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Will this work.....


gpw5150
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Hi All,

 

I was on Basschat ~5 years ago, but dropped off for a bit and dropped out of music for a period - kids, work blah!  Anyway, I am back and need some advice.

So, I am a converted to bass guitar player, but in my new band I share bass and guitar duties.  As such, I don't want to be carrying 2 rigs.  The other guitar/bass guy has his own gear, which we can share on smaller gigs.  But on larger gigs, I would like my own stuff.  Here is the conundrum:

When I stopped playing live I sold my lovely Markbass and SWR kit and my basses.  I kept hold of my 5watt Panama Conqueror head and a Mes Boogie Thiele cab with EVM12L for 'bedroom guitar' and have recently procured an OLP stingray copy which was fitted with a basslines pickup and a badass bridge!  I don't want to buy another louder guitar amp head and a complete bass rig, so this is what I am thinking.  **I am a big fan of the ampeg/Stingray sound!

  • Output my 5w Panama tube head via a load box into a Stereo power amp, using 1 side of the power amp to drive the boogie cabinet - This should give me whatever wattage the power amp is into the Boogie.
  • Buy an Ampeg SVT classic pedal or Ampeg DI, output that to the second channel of the power amp and drive a purchased lightweight cabinet - This should give me effectively an ampeg pre amp and load of power to drive the cab and the option to DI

I am hoping there will be no crossover within the power amp or any impedence mismatch that I have missed, but it essentially means I only carry;

1 Bass Guitar

1 Guitar

1 guitar amp (or even just my pedal board)

1 Bass pedal

1 power amp

2 small lightweight cabinets

Did I miss anything?  Or is it easier to just buy a second rig?

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5 minutes ago, cattytown said:

If I was splitting like that I'd be with all these guys - decent modeller and FRFR. There are lots of FRFR around - high on my check list would be the QSC K10.2.

Our guitarist does most of the sound engineering so if he's busy I tune his guitars up for him and set his amp up, last gig I plugged them into my setup (Fishman Pro Platinum EQ > QSC K10.2), switched to guitar eq mode and played it at decent volume - sounded amazing, much better clean sound than his amp. Nice to know if I ever need to play acoustic guitar live I have a fantastic rig ready and waiting! Can imagine it would sound incredible with proper amp modelling.

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That's exactlly what I'd be doing. Gone are the days of a Pod and a seperate Bass Pod. The new modellers from Line 6, Kemper, Axe FX, Headrush, etc etc are truly multi purpose. If they're too much money then the new HX Stomp is £400, the Mooer and Valeton stuff is even cheaper.

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Okay, so i tried some modelling gear on friday and i admit, whilst being a tube junkie, it was very good.  But i am loathed to shell out and re rig just now.  For cheapness while the band are still building our set;

my current guitar rig (5f2 clone head +evm12l loaded boogie) with load box into a crown power amp for live usage.

An ampeg pedal/di into crown second channel for bass into a borrowed ampeg cab

or i could sell the guitar rig and buy an ampeg svp and just run the ampeg through a power amp into the ampeg cab...use for both bass and guitar

i am still a bit old school on tube preamps and simple pedals...

 

 

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True the modelling gear can be expensive, my current rig, consisting of a Line6 Helix and RCF745 cost £2000 when I bought it new a year ago. However they are pretty much at the top end of the the range, and you now you can get a Helix Stomp and a cheaper FRFR for about half that.

I can't recall the last time I did a gig where there bass wasn't DI'd into the PA, and at several gigs I played before I switched to the new set up I had been asked to turn my amp down to such an extent that unless I stood directly in front of it, I could hear myself better though the fold back for the guitarist or the keyboard player! It was at this point that I started looking seriously at FRFR powered cabs.

For me it was no brainer - I had spent over £2000 on my last serious bass-only rig and most of that was second hand prices, and with a bit of luck when I sell it along with my guitar rig I will get back what I spent on the Helix and RCF cab. The new set up is a fraction of the size of my old rig and does everything need for guitar as well as bass sounds.

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So, it turns out that my better half bought me an Ampeg SCR-DI for Christmas, I won't go in to detail, but I kinda blew my own surprise.....

So, the dual rig will be;

Panama Conqueror into channel 1 Crown 300w PA into Boogie Thiele cabinet

Ampeg SCR-DI into Channel 2 Crown 300w PA into Ampeg 2 x 10 Classic Series cabinet

In terms of weight - the heaviest bit is the borrowed Ampeg Classic Series cab @ 27 kg....but seeing as I am carrying both guitar and bass, I am not so bothered.

I guess that the nice thing is that I can play bass on headphones at home.....!

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I can confirm, it all works!

Panama Conqueror into channel 1 Crown 300w PA into Boogie Thiele cabinet - Still get the full tube sound, just massively louder!

 Ampeg SCR-DI into Channel 2 Crown 300w PA into Ashdown 408 cabinet (Courtesy of Sharkfinger) - It is bloody loud and absolutely stonking!

I can definitely recommend the Ampeg SCR-DI, it is beautifully built and super rugged.  The sound is almost bang on to a vintage ampeg and is super flexible on tone.  The Scrambler is a 'nice' addition and gives more bite, but it can get undefined and a bit fuzzy.  I have the blend set more towards clean bass and only a slight amount of distortion, almost replicates a preamp tube being pushed on the heavier/louder notes.  The Di works well and the phones socket is a definite bonus, I can sit with my headphones on and bother no one!

Hoping my wife now buys me something else for Christmas as I already have my pressie!

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