Do I really need a cab?

[Rumble]

My playing these days is limited to church where all I really need is a monitor; the 'band' is very small and they each have their own monitor so there is no need for me to fill out the sound. 

Is there any way I could use headphones as my own bass monitor and are there any disadvantages to this method? 

[LukeFRC]

45 minutes ago, Rumble said:

My playing these days is limited to church where all I really need is a monitor; the 'band' is very small and they each have their own monitor so there is no need for me to fill out the sound. 

Is there any way I could use headphones as my own bass monitor and are there any disadvantages to this method? 

you have a digital desk or a spare feed from the desk? all sorts of cleverness if so. I play at church, no amp or cab.. I use my IEM and the setup means I can do my own mix via my smart phone. 
Sometimes I use my b3n as a amp/cab sim buy to be honest, that's optional

[LukeFRC]

advantages: no stage spill, cleaner sound for FOH, mix what you need, you don't wreck your hearing. 

disadvantages: sometimes it's a bit like playing in a bubble as to get the bottom end you need reasonable isolation, what you hear and what the FOH sounds like may not be the same, it takes a bit of getting used too, you realise how bad some backing singers at church can be.

[Rumble]

12 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

you have a digital desk or a spare feed from the desk? all sorts of cleverness if so. I play at church, no amp or cab.. I use my IEM and the setup means I can do my own mix via my smart phone. 
Sometimes I use my b3n as a amp/cab sim buy to be honest, that's optional

Thanks Luke. 

It's probably a dumb question but what's an IEM and a b3n? 

[LukeFRC]

IEM= in ear monitors, headphones, @EBS_freak has a mammoth thread on them, but safe to say there’s some Chinese ones folk are getting for about £30 so you don’t need to spend big. 

B3n = Zoom B3n multi effects pedal and very good bang for buck 

[xgsjx]

My church has a Behringer X32 desk.  All the musicians download the X32 app on to their phones & there's a loom goes across the  back of the stage where each instrument has a DI & a headphone jack.  The app gives each musician their own mixer to balance the instruments/turn down bad singers.

The downside is I'm one of 5 bassists, each like their own volume mix (there's one who basically has bass, MD & click, nothing else), so I can spend a bit of time trying to get a decent sounding in ear mix.

[G-Dog]

I use my small Rumble Studio 40 combo at church with it's XLR Out to the board for the house and the single 10" speaker, with Master Volume around 3, for me.  I just balance my volume with what I hear directly onstage and from the house system and it is glorious.  Soundman says my combo as monitor has no effect on his settings and I feel very connected to everyone else.  Just my two pence.

Edited May 7, 2019 by G-Dog
Left out a word

[Rumble]

What is the difference between IEM 's and a decent pair of headphones? Is it just that IEM' s are linked directly to the desk? 

I don't really want to give the sound guys another separate but of kit to have to deal with so could I run the bass into an effects unit with output via XLR to the desk and via headphones to me as my own foldback? 

[fretmeister]

What about one of those little PJB combos?

 

On a mount pointed at you if needed. You still have a cracking little amp for other uses then.

[jrixn1]

3 hours ago, Rumble said:

What is the difference between IEM 's and a decent pair of headphones? Is it just that IEM' s are linked directly to the desk? 

I don't really want to give the sound guys another separate but of kit to have to deal with so could I run the bass into an effects unit with output via XLR to the desk and via headphones to me as my own foldback? 

Headphones vs earphones vs IEM: it is just form factor. In terms of connectivity they are identical.
Headphones are large and rest on the outside of your ears and have a headband to keep it on. You might look odd wearing headphones on stage.
Earphones are smaller and go inside your ears.
IEM are a type of earphones which are generally sealed (block out the ambient sound to some degree).

If I understand you correctly, you can already hear the other instruments fine via bleed from their monitors - all you want is a bit more bass for yourself.

If you want to work independently of the sound engineer, then yes your idea of routing the bass signal into both a headphone amp and a DI box will work.  In this case, you don't want earphones which are too sealed, since you do want to continue to hear the ambient on-stage sound.

But do talk to the sound engineers - depending on their setup, it might be no extra work or equipment for you to use IEM instead a wedge monitor.  The only thing you might need is something like a Behringer PM1, which goes at your end and connects an XLR cable coming from the desk to your IEM.

[Rumble]

7 hours ago, fretmeister said:

What about one of those little PJB combos?

 

On a mount pointed at you if needed. You still have a cracking little amp for other uses then.

I do love the markbass F1 so it's tempting to get a small cab just to make use of it. It would be great if I could run headphones from the F1, but it doesn't have a headphones socket. 

[Rumble]

6 hours ago, jrixn1 said:

If I understand you correctly, you can already hear the other instruments fine via bleed from their monitors - all you want is a bit more bass for yourself.

Pretty much. They get enough bass thro the FOH or individual foldback so I have no need to fill out the overall stage or room sound with an amp/cab. 

In addition to this, I love the idea of only having to take my bass and a headphone amp or small effects unit instead of having to carry a cab which is largely redundant.