Al Krow

£700 for CQ12T, £900 for CQ18T - that doesn't seem outrageous for the level of quality A&H are renowned for, plus the innovation and compact form factor these offer? I suspect this is going to be on the radar for quite a lot of folk when they next think about upgrading their current kit!

Was at a main stage at a festival gig tonight, listening to the support act to the headliners. Awful drowning rumble from the bass through FoH, I could see the poor fella fiddling about with his on board EQ controls and then stopping playing. Their sound engineer should be sacked - clearly not all of them have incorporated hpf into their workflow!

Ok cool - and if I remember correctly your guitarist is using backline rather than going through the PA. We've similarly got everything other than the kick drum hpf'd. Seems to work well: the bass and kick are consequently not in competition for the 50Hz to 80Hz range which gives a really good unmuddy mix with the kick laying the foundation for the band.

On absolutely everything, including the kick drum?

Count me in! 🙂

Worth mentioning the Soundcraft Sig MTK if multi-channel recording is a must have (and doesn't have quite such a weird monitoring set up). But you're then into the £300 to £600 price bracket... But, yup, for around £100 the Debra is ridiculously well featured, and there are 4 and 8 channel versions for a little £less / £more.

Just came across this desk - no idea what the quality is like, but it's pretty feature heavy e.g. 3 band EQ, hpf at 80Hz, FX, and XLR out. Independent volume control for both monitor and headphone. And all for a little over £100! Could be an interesting option if you're on a budget or if you want a spare desk to have around for home use.

Not every band going amp-less has the benefit of a FoH technician though, and if you are going amp-less as a bass player surely the reasons are pretty much the same as someone using a rig i.e. it clears up the mush and protects the PA drivers from over exertion?

Would you bother at all with hpf for your bass eg by using a separate hpf pedal if you're not making use of the hpf on the desk? If so, what frequency level do you kick it in and how steep a cut? Just as a fyi for any other Soundcraft Signature desk users, the hpf on these desks cuts at 18dB/oct from 100Hz - so it's decently steep.

No disagreement from me, that all makes good sense. My point was more a "both/and" i.e. if you want a big low end sound then some decent subs are going to help - we would still have hpf on all channels on our desk apart from the kick drum.

@Paul S actually I think you've just saved me £93 on getting that excellent looking Sine Effect H24 by reminding me that we've already got hpf sorted via our Soundtrack desk and I can also take the hpf off on my Zoom B1-4 gigging patches and just leave a few on for home use. That's a nice start to the day! 😊

Hi Paul - in short, yes. We have a Soundcraft Signature 12MTK and the hpf kicks in at 100Hz. We've got hpf engaged for all the channels, including bass, apart from the kick drum which has key frequencies in the 50Hz to 80Hz range and is not being hpf'd.

Not disagreeing that bass can generally be usefully cut with an hpf, there are definitely occasions when you want a powerful low end (as I think we mentioned elsewhere). Two examples might be: - reggae bass; - a club dance vibe. In such cases having the right kit to deliver a big low end, without it just being mud, is going to be key and typically is going involve decent sub-woofer(s) added to the tops. Beyond what my lot currently has in terms of kit, but we recently went through a pair of RCF 15" subs plus high quality tops at a function where we were sharing the PA kit of a pro DJ, and it was such a good sound!

Yes, thanks, you and @Chienmortbb are both correct i.e. fundamental and first harmonic are interchangeable terms so the next one up from the fundamental is the second harmonic not first harmonic.

I see that the MPC One Plus is out, although not feeling any particular pressure to upgrade! Are any of you Akai MPC users managing to make use of your kit in live performance? If so, would love to see any clips if you have them.

I think more accurate to say 1st harmonics at approx. 60Hz and 80Hz (if fundamental is at 31 Hz and 41Hz)? But take your point. That did look really good on the separate thread you started on this one. I've consequently sold my trusty Thumpinator I've had on my board for several years! (Just need to check what the HPF capability is on my Boss multifx before getting one of these as a replacement).

I don't think the SY 200 is going to give you a particularly good 80s synth sound, and it's definitely not an envelope filter. The YT demos are a pretty good demo of what it can do.

Pedals can be a lot of fun Playing bass can be hugely rewarding, but it's absolutely not everyone's instrument of choice Making live music in a band for me is one of the best things I've ever done, but same folk hate gigging 5 strings can be cool, but many prefer 4 and some love 6 Some use backline but others just go through the PA Life's short - do what works for you and brings you joy and don't worry too much if that doesn't suit others down the road Pedals can be a lot of fun.

The one we were at was Husky's studio under the railway arch and just along the road on Amelia St from the Tankard Pub (which is starting to do live music again).

Thanks Pete. Does the Les Paul have single coil pups or humbuckers? PS what was the studio you were at 40 years back?