Amp Necessary?

thegummy

ICBM said:

maltingsaudio said:

From an engineers point of view, and assuming the house PA can take it, I much prefer to have the bass di’d and no bass amp on stage. 

I understand why, but for me a bass amp on stage is quite necessary - I always feel it gives me more of a 'direct' response from my playing than a monitor does. I know there's no real technical reason this should be so, if the monitor hasn't got reverb or anything on the bass signal - but even more importantly, I use feedback sometimes and that really doesn't work well from a monitor... it's not even usually possible from an amp at sensible stage levels - I have to turn round and touch the cabinet with the headstock. I know that's a bit of a specialist requirement though .

Would you say there's a certain venue size where over that size they'll always have sufficient PA?

If so, what kind of wattage do you reckon a bass amp needs to fill venues smaller than that?

ICBM

thegummy said:

Would you say there's a certain venue size where over that size they'll always have sufficient PA?

If so, what kind of wattage do you reckon a bass amp needs to fill venues smaller than that?

Anywhere that's set up as a proper music venue, rather than a pub or a function room, should have an adequate PA - with subs, which is important if you're putting bass through it. Some people will tell you that you don't need frequencies that low for bass, and that typical full-range PA cabs will handle it - they're wrong.

The power needed is a bit difficult to gauge - it depends a lot on the efficiency of the cabinet and the type of amp. At one extreme you have something like a 300W valve Ampeg SVT with an 8x10", which would be capable of overpowering volume in a pub, and at the other something like a 300W 1x10" Class D combo which probably wouldn't be anywhere near enough in the same room.

I would say that an old-school solid-state 150-300W should normally be enough through a 1x15" or a 4x10", maybe a 2x10" although you would want to be at the upper end for that. 500W through anything bigger than a 1x10" should be fine, even if it's Class D.

thegummy

ICBM said:

thegummy said:

Would you say there's a certain venue size where over that size they'll always have sufficient PA?

If so, what kind of wattage do you reckon a bass amp needs to fill venues smaller than that?

Anywhere that's set up as a proper music venue, rather than a pub or a function room, should have an adequate PA - with subs, which is important if you're putting bass through it. Some people will tell you that you don't need frequencies that low for bass, and that typical full-range PA cabs will handle it - they're wrong.

The power needed is a bit difficult to gauge - it depends a lot on the efficiency of the cabinet and the type of amp. At one extreme you have something like a 300W valve Ampeg SVT with an 8x10", which would be capable of overpowering volume in a pub, and at the other something like a 300W 1x10" Class D combo which probably wouldn't be anywhere near enough in the same room.

I would say that an old-school solid-state 150-300W should normally be enough through a 1x15" or a 4x10", maybe a 2x10" although you would want to be at the upper end for that. 500W through anything bigger than a 1x10" should be fine, even if it's Class D.

Nice one thanks a lot