redbandit599

Depends who's missing. I've practiced without drums and found it beneficial as I have to boss the rhythm and time keeping. I also think in a two guitar band getting them to practice without bass smoothing the edges seems to tighten them up a bit. No singer is harder, but equally helps you tighten up without vocals to follow. Wouldn't want to make a habit of it, but the above helps if you have short notice changes to availability and one person has to bail.

Thanks for all the input - I do currently use an amp and have just played my first gig with iems. I suppose I was after tips about getting a good FOH bass sound in the PA, and have had some good pointers on this. Core gigs are pubs/clubs and we provide pa and do sound ourselves ( with a bit of input from some other guys from bands who often come to see us)- occasional festival/event with supplied PA and we leave that to the sound guys. Those are the easy ones 😀

I use 2 112 Berg's - EX112 and HT112 - they are awesome and tbh most places I don't need to be in the pa - but when I am it does give a better spread of sound overall. I'm fortunate in that we do work together to get a good overall sound mix. No egos or volume freaks - guitarist uses a Helix and a small Alto cab for stage monitor. Keys is careful not to get 'too much' - I don't have 'my tone' - we play covers and I'll use a fat dubby octave sound, a fuzz and wah laden sound, clean, overdriven, subtle chorus, distortion and heavy flanging in a typical set. Through my backline I have a good solid punchy tone that I can muck about with using pedals, I just need to replicate that through the pa and DI :-) I've just started with iems too - not ready to ditch backline yet - but that option is another reason for really nailing FOH (as I say we're not far off - we get quite a few comments on a big and quality live sound already - but we can always improve :-) )

Thanks all - some good stuff in here as always. I like the Aux feed idea, that's worth a play.Thanks for the link @KingPrawn I'd always erred towards post eq for the DI but @EBS_freak comments above have made me think otherwise might be better. Quick question on this, I use a GK MB500 Fusion and like the valves in the pre, if going pre EQ do I still get the preamp gain sound on my signal? or does a 'pre eq' DI bypass the pre-amp completely, or just the eq stage? We don't push the subs at all, they just tick over to fatten up the bottom end and support the kick.

RCF 325 Tops and 705 Mk1 subs - we use tops only in smaller venues, one sub in bigger ones, both subs rarely. Have long leads and wireless, the mixer is controlled via a table so we always get well out front. Most of our gigs are pubs and clubs (which are more like big pubs than with stage etc.)

Hi all, I'm running my bass through the pa more regularly with my latest band. It's a good pa, RCF tops and subs. We often get compliments on our sound already but we're going to have a 'tech' session soon to really go through the kit. My bass sound in the pa isn't as good as my backline, not as punchy and defined. I use a pretty flat eq on my amp, just tweaking to suit the room. Quite a few effects and I di from the amp. So any top tips for tweaking a good sound in the pa welcome. Is it just a case of ' use your ears' or any magic formula? We have a Behringer XAir that has plenty of bells and whistles- subs can crossover at 120 or 80hz. We've had them on 120, so flipping to 80 is going to be one of my first ideas. Cheers

Maria Carey -All I Want for Christmas rocks up well - think Bowling For Soup have an album of Christmas songs that an old band of mine plagiarised

Naffghan Whigs - ticks all boxes :-)

My band name history :- Turbo Condom and the Fish Fingers - me and two mates who also 'owned' instruments but who likewise had no idea how to play them. Did 3 'songs' in a garage at a party. We were marvelous(ly drunk) and young and hooked.. Dumper - drunken band naming session (lived with that for years.) Red Raw and Sore - short lived, great poster derived from a dominatrix calling card found in a phone box NightOwl - female fronted rock/metal covers (still like this, fits well) Declined Transaction - I work for Barclaycard and this was a pop punk covers band put together from colleagues to play our Christmas party...then Hyde Park..twice... Had to briefly change name to Transaction X as our then (American) CEO thought we might bring the brand into disrepute...which we thought was very funny and quite unintentionally punk :-) Hoaxx - current 'main' band - wanted a one word name, added the extra X to make it easier to find on Facebook etc.

Great stuff- thanks guys!

Cheers guys, two simple ideas there! Good to know. Thanks.

Hi all As I'm mostly going through the pa these days I'm considering downsizing and maybe just using one of my 1x12 cabs. I think it might be handy to angle it up a bit. Would be easy enough the knock up some sort of wedge for the cab, I'm just wondering if anyone has any ideas about how you could still keep a seperate head on top. I'm currently using a GK MB 500 Fusion, so not bulky. Cheers Jason

I gigged for years just bass straight into my trust old Ampeg 410 combo (8 stone back breaker) - it was fine. Last few years I've really got into effects and have a different gigging rig - my core tone is still derived from bass, amp, fingers and pick up selection eq etc. but the added effects (which I switch in and out to suit the songs - covers) are something I wouldn't be without now. My band love them too. I 'could' play all the songs we cover without effects - but it would sound rather dull imho. For where the songs are pretty similar sound wise then I can see getting your core tone as simply as possible is preferable, and for my other more straight ahead rock/metal band I don't use much. e.g. Knocking out Plug In Baby 'clean' sounds meh compared to the same but with some Russian Muff and a bit of cocked wah. I'd say your kidding yourself if you think otherwise. The other big thing for me is it's fun - I like crafting different sounds and mixing the pedals to see what I get. That old Ampeg has recently taken up residence in my mates practice space - I've chucked by Zoom B3 in front, and recently a Hartke Bass Attack. The old beast sounds amazing now! (Hasn't made it any lighter though )

Might just be worth mentioning that no other band uses this approach - that would seem to speak for itself. We use two RCF 15 tops (325s), and either no sub, one sub or two depending on venue size. Most pubs no subs. The subs aren't to give that 'chest thumping' bass (that's just vanity imho for pub gigs) just on tick over to free up the tops and provide a full sound. Bass Di and keys, guitars, vox and drums all in the PA.Guitarist uses a Helix with an Alto 110 for stage monitoring. Another 110 back with the drummer firing forward with a full mix. Ditched all other monitors as we can hear the FOH . I have my rig so I can hear it. Had a gig recently where due to the space had to have a sub and top behind me. The FOH sound was great but it wasn't pleasant having the rig firing behind me. Not something we'd be keen to replicate.

Try setting 2 on the BSW it's the same as setting 1 but with a sub octave

Turning 50 does have its upside 😁

To me it looks like a small octopus jetting away from the headstock...but I have got a bad cold and am doing some serious paracetamol at the moment.

Snap!

Hi all I had a bit of a moment during a pressured sound check swapping out our support band last weekend. Problems with one pedal and I just needed it off the board quickly. With all the plumbing , and being faced with a pedal sized gap ( just too big for the patch lead!) I suddenly remembered a female to female jack adapter I had in my 'bits box.' Stuck that in place of the miscreant pedal, rocked the joint- hooray! I'm keeping one handy from now on - mine are Rean NYS236, only a couple of quid.

I'll usually either have the one beer that I have to string out all night, or coke or water - less 'necessary' now with LED lights giving off no real heat, but used to sweat buckets under old style pars. Food never.