monitoring options for EUB

[Matt P]

I recently played my first proper gig with my Stagg EUB, previously i've used it many times at church either with an amp behind me or more recently with IEM's.

 

the gig was an acoustic session in a brewery and due to transport issues and timing we opted to take as little kit as possible, this gave us just a single monitor for the 3 of us (acoustic guitar, EUB and Cajon). we luckily had someone running the desk for us who knows what they are doing but i really struggled to hear myself enough.

 

I was running into the desk via a small pedalboard (tuner, compressor, HPF, EQ, chorus, Radial Di) all the reports i got were that i sounded pretty good in the room and could be heard clearly but on "stage" i was struggling.

 

I'm thinking that i need to sort some sort of monitor for these type of situations but whatever i decide on needs to be small and easily portable. my rig for other gigs is a Markbass F1 and a pair of gen 2 barefaced midgets but i don't want to take that as space is at a real premium. I do own a Trace acoustic Cube and was wondering if this might work with suitable eq? another option is that we have a second aux feed from the desk and a spare power amp channel so maybe a small speaker cab with just the bass? there is a PJB Earbox in the classifieds that looks like it might work, or maybe i have a go at some DIY and try to build either the 6" o 8" basschat cabs.

 

What are the hive mind's suggestions? Ideally i'd like to keep the cost down under £200 but if i can sort something with what i have that would be great.

 

Unfortunately at the moment we're not in a position where we can all go to IEM's and for the sort of stuff we're doing we rely on being able to hear the audience a fair bit so the isolation of IEM's wouldn't work.

 

Matt

[itu]

Even a small monitor may be your friend (it doesn't have to be bass specific). Put it to a mic stand close to you, and you'll hear a lot at low volume.

[bassace]

PJB Earbox

[Rosie C]

I'm a bit late to this conversation, but for what it's worth... I use ACS "ambient" IEMs which act as 19dB ear plugs - so I can still hear the rest of the band and the audience. I plug my upright into a Boss TU3 tuner, which has two outputs - one onward to my amp, then other I plug into a small headphone amp to drive my IEMs. The result is everyone else is a bit quieter, while my bass is easier to hear. NB: this is with an acoustic bass with a pickup, not EUB but I think it should be the same.

[JoeEvans]

Thomann do an excellent wedge monitor for about £140, The Box MA82CL. Not a great deep bass response but it's the low mods and treble you need to hear to stay in tune! 

 

Edited July 4 by JoeEvans

[DanOwens]

If its for intonation and simply having an idea of what's going on, you could mount one of those tiny monitors to a speaker stand (I've worked with a few guys that do this). If its to 'feel' then a backbeat or similar?

https://www.gear4music.com/PA-DJ-and-Lighting/Behringer-B205D-Active-150W-PA-Monitor/CEZ

[Matt P]

thanks for the suggestions, I think as a first attempt I'm going to try my Trace Acoustic cube mounted on a stand to get it close enough to my head (probably with the HPF in the chain for protection) If that doesn't work then I'll look into some of the other options.

 

All i need now is more gigs!

 

Matt

[MJJS]

I had a PJB cub 100 for a while and that could be a monitor or enough for a small gig.

[grelum]

"or maybe i have a go at some DIY and try to build either the 6" o 8" basschat cabs"

 

Can you guide me to this topic please. I've been thinking about a self build small monitor

[grelum]

Duh! Just found it

[JPJ]

I use the little TC Electronics BG250 208 combo for exactly this purpose. 2x8” speakers (albeit upgraded to Fane Sovereigns to get the full 250w out of the combo alone) seem to really suit my NS NXT so I’d image it will work equally well with the Stagg. Keep an eye out for one local to you, they seem to go for about £150 secondhand.