Wattage for gigging

[Pegdrums]

Hi all how are ye? 
 

im a drummer converting to bass.

I’ve a dep gig, on bass for my mate in 6 months

 

my 20 Warwick blue cab just ain’t gonna cut it.

 

I’ve asked this on talkbass and the response seems to be get enormous everything if possible.

 

just wondering what your opinion might be being a more uk/ Irish local forum

 

I need an amp that can do rehearsal,weddings, pubs.

 

 Yea be MAX 600 euro to spend

 

i am looking at a pair of Eden ex 112 cabs and an ash down mag 600 head

( or similar head)

 

alternativelt the Hartke hd500lools very appealing but its 500w peak not rms

 

Do I need 500w?

there’s almost always front of house support

 

wgat would ye recommend on my budget

 

thanks

[Lozz196]

Given that you can’t always rely on monitoring I like to have a set up that I know the whole band will be able to hear if the monitors (or sound person) are poor. The set up you describe should be fine for all but the huge O2 type stages. 

[BassAdder60]

I agree you ideally want a 500w rig through a couple of speakers ideally.

 

If you don’t care about weight you can pick up some old heavy gear with decent power ratings 

 

I would look for at least at the two cabs you mentioned although the older ABM compact 115 cabs perform well if you have two of them.

You sometimes see the cabs for sale circa £100 each ( were one or two on here for sale recently ) 

Ashdown stuff is really good especially the ABM series and RM series amps 

[police squad]

46 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

Given that you can’t always rely on monitoring I like to have a set up that I know the whole band will be able to hear if the monitors (or sound person) are poor. The set up you describe should be fine for all but the huge O2 type stages. 

I agree with this. I use a 500 watt Ashdown Rootmaster through a small mark bass 1x15 and sometimes I add a small MB 2x10. Even works outside with a little PA support

[Phil Starr]

Someone will say this so I might as well be the first. It isn't all about the watts. Extra power will make you louder but so will more efficient speakers. doubling your amp power doesn't give you a lot of extra sound just 3db but doubling your speakers will usually give you 5-6db.

 

That being said most bass amps are of the 300/500W into 4/8ohms and that is going to be enough for most situations, nowadays amp power is almost not a worry. Enough in this case is enough to keep up with a loud drummer. Again not a strict law but a good rule of thumb is that a decent 1x12 will do for a rehearsal or small gig and two 12's will pretty much cover anything so a lot of us go for a couple of 1x12's.

 

 So yes the Ashdown Mag 600 plus the Eden cabs look a decent option. Ashdown's after sales service even on used gear is great which is a bonus.

 

Going used is sensible, you'll never find the 'one' first time and you can get most/all of your money back if you decide to change things around.

[chris_b]

If you have front of house available then your 20 watt combo might work, but only if you have good monitors. 

 

Without FOH my minimum would be 500 watts and 1 or 2 112 cabs.

[gjones]

I'm wondering how long it will take for someone to suggest a Fender Rumble 500 combo?

 

Oh.....I just did! 😀

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

1 hour ago, Phil Starr said:

Someone will say this so I might as well be the first. It isn't all about the watts.

+1. One can be perfectly fine with a 30 watt Ampeg B-15. One thing you can be sure of with respect to watts: the more someone dwells on their importance the less they understand about amplification. They probably can't even recite Ohm's Law from memory.

[MacDaddy]

25 minutes ago, Bill Fitzmaurice said:

 

They probably can't even recite Ohm's Law from memory.

 

if something can go wrong it will?  

[Downunderwonder]

19 hours ago, Pegdrums said:

almost always

...means you need some welly behind you just for the odd occasion.

 

The old Trace amps were rated to deliver a continuous sine signal. Any of the 200 or 250w amps into 4 ohms of decent cabs will keep up with the drummer which is as loud as you ever need to be.

 

The trend for weddings and the like is extremely contained volume, to point it isn't a heck of a lot of fun. It sounds like your band isn't on that unmerry go round of trying to compress a live band to sound like a CD.

 

You won't go wrong with any '500'W modern amp and a couple of modern 12's. I am not familiar with the Edens though.

[Rob Bisby]

Two letters.. D & I 😉 if you're having trouble deciding the sound engineer will more than likely run it through PA anyway

[SeamyALB]

I would buy a good DI, wireless for bass, wireless in ear set and let FOH sort it out. Most live gigs now dont want amps at all, as long as you can get an in ear aux you are sorted. I use a GK Plex, Line 6 Wieless. Realistically any 200 watt combo amp will be as loud as what you would need for playing a wedding. There are a lot of guys slowly getting rid off amps as Helix and the like are taking over. Hard to beat carrying the gear into a venue in one lift!

[Pegdrums]

Thanks so much for all the reply’s and suggestions. 
 

reqson behind the 2 cab idea is adaptability. My setup can be small and loud or bigger and louder if needs be. I’ve a small house so a rumble 500 would be potentially a bit big as would the Hartke although it’s a bit smaller
 

im aware that there is a lot more to volume than just watts. Speaker size, type, number of speakers, tube vs solid state etc etc but going by watts at this price point is a good ball park I think.

 

Also I know some wedding bands are ample as now. As a drummer I used to dep for a band here in Ireland and one day after not deposing for a while I turned up only to find out they’d gone ampless. Nightmare gig!

 

I’m gonna grab this 2 Eden cabs for sure. With the covers included they’re a good price

 

head options

 

there is an ash down rm500 online new for 420. Must be evo 1 cos evo 2 is around 600 euro.

 

OR

 

grab a little Warwick gnome for 140 that’ll keep me going in meantime and keep saving the pennies

 

 

 

[Lozz196]

The RM500 is a great amp, I’ll never tire off recommending it.

[Pegdrums]

Gonna pull the trigger on the rm 500 BUT.....

 

the DI is post eq and effects and it has no ground lift.

 

Has this ever been an issue for you?

 

Also, is there an alternate option to di? Could I di from a line out for example? line out into di box.

[BassmanPaul]

You can get ground lift adaptors to take care of that problem. They are easy to make too.

[Pegdrums]

Thanks. And as regards the di being post eq, is that gonna fosters off the person on sound?

[Downunderwonder]

12 minutes ago, Pegdrums said:

Thanks. And as regards the di being post eq, is that gonna fosters off the person on sound?

Nobody DI's the guitar amp. It's on you to not be sending a midchopped or noisy mess.

[Pegdrums]

5 hours ago, Downunderwonder said:

Nobody DI's the guitar amp. It's on you to not be sending a midchopped or noisy mess.

Nobody di’s the BASS amp you mean?

every bassist I ever played with as a drummer di’d there amp.

 

I’m confused 🤔 

[chris_b]

Given a choice I DI post EQ.

 

I've not had any problems from sound men on this. They are quite happy with the post signal I send to DI.

[Pegdrums]

Thanks for that

[Lozz196]

53 minutes ago, chris_b said:

Given a choice I DI post EQ.

 

I've not had any problems from sound men on this. They are quite happy with the post signal I send to DI.

Same here, only one sound man problem, who told me he had a really difficult time making my JJ Burnel type sound into a regular James Jamerson Precision sound (he was quite proud of how he managed this). Given we were a punk band I wasn’t sure why he’d want to do that but as it was after the gig nothing I could do. Other than that never a problem.

[Bankai]

8 hours ago, Pegdrums said:

Nobody di’s the BASS amp you mean?

every bassist I ever played with as a drummer di’d there amp.

 

I’m confused 🤔 

I think his suggestion is that it’s quite common that venue sound engineers will use a DI box to take the signal before it goes into your amp. 
 

Usually because some people will apply very over the top EQ or Settings on the amp that make the DI signal not very usable .

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

20 hours ago, BassmanPaul said:

You can get ground lift adaptors to take care of that problem. They are easy to make too.

With a proper balanced interconnection there's no need to lift the ground, that's one of the advantages of balanced. That said, not all devices are correctly configured. Have a look here, scroll to page 216.

https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/25666510/ranenote-collection

 

[Japhet]

I'd go straight for a Fender Rumble 500. Simple solution is often the best.