Bass in monitor - good idea or not?

[Gottastopbuyinggear]

To put the question in context, pub band with keys and vocals only going through the PA so my bass amp is carrying the room.  Drummer complains he can't hear the bass, and to be fair it's a problem I often have as I'm standing just in front of the amp most of the time.

 

It's been suggested that I could put some bass in a monitor that would cover both me and the drummer.  It would be high passed to cut out anything below about 100Hz or so as it'll only be an 8" or 10" monitor.

 

Apart from the general problem of adding to "on stage" volume could this cause any other issues - I'm thinking specifically of whether it could cause cancellation problems with the sound that the audience hears?

 

Any other considerations?

 

[EBS_freak]

Go IEM and all those problems disappear. And your ears will thank you.

[Gottastopbuyinggear]

1 hour ago, EBS_freak said:

Go IEM and all those problems disappear. And your ears will thank you.

Ah, well, I’d love to but we’re strictly a hobby band restricting ourselves to two gigs a month so can’t really justify the expense. Also I don’t want to have to get into micing up drums.  I wear custom moulded ear plugs so my ears have already thanked me 😊

[Boodang]

For monitoring purposes I use a small combo (an SWR 2 x 8 baby blue) and face it across stage. Works well as a local monitor without having to use the fold back. 

[Gottastopbuyinggear]

2 minutes ago, Boodang said:

For monitoring purposes I use a small combo (an SWR 2 x 8 baby blue) and face it across stage. Works well as a local monitor without having to use the fold back. 

Is that in addition to a back line amp, or are you going through the PA?

 

Whilst I’d like to add a sub and put bass through the PA, again I don’t think it’s justifiable based on the amount of gigs we play. 

[Boodang]

So, in addition to whatever I'm using for the audience I face the combo across the stage. 

For the small trio I only use a backline amp to push out to the room but sit the combo on top and face it in. With the bigger covers band we go through a PA, I don't use a backline except the combo which again I face across the stage and don't put bass through the fold back as it gets messy.

 

[Boodang]

....also, any old combo will do, I just happen to have an SWR lying around. It doesn't have to be great as really you're just wanting to push mid range out to cut thru. I've got a cheap old cr*ppy Peavey TNT that does a great job at this, it's just a bit heavier than the SWR to lug around. 

[Steve Browning]

Where is your amp in relation to the drummer? I set up slightly back from the drummer and slightly angled towards him.

 

That works for us perfectly well. 

[Bassfinger]

Typically I put my bass through the PA and use my Crush 50 amp at low levels on a tilt stand as a monitor.

[Boodang]

6 minutes ago, Steve Browning said:

Where is your amp in relation to the drummer? I set up slightly back from the drummer and slightly angled towards him.

 

That works for us perfectly well. 

If I'm using backline I place it inline with the drummer facing the audience but only because I'm using the combo for monitoring. 

That way i can separate the two things, tone that i want the audience to hear and the tone i want for monitoring. 

[Steve Browning]

5 minutes ago, Boodang said:

If I'm using backline I place it inline with the drummer facing the audience but only because I'm using the combo for monitoring. 

That way i can separate the two things, tone that i want the audience to hear and the tone i want for monitoring. 

Sorry,  I was addressing the OP.

[Boodang]

13 minutes ago, Steve Browning said:

Sorry,  I was addressing the OP.

I got carried away!!

[Gottastopbuyinggear]

36 minutes ago, Steve Browning said:

Where is your amp in relation to the drummer? I set up slightly back from the drummer and slightly angled towards him.

 

That works for us perfectly well. 

Almost always about level with the drummer in the pubs we play, unfortunately - rarely enough space to get my amp further back than he is.

[Gottastopbuyinggear]

2 hours ago, Boodang said:

So, in addition to whatever I'm using for the audience I face the combo across the stage. 

For the small trio I only use a backline amp to push out to the room but sit the combo on top and face it in. With the bigger covers band we go through a PA, I don't use a backline except the combo which again I face across the stage and don't put bass through the fold back as it gets messy.

 

Facing across the stage was something I’d considered too.

 

I think we’re going to experiment a bit over the next couple of gigs.  We’ll try facing back/across the stage and covering both of us, and I think I’ll try angling my cab to solve the problem for me and putting the monitor closer to the drummer, which I think will require a bit less volume.