SimonK

My latest incarnation - guitar signal ends up in Marshall, bass in Trace Elliots, and all sorts of things switching in or out of the various signal routes including a couple different preamp choices for each. Needless to say this doesn't travel.

That's a much more elegant solution than in the OP - although somewhat more work!

Just saw this on facebook and can't help think someone has missed the point of pedals in that having the flexibility to changes things is the main draw. Nevertheless there is a bit of me that things this is otherwise quite cool, and I am aware that some touring musicians (e.g. Ed Sheeran) do something similar to reduce faff on stage...

Wow - eight year necro-bump!! I've only played a Jazz bass in earnest once, about twenty five years ago when I did a weekend of gigs in France after someone pulled out playing bass so I volunteered last minute and used what kit they could find. It was a black Fender US Jazz going into a bassman of some variety. I was really impressed and have kind of always wanted to get once since but never had the chance. They strike me as versatile not ever so flashy workhorses.

Yes I've been very tempted to get one of these, although they seem crazy expensive for what they are: https://www.thomann.co.uk/eich_amplification_bassboard_xs.htm

...and bringing it back to the OP, the point was not whether or not IEM's sound better (I have a horrible suspicion they probably do), but rather whether amps have a specific aura, or at least look, that contributes to live music in a bigger way than just sound...

That's a bold claim that probably hasn't been the case for most technology like this produced in the last twenty years. While I do prefer amps, it is very definitely not for this reason. I totally get and agree with this though. The IEM converts among us will claim that you can get the same effect, but as I said in the OP it is more than just the sound quality, it is the whole package of having the amps there on stage, the slightly different sounds as you move around, the visuals, and even the effort (dare I say sometimes fun?) to get them there and home again etc.

Ah that's what it was - I didn't get a chance to speak to him but could see he had something smaller than a helix at his feet. I think he had a boss tuner as well. Mind you his bass wasn't even on stage before the show and I was initially worried there wouldn't be a live bass player!

Not a bass, but I flew to the US to buy a guitar once!

This requires a good drummer though. There's a young chap, recent ACM graduate, who I play with on occasion and he just does everything right - volume, not over playing etc etc... but he's a pro. Some of the other drummers I play with make everything a bit harder not out of spite, just less experience.

Just bought something so thought I should start one!

Just joined this club after a cash for Streamer exchange with @40hz at a service station off the M4 on Saturday! Just realised my 30 year dream of a Warwick into a Trace Stack, although have to wait a couple weeks before testing it in anger!

That's the thing isn't it - between the PA operator having the volume knob and, well, the guitarist being a nob with their 100W amp 🙂! Of course as a bass player I've never ignored the instruction to turn my amp down (or turned it up again after they got too far away)! I do get the sound/PA and practicality argument for IEMs/modellers, I just miss the aesthetic of amps on a stage!

Probably a bit of an overkill but this is cool: https://www.roland.com/us/products/hs-5/

Mind you I think Trace Elliot had an ad that alleged turning up the gain on their amps resulted in nearby women losing their clothing:

Can we have a competition for the biggest fail among those of us who joined in January? I may have now added a fiver to the multiple stacks bought so far this year (happy birthday to me!) 😎

We all know the real reason why some people like IEM's over bringing proper cabs 😈🤘:

Slightly unrelated, but during a soundcheck the other week two of our band members were complaining about a high pitched ringing coming through the PA/monitors. The rest of us thought everything was fine so we weren't particularly motivated to find the supposed problem, but after a bit of confusion/accusations of having divas in the band we then realised the two complaining were both late teens/early twenties while the rest of us were 45+, and possibly some of our hearing wasn't what it once was! Mind you it is quite hard to fix a problem that you can't actually hear - we just went through some of the higher frequencies until the youngsters stopped complaining!

Just bought a Warwick bass from Simon. Great and accurate description of the instrument, he'd had some work done on it but was able to show me the receipts, and we managed to find a time to meet at a motorway services for that classic second-hand instrument exchange experience. Really no complaints from me, underscoring the value of this forum in finding and dealing with other genuine and friendly musicians!

The guitarists were both using Line6 Helix's (Helices?). Bass player looked to have a tuner and preamp of some type but I couldn't get close enough to see. I was idly thinking that flight cases should be painted to look like amps/stacks...

So I went to see thes guys last night and they were great. I loved all the guitars on the stage (albeit the bass player only had one 5-string J bass which I thought let the side down regardless of how good he sounded!), but the complete lack of amps did take something away for me given the title of the show was "Ultimate Classic Rock". Aesthetically I think some Marshall stacks and probably an Ampeg/TE stack would have just finished the look - even if the cabs were empty. I know there are some famous bands who have always bought additional empty cabs along for the look, but I do think I should start a campaign for all the digital modeller/IEM people out there to consider bringing amps & cabs along to gigs to serve as stage props!

Having a standard pre-agreed half song or chorus to quickly run through after telling everyone in the room what you are going to do seems to be a fairly professional way to do it regardless of who is already there, and saves the back and forth as to what the band wants to play or random jamming (which feels somewhat less professional!). I can possibly see how IEM mixes may not change much between gigs and thus a soundcheck is less necessary, but I don't think I would ever NOT want to do one!

Thanks Richard for the offer but I think you can probably find a better home for it as we are spoiled for amp choices!

It was a soundcraft desk, although I did occasionally use a huge Allen and Heath. The other fun thing you could do with this arrangement is essentially a bass drop - so cut all the low frequencies out for the intro or other parts of a song and then send it all back in as needed. Not entirely useful but there were one or two songs in the set where this could give quite a nice lift - Wild Cherry "Play that Funky Music"- was one.

That's a really kind offer - we have a 17 year old bass player who is in need of an amp so I tried to give him one of my Trace Elliot combos but after trying to pick it up he asked if I could give him a preamp with a headphone out instead - youth of today aren't as rock 'n roll as we were! This looks far more sensible for church use although I'm too far away.