Plug & Play. Not Lug & Play!

[KingPrawn]

It is with some tinge of sadness i write this post. As an avid chatter, I generally check out all sections just in case. However i realised ive stop looking at the Amp and Cap Section. Ive just turned 52, so lumped all the classic amps & caps  up flights of stairs, 1 x 15 , 4 x 10 , 6 x 10 and the 8 X 10 beast with all manor of heads.  i moved to a Helix Stomp and IE set up a couple of years ago and have no need for an amp. I use a bassbone DI and a Bass rig 64 as back ups, all on the same pedal board. I have a lovely Markbass head and cap in the studio gathering dust. I honestly never thought i would  not own an amp, but im serioiusly considering getting rid of the MB rig.  The helix is perect for my setup, deb gigs etc. What to do. Im serioiusly conflicted. Has anyone just gone completley amp free?

 

 

[skidder652003]

Im the opposite, just gone back to my ampeg valve. Chr1st it weighs a ton, but by 'eck it sounds glorious. Im going to use it on local easy load in gigs from now on.

Edited October 30, 2022 by skidder652003

[tauzero]

I'm not in a situation to go amp-free because I have no idea what PA any band I'm in will have, but I have gone to a combo which offers 500W from 9.5kg (that's three furlongs and 25 barleycorns in old money).

[casapete]

I think if you’re in a situation where your Helix / IEM set up will definitely work for any gigs you are

likely to get in the future then I agree that it’s probably pointless to hang on to your MB back line.

( Personally I would still keep something just in case an old school set up was required.)

 

My main band are all IEM users apart from me - I don’t like in ears / headphones at all and prefer

to hear the room as well as my amp/cab set up. I know it’s an unpopular choice these days but

its just what personally works best. I’ve lugged bass rigs all my life, and the rise in more portable 

speaker cabs and amp heads has been a fantastic change for me, only wish it had happened

sooner! Buying a Barefaced cab was a complete game changer, and now in my mid 60’s

I can’t comprehend ever going back to anything bigger/heavier on gigs where I’m having 

to transport and lug in my own rig.

( I suspect there will come a time when a dep gig arises where it’s IEM’s only, but for the type

of gigs I usually get offered round here it seems unlikely, for the time being anyway ).

 

[Franticsmurf]

I'm in the process of moving to IEM for one of the bands I'm in as I'm taking on BV duties, but the drummer prefers to hear my bass through my amp and speakers. The other band is old school at the moment. I have no problem with either option as my bass rig (Peavey Minimax 600 and 2x TE110 cabs) is less than 20kg in total.

 

[Tait]

I actually played my first amp free gig last night. My old set up was a TC Electronics amp with built in compressor and distortion, which would mostly standalone but occasionally go through PA for bigger gigs (with my amp acting as a stage monitor).

 

The band recently bought in-ear monitors and have moved towards going through the PA for all gigs, so I was finding my amp was essentially functioning just as a pre-amp/compressor/distortion. The guitarist already stopped bringing his amp and just went straight through a pedalboard and into the PA. I decided to follow suit and just went through an Electroharmonix Battalion pedal straight into the PA. 

 

It sounded great, and definitely something I'm going to do moving forward. As this was my first gig doing it I actually brought my amp as a backup but it stayed in the car. In the future it'll make life much easier not having to bring the amp at all.

 

My plan is not to go 100% amp free as I'll still be using my amp for rehearsals and perhaps smaller gigs, but the majority of gigs moving forward I'll probably not bring my amp from now on.

 

The Battalion is a great pedal by the way, if you're like me and never really use pedals/effects then I would definitely recommend that as an amp replacement. Wrap it in bubble wrap and it fits in the front pocket of a gig bag too. 

 

Edit to add: Also on the topic of amp-free, for practicing at home there are some great headphone "amps" out there. I use a Fender Mustang Micro which does the job nicely for both guitar and bass, with Bluetooth to play along to backing tracks and USB for recording. I pretty much never play through a real amp at home.

Edited October 30, 2022 by Tait

[KingPrawn]

11 hours ago, casapete said:

I know it’s an unpopular choice these days butits just what personally works best.

More power to ya.  I completly agree regarding the room feel. I sometimnes think it would be worth the engineer dropping a couple of microphones on the room so they can add a bit of bleed into the mix

11 hours ago, casapete said:

 

 

[msb]

I do mostly mid sized rooms , and am not in the PA for most gigs , so my amp has to fill the room.

I like modern heads and cabs. I’m lugging them.

[Lozz196]

Although I prefer to have an amp/speakers behind me pumping out the volume - I just love the feel of a big rig pushing it out - if I could guarantee monitoring & sound checks would be up to it I’d happily gig amp-less. I have done a few times when the provided rig has craped out during the day and it didn’t affect me at all, just got on with it. I’d want the monitors more for the rest of the band than myself anyway.

[casapete]

4 hours ago, KingPrawn said:

More power to ya.  I completly agree regarding the room feel. I sometimnes think it would be worth the engineer dropping a couple of microphones on the room so they can add a bit of bleed into the mix

 

When my band first went down the IEM route we had a mic or two set up for just that, but 

once everyone got used to the change over it soon got overlooked. 

[Downunderwonder]

The one time I plugged and played I was sorely let down by the monitors. Never again.

[JapanAxe]

Lugging my bass rig is not a problem to me as I take one BF cab and usually a Class D head. I have started to prepare for the inevitable day when I get a ‘silent stage’ gig, in that I have an Origin Effects ‘64 pedal.

 

On skinny-string I still take one of two all-valve 1x12 combos. They sound glorious, and it would take a lot to convince me to use a modelling gadget into the PA.

[BigRedX]

I’ve been amp free for about 5 years now, since I switched to using a Helix. I have an RCF powered speaker, but for the last year I’ve only used it for rehearsals with one band and not at any gigs with either. For at least one band the on stage sound is much more controllable with no back line. If I found myself in a band where having a rig was an important part of the image, I’d probably have a dummy set up that could be folded away for transport.

[stewblack]

Only gigged amp free on two occasions.

Both times were ok. Saturday I employed my 3 ton Ampeg and there is no way to adequately describe how much better the experience was.

The band sounded and felt so rich and full. I'll use iem only if a band requires me to - I'm not turning down a payday - but never out of choice.

[fretmeister]

I would like to go amp free but only me and the keyboard are amplified in my big band. Everything else is acoustic only. No PA system at all

 

So I'm out of luck.

[Woodwind]

disclaimer - I occupy a rather different musical being a solo performer.

 

The last two shows I've done amp free and relied on the monitors (I could never do a show purely on IEM. Absolutely hated every experience of using it beforehand)

 

I had excellent sound engineers with LONG soundchecks  (these were festival gigs and I couldn't be *rsed to lug loads of equipment on long distance trains). I had no problem getting the stage sound I needed and had time to develop a relationship and means of communication with the engineers so if I had needed changes during my show it wouldn't have been difficult.

 

However I have tested the water being amp free on previous gigs and they have been trying to say the least, namely due to rushed sound check. I would have benefitted from having my backline.

 

If I was doing my own PA and monitoring (or was in a band doing so) I can't see any advantage in having amps on stage as well as spending time on monitor mix.

 

@BigRedXdo your bands give the engineers a stage mixed stereo feed or do you all DI and let the engineer decide on a "balance"?

 

@KingPrawnAs long as you know all your playing scenarios will work without an amp then there is no need to have one.

However if you aren't in dire need for the money I'd hang on to at least part of your amp setup for whatever might be round the corner.

 

[BigRedX]

16 hours ago, Woodwind said:

@BigRedXdo your bands give the engineers a stage mixed stereo feed or do you all DI and let the engineer decide on a "balance"?

 

At the moment we give the PA individual feeds for everything. We're only a 3-piece - vocals, 2 x synth, and Bass VI with drums/drum machine and some additional synths on the backing so it's not a difficult mix and we already have all the relative levels between the instruments and backing sorted out from rehearsing, so once the feeds have been adjusted for the room there isn't really anything for the engineer to do. IMO stereo isn't much use for the FoH sound as very few people in the audience will be placed to get the full benefit, so the stereo on the backing is very narrow and only really used for special effects.

 

We will probably switch to a full on-stage mix done by the band at some point in the future which will most likely coincide with the band going full IEM. I done full mixes for the PA before with previous bands but it relies on fair bit of time spent in the rehearsal room to get all the relative levels right for each song. IMO once you start looking at this route pending time working on the mix in rehearsal is as important as being able to play the songs as a band. Both bands I am in spend about a quarter to a third of each practice working on the sounds and mix of the songs. This IME is where covers bands who don't rehearse fall down because once you start doing your own mix you need to spend time working on it.

[WinterMute]

I grabbed a QSC K12.2 from this very parish a while back, replaced a Barefaced Big Twin, which wasn't heavy but was big, not as big as the 8x10 mind...

 

I ran my Stomp and now a Quad Cortex into it if I need a bit of real-world grunt, it happily keeps up in rehearsal with a lead-fisted drummer, drops into the carry case and into the car with no bother. Weighs about as much as a cased bass, maybe a bit more.

 

It's got a DI output for live work.

Edited November 1, 2022 by WinterMute

[Franticsmurf]

1 hour ago, BigRedX said:

Both bands I am in spend about a quarter to a third of each practice working on the sounds and mix of the songs. This IME is where covers bands who don't rehearse fall down because once you start doing your own mix you need to spend time working on it.

So important and often overlooked.

[jimmyb625]

I've been using this "big rig" for a while now and it'a still proving to be a source of amazement.

 

The bassrig pedal is used for DI into the PA system, with the amp just providing a bit of personal monitoring. It can quite easily keep up with our drummer, as he's not a particularly loud player. The front 3 in the band are on IEM's, so the stage wedges are just there for us two at the back, meaning we can keep acoustic noise on stage relatively low.

 

I was considering getting another one10, just in case I needed a little more displacement, but at the moment, I don't think I really need one.

[gafbass02]

I’ve been a pleasure for about two years and it’s the best move I’ve ever made. Every gig sounds the same, so no fighting a room, no volume war, no lifting - it’s ace. We have our own engineer at every gig, which helps of course. The singer and I are the only ones on IEMs, with the guitarist still using a combo and wedge and the drummer also on a small wedge. I use a rolls pm50 as a ‘more me’ box and have a custom cable that take both guitar and headphone feeds. (I can’t afford a quality wireless IEM system nor do I really need one tbh). 
I still keep hold of my two Headrush frfr112s for festival gigs without our own engineer, and they do duty as my acoustic pa, my guitar rig, and bass rig on the odd occasion it might be needed.

[TeresaFR]

I went amp-less about 12 years ago due to necessity, and it's mostly been fine. I like just being able to walk in with my bass and pedalboard and go.

[mrtcat]

Been amp free for 4 years. Full Band all on iems even in rehearsals. Have probably done 400 gigs (mostly weddings or corporate events) without any backline now. Can't really see any benefit in going back to using an amp. The biggest benefit comes at smaller gigs where its so much easier to get a full fat sounding mix out front without any amps or monitor speakers on stage. 

We do have a decent PA system though and bigger gigs usually involve PA hire with an engineer.