Stage monitoring - a smallish combo?

[Walker]

Hi there,

I think I'm after a small and light combo to use as a stage monitor. I can hear the rest of the band through their wedges, but I want something that will take a feed from my rack (that goes direct to FOH) and be loud enough so I can hear what I'm playing.

Any suggestions on the size? 50, 75, 100W? More?

What about those little Roland units?

Anyone using a combo for the same purposes?

Thanks very much,

Chris

[JTUK]

Not sure about this approach. Maybe ask the others what they want to hear and how they want to hear it.
You might find the drummer, for example, wants BIG bass, and likes to feel it etc etc ..

Players like to inter-react with each other and hear the sound the way they want to.

If you trying to give the gig the beans...there is no real way round that..you need to be putting out some volume.
Some gigs just don't work well with a small stage sound..

[dannybuoy]

I had an Ibanez Promethan P5110 combo that was ideal for this, very small and light but also loud enough to carry a small gig without PA if necessary. There is a Red Sub clone that is much cheaper too.

The Roland cubes are good too, also check out the Phil Jones briefcase!

Edited November 29, 2012 by dannybuoy

[Walker]

I've just read through the megathread on the Promethean clones - the Red Sub and the HB. Thanks for the pointer. I like the look of the kickback models.

Just to make it clear - I don't run my bass through the PA as we don't have subs, my rig provides the bass FOH and it's in front of me pointing out towards the audience.

So I want a 'little something' that can be fed from my rack so I can hear myself playing.

Cheers again for the Red Sub info.

[zero9]

Why not get a simple powered monitor, which would usually be at the right angle. Alternative is a Hartke Kickback. I would say a powered monitor is more versatile.

[Walker]

We've got some Yamaha MSR100's, but they just fart out when I run my bass into them. Sound dreadful.

I thought that at least a small kickback combo could be used for practice too?

[garythebass]

I used to play in a pub rock/indie covers band where everything was through a decent FOH.

We had Mackie SRM350s as stage monitors, but bass through them was a no-go.

I used an Ashdown FiveFifteen (the combo version) sat beside the drummer and fed from the desk into the line in.

Volume was adjusted from the desk.

Rated at 100w it handled stage monitoring pretty well, even on the larger stages, but didn't interfer with the FOH sound at all.

I would say you probably need something capable of at least keeping up at a rehearsal to make sure you have enough power.

You don't need anything that goes too low as the subs will handle that and bleed back reasonably well. That means you can get away with a pretty compact unit.

Although I have never used one myself, I would guess that if anything, the Kickback would be a better option than the combo I used.

Worked pretty well for us.

[BILL POSTERS]

Hartke Kickback.

Works for me

[Truckstop]

My drummer uses a Roland PM-10 and it handles bass perfectly. Also has a few line ins so you could take a line from the PA and from your amp.

He picked his up second hand for £90 off Gumtree.

Otherwise, I'd keep my eyes peeled for a powered monitor.

Truckstop

[Happy Jack]

Do you sing in your band as well, or is this just for bass?

[Walker]

Just my bass. I've just bought a little ampeg ba112 to see how I get on with that. The other guys are all acoustic and DI straight into the desk, so there is not back line for the 112 to compete with.

[pete.young]

Should be fine. I use a Tecamp Puma 110 as a monitor for me and the drummer, works perfectly.

[gjones]

[quote name='Walker' timestamp='1354192348' post='1883299']
I've just read through the megathread on the Promethean clones - the Red Sub and the HB. Thanks for the pointer. I like the look of the kickback models.

Just to make it clear - I don't run my bass through the PA as we don't have subs, my rig provides the bass FOH and it's in front of me pointing out towards the audience.

So I want a 'little something' that can be fed from my rack so I can hear myself playing.

Cheers again for the Red Sub info.
[/quote]

Why don't you put it behind you?

[Truckstop]

Yeah I missed that:

Why don't you place the amp behind you? If lack of volume's an issue for you then surely it's cheaper to buy a amp stand (lifts it about a foot and a half off the floor and angles the amp upwards) than bother buying another combo just so you can hear yourself.

Truckstop

[Walker]

Too damn loud! my rig provides bass for the audience, I don't run through our PA. We wouldnt hear anything else if it was behind us!

[Phil Starr]

I've recently gone over to going through the PA and using a small combo for monitoring. Even the guitards have turned down so we now have a lot less to be picked up by the vocal mics.

I use a Hartke kickback 10 (discontinued but they still do the 12) which is good because (a) it's a kickback so the sound goes straight to you (b ) it is fairly punchy with not a lot of deep bass so you get the frequencies you need for monitoring.

I shove it behind the drummer who loves it because he gets what he needs.

Temperamentally I would rather hear what the rest of the band are playing rather than my own tone so the set up suits me. I think the audience get a better sound too.

Edited November 30, 2012 by Phil Starr