Hi there! I’m trying to find a gift for my resident bassist. He’s got a 15W 10" bass amp which for bass is only enough for rehearsals. He started gigging and I want to gift him a new amp. Something that can be connected to a concert setup as the band is about get their hands on loaned equipment.
I know in pro set-ups there’s an amp head connected to some speakers. And somehow that is connected to overall concert sound system. How is that connected? Is that “output direct connect” I see in some combo amps?
Where can I read about it? All I’ve found online was useless. I guess my lack of basic knowledge prevents me from asking Google the right questions.
There are a few different ways to do it and they will all sound a little different. The “traditional” way is to have a wall of 8x10 cabs and just blast- very few people do this nowadays. This is expensive and the cabs and heads are heavy. But it is also very satisfying. Next, you can have a smaller amp that is mic’ed up to the PA. Whether this sounds good or not depends on the quality of your amp, the quality of the mic, and your sound engineer. Some amps have a direct out, which you can plug right into the sound board. When I last played in a band my bassist used a combination of these approaches - he used a 2x10 cab for some stage volume but also used the direct out from his amp to go into our mixer. Some bass players take this even further and use a DI (direct injection) box to plug straight into the board without an amp. I think Geddy Lee does this. Finally, you can go digital with an amp/cab simulator that also can plug straight into the sound board. Which setup you choose depends largely on both preference and budget as well as the type of venue you are playing and what kind of FOH (front of house) system they have.