JPJ Posted January 5 Posted January 5 Bit of a newbie question. Next weekend my little acoustic trio are opening the second stage on the third day of the Tyneside Americana festival. It will be my first double bass gig where someone else is responsible for the sound and only my second gig on acoustic double bass as against EUB, and I don’t know how experienced the engineer is with amplifying double bass. A conventional stage setup would have the monitors directly in front of you, but is this the best place for double bass? Would it be better to be off to one side or even behind me? I will be using an HPF on my bass signal, and I have F hole blockers to help control feedback. Or should I be a potential PITA and ditch monitors and request to use my IEM’S? Quote
TheRev Posted January 5 Posted January 5 Personally, I don't have any bass through the monitor as there's too much risk of feedback, but it depends on how loud your band is on stage. An acoustic trio, plus HPF and F-mutes should keep everything well under control, but I'd try to place yourself or the monitor so that it fires at the side of your bass, rather than the front or back - that will reduce the chances of a random frequency setting off a sympathetic resonance in your bass. If, even with all of the above, you do experience feedback issues, then get the monitor up on a stool/chair and pointing at your ears rather than your bass. Quote
Downunderwonder Posted January 6 Posted January 6 It shouldn't be too much drama to take along a folding table to reposition a monitor per the stand above. It's a bluegrass festival so you should be getting sound crew well used to amping DB. I would have the EUB on standby in the car just in case Stage 2 gets the sound guy's nephew who likes a lot of bass. Quote
Happy Jack Posted January 7 Posted January 7 My route is to take either a small bass cab with tophat fitting or the smallest PA cab in my collection,and put that on an old PA pole at ear level behind me, nothing pointing at the body of my DB. I normally run through a tiny head (Trace Elf, but other options exist) which feeds my mini rig on stage and provides a DI to the board. The minirig can be almost completely set up backstage while waiting for the previous band to clear the area, and then carried on as at most two lifts. I have YouTube I can share if you want it. Quote
Happy Jack Posted January 7 Posted January 7 Don't forget to tell the sound guy to switch off the monitor that points at your DB! Quote
Rabbie Posted January 7 Posted January 7 If you are super loud, use IEM. Otherwise I’d suggest bringing a small amp for self-monitoring on stage and, if you need a wedge, place it on your side, at relatively low volume, with your bass out of the wedge. The more control you have on your own sound before the signal goes to front of house, the better it is. Hearing back a sound that pleases your ears will make all the difference. Have fun and have a wonderful gig! 1 Quote
keeponehandloose Posted January 8 Posted January 8 Sounds like your doing all the right things to reduce feedback risk. Outdoor gigs usually mean a hollow stage, that can be a problem too, with vibration causing feedback issues. Quote
cacio Posted January 8 Posted January 8 I use stage monitor on a stand at my ear height i also use hpf,i stop to use f hole covers cause i began to blend my piezo with the krivo 1 Quote
cacio Posted January 9 Posted January 9 On 05/01/2025 at 16:54, bassace said: What kind of stand it is? Quote
bassace Posted January 9 Posted January 9 1 hour ago, cacio said: What kind of stand it is? You can find them on line as short speaker stands. I made a platform from 10mm ply, hole sawed four holes to sink the speaker feet into and put the cab on top. Or if your cab has a top hat underneath you can simply stick the 35 mm pole up it. 1 Quote
JoeEvans Posted January 11 Posted January 11 A good place for a monitor is to get it positioned so that your body is between it and the body of the bass. Ideally the monitor would have less low end in it than the FOH sound, so that it's clearer for intonation as well as less prone to feedback. Quote
Phil Starr Posted January 12 Posted January 12 (edited) https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/126768403062?var=0&mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5338590836&toolid=10044&customid=c440980d344e191873caff8e772fe903 Edited January 12 by Phil Starr Quote
JPJ Posted January 12 Author Posted January 12 So the room was almost perfect with great acoustics, meaning i could easily monitor via the FoH, and the sound engineer was spot on getting me a great acoustic double bass tone. Turns out I was overthinking things again 🤷♂️😂 1 Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.