throwinthetowl Hi all, i have a question in regards to valve bass amp and bass amps for live performances. i really fancy valve tone, im a bassist and i have a old vintage 50 watt valve bass amp, crackles a bit and the speakers in the cab are definatly not intended for bass. now the question i have is... is it practical to have a valve bass amp for anything other than recording. i mean live the sound guy insists on di, which therfore cancells out the bass amp, am i correct in saying that? so basically having a bass amp on stage would be almost a waste i guess. Do any sounds guys mic up bass amps anymore? i mean, if you di out you kinda leave your tone in the hands of the sound guy. i also see the amp makers seem to be going with valve pre amp and solid state output, any ideas on decent sounding amp that dont cost 15k plus? thanks guys c
AlanRatcliffe Valve and solidstate have different sounds and feels - both are valid. If you like valve tone, insist on miking up. It's usually an engineer who has no experience with miking a bass cab (or doesn't own a decent mic) who will try to force you into using a DI only. The good ones will mic and DI. What I would do in your situation is invest in a mic (AKG D112 or Shure Beta 52), learn how to best mic up your cab and insist on using it. If the engineer insists on using a DI too, go for it, but make sure he uses the mic signal.
singemonkey Alan's bang on. Another altrenative is to use an analogue simulator DI to give you more of that amp and speaker tone when going direct. Like this:
throwinthetowl thanks alot alan and singemonkey. clears that up, i suppose also use post eq DI could be an option, then you getting the eq and maybe some amp tone.. appreciate
MIKA-the-better-one I started life as we know it as a bassist.... and I debate daily wether it might not be smarter to just go back and become a bassist, as it was easier, and it owuld solve my problem of disliking almost every bassist I play in a band with..... If I was to go back, I would hands down invest in an Ampeg SVT 4 pro head, and a matching Ampeg 4 by 10 cab...... I would avoid solid state like the plague...... Match that setup with a nice fender precision bass, and maybe a Comp, Bass OD, Fuzz.... and that would be me done..... I would also invest in a Shure Beta 58 to mic up, and at the same time I would DI out..... then i can blend it all........... I would however make sure whoever was doing sound could accomodate my rig, as I do with guitar, and if the sound guy cant... then he isnt the sound guy anymore! Now I am off thinking about playing bass
