Playing live (mainly in Leeds)

[DaveMal]

I'm being told that at the venues in leeds, the fenton etc.. they will not allow the bass player to DI to the board and has to use only the back line. does anyone have experience of this?? isn't it pretty standard for the bass to be DI'd???

[thisnameistaken]

The room at the fenton is pretty small, you could get away with just backline but I've always di'd the bass there. Who told you that?

[CHRISDABASS]

its been a while since i played there but im pretty sure ive played both with and without DI

even with a small combo that room is easy to fill with a decent bass sound

[bungle]

In a room that small you probably don't need anything other than the vocals coming through the PA, and it's probably more a case of it being unnecessary and soundmen not bothering rather than a policy against DI'ing basses.

I have played in plenty of Leeds venues, some have decided to DI my bass, some haven't. As long as it sounds decent out front I don't really care if it gets DI'd.

[TomKent]

Unless you want to record it - or it's a big venue - why bother with DI?

It's probably just for the 'I can't be bothered, it's not necessary' reason.

[mike257]

Don't know the venues you're referring to, but done plenty of small clubs on the unsigned toilet circuit where the PA is just used for the essentials and bass has been run off backline - nothing unusual about that! All depends on the size of the room and the spec of the PA system really.

[Cosmo Valdemar]

It's been a few years since I have played the Fenton, but I don't recall ever being DId at all - mind you my backline then was a 600w head and a 4x10, so it probably wasn't necessary in that room. If I used a smaller combo they probably would have done.
It's a giggle, that place - you have to get your gear up a rickety fire escape at the back. And it tends to rain when we play there.