Power Amp for Stage, Preamp for PA???

[bassofdeath]

Hi guys,

Last night I saw an odd build on a small stage at a gig.  The bassist had a very desirable set up.  A beautiful high end Spector going into a Darkglass Microtubes 500.  However, he was also employing a Darkglass B7k and a Darkglass Vintage tubes, plus a bunch of other pedals I didn't recognize; but it was very Darkglass dominated.  I asked him about it after the gig.  

He told me that the Darkglass Microtubes 500 amp was just for the stage cab but the b7k and the vintage tubes etc etc were all daisy chained up and going direct into the PA.  The Darkglass Microbes 500 was not.  

Considering the Microbes 500 has the capacity to replicate the b7k easy enough AND is has a DI output on it.....I can't get my head around what the point of this was.

Ultimately, I understand people like their tone and can be very specific, but the sound in this small venue was so messy and loud that it was generally an indiscernible low end racket and I can't imagine that the subtitles of the set up translated at all.  

So, if you have a great power amplifier with a DI port, why employ a pre amp pedal that does the same thing ?  Is this crazy or regular practice?  I show up to gigs with a minimum of two pedals and have my amp mic'ed and DI'd.  

My brain hurts.    Help.

A

 

[Phil Starr]

I hope he isn't a basschatter  

If it sounded bad to you then it isn't really something to worry about, if in your opinion the outcome wasn't right then you don't need to replicate his approach.

It could be he simply wanted to replicate his on stage tone but be able to fiddle around with the on stage amp without altering the PA output, sensible if you don't have someone mixing out front. However this looks like a very expensive way of achieving something you could do in other ways.

[Graham]

I would assume he wanted to be able to get his sound on stage using the amp, but without affecting the FOH sound, which would be controlled by the engineer.

So, he'd have a Darkglass sound through the PA, but one mixed by the engineer to fit the overall band mix, and a Darkglass tone onstage for his monitoring, which he can make changes to without screwing the FOH mix.

If the whole mix sucked, then that's down to the engineer, and/or members of the band refusing to compromise on "their" tone to suit the band as a whole

[Lozz196]

Yep, it sounds like he knows the exact tone he wants to FOH/audience, and doesn`t want that changed by eq changes as a result of boomy stages/cabs that colour the sound etc. Sensible move imo, that way you can twiddle around with whatever to suit on stage without it affecting what the audience get.

In the shared cabs world there are so many different scenarios, Markbass = high end roll off, Trace Elliot = hi mid boost, Ashdown ABM = added low end. Adjust your DI`d eq for what the cab is bringing in and the audience doesn`t get what you want them to, the tone/sound that you and your band have worked with together to get the band sounding as good as you can.

Unless you go Pre-EQ of course, and doing that then destroys the tone/sound that you and your band have worked with together to get the band sounding as good as you can. Unless the tone/sound you have is your bass completely flat, in that case it would work perfectly.

[mike257]

Having his core tone come from his board means it's consistent at, for example, festival shows or fly gigs with a hired backline.

[NancyJohnson]

It does seem strange running two independent signal chains for monitoring/FoH, but look, we're bass players, we love gear and are prepared to try anything at least once.  Even sprouts.

Maybe he was just showboating...it does seem horribly overcomplicated and unnecessary though.