Your rig setup for 8,000 seat arena

[Doddy]

The last arena I played of that size, this was my rig...

 

[Steve Browning]

A while ago now but it was a Mesa Boogie Bass 400 into a Boogie Diesel 2x15.

[binky_bass]

45 minutes ago, Steve Browning said:

A while ago now but it was a Mesa Boogie Bass 400 into a Boogie Diesel 2x15.

I feel like I have the spiritual current version of this exact rig... certainly the strategy eight:88 is heavily based around the 400. Had a Diesel 2x15 years back too, savage cabs! Heavy as all hell though! 

Edited May 21, 2021 by binky_bass

[mcnach]

On 20/05/2021 at 15:46, Lo Ki said:

Scenario- You're fortunate enough to play a 5-8,000 seat indoor arena. What rig setup do you bring?

 

 

Probably the same as always... they'll have a decent PA, right?

Or maybe even less, as the monitors will probably be decent, so my pedalboard and bass is all I need.

[Roger2611]

Somewhat hard to spot in the distance but a Markbass 102 cab a LM3 head and a Status bass......and a bloody good FOH pa to play to absolutely no one!

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Roger2611 said:

Somewhat hard to spot in the distance but a Markbass 102 cab a LM3 head and a Status bass......and a bloody good FOH pa to play to absolutely no one!

That's a lovely theatre - which is it, please?

[12stringbassist]

I'd love to take all of this out again.

[ZilchWoolham]

If I'm playing for 8000 people I think I should be having fun! A couple of Acoustic 360/361 rigs would sort that out quite nicely.

Edited May 23, 2021 by ZilchWoolham

[tvickey]

I'd just bring the usual setup, nothing fancy... 

 

 

[Elfrasho]

I've been lucky to play in some 2k-3k venues and I soon learnt that my 1x15 cab was pretty much pointless once you factor in the monitors and side fill cabs. 

So. I'd bring nothing! 

[lee650]

When i was touring and playing anything from 2-7k venues (Not always filled 😂)

I was using a powered Bergantino IP112 (1k watts) with an AE112 extension, with a 3 leaf enabler pre.

It was too bloody loud,and I had it as quiet as I could and still got complaints. I went direct with a small wedge monitor controlled from the desk. Didn't sound anywhere near as good as the Bergy but no complaints and I could hear myself fine 😁

[Roger2611]

23 hours ago, Ricky Rioli said:

That's a lovely theatre - which is it, please?

The Deco theatre in Northampton

[paul_c2]

A DI box and 2 extra big boxes of Malteasers - as a present for the sound engineer and the monitor mix engineer (they might be separate roles). In that size venue, the backline is rendered pretty much irrelevant and its all down to those two guys and the kit they specify/use/adjust.

If I were the one specifying/using/adjusting the FOH and monitor equipment, I'd take a crash course in mixing and try to do a number of smaller gigs leading up to it to gain experience. Or just get someone else in, who IS qualified and experienced!

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

I'll plug into whatever is provided - I can get my sound from any rig as long as I don't forget to bring my fingers.

[Sarah5string]

A bucket to puke in and someone to sub for me while I'm having a 3 hour long panic attack

[bassintheface]

 

For a laugh, I used my spare rig / home set up of a Trace ELF and BF One 10 whilst playing the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.....

zoom in on the pic.

The lads took their small Fender Blues Juniors also as we needed to clear the stage pretty quickly after finishing playing.

 

Obvs there was a monster PA, plus we had our FOH eng with us, wedges and IEM's so I didnt' actually hear it - it was more for a laugh to say "I've played the Millennium stadium with a BF one 10 and TE ELF".

For the other stadium gigs, I've usually taken my TH500 and pair of SL112's - BUT, that's only for my monitoring and a visual effect for the punters really.

[ped]

Bass -> Backbeat -> someone else's area!

[Beer of the Bass]

With the sort of monitoring likely to be in place I probably could do fine with my Ampeg PF-50T and pair of 12“ setup, it's just that I suspect the guitarist would probably want to upsize from his usual Blues Junior and it's more a matter of looking and feeling in-keeping with that!

[bassintheface]

16 hours ago, Beer of the Bass said:

With the sort of monitoring likely to be in place I probably could do fine with my Ampeg PF-50T and pair of 12“ setup, it's just that I suspect the guitarist would probably want to upsize from his usual Blues Junior and it's more a matter of looking and feeling in-keeping with that!

the acoustics in a stadium are really weird - and everything gets lost, so we've always run at normal, sensible volumes, amps are 'cranked' enough but tonnes of it back in the wedges / IEM's and let the sound engineer do what he's paid for.

For me, I personally prefer IEM's over wedges in large venues - with some ambient mics fed into the mix too.

Obviously, guitarists especially 'think' they need a full wall of Marshall 4x12's to play anywhere bigger than the Dog and Dustbin's back room, but that's another discussion!

I'm just old and miserable now and after 20 plus years of emptying and loading gear many times a week, I've accepted the benefits of a small rig (sometimes just a DI box) and IEM's. Obvs need a decent PA and someone to run it of course.