or J bass you shouldn't be in business. Everyone else will have to pay what the manufacturer decides is a right price.

For me that would be the worst reason to take it to a gig. What happens if you can't get a tone out of it that works for your band?

Now that it's 2023 and probably 10 years have passed since I first asked the question, is anyone doing a digital wireless system with a digital output at the receiver end for those of us whose next item in the the signal chain is a digital device with digital inputs?

I do a lot of "lead bass" with Hurtsfall. I find that alternating the tune with the root note works well where I play two strings either as chords or alternate plucking, with the lower string doing the root note of the chords and the higher string doing the "melody"

The reasons are all to do with acoustics and spatial awareness of sound due to the fact that we had two ears and our brains are very good at using this information to tell us how far away the sound source is. The problem with IEM is that the sound source is only millimetres away and therefore as far as our brain is concerned it sound be instantaneous.

Start listening the Joy Division and all those other post-punk bands where the bass guitar carries the main instrumental tune. I've found the easiest way to come up with a good tune is to sing it first, and then work out how to play it.

Except when they don't. In one of my bands I use an Eastwood Hooky 6-string bass. Current list price just under £1500. None of the other Bass VIs have a suitably wide neck. The only alternatives for me would either be a original Shergold of which there were less than 100 made and all appear to be in the hands of collectors; or something custom built. Both would cost a lot most than the Eastwood.

And additional to my previous point, my various bands have done loads of gigs over the last 10+ years in the area the OP is talking about, but I haven't heard of most of the promotors mentioned in this thread, most likely because they don't put on the sorts of bands that I play in. Conversely my contacts will be of no use to the OP unless their band falls into the goth, post-punk, horror punk or psychobilly genres.

Maybe because I've mostly played in genre bands, it has been my experience that most promotors tend to stick to particular genres that they understand and can book an appropriate bands to complete the bill. Otherwise you end up with those terrible London gigs where 4 random bands with nothing in common get flung into a venue and play only to the their own fans. Case in point for one the venues that has already been mentioned in this thread - The Lending Room in Leeds. Yes, they put on loads of different bands, but nothing is done by the venue itself and each night is handled by it's own promotor and you have to approach the right one for your band in order to get a gig there. It's the same with promotors that do a couple of different genres, that they will have different names for each one and you need to have done your homework to make sure that you go for the correct one. Of course if the OP just wants a gig, then they can go for one of those random four bands at a venue, but IME it does no-one any favours. One well-targeted gig is worth any number of these.

Have I missed something? How are you able to make recommendations of venues and promotors without knowing what genre the OP's band are in?

It all depends on how good your own internal clock is. If you're not noticing any latency with this set up that's great for you because it allows you to take advantage of these low-cost devices. However for others the lag will be noticeable and they will need to look elsewhere.

Latency effects everyone differently and what may be perfect acceptable for one might be completely off-putting for another. The proper way to do this test would be to hook the system up between the output and input of your DAW. Use a drum track with plenty of easily identifiable transients and record the results as processed by the system. It will then be simple to calculate the offset between the original track and the new one which will give you the total latency of all the devices involved. It is also my experience from working in advertising and marketing that "less than 12ms" = 11ms.